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Comments
T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
The drive north was more or less as expected, with one exception. Around the time the sun was setting, a large raccoon ran across the road in front of our vehicle from the shoulder. My immediate thought was “I can run over that. I’m not swerving, or hammering the brakes.” I like to avoid harsh emergency maneuvers on the highway, especially when I have passengers, a lot of cargo, and am towing a trailer. I’m not going to risk putting our trailer upside-down in the ditch, to save a raccoon. It’s not that I don’t respect raccoons; I just put the safety of my family first. Unfortunately, the raccoon did not make it across, and we all heard a loud thump-thump, as we nailed the animal. I don’t think it suffered.
From what I could see in my side-view mirror, there was no damage to our equipment, so we pressed on down the highway, saddened by the loss of life, but happy to be safe. When we pulled into the park, we found a little blood spray on the truck, a few blood smears on the trailer, as well as some sort of small organ dangling from the drain pipe of the trailer. After checking in, we headed for the dump station, to give the trailer a rinse, before parking on our site. We tucked our T@b in the back corner, to leave room for this trip’s special guests.
Erica’s Aunt Kate, and Uncle Dave joined us on Saturday, for the weekend. We got them all set up, and settled in. Before long, conversation was flowing, and uh, holes were being dug in the site’s soft, sandy soil, using some RCs.
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After moving a sufficient amount of dirt, Dave and I took our RC crawlers to play on the Gut Lake Trail. The time was flying by, and while we were not yet at the half way point of the trail, we were summoned back to the site to get a fire, and dinner going. Burgers and pie iron pizzas sure hit the spot.
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On Sunday, the whole crew headed out to the Swan Lake Trail, to enjoy some of Grundy’s rocky terrain, and delightful views. The trail is fairly short, and does a good job of showcasing the terrain in the park, without being too strenuous.
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Later in the day, we brought out Settlers of Catan for some four player fun. Between the largest forest I’ve ever seen, a premature victory celebration, and all kinds of trash-talk, there were plenty of smiles around the board. After a break for another fire-roasted dinner, we played another round, until well after dark, safe from bugs in our screen tent.
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Dave and I had plans to get the tiny trucks out again on Monday morning, to finish up the last bit of the Swan Lake Trail he could not run after his battery died. It was fun to compare the different trucks, as the differences in tires, and wheelbase made the two trucks handle obstacles a little differently. Though Axial and Vaterra both have their fans, neither of us felt the need for any trash talking here. Both trucks were fairly evenly matched overall, with the exception of Dave’s Jeep having some upgrades which made it way faster when the terrain smoothed out. Most of my tiny trucking is done alone in the woods, and I was definitely happy to have some company.
Back at the campsite, it was soon time for Kate and Dave to start packing up. After we all hugged goodbye and Kate and Dave departed, Erica and I hopped on our bikes for a tour around the park. Many of the weekenders had already headed out, leaving their sites open, for a whole new set of campers to move in. We enjoyed our site to the last minutes before checkout, and then rolled on out.
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The drive home was nicely broken up by our favourite highway 400 rest stop: Six Mile Lake. We used their dump station to avoid the long wait at Grundy, and also stopped at the Park Store for some refreshing ice cold drinks, and ice cream snacks. The refreshments put a big smile on my face, as I finished the drive home, after a fabulous weekend away. Traffic was good enough, and we made it back home in time for Erica to watch the evening’s episode of the Bachelorette. Unfortunately, the calendar says our next camping trip is quite a few weeks away, but we are certainly glad we were able to make the most of this trip, and create some good memories.
Bonus: video clip of some tiny trucking.
T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
It happened that we had a free weekend in July, with no major plans. Erica had some work to do for school, and thought it would be nice to be able to do some of that work, while lying in a hammock somewhere nice. Though the thought was last minute (a few days before the weekend), she logged on to see if there was any available sites for the weekend. I emphasized that we would want an electrical site. While we rarely book electrical sites, the imminent heatwave that was forecasted for the weekend meant that we would be much more comfortable if we would be able to run the air conditioner in our trailer.
It turned out, that our best option was Six Mile Lake. It’s a fairly small park, which I find quite lovely. It is just on the southern edge of the Canadian Shield, which means it is not too far from home, but looks different from home. However, there is just one major knock against it. The park is right off of highway 400. That means that it is easy to navigate to, but highway noise is always present. That’s not too much of a bother for a short stay though. So, we booked it.
