Saturday 20th June 2015.
Today we will be celebrating Father's Day, as Natalie, Elijah and I have a surprise gift for Mike, for Father's Day and his upcoming special Birthday two days later.
Our Local Radio Station had put on a bus trip to Toronto to see the Toronto Blue Jays play against The Baltimore Orioles in Toronto for Father's Day. We were lucky enough to get the last four tickets.
Better still Mike knew nothing about this until he opened the gift. He really was surprised, thrilled and even speechless! Now that is a first, right!
All gifts opened and a few bevvy's consumed, then there was nothing left to do but get to Owen Sound for 7.45 a.m. Sunday morning.
Mike was convinced we would be going in the Big Yellow School bus.
Oh yes, I even managed to pull his Blue Jays Hat out of hiding.
It was a fun evening, filled with all kinds of plans for the next day.
Sunday 21st June 2015.
Very warm, damp, humid morning, and right on time Natalie and Elijah picked us up for the drive to Owen Sound, 7.45 a.m.
Whenever Elijah and I go anywhere there is always an "adventure" of some sort. Today was no different. A few miles along highway 6 Elijah squealed at Natalie -"Spider" ! He does not like spiders. Then Natalie saw the spider on her arm and was trying to knock it off. Elijah thought it was going to land on him and all "Heck" broke out. I was the brave one, and picked it up and moved it. Mike said he had killed it. 5 minutes later Elijah saw it crawling up the back of Natalie's seat again. Once again I had to retrieve the spider (the spider that was a little larger than a money spider, that is), this time I "dispatched" the spider. You would not believe all the laughing and stories that came out of that "adventure". So on we go to Owen Sound.
We pulled into the parking lot to find this lovely white Highway Bus for our trip to Toronto, not the Big Yellow Bus Mike had envisioned. We were all relieved at that!
All settled in our seats and heading out of Owen Sound by 9.05 a.m..
The guys from the radio station were great. We all had tons of fun on the bus.
We were given raffle tickets, but we didn't win anything.
They had also put together a whole load of Blue Jays Trivia and every 30 minutes or so they would ask three questions from the trivia. Guess what? We didn't win that either.
The drive was good, and Harry (our driver) was excellent.
There were quite a few closed roads around the area of The Rogers Centre, so we were held up in traffic for quite a while.
Still arrived with plenty of time to get our seats and get accustomed to where we were.
It's been a while since we were last in Toronto, some things very different, some things much the same.
Stopped to take a picture of the diamond getting ready for the game.
This is a picture taken from the 5th level, the level we will be sitting in.
Also you can see where we will be getting our bus back home.
Just a reminder as to why we are here enjoying ourselves today.
Here are our boys getting ready for the big game.
CN Tower from our seats.
Although up in the 5th level, we could see the diamond perfectly well. We did have binoculars with us, but didn't need to use them.
Our seats were right behind home plate but many feet up!
Yes, we would go right there again, it was great.
No score in the first, but the second was a different story.
Baltimore got 7 home runs.
Bautista did good and after a 48 minute innings the score was:
Baltimore 7
Toronto 9
Not too bad at all.
Martin was great too.
Reyes was as good as he always is.
The crowd went wild when Kawasaki was up to pinch run.
Now the one problem we did have was the fact that we actually lost the game.
Baltimore 13
Toronto 9.
Oh well it was a great day, and a real good game.
I could not leave without taking this picture.
Back in the day George Bell was my favorite player. Last year he was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary's Ontario. Unfortunately I was away at the time, or I would have been there, with "bells" on.
And so, we are now on our way back to Owen Sound with out a win under our belt. But there were a lot of very Happy Father's on the bus, regardless of the score.
Back in Owen Sound our Country 93.7 car was still parked in the lot awaiting it's next calling.
It would be good if we could do this again very soon.
Yes, Mike enjoyed his gift, and truthfully, we all did!
