Wednesday May 6th 2015 149861
We didn't have too many days to count between trips this time around.
Another few good days ahead of us, according to the weather forecast, so we are on our way to MacGregor Point again. Always fun and not far to travel. Not that it matters how far we travel.
Really nice bright sunny day and ready to leave home about 9.45 am.
Quiet, easy drive to the park.
This time we were lucky enough to be able to get site #36. We have never had this site, as it is usually one of the first to go. It really is a fabulous site and actually on the bank of the Turtle pond.
We didn't go directly to our site after checking in, we headed straight to the Tower Trail. This trail is 5 km from our site, so we often walk this one either when we arrive or when we are leaving. That way we drive to the trail and don't have to walk an extra 10 km on top of the 4 km trail.
Apparently snakes are really liked here. We have already seen one, but it was swimming around the pond.
The weather was just right for walking. and we always enjoy this trail, which, once again consists of...........
Boardwalk...........
And grass.
Then there is the view from the tower.
We did see a few species of ducks and could hear a few different bird calls. But today there wasn't that much to actually see at the tower. However, it is always interesting.
Then we made our way along the trail to the Bird Blind. That is very interesting when there are a lot of birds, ducks and geese there. Once in the Blind, the birds cannot see us. Today we only saw a pair of Red Winged Blackbirds and another snake that was busy swimming.
So on our way again along the trail where we saw a few more ducks, a solitary frog and the usual Blue Jays and Robins.
It was a great walk and a good way to start this little trip.
Now time to set up home for the next few days, and time for lunch after a nice walk in the sunshine.
Lucky enough to get a room with a view!
As you can see we are right on the bank of the Turtle Pond.
Almost a shame to go for a walk. it is so pretty, so we just relaxed there for a while.
About 3.30 pm we decided it was time to explore the Turtle Pond from the other side of the pond, which is our usual walk around here on the boardwalk. There were several turtles still sunning themselves. This guy was the closest and had the log to itself.
Today there was no sign of any Chick A Dees
or Squirrels.
From the boardwalk we could just see
El Campista in the trees across from the boardwalk.
Could not believe what we saw next - a huge ice jam still on Lake Huron. To us that seems very late in the season to see the ice. But - maybe, or maybe not.
The lake was very cold, very clean and clear.
Back onto the Huron Trail to see if there still as many frogs there.
There were not so many, but those that were there were enjoying the sunshine, just as we were.
Then time to head back to our site.
We did get a visit from the friendly, hungry chipmunk, and a squirrel, who was chased away very quickly by the chipmunk.
It was still very nice outside for late afternoon, so that was where we stayed until my Chef got to work.
As the sun went down a little it turned considerably cooler so we got the camp fire going. Which did very well.
I was just looking around the area when "I Spied" something I thought Mike should try to guess on.
I am sure you all remember playing "I Spy" when you were kids.
Well I told Mike "I Spy something beginning with B H". After several guesses and some time past he gave up.
As you can now see, there was a lovely Bird House in the tree right next to out Fire Pit.
We have never had a site with it's own Bird House. I am hoping Mike can make a similar one for our yard when he gets home.
I did manage to get a picture of the sun setting. This time taken from the bank of the Turtle Pond.
Although we come to this park quite often, so far this has been one of the best trips, thanks to the great site.
Can't wait to see what we find tomorrow.
Night, night.
Thursday May 7th 2015.
The day is looking very good. Brilliant sunshine and just a slight breeze.
We had visitors hanging around for breakfast today, squirrels, chipmunks, robins, chickadees blue jays and a pair of white throated sparrows.
However, not everyone wanted their picture taken.
This is part of the board walk that goes around the turtle pond, taken from our site.
Time for a walk.
Today we decided we would take The Deer Run Bike Trail, minus the bikes!
It is a very easy trail to follow, with some sunny areas and some shady areas. It covers almost all of the park, with many areas where you can get onto other trails if you wish.
Due to all the snow and ice this past winter and the few heavy rain storms we have encountered since then, some of the trail was still quite soft and muddy. However, there were not any parts of the trail completely washed out, as there were on April 15th, when we were here.