The drive up was a breeze. Strangely light traffic, and no animal strikes this time. We pulled into the park, as daylight was fading. We found our way to our site, and eyed it up. It was on a nice little dead-end offshoot. It worked out though, that I could not pull forward far enough to back into the site, and backing all the way up the offshoot from the main road would also be a pain. Fortunately, the ground was flat and hard enough, that we could unhitch, and push our little T@b into its resting place for the weekend. With the truck parked at the front of our site, we had all the privacy we wanted, despite the “poor” privacy rating of the site. Being on a dead end, there was very little foot traffic, which is nice, since our dogs often get excited when other dogs, or sometimes people walk by our campsites. We located the electrical pole, and plugged in. What a treat. All T@b systems were a go. We had a fridge, and air conditioning. We were really glamping now. While the air conditioner does make a fair bit of noise, we certainly liked the cool air as we slept.
I started my Saturday by walking the dogs around the campground. We strolled, and spent some time sitting at the beach, enjoying the light breeze, and watching a tractor rake the sand. We walked back to our campsite, and had some breakfast.
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After breakfast, Erica and I got her hammock all set up. Once she was settled in, I grabbed my tiny truck for a run. We were just a few steps away from the Living Edge trail, which was very convenient. The trail provided all kinds of fun rocky obstacles, so I decided to make a little video. The fun kept my mind off of the increasing heat a bit, and my head net kept the very active deer flies from driving me crazy.
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Being out in the heat, certainly does wear you down though. When I rolled back to the campsite, I was happy to spend a couple hours relaxing in the comfort of the trailer, for a few of the hottest hours of the day. When I started to get a bit stir crazy, Erica and I headed to the pet beach with the dogs for a swim. The lake was not cold, but still refreshing for us all. After taking a little time to dry off, we drove around the campground a bit. We then headed back to our site, to light a fire, and cook some dinner. Following that, we took a short walk, to help the Adventure Poodle fully dry, from his earlier swim. His coat takes a very long time to dry!
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On Sunday morning, the temperatures were more comfortable. We had a nice relaxing start to the day, before heading out for a hike together. As a group, we took on the Living Edge and David Milne Trail, as I had done solo with my tiny truck the day before. Temperatures were far more comfortable on Sunday though. We all enjoyed our hike, and the only knock against it was the highway noise that you hear, when taking in the gorgeous views.
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After our hike, we had lunch, and started to pack up. We were both happy that we would be able to get back home by dinner time, and still have some weekend left at home. Some lane closures and lingering volume extended the drive longer than we hoped, but we still had time to unpack, eat dinner, and even go for a bike ride. I hope you are all finding a way to stay cool this summer. If you are struggling, perhaps try crawling under a trailer, it worked for the dogs!
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T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
Erica and I have not camped nearly as much this summer as we did the previous couple years. This left Erica itching for another trip. She had some school work to do, but decided she would rather do it out in the woods, than at home. She snatched up an available site at Inverhuron PP, so we loaded up, and hit the road. The drive did not take us through GTA traffic, which was a lovely treat, making for a pretty low stress drive. It was also short enough, that we could drive there and back without making any bathroom or fuel stops. Easy!
We arrived at our site on Friday night, and were happy to see that it was large, private, and easy to back the trailer into. I was however surprised to find the electrical pole required far more cord to reach than I had ever used before. Fortunately, I had enough extension cord, since we only need 15A service for our little trailer. The other surprise was that I managed to forget the tool to lower the trailer’s stabilizers. Oops. Fortunately, a kind neighbor was able to lend me a tool to crank them down.
Saturday morning arrived, and after breakfast, Erica hit her mobile work station to get some school work done, while I leashed up the dogs, and took them for a long long walk, to explore the park. Pretty much all of the sites in the park were large, private, level, and well maintained. There was also plenty of beach for the dogs to run around on as well. After walking away the morning, the dogs and I returned to the campsite for lunch, and then an afternoon snooze in a hammock.
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Following the relaxation, Erica and I hopped on our bikes, so that Erica could see the park as well. The 200 Chain trail was a delight. We both very much enjoyed it. Following our ride, we lit the fire to roast up some dinner, before heading to the beach to watch a Lake Huron sunset. The sunset did not disappoint, though it turned out, the main beach was necessarily the best spot to watch it from, as the sun dips behind the point before it dips below the horizon. We still very much enjoyed it from the comfort of our lounge chairs.