TIME FOR AN ADVENTURE. EARL ROWE PROVINCIAL PARK ON,
MAY 28th. 150336
After spending a while working around the house and getting the garden in order it felt like it was time for some adventure. The vegetable patch was looking quite good and the flower beds tidy, once again. So, El Campista was ready to hit the road about 9.45 a.m. in the sunshine.
Today we are heading to Earl Rowe Provincial Park, near Alliston On. Another new park for us to try out. It was a very easy drive there. In fact from Mount Forest it was one straight road.
Earl Rowe was a good looking park with two areas of camping. One area was set away from the lake and a slight drive from the actual park. Although the sites were good, it was not quite what we were looking for. However, the West Side Camp Ground was wonderful. Far too many really good sites to pick from, and a very pretty area. We settled ourselves in site 274. It was a huge site, lots of sunshine, but also lots of shade. Both would be needed today. All set up by noon. 150446.
Relaxed with lunch in the sunshine, followed by a short time checking out the trail map before we headed out. Hoping not to get too lost.
We headed towards the lake area first.
Which was quite relaxing and picturesque.
From there we crossed over a couple of foot bridges to get on to the Rainbow Run Trail.
This too was a very pretty area of the walk.
This looks likes the type of trail we always enjoy.
The Rainbow Run Trail runs almost the whole of the perimeter of the park, and also meets up with other trails through the centre of the park.
The part of the trail we were on led us on to the East Beach area of Earl Rowe Lake.
You can see the West Beach in the distance.
We were greeted by quite a few Canada Geese right adjacent to the beach. This guy was quite happy to pose for us.
The Little Trail was next and it was very aptly named, being a trail of 0.5 km.
The Little Trail was a really good trail to follow, and very well kept.
0.5 km done, so back onto the Rainbow Run Trail.
From there we made our way to the West Beach area, where a view of one of the foot bridges we had crossed looked quite nice.
This is a very pretty area of the trail.
Next stop was the Boyne River, which too, was really very nice. The Dam and Fish Ladder were also along this area, but right at this time, there were no fish around.
Luckily the weather was good, warm, sunny and a nice breeze, which was good for walking. That turned out to be a bonus, as we decided to do more of the Rainbow Run to get to our camp site.
This part of the trail run along side the Earl Rowe Lake, and was a very interesting trail.
However, we only saw a couple of Canada Geese, a few Blue Jays and we could hear the Robins, but didn't see them or any other wild life.
By the time we got back to our site this hike had been a good couple of hours, so we deemed it relaxation time and relaxed with a bevvy!
Before leaving I had made a batch of sausage burgers, so my Chef will be BBQ King again.
The Burgers were really good. You should give them a try, they are so easy.
1 pack sausage meat
1 pack stove top stuffing
1/2 - 1 cup of water (adding water gradually as needed)
Seasonings of your choice.
Mix all together, form into patties. (I used 1/4 cup size, which gave me 8 burgers. If you have large appetite you may need a bigger size burger.)
The remainder of the evening was spent around our fire, and yes you guessed it - all kinds of stories.
El Campista looked good in the evening light too.
FRIDAY MAY 29th 2015
Warm morning, not quite so sunny, but still very comfortable. After breakfast we planned our next hiking route.
I did take a picture of the blossom out side our kitchen window.
It looked so colourful in the morning.
The hike we have planned for this morning is to take the Lookout Trail, up to Lookout Point and take the loop back. The Lookout Trail is a 4km trail.
To get to Lookout trail we have to start on a section of Rainbow Run again.
One area of the Rainbow Run was very well manicured and had a large section where you could see many "B.H's".
I couldn't fool Hiker Mike this time.
Then the trail ran along side the Amphitheatre.
Unfortunately we just missed getting a picture of a White Tail Deer. The tracks were extremely fresh.
Finally on to the Lookout Trail.
This trail was a little more difficult.
The beginning of the trail was well treed.
Then the following 2km were all up hill, and quite a steep climb, but the trail was very open.
