WARNING: The following post contains a graphic photo. Scroll down at your own risk...

On a fine Thanksgiving weekend afternoon, the sisters Rusnak decided to take friends on a horseback riding adventure through the colourful woods of Thunder Bay. Needless to say, I think we all got a little more than we bargained for.

Talking about the October moose hunt, and regretting our choice of neutral colours for the ride through the forest, we arrived at friend's house to pick up a fellow rider. Pulling up in the driveway, we saw an elaborate painting of a moose on the garage door. And we bet you can guess what we found behind it...

Poor Mr. Moose was hung from the ceiling, killed just a few hours before. Could there be anything more Northern than this? We seriously doubt it. In case some of you are disturbed by this image, we were assured that Mr. Moose was killed quickly and will be enjoyed by many a family member. I don't think we'll ever be able to think about the moose hunt the same way again.

We did, however, make it out to the ranch to go on our much anticipated horse ride and hope there will be many more rides in the future. And so the adventures in the Great White North continue...

More pictures of Da Big Tunda...

Thunder Bay may be no sunny Mexico or super fly big A., but it certainly has its charms. I mean, the Sleeping Giant, Old Fort William, Kakabeka Falls... who would say these aren't primo tourist gems.

While we're on the subject of semi-precious stones, did you know that Thunder Bay is also in the heart of amethyst country? This gem was apparently found in such abundance that Ontario named it its official gemstone in 1975. Pretty cool, eh? If you thought that fact was neat-o, just wait, we've got lots more where that came from. Oh yes, Thunder Bay is a regular treasure trove of fun facts and interesting trivia just waiting to be mined!

From green to yellow... fall is here!

Returning home to Thunder Bay in September has many advantages... among them are hiking with dogs (and friends) and seeing the fall colours.

Where the Yard Salers at?



Ah... nothing says quality time with family like a good, old-fashioned yard sale. There was bickering over old cross-country ski sets, annoying devil-sticking routines performed every hour, on the hour, by Alexiss for the entertainment of the neighbourhood, parading around in our mother's old bridal paraphenalia and our dad's wetsuit from 1965, trolling ebay to find out how much a creepy Cricket doll goes for nowadays (we were hoping we might have hit the goldmine with the perky, aryan doll... but it turns out the little tramp tricks for less than 20 bones!). Despite the fact that Kate and I both have some professional communications/marketing experience, we managed to bomb the newspaper ad so thoroughly that only 10 people showed up... forcing us to hold not just one yard sale on a fine October weekend, but two.

We thought you might enjoy the short film "Where the Yard Salers at" - our version of a quasi-philosophical discussion about people, what they like, where they are and why the hell they didn't come to our yard sale. We apologize that the sound is a bit off here - so the video won't be as funny for you as it is for us. Or maybe it will be funnier... you'll just have to see!

Wish you could have been there!