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On Sunday, Erica and I hopped on our bikes for some more riding, since we had both enjoyed it so much the day before. Overall, the day was pretty relaxing. Getting home was pretty good too. The dump station facilities were excellent, and the driving was smooth.
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We very much enjoyed our first visit to Inverhuron PP. We will be back, soon, very soon.
T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
It’s been a while since I’ve published a trip report. Technically, I skipped a couple. At the end of my last Inverhuron report, I mentioned we would be back very soon, and we were. We actually went to Inverhuron 3 times in a row. As I described previously, it’s a lovely park to spend a weekend at, and the two trips that followed, allowed us to not only relax, but also to help out some family members, and meet up with other family members. I figured all the trip reports would have sounded quite similar though, so I refrained from repeating myself three times.
After our batch of Inverhuron trips, the next date marked on our calendar for a possible camping trip was the Thanksgiving long weekend. Due to other obligations, it was concluded that it would be a last minute decision if, and where we would go. Fortunately, some hard work by Erica put us in position to make a trip. The destination was Samuel de Champlain. We had wanted to return since our first trip there a few years ago. There were a lot of sites available, including the lovely 173, which we booked after it became available after an apparent cancellation.
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The biggest trouble we faced on the weekend was traffic. Both the drive to, and from the park were plagued by heavy traffic delays. I could go on ranting about that, but there’s no point. We got there and back safely, which is what is most important. Even though we left home early on Friday afternoon, by the time we arrived, and set up on our spacious site, the day was over, but we did get ourselves tucked in bed at a reasonable time.
On Saturday morning, we were expecting cool and rainy weather, and that is what we got. So, we decided we would spend most of the day in North Bay. We enjoyed the fall colours and falling leaves on the half hour drive. We then checked out a few open houses. Your money goes a lot farther when buying real estate in North Bay than Niagara, and most of the people we talked to that day painted a positive picture of the city. We continued rolling around the city, and stopped for lunch at a restaurant downtown, were a delicious burger at Cecil’s Brewhouse destroyed a craving I had.
The weather did dry up, so Erica and I decided to go to the Eau Claire Gorge for a hike with the dogs. We did check out the Historic Squatter’s Cabin that we did not see on our previous trip to the area. It’s a rebuilt version of an isolated cabin that was built by, and lived in by a man who was said to be suspected of a murder. We were able to finish up the day with dinner cooked on the fire. As I often do, I burnt one side of my pie iron pizza pocket badly. Doh!
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On Sunday, we started our day with a hike on the Kag Trail. It was a great little trail, with fun terrain, nice colours, and good views. After the hike, we “chilled out” for a bit with some warm beverages. It was great hiking weather, but when just sitting around camp, bundling up was helpful if you wanted to be comfortable.
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Our afternoon was enriched by a wonderful visit from Scott and Nancy, who arrived with an incredible Thanksgiving feast. What a treat! Turkey, potatoes, beans, stuffing, gravy, and even pumpkin pie were all so yummy. We lounged around, enjoyed some hot beverages and conversation, and took a quick scoot to the day use area, across the lake from our campsite. As the afternoon drew late, our guests departed.
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I had just a tad bit of daylight left to play with, so I decided to take my RC truck to the Kag trail for a little crawling. I was racing the fading daylight, and dealing with some light rain. I did not even stop to take a picture, which is unusual for me. Unless you’re new to my trip reports, I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of my 1/10 scale Chevy rock crawler, so no loss there. I had a ton of fun though, before ducking back into the dry warmth of the T@b trailer.
On Monday, we debated a few options that included leave early, a long hike, or a short hike. We agreed that a short hike was the best option. So, we headed to the Red Pine trail. It was another wonderful hike through the forest. The terrain required your full attention, as you had to place each step carefully. There are very few easy steps on any of the trails in the Etienne Trail System, which can make the distances seem a lot longer than they actually are. Erica has been struggling with replacing her old hiking boots, but double socks inside of her newest pair of boots seemed to deliver very encouraging results on this hike. Everybody was happy to be out, enjoying the nice weather, fresh air, and fall colours.
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After our hike, it was time to get ready to hit the road. A significant wait at the dump station, and the aforementioned traffic delays made it a grind, but we were both happy that we were able to get away for the weekend. It’s looking like this will be our last trip of 2019. I’m not too sure how 2020 will unfold, but I hope it will be filled with good company, new destinations, and rejuvenating outdoor experiences.