Mind you the views were getting to be really good and well worth the steady climb.
The view from the Look Out Tower was breath taking. However, it would have been even better is the warm haze had lifted.
Supposedly you could see The CN Tower on a clear day. which it was not.
We could see Earl Rowe Lake way off in the distance. This was the lake we walked yesterday.
In 1887 the railroad was built along parts of this trail.
Ok, now we reached the highest point of the trail, so it is all down hill from here. That's not too awful bad, as it was a steep climb. So far I have not found out the actual elevation, but will try to do so.
Once back on The Rainbow Run Trail we entered an area where Pine Trees had been mechanically planted in 1960 to help provide a shady area for the park.
Today the pine trees are doing very well and many new ones have seeded themselves.
A bit further along the trail we encountered an obstacle blocking the trail, we had to do some climbing over a downed tree.
Shortly after that the trail presented us with a wall of ferns.
That looked so good.
It wasn't much further along the trail where we crossed into Fletcher Field Camp Site, where were were camping.
This had been a fantastic walk. now time to sit for a while.
It turned out we had walked approximately 6.5 km, 2 km which were all up hill.
Would I do it again?
You bet I will - but may be not today.
It got quite sunny through the afternoon, so we found a nice shady area and had a very relaxing afternoon.
Followed by a leisurely walk around Fletcher's Field Pond, which we really enjoyed.
We also wandered around the rest of Fletcher's Field camp ground making notes of the really good sites here. Which was most of them! This really is a fabulous park.
The weather forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms to arrive through the evening.
Luckily they did not arrive while we sat relaxing around the fire.
It has certainly been another fun and interesting day.
Saturday May 30th 2015. 150446
We did not hear any rain or thunderstorms through the night, and the sun was shining when we got up to face the day, and discuss our trip back home. However, it was quite warm and humid.
We relaxed a while after breakfast and took our time packing up.
When we arrived here Thursday there were may be a dozen campers here too. This morning was quite a different sight. May be only a dozen sites still available. A lot of people arrived last night to enjoy a weekend of camping. Good for them!
Before leaving we wandered around the camp store, then on the road heading home by about 11.00 am.
It had got even more hot and humid by the time we were ready to leave, and the temp was 29c. A few clouds were beginning to build up.
It turned out to be a good easy drive home, with just a few showers.
When we reached home, about 12.15 p.m.
and got out of El Campista, we were almost ready to turn around and do the whole thing again. It felt down right cold here in Durham. But then I guess 16c is quite a drop from the 29c we had at the park this morning. 150546
Regardless, it was a great place and we will definitely return there - and very soon!
JUNE 3rd 2015. MCRAE PROVINICIAL PARK 150546
WOW - it seems as if we have just got home, caught up with the laundry, checked the weather forecast for the next few days, and time to leave again. Only been home 3 days. Didn't even get the laundry put away, just re-packed it in El Campista. Now that is a great life! Reminded us of the years we spent on the road, trucking. That was a good life too.
This time we are heading to McRae Provincial Park, near Orillia. Left about 10.00 a.m. it was good weather for travelling, sunny and warm, but certainly not hot.
It was a good easy drive, but we did encounter a few areas of construction along the way. Adding approximately an hour on the journey.
We pulled into the park about 1.00 p.m. Made our way to check in, and low and behold the park office was closed and not a soul around. Then we found a sign - "Self serve Check In"
That's OK, us old folks can do that - we hope.
First we had to write down all the numerous numbers of the sites that were available for "self serve check in". And there were quite a few!
Then we had to locate a park map, so as not to get lost. We have never been here before and knew nothing about the park.
Finally we get to ride around to pick out a site that suits us. I am sure by now you know that we do not like a site that is attached to three other sites.
So, guess what, the first 20 sites available were in what could be described as a very
nice orchard. Really pretty, nice tidy grass and a few trees for some shade. But all very close to each other and no privacy at all - not
for us!
