A Dream Dome

     During our first weekend back from our travels to Cuba we spent two nights at Ridgeback Lodge near Kingston, New Brunswick where your accommodation is in a dome. In order to get a reservation you have to book many months ahead, which I had. When we arrived, I was told by the owner that the lodge was fully booked up to December 2020. We had our own private area that was fenced in with a dome and outdoor hot tub. The inside of the dome was very cozy. It had a bed, some chairs, eating area, a propane fireplace (the only heat source), a bathroom with shower and a kitchenette. A perfect weekend away... or so we thought!

     Here are some photos of the inside of the dome. Quite nice! Just enough space for a couple of nights.

     Here is the view we had from the large front window. Actually, other then a few porthole windows, this was it. Nice and quiet!

     Even before we left home, Al was feeling ill. His symptoms were congestion, fever and coughing.  Remember that this was one week after we returned from Cuba.  As the day wore on, at the dome he got sicker and he spent most of the time sleeping. Me? I read, sewed and enjoyed the nature around us. At one point, Al felt well enough to go for a walk through the property and this is what we saw.

One of the owners loves to work with wood. Here is a carved bear.

A little rustic touch. Also there were many of those small colourful bird houses throughout 
the property as seen here.

The frozen pond was prepared as an ice rink with an archway as the entrance but
what is that out on the ice?

A gnome is stuck in the ice. But why? Apparently someone had put a pumpkin there and it got stuck in the ice. The pumpkin stuck up so they put the gnome over top of it so that skaters would not trip over it. As time passed the gnome stuck in solidly.

 Ridgeback sign carved into a tree stump.

Here we are on the trail.

These dead trees were used for people to leave their love notes on the tree.
Carving tools are provided.

A hot chocolate station was set up on the trail as a treat for the hikers. Great idea!

Getting warmed up with a cup of hot chocolate

Along the path is a small box way up in a tree. The box has a
lock on it and a cannabis leaf painted on the door. I asked the
owner the purpose of the box. He said that the box contains a
couple of joints for those who would like to partake while
walking the trails. You have to know the combination though. 
I guess that they want to cater to everyone.

This poor gnome just reminds me of how Al must have felt during
the days we were at the resort. 

     Along with enjoying the setting of the resort and our dome accommodations, we had time to rest, which was especially important for Al. It must be beautiful there in the summer months and I would love to be there at that time but alas we will be in another province by then.

     Since Al was still not feeling well, on the way home we decided that Al should seek medical assistance.  We called the Provincial Health phone line and were told to go to a walk-in clinic or hospital. Once home, Al went to the hospital to be tested for COVID-19. Now this was  the very beginning of this global pandemic in Canada and the doctor told Al that he was only the second person to be tested in the Province.  Once tested, Al was told that the results from the Provincial lab in Moncton would be available in a few days. In the meantime he had to quarantine himself for 14 days. He would receive a phone call every day from a health nurse until the results were known. The results came about 5 days after testing and his results were NEGATIVE for COVID-19 and influenza A & B. Al still had to stay in quarantine until the confirmation results came from the National Lab in Winnipeg which took more than a week. Meanwhile, his condition improved and finally he was discharged from isolation. In the meantime, New Brunswick declared a Public Health Emergency and so many activities, stores, etc. were closed and social distancing encouraged. "Stay Home. Be Safe".