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T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
As it worked out, Erica had booked a vacation day, for a reason that had since ceased to exist. Rather than cancelling it, she convinced me I should take the Friday off as well. I reluctantly agreed, since we did not at the time have a plan for what we would do with the lengthened weekend. We went down our typical list of considerations for a vacation, but did not land on a winner the first time or two we discussed it. However, as the date grew near, Erica decided she wanted to be far, far away from home (work). It was also apparent that the weather was looking quite nice for some time outdoors, so a camping trip to Mew Lake Algonquin was planned.
We figured we would leave early Friday morning, to avoid a long drive in the dark on a rainy Thursday night. However, our sleep was interrupted Thursday night, by of all things, the control panel on our oven deciding to notify us with a constant beeping, that it had a fault. Seriously? Anyway, the result was us not moving quite as quickly in the morning as we thought we would. That’s fine though. It’s a vacation. It’s supposed to be relaxing. So, we got out the door when we were good and ready.
After a smooth drive, we arrived just in time to get in a hike on the Hardwood Lookout trail, before we lost daylight. The parking lot had a sign saying no trailers, but it was empty, and I was confident there was room for our T@b to get in and out. Although much of the province had seen its snow melt off, the area we were in must have had just a touch of snow at the end of the last rain event, so instead of the dull colourless theme that is typical of late fall, the ground was white, and the trees were frosted. I took a real quick dart down the first few meters of the trail to see how icy it was. My conclusion was that it was indeed slippery. Fortunately, Erica and I both had YakTrax, so we both elected to use those, so that we could traverse all the icy bits with confidence. We used them for every hike on this trip. We were both very happy to be in the woods, and on a trail. It seemed like it had been a while. We made pretty quick work of the short trail, and then headed to our campsite.
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Our priority upon arriving was to get the heat on in the trailer quickly, so it had time to warm up before bed. Erica flicked on the heater as soon as we were plugged in. A few minutes later, I checked, and did not hear the familiar sound of the circulation pump. No heat. Ok, the Alde loves to blow its fuse, so I replaced that. I flicked it on to full electric power, and the unit came alive. However, I checked some time later, and though the unit was running, there was still no heat. Umm, ok. I switched the heater from electric to propane mode, and finally, the unit was generating heat. I was glad I had checked and re-filled the propane tank before the trip. I’ll also note at this time that the trailer’s fridge seems to have quit working, but at least we discovered that before the trip. The light inside the fridge turns on, but the compressor does not turn on. It makes no noise at all. Fortunately, that problem was inconsequential for this winter trip. Some troubleshooting of these systems will be required in the future though. I'll probably post a separate thread for that.
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Since our trailer would take longer to warm up than we were hoping, I built a fire for us to huddle around, before we ducked into our trailer for the night. When we were finally ready to move inside the trailer, it was not cold, but not warm either. We left the heat cranked, and eventually, it was too warm, then after some adjustment, just right.
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The following morning, Wayne Gretzky’s Canadian Cream Whisky made the morning’s coffee extra delicious. After breakfast, we decided to hit the Bat Lake trail. It was a delight and, and the climbing rewarded us with an excellent lookout view. We had the trail all to ourselves, which is one of the best parts of visiting Algonquin in late November. The temperatures were fantastic for the weekend as well; just cold enough to keep the snow on the ground.
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After our 5.5km hike we took some time to relax and read. I took my RC truck for a boot, and then did some reading. The time passed quickly, and soon it was time for us to head into Huntsville. Erica had a school related need for some good wi-fi, so we spent a little time in a Tim Hortons. Following that, we spent a little time driving around Huntsville, pondering what it would be like to live there. As darkness fell, we parked the truck, and headed into the Main St. Local Kitchen for a nice hot meal. I was very pleased with their featured entrée, and Erica was delighted by the coconut cream pie that came for desert. After dinner, we headed back to the campsite and quietly wrapped up the evening.
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The plan for Sunday, was to have breakfast, hike the Big Pines trail, and then roll on out, so that we could get home with plenty of time to get ready for the coming week. I really like the Big Pines trail, and have been wanting to do it again, since we last hiked it a couple years ago. The tall trees are certainly a sight to be seen. Once again, we had the trail all to ourselves. We were worried we would have to share, when an SUV pulled into the parking lot as we were taking off, however the SUV did not stop. The snow was still in the trees, making for some pretty winter views on our hike.
