Romance on New Years Eve

A couple that's staying with us is having a night to remember. They are taking a horse drawn sleigh ride through the backwoods trails near Beauview.

A very exclusive and unique way to share your love.

http://www.backofbeyondequinecentre.com/sleigh-rides.html

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Holiday Wish Come True

This past week, we had the pleasure of hosting a family from Sarnia who's son has terminal brain cancer. Gord saw an article about the family wishing to visit their family in Muskoka for the holidays in the Sarnia Observer newspaper. (Gord searches for news about "Muskoka" each day and this article turned up. The wonders of the internet. You can get access to news from all over the world. )
The article didn't say where the family lived in Muskoka, so we sent an email to the newspaper reporter. As it turned out, the family they wanted to visit, lives in Baysville, Huntsville and Bracebridge - which is right where we are!

They were able to visit Grandma in Baysville on her birthday, see the luminaries in Baysville, have Christmas dinner and visit with a lot of relatives still in the area.

See the newspaper articles:

Man's Christmas wish
Sarnia Observer
What Upfold would really like to be able to do this Christmas is visit his extended family again in Muskoka. And, he wants to see some snow. ...

Christmas wish comes true for man with brain tumour
Sarnia Observer
Upfold's mother's family is from Muskoka and the 32-year-old man wanted to return there for Christmas and see snow again, but his condition made the trip


Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Huntsville Dog Sled Rides

Winter dog sled rides in the Huntsville Muskoka area are available through the North Ridge Ranch. Call Brad 705-788-2828
www.huntsvilledogsled.com

Reservations are a MUST!

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Muskoka Snowmobile Trails are OPEN

Some of the Muskoka Snowmoible trails are starting to open on a limited basis. The Hill and Gully Riders Snowmobile club reports that some trails in the Port Sydney area have opened this week http://www.hgrsnowmobileclub.on.ca/trail-conditions/index.html
and the Happy Wanderer Club reports trails east of Baysville have opened. West of Baysville is largely swampy and will take more time to freeze up solid. http://www.msrsnowtrails.com/conditions.php

Some trails in the Dwight are also Open courtesy of the Algonquin Snowmobile Club.

For sled rentals: Baysville Marina http://www.baysvillemarina.com/ , Redline Snowmobile Rentals http://www.redlinesledrentals.com/ and HSR Ski Doo Rentals: http://www.skidoorentals.com/locations.html

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Our Bay is Frozen. Can we go skating?

Our bay on Lake of Bays froze over more than a week ago. Since then we have had a big snowstorm and then some freezing cold temps. I thought I would check it out to see if it was ready for skating?

>>> Not quite yet! I went out about 20 feet and stopped. No cracks or loud breaking sounds. Dry boots. But I didn't want to get wet even though its only about 2 feet of water there. I used the ice chisel (ice banger for the ice fishermen) to make a hole. It was just 2 inches thick. NOT SAFE!

You need at least 4 inches to walk on ice and 6 inches before you can ride a snowmobile on it

We have some cold nights ahead of us. I'll check again later in the week.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Rock Ridge Snow Tubing

Rock Ridge Snow Tubing in Huntsville plans to open on Dec 26th Phone 705-788-PARK

Here's a video I took to show you what to expect....



Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Hidden Valley Ski, Huntsville Video

Ski Video taken at Hidden Valley Ski Area Huntsville, Ontario on Opening day!



Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Bigwin Steamboat Restoration

On Thursday December 10th, the Marine Museum accomplished a major step toward launching the SS Bigwin. The SS Bigwin was reunited with her steam engine. What an exciting moment when after 55 years apart the steam engine was lowered back in place ready to ply the water of Lake of Bays again. Joe Pruyn and Rod Carr were hired by the Marine Museum to install the steam engine, propeller and shaft. Joe and Rod worked together in Marsh Engineering which overhauled steam engines and boilers. We are very fotunate to have found 2 people with this type of experience. They will come back in early January to install the propeller, shaft, and rudder. We will keep you informed of our progress.

Jeff Gabura

http://www.bigwinsteamboat.com/


Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Algonquin Wildlife Video

Here's a video I found through my Twitter buddies. Lots of Algonquin park scenes with birds and animals - moose, loons, deer, hawks, rabbits, heron.



From Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Algonquingirl22



Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Snow Days

Bracebridge, Huntsville , Muskoka have had a lot of snow dumped on us from streamers across Georgian Bay and Lake Huron.

Overnight there was another foot of snow and more coming down today. The plows are having a hard time keeping up with it!

The folks at Hidden Valley Ski hill and the Rock Ridge Snow tubing park must have big smiles on their faces today!

Here's some pics of what it looks like out our window before I go outside to shovel

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Welcome Winter to Muskoka!

I am excited about having the snow come and stay on the ground for more than just a few hours. I always find that November is a dreary month but as soon as you get into December that all changes!

Here's some photos of our Beauview Lake of Bays waterfront as the sun rises and a look at Fawn lake as it starts to freeze over.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Need the latest Road and Weather Conditions?

Want to find out who got snow last night? Or how are the road conditions in your area or anywhere in Ontario?

For webcams throughout Ontario that show what it looks like on the ground go to www.accu-window-weather.com

For Ontario Road Reports:
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/traveller/conditions/index.shtml

PS:
I see Timmins got some snow! Beauview just got a slight dusting.



Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Baysville Micro Brewery Building

The Lake of Bays Brewery is moving quickly to build their new building in Baysville. Open next Summer.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid Meteor shower is at its peak tonite. My sister in law called to ask whether she was hallucinating. I said to her maybe she saw a UFO! ... just kidding!

Last night I saw one come over our house - very bright. Great conditions for star gazing..

In the summer, all the guests lie out under the stars to watch the Perseid meteor shower.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Feed the Birds

Janine Bone sent this photo as part of her wonderful collection of photos she took while she stayed at Beauview in October.

This is a real gray jay (not a stuffed one!) up close and personal! Hint: A bit of bird seed in your hand helps to attract them.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Travel by GPS

We were tourists last weekend. We visited our daughter in Waterloo, went to Cirque de Soleil Circus in Toronto and visited friends in Hamilton.

I always wanted to get one of these GPS Navigation units that are on sale and getting cheaper and cheaper each time I see a sale flyer.

We tried the Blackberry version getting from Waterloo to Hamilton and from Hamilton back to Beauview. (We used Telus Navigator on my Blackberry) I was impressed by the accuracy but it isn't always right and doesn't always take you the way you should go. Its best to have a full address to avoid confusion.

Did we get lost? No. If I didn't know the roads would I have made a wrong turn?. Yes. The nice part about these newer units is that they will replot a new route if you go the wrong way. The older ones would just say "off route, off route !" - which was very annoying!

It is a good idea to still have a map on paper ...just in case.

To program your GPS unit, our address is:
4215 South Portage Road.
Huntsville,
Ontario
P1H 2J3

If all else fails call us at 800-363-6047 and we'll direct you in!

Photos by Janine Bone of Algonquin, Lake of Bays

I just received a number of photos from Janine Bone who stayed with her husband at Beauview in October. They are very well done.

Janine, Thank you for sharing them with us.!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167018&id=622132596&l=212a1674c6

I especially like the chickadee and the moose photos.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Guests for Halloween Weekend

This has been a funny year for tourism. It started off slow due to the recession but it just keeps on going this Fall.
I can't ever remember having any people stay with us on Halloween weekend but here we are with 4 out of 6 cottages occupied tonight!
Some are here for a romantic weekend. Some are attending a wedding at a nearby cottage and some are having a getaway with friends.

The personal hot tubs are getting a lot of use!

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

Photos and New Trip Advisor Review about Beauview

Janine and Chris just told us about a review they posted on Trip Advisor. Thank you so much!

Here's some photos Janine took while they were here.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047

New fireplaces in Lakefront cottages

This year, we have upgraded our fireplaces in our lakefront traditional cottages #4, #5.

We were able to get fireplaces built in Ontario by Napoleon. They are thermostat controlled so there's no guesswork as to what is the temperature setting.

Beauview Cottage Resort, Huntsville, Ontario, Canada http://www.beauview.com 800-363-6047