September Looms…Summer marches on…

When the Romans had a 10 month calendar, August was called Sextillis, referring to the Latin term “six”, or the sixth month. This has nothing to do with VBL, Eagle Lake, fishing or anything else for that matter. It is a grain of knowledge however that will make you look incredibly astute (yet somewhat mysterious) when you slip it into the conversation at your next night out with the boys. All hail Sextillis!

To be honest I started this post at the end of July (the title was August looms, summer marches on)… Can’t blame it on being “too busy”, although with only a smattering of Canadian guests one would think it would be all about swinging in a hammock and drinking a cold one. I would say we have had more opportunities to relax and enjoy the lake and cook-outs at the point, but in reality some of the work goes on regardless of whether the camp is full or not. It’s starting to look like this year will end in that fashion…..now what, you may be asking?

Gord’s prediction on the border and 2021…

While we can still hope for some miracle to occur in the next few weeks, that seems unlikely. Now I hate to repeat myself, but here’s what has been happening in terms of current bookings, and next year’s options. As we have progressed through the season we have moved reservations (and deposits) to a similar time frame in 2021. Be aware though, to be proactive with the possibility of still having to deal with this virus next year, and the cleaning protocols that go along with it, we have opted to run alternating weeks… Saturday to Saturday, followed by Wednesday to Wednesday…..Sat-Sat, and so on. What this does for us is it allows time between groups where we can then safely clean and prepare the cabin for the next group. What this does for our guests is it ensures that your accommodation will meet the standards in this “new normal”. What it also does is it reduces our capacity for next year…and that is a potential problem. So far we have been successful in finding appropriate weeks for guests rebooking to 2021. As we head towards September I would suggest that people who booked for later this season start to make plans on how they want to handle their reservation. Will a Wednesday to Wednesday work for you…or does it have to be Saturday to Saturday? Till I feel that I’ve done the best for our current guests I have refrained from booking new groups (they are going on a waiting list). If you have any thoughts on what you might like to do shoot me an email. As we progress if I don’t hear from you I will be contacting you to set up plans for 2021. Once again, thanks everyone for your patience and understanding. One final thought…in an effort to possibly extend the season next year I was contemplating moving Musky Madness Week to October 2-9, which is a Sat-Sat. The other option is to keep it around the same time, but that works out to be a Wed-Wed (September 22-29). Based on feedback so far I’m still on the fence….let me know if you have any thoughts.

Here’s a few pictures….

…from the Hamm family out of Steinbach, Manitoba on their recent stay at VBL…

Another Bastable family outing…

Well, there you have it folks…

…it’s very quiet around VBL these days without our regular guests, which is a new experience for all of us! Although Susanne has reminded me that “back in the day” (when we were starting out) having a week with only one cabin booked was fairly common. I was also cutting the grass with a regular push lawnmower, had no grey hair, and could actual see to tie a knot. I’ll leave off with some of the interesting things that have been happening in our area this past while….click on the links to read further. Keep your hooks sharp!

• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/eagle-lake-muskie-1.5660509
• https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/i-came-back-up-screaming-winnipeg-woman-recovering-after-gruesome-muskie-attack-1.5046045
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/bear-attack-red-lake-1.5666303