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Both Erica and I really enjoyed this little getaway. It helped refresh our minds. As the days grow short, it is easy to spend too much time inside, and even walks on a dark night just don’t recharge the soul like spending a weekend camping.
PS, by the way, thanks to YouTube, it seems I was able to fix our (house) stove after we arrived home. Sunday night’s sleep was not interrupted by 3am beeping.
PPS, the electric heating issue was resolved by simply plugging in a plug that had wiggled loose.
T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
TV: 2005 Toyota Sienna LE (3.3L V6)
RV: 2018 T@B 320S, >100 mods
The last trip report I wrote was in November 2019, and a pandemic has changed the world dramatically since then. Everybody has been affected by the pandemic in many ways. For camping enthusiasts like Erica and I, spring often brings at least a couple trips, where we watch weather forecasts, and put on bug nets before heading into the woods. However, spring of 2020 was very different. Government restrictions closed our parks, and cancelled any travel plans we had, or might have had.
As we closely followed the news, Erica booked a bunch of trips in June, with the hope that the Ontario Provincial Parks would open for camping. While several reservations did get cancelled due to the parks remaining closed, at the end of June, finally parks began to open.
The first reservation of ours that would be held for 2020 was a weekend trip to Awenda. This park was one that we had not been to previously. The park has a reputation for having large, well spaced sites. What could go wrong? With only a weekend trip, we knew there was about a 0% chance we would be bored. The only significant change as a result of the pandemic, was that the parks would not be opening up their showers. No problem. We can shower in our T@b if we really wanted a shower.
On the plus side, the pandemic means less people are traveling, and traffic through the GTA was significantly lighter than normal. We cruised through to the park in under three hours. Why have we not been here before? Visiting Awenda was my suggestion. Erica speculated that perhaps she overlooked the park previously, because she found the names of the campgrounds (hawk, turtle, etc) uninspiring.
Anyway, once I got out of the truck, I noticed it sounded like it was raining in the woods. Though rain was a possibility overnight, it was definitely not raining. It turned out that the sound was caterpillars! Munching leaves like crazy, causing both leaf fragments and, umm, poop to fall through the trees. The good news was that the poop was fairly dry, and closely resembled tiny little spheres of dirt. While the caterpillars were certainly a part of the trip, they definitely did not ruin it. Erica did have one fall on her and give her a prick once, which made her a bit more sensitive to them after that.
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Anyway, we landed on our site without issue, and tucked in for the night. When the morning came, we had a delicious yogurt, granola, and berry breakfast, with coffee of course. Erica had made mid morning plans with a friend who lived nearby. Before she took off with the truck, I had her drop the dogs and I off near the beaches, since they were pretty far from our campsite. The dogs were full of energy, so we had a big walk to help take the edge off. We took a glance at all of the 5 beaches. Some of the “beaches” were simply a path to the water, while others were far more beach-like. At the dog beach, the pups took the opportunity to splash around a bit in the water, and sniff another dog.
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After the beaches, we took to some more trails. We headed up the Nipissing Trail, and gained some elevation, before connecting to the Bluff Trail, which would eventually take us back to our section of the campground. When we finally made it back to the campsite, we had covered over 8km, at a high pace, because Mr Poodle had a lot of energy and enthusiasm. The trails we covered were wide, mostly smooth paths through the woods. Not challenging, but certainly enjoyable.
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The dogs and I beat Erica back to the campsite, but not by too much. The dogs and I lounged for a bit, and enjoyed being in the woods, disconnected from the chaos of the world. Yes, that’s right, disconnected. No service on the ol’ iPhone. I loved that. Before long, Erica pulled up, and we had lunch.
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In the afternoon, we took a small tour of some of the campgrounds on our bicycles. We followed that with a hike on the Robitaille Trail. The trail was a 3km out and back hike, that takes you buy some old building foundation, and gives you some history of the land. I did not take any pictures, because there were a couple distractions. The most agitating one was the biting insects, which were being somewhat aggressive. The second distraction was the poison ivy that lined the trail. Fortunately, there was signage that alerted us of the plants, but we needed to be very careful to keep the dogs from brushing up against the poison ivy on the side of the trail. While dogs don’t typically suffer from poison ivy, they can transfer the oil to us. To be safe, we used some dish soap and paper towel to rinse and wipe down their sides after the hike.