We didn't see any deer. In fact we didn't see any animals, just a few Blue Jays and Robins.
Got back to our camp site about an hour and half later. So probably done about 5km walk. The weather still great, sunny and slight breeze.
After lunch I caught up on some reading while relaxing in the sunshine.
About 4 p.m. we decided we had been relaxing and lazy for too long, so we wandered the trails towards sunset point. Where I am pleased to inform you that the ice was no longer visible on this part of Lake Huron. However, the breeze off the lake was still very cool.
Headed to Huron Fringe Trail next to see if there were any frogs there today. Yes! The frogs were visible and loud.
Still several frogs lazing in the sunshine.
Then, bonus, right on the top of the pond lazing among the weeds we saw a very large snapping turtle. I think it is probably the biggest one we have seen around here.
It was not at all bothered by us on the boardwalk. It just stayed there snoozing in the sunshine. Probably a good thing!
From there we made our way around the turtle pond. This time there were not any squirrels, turtles, chickadees or frogs. So we went back to our site.
There we were greeted by this friendly little squirrel, who was waiting for a few treats.
No to be done out of any treats, our friendly chipmunk joined in the party.
It had been a very nice warm sunny day, and lucky for us the evening remained fairly warm too.
The fire was excellent again.
And the sun set, once again, over the lake and pond, followed by the end of another fabulous day at MacGregor Point.
Friday May 8th 2015 149955
Still sunny and warm, however the forecast is for storms to roll in later this afternoon. We are hoping it will be late afternoon for the storms, as today we are heading home. With such good weather we were in no hurry to pack up. We just relaxed and took our time.
Left Port Elgin about 12.45 pm and stopped along the Saugeen Rive near Paisley for lunch.
It really was a very pleasant area to stop for a while.
Arrived back in Durham about 2.15 pm.
This has been a really enjoyable break, and we are now looking forward to the next one.
150040.
Wednesday April 29th 2015 149198
Today we are heading to Rodeau Provincial Park, near Chatham, Ontario. We have not camped around this area before, so should prove interesting.
We left Durham about 9.30 a.m. in sunshine.
Very quiet on the roads today. As you all know we do try to stay off any major highways.
Travelled through some of West Grey, Wellington, Perth, Middlesex and Elgin Counties. Went through the small town of Wartburg. Not a bad little town, despite its undesirable name.
The areas of Perth we travelled through were mainly farmland, and it occurred to us that Perth County had declared April 29th 2015 to be their County Manure Day. I will say no more, except, we do not have any sinus problems at this time!
Took a drive through St. Mary's. Now that was a good looking place. We really enjoyed that. Then just meandered along the country roads to Rondeau Park.
Still sunny when we got set up on site #15, at about 1.15 p.m. However, there was a cool breeze. 149475
This is a very well laid out park. One side of the park is on Rondeau Bay, while the other side is on Lake Erie. Consequently it was like being on an Island.
Most sites here were slightly different to what we are used to. Although good size sites, there were not so many trees.
After lunch we made our way to Rondeau Bay, where we needed our winter jackets. If only we had bought them with us. The wind off the bay was quite cold.
From the Bay we headed towards South Point Trail, which turned out to be quite sheltered, making for a far more comfortable walk. A very easy trail to follow too.
Then we headed on to The Spice Bush Trail, which turned out to be very interesting, consisting of a regular walking trail.
And several board walk trails.
This trail is know as the Carolinian Forest area, and is riddled with many different species of wild flowers, ferns and fungi.
Although it was a little early to see many of the flowers in bloom, there were a few beginning to appear.
The Trillium was just coming into bloom.
There is also a good amount of swamp area on this trail.
At the end of the trail the walk continued along Bennet Avenue, where even more Trillium lined the edge of the road.
That led us to Lakeshore Road where there were many lovely cottages and properties.
We really liked this log one. Although a lot of work had been done to and around this cottage you could still see some of the original logs. It was really very impressive.
It was quite a long walk but we finally found beach access #10 and were lucky enough to walk a very quiet beach in brilliant sunshine, heading in the direction of our camp site.