In the evening, we lit a fire, and broke out the pie iron. I proceeded to scorch one side. Doh! Hot dogs I can do, but for some reason, I struggle with the pie iron at times. When I’m hungry, sometimes I have more enthusiasm than focus. Oh well. My efforts yielded much better results the second go-‘round. And that was a wrap for Saturday.
On Sunday, we did not have big plans, but the weather was great, and we elected to take a hike around Kettle’s Lake, on the Wendat trail. I really enjoyed the hike. Again, the trail was in no way challenging. It was mostly smooth, pretty flat, and plenty wide. The trail did provide very pleasant views though, and was very enjoyable. The bugs were not being too aggressive either.
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And that’s a wrap for Awenda! The drive back home, was also a breeze. I think maybe we’ll be back some time, when we wish to disconnect for a weekend, without driving too far. Thanks for reading!
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T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
Another weekend, another trip! This time our destination was Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. We like this park, because it is the shortest drive north you can take, that gets you to the edge of the beloved Canadian Shield. We booked the same site we had when we took our third trip with our T@b. It backs on to a lovely marsh, and we knew it would be a nice place to spend what was forecasted to be a warm weekend weather wise.
Erica was working a day shift, while I had the day off, due to observing the Canada Day holiday on Friday instead of Wednesday. We were able to hit the road, breeze through the drive, and arrive at our site before sunset, which is a somewhat rare treat for us.
Upon arriving at our site, and beginning to setup, I noticed the mosquitos were being aggressive. Oh no. They were not a big problem at Awenda the week before, so I had not bothered to pack our screen tent. Suddenly, I was very concerned I’d regret that. After setting up, the bugs chased us into the trailer as daylight was fading. Oh, and also, sometime since our last stay, somebody carved "Erica" into the picnic table. Ironic. We choose to leave things the way we found them, but not everyone rolls like that.
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Fortunately, when I emerged from the trailer in the morning, mosquitoes were not a problem. In other good news, caterpillars were not a problem either. It was shaping up to be a good day. Erica and I spent the morning relaxing side by side in our hammocks, enjoying the marsh view. Much like our last visit to this site, we would spot a Great Blue Heron periodically. We referred to him as Garry. We also took a stroll around the campground, to get the dogs a bit of exercise.
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In the afternoon, we headed to nearby McCrae Lake Conservation Trail. This is a hiking trail in a well know conservation reserve, which is easily accessible, and free to use. Thus, it is very popular, and not always treated well by its guests. We had never been though, and I had wanted to check it out for a while. The parking area is small, and was overflowing, so we had to park a little ways away from the trailhead, to avoid being ticketed for parking in a signed no parking zone. To save some walking on the road, we hopped the roadway guard rail, descended a rocky slope, and hopped onto an ATV trail, which would lead us to the trail we wished to hike. Unfortunately, Erica had forgotten her hiking socks, and her hiking boots quickly began to give her blisters.
This brought a quick end to the hike I was looking forward to. I did not handle the disappointment well, as Erica has had several problems with boots and socks over the last couple years, but unfortunately, it was a problem I could not solve. I was able to grab a quick picture of McDonald Lake before we made our way back to the campsite.
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We talked about feelings, and trying to manage them appropriately. Fortunately for me, Erica is not the type pour gasoline on a fire when I am upset, and / or out of line. Ultimately, some Peachwine from Konzelmann Estate Winery got us feeling better. This wine contains lovely aromas and flavours of tree ripened peaches, accompanied by a refreshing crisp finish. Making this fruity drink a perfect summer-sipper!
In the evening, I lit a fire to roast our traditional pie iron pizzas. I burnt mine, again.
On Sunday, we did not get up to much. Mostly relaxation, combined with both Erica and I driving my RCs around the feature rich campsite.
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We had a delicious falafel wrap lunch, before heading home. Unfortunately, traffic was not great, but with the relatively short distance, we still arrived home before dinner. We certainly enjoyed the slightly cooler temperatures we found up north, compared to Niagara this weekend. We thought we would spend some time swimming in the lake for sure, but with the shade and light breeze we had at our campsite, we were super comfortable lounging. Cheers to summer relaxation.
Ok, well, since my last blog post, a lot has changed! Since this blog is about our camping adventures, I’ll tell the short version of the story. Erica accepted a job in Brockville Ontario, we sold our house, and temporarily moved in with her parents in Smiths Falls, while we get our finances in order, and look for a new place to live. Wow, big change! Working quickly to get our house ready to show / sell took up a lot of our energy, and a lot of our time for a few weeks. This meant that camping went on the backburner for a little while. While we still have a fair bit to do before closing on our old house, Erica decided we needed to sneak in a few camping trips before summer is over.
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Last minute bookings obviously mean selection of parks / sites is limited, but as she often does, Erica found us a lovely spot, at a lovely park. This time, we would visit Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, near Mattawa Ontario. This would be our third trip to this park. It’s definitely on our “favourites” list. One detail that would make this trip different, is that Erica and I would be travelling separately. Erica would leave from Smiths Falls on Friday morning, while I would leave with our trailer from St Catharines Friday after work.
Erica had a pretty uncomplicated drive, as she did not have to pass through any large cities. Yes, that’s a part of the reason we are moving! She took the opportunity to get together with a classmate on Friday evening to catch up. On the other hand, I had to battle a little bit of big city traffic before I arrived around 10:30pm. I was carrying a little extra cargo this trip, as we were moving a few goods from Niagara to Smiths Falls. So, we took a little time to shuffle some things around to free up our sleeping space in the trailer, before tucking into bed.
On Saturday morning, we went about our business as normal, but then started noticing an interesting natural phenomenon. One of the trees on our campsite was basically erupting bugs like a volcano. They were oozing out of every nook and cranny, and flying off. The bugs were not bothering us at all, so that was good. It was interesting to watch, but Erica did not like them.
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Later on, we went for a hike on the Kag trail. We’ve done it before, and were happy to do it again. It’s a shorter trail, at a little over 2km, but it is ranked as difficult, due to rough terrain and steep climbs. We enjoyed it, but spent a fair bit of our time joking about how much fitness we have lost since a couple years ago when we were taking on 15km hikes.
After the Kag trail, we immediately bounced to the Forestry Research Trail, for a bit of a cool down. Unlike the challenging Kag trail, this one was a quick and simple stroll through the woods. Walking back to the truck after the hike, we spotted a nice swimming spot on the river, so we made plans to head back with our bathing suits.
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So, without wasting too much time, we gathered our compact chairs, some towels, and some wine and headed down to the river. We took the dogs with us, and we all did a bit of swimming. We all enjoyed it, but Erica and the poodle seemed to have an exceptionally good time. Erica said it was one of the best experiences she’s had this summer. After we swam, we sat, drank some (fermented) grape juice from a plastic cup, and watched as campers floated down the river on their tubes, air mattresses, and kayaks. No pictures of this fun though, sorry folks. Here’s one of our campsite though. I think this was the Mini’s first camping trip.
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In the evening, it was back to the usual, campfire, and pie iron pizzas. Erica was kind enough to roast them up for both of us, since I often manage to burn them. We got all of our stuff tucked away into the two vehicles, as rain was expected overnight, and into the morning.
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Though it did rain a little overnight, it stopped in the morning, so we still had a pleasant time. We lounged around a bit, and took the dogs for a walk around the campground, and to the river, where we sat for a bit. We both were very appreciative of the opportunity to get away.
Later, we packed up, and headed out. Erica left a little earlier than me, and I had to dump the trailer on the way out. Fortunately, I was able to complete that task minutes before the rain started. Boy did it rain! It came down hard, for quite a long time. The drive between Mattawa and Deep River was very scenic. The drive as a whole was very smooth, as we did not have to cross any big cities. Yay. Even though Erica left first, we both arrived back in Smiths Falls at almost the same time, since Erica accidentally took a wrong turn, stopped for gas, and then later intentionally took a more scenic route. That’s a wrap!
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T@Bit@t 2015 S Max Outback, ‘18 V6 4Runner
Alright, it’s been a week since our last trip, and I’m just now getting to the trip report. I’ve been occupied with all the “house stuff” that goes along with our move, but I’m using this Labour Day Monday for some rest and relaxation, so I’ve got a few moments to tap some keys. Now, what did we do again?
We left on a Friday after dinner, and grabbed gas and groceries on the way out of town. We knew that Saturday was going to bring some rain, and Erica reminded me of that as we passed by the small book rack in the grocery store. It’s nice to have a book on rainy days. So, I browsed the small selection, which I clearly was not the target audience for, and selected the best of the worst.