After a total of about two and half hours hiking we made it back to our site safe and sound and ready for some relaxation and a bevvy.
It had turned out to be a fun afternoon and very interesting walk.
A great BBQ Supper and a good campfire for the evening, completed the end of, once again, a very enjoyable day.
Thursday April 30th 2015.
Beautiful bright sunny morning, however, the forecast is for 60% rain showers today. So we had to have breakfast and hit the trails as quickly as we could.
The first trail we got on was The Harrison Trail. We were only doing a portion of this trail to get us onto The Black Oak Trail.
The Harrison Trail runs almost the length of the Park and is 8 km in length, one way. Then naturally a further 8 km to get back.
It was a very well groomed trail and made for very easy walking.
The Black Oak Trail was several km along the Harrison Trail.
The Black Oak Trail was a 1.5 km loop, and renowned for the amount of song birds hat frequent the area. It was a rugged narrow trail, but fairly easy to get around.
Although not a lot of different song birds out there today, we did see Blue Jays, Cardinals, Robins, Sparrows, Red Winged Blackbirds and several different types of Finches. Who moved so quickly it was too difficult to try to identify them. We did get to see a Flicker and a pair of very large birds, who had a nest at the top of an extremely large, tall tree. They did resemble an Eagle, but we do not know if they actually were Eagles.
We did find a very interesting tree that had been hit by lightening and was actually in two separate pieces, and looking very charred.
After the Black Oak Trail we got back onto the Harrison Trail. This portion of the trail had many bends in it. It did seem strange to see this sign on a trail. It did remain to be a very well groomed trail though.
Then we headed to the Lake Erie Shore again.
Not far along the beach it got extremely windy and cold. It was once again several kilometers before we could make our way onto the roadway, and escape some of the high cold winds. It was a better walk once on the roadway, back to our site.
Lunch time, about 1.30 pm, when we got back, and also time to relax. Lucky for us the rain had held off.
However, the rain started about 3.30 pm. Not heavy rain, but it made it cool enough to sit inside for a while. The rain showers continued for a couple of hours.
The rain did not deter the animals at all. A couple of rabbits were running around the site opposite us, a deer wandered around the bush at the back of our camper and a cheeky raccoon came around to see what could be salvaged. Too bad there were so many raindrops racing down the windows. We couldn't get any pictures.
By dinner time the rain had stopped and it had dried up nicely, so after dinner we managed to sit around the camp fi9re, where it felt even warmer than it did the night before.
By 10 pm the night sky had cleared and a few stars and bright moon were visible.
OK, another really wonderful day!
Friday May 1st 2015 149475
WOW, woke to lovely bright sunny day, and definitely considerably warmer than yesterday. Too bad we are heading home today. This happens so often the day we are leaving. It turns out to be beautiful and we wish we were staying. However, no problem we can return whenever we wish.
Sat out in the sunshine after breakfast enjoying the sounds of so many birds. I guess the rain yesterday bought all the birds out today to enjoy the sunshine.
Chipmunks and squirrels were running around while we ate breakfast. We've got used to BBQ breakfast again right now so we hope the weather will allow us to do this when we get home.
Finally time to head out. We decided to stop in St Thomas for a while. It was an interesting town. The down town was quite large and vibrant. Very good to see that.
So on our way again. This time heading towards Stratford for lunch. We have always enjoyed Stratford and haven't been there for several years. As it turned out today was not the best time to visit. The weather was excellent but the Theatres were extremely busy, making parking along the Avon River virtually impossible. So we had our lunch a little further up steam. No swans or ducks to be seen here. Regardless, it was still fun.
From there we drove into Guelph to visit with friends, Bernie and Karla. Unfortunately Bernie was working but Karla was home so we had a really good visit with Karla. We hadn't seen them in almost a year.
Then of course, road time again. This time the destination was to be Durham. As is often said, it is not the destination that is always exciting, it is getting there.
It was a good drive too. In fact the whole drive, for the day was really good.
To make a perfect ending to a perfect trip we stopped at Riverside Fish N Chips in Durham to collect our supper. I can assure you this is always delicious.
Now counting the days leading to the next trip. See you then!