We headed northwest towards Driftwood Provincial Park. It was a stress free drive, as we did not have to fight any big city traffic. We landed without issue on our massive campsite, which somehow was rated for “3 tents” but not trailers. We knew our tent-sized trailer would fit fine, but we did not think we would have as much extra room as we did!
When Saturday morning came around, there was indeed some rain. However, due to the house-stuff related stress we have been dealing with, we were very happy to just take it easy, and do some reading. We both laughed at the grocery-store-special rom-com I was reading, but it was good enough to hold my interest.
As we got closer to lunch time, we realized we would need to get up. Rather than doing any cooking outside in the damp weather, Erica suggested we take a drive, and go out for lunch for a nice warm meal. With most of the day continuing to look rainy, we figured the best thing to do would be to drive around. So, we also penciled in a trip to the Brent Crater in Algonquin PP, which we had drove past signs for on our previous trip to Samuel de Champlain.
Erica wanted some simple, warm, comfort food, so we selected the nearby Rolphton Motel & Restaurant. This was actually our first indoor dine-in experience since the pandemic began. The dining room was empty when we walked in, so we felt comfortable at our window seat where we could watch the traffic go by, as we munched on pizza, poutine, and a burger. The food was simple, and warm, as we expected. I enjoyed watching the traffic go by on the Trans-Canada highway. There was such a variety of vehicles to observe, including many which were loaded and equipped for outdoor adventures.
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After our meal, we headed to the Brent Crater. We had about a 75 minute drive to the crater, including about 35km on a dirt road. The road was in decent shape, but not without a little bit of washboard, as it snaked through the trees. The crater was formed about 450 million years ago, when a giant meteorite struck the earth, forming a depression about 2 miles in diameter, and thousands of feet deep. Observing the rim from the tower, it does not look particularly unusual, aside from the fact that the rim is unusually round. Of course, over the last several millions of years, the crater has filled in quite a lot, but the feature still remains significant.
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Following our trip up the observation tower, we headed out for a hike, as the rain had fortunately let up. Erica misheard / misunderstood me, and thought we were only going to be hiking for a few hundred meters, not a few kilometers. We were not well prepared, and did not have a map, though I had glanced at one before we started our hike. Also, I was surprised that there were as many aggressive mosquitoes as there were. I was covered up in my rain jacket, though I wished I was wearing pants instead of shorts. Anyway, the terrain was very nice, and we did not run into any issues.
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Following the hike, we decided to drive around the Brent area a little more. We wound our way through the campgrounds and cottages, before heading back north on Brent Road. After exiting the park boundary, there are many small roads that branch off of the main road. Where do they go? Erica decided she wanted to check one out before we left, so we turned around and went exploring. The roads turned narrow, but still wide enough for a truck, as long as you are not afraid of brushing up against a few trees. We had to execute a few multi-point turns, and did kick it into 4 wheel drive, as the rain had made the hills a bit slippery. The road split a few different ways, but we found that each split tended to lead to private property. Now we know! There are many more roads that could have been explored, but we had about enough for the day, and headed back to Driftwood. Leftover pizza on the drive home made up our dinner.
Saturday was a very good day, for a rainy day, but when the sun came up on Sunday, it felt like our camping trip was just starting, since we spent most of Saturday outside of Driftwood. Unfortunately, with a 2pm checkout time, we only had a bit of time in the park. Oh, and a message from our Realtor Saturday evening had raised our stress levels again. Anyway, in the morning, Erica wanted to do a bit of reading, so I pulled out my RC cars for the first time since Six Mile Lake. I started ripping the short course truck around the campsite, and then took the crawler out to a trail, that was only a few steps from our campsite. The trail was awesome. It provided sufficiently interesting terrain to challenge the tiny truck, while the beauty of the area delighted me. I did not stay out long, because I wanted to head back to the campsite, and tell Erica how nice the trail was, so that she would have an opportunity to check it out.
Erica sensed my enthusiasm, and laced up her boots, so that she could join me, along with the dogs. We went for a short hike, and she agreed that the trail was very nice. We did not have time to go far, but I would certainly like to spend more time on the trails on a future visit. I felt like we ran out of time on this trip, so we’ll have to go back some time.
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2019 Toyota Tacoma
Asheville, NC
"Don't postpone joy!"