So on to the next 30 sites available. Where we found close to 20 of them to be on a hilly site without a flat area to set up on.
Then finally we found a site more like we were used to. Good size, trees on all three sides, sun and shade and still had the lovely tidy grass. #167. Yes we will take that.
Now to complete the self serve check in, we had to return to the "closed" park office.
Fill out a registration form, and deposit it and CASH into the envelope provided.
OK, so how many people (especially those camping) travel with money in their wallets these days. We nearly all have debit or credit cards right.
Luckily for us we managed to come up with the exact cash to deposit in the envelope, then deposit the envelope in the "secure" mail box. Really all that wasn't too awful bad was it? We have only wasted abut 45 minutes of valuable camping and hiking time.
However, one more slight hiccup here, we need some wood for the camp fire for the next two nights, still there was no one a round and although we could see lots of wood in the shed there was no way to obtain any of it. So now we had to head out of the park to try to find someone who has campfire wood for sale.
Another 30 minutes and we saw a sign "Camp Fire Wood for Sale - 1 mile". Ok, that's good.
Headed down a small country road that was just being graded, and Mike does not like taking El Campista on gravel roads. We had to wait for the grader to pull over to let us pass. Then we encountered three hydro trucks doing repairs along the road way. More hold ups.
Finally reached the end of the road, saw the sign again, turned right, then right again into a huge driveway filled with wood. At least we had found the right place - another sign! "Ring Bell For Wood". The bell was a huge church bell hanging on a tree. Relaying this now, I should have taken a picture! We were very reluctant to ring the bell. Imagine the sound of such a large bell out here in the country.
Ok, here goes! Heaps of laughter - the bell gave a tiny little "ding". And out of nowhere a little elderly man appeared. "You need wood?" How did he guess? Anyway really nice people. And now we had to find our way back to the park without going where the hydro guys were working.
Thank You, GPS Lady! We quite often have to rely on our MRP (Map Reading Person) and that is me, so not always the best route is found.
When we reached an intersection that bought us to the road that leads to the park, Mike pulled into the variety store and bought a lottery ticket. He said the store was an omen and something good has to come out of this trip. Let's hope.
Finally, here we are all set up on our lovely site with nice tidy grass, trees, sun and shade, and wait for it - NO ELECTRICITY.
We did not know this site had no hydro, and we had even paid for hydro. No one at the office to help us with all that. 150738
It is now 3 p.m. and we are finally sitting down in the sunshine having lunch.
Lunch was good. I had made sausage rolls before leaving and by then we were quite hungry.
We can survive quite well without hydro, but prefer not to. so set up was a little different this time. I may not be taking so many pictures as I am not sure about charging the batteries. I do have some regular batteries, so hopefully it will all work out good. What the heck, we are only camping right. The weather was still good, although there were quite a few mosquitoes enjoying too.
By 4 p.m. we were ready to do some exploring for a while.
Found our way to Lake Simcoe. after finding a happy family of Canada Geese.
I think this family were enjoying Lake Simcoe also.
The trail along the lake edge was really good, but unfortunately the mosquitoes were enjoying it far more than we were.
We made our way back towards the lake and saw a family of ducks enjoying an afternoon swim.
We enjoyed a walk along the beach.
From the beach we got back on the Waterside Trail, which would have been great if the mosquitoes were not so hungry, so the remainder of the walk was done along the roadway. It was a really nice walk, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Back to #167 for a well earned "Happy Hour".
After such a late lunch my chef wasn't required until about 7.30 p.m. But I must admit he did a wonderful job as a Bar Tender. I wonder if he ever thought of that that as a career!
Another delicious BBQ supper, and now time to get to work on the fire. I can tell you the drive to get the wood was well worth it. The fire was great. We sat out and listened to Toronto Blue Jays win, and enjoyed a really good evening around the fire, especially after such a different day.
No little "night light" in El Campista tonight. Complete darkness and silence.
Good Night.
Thursday June 4th 2015.
Pleased to inform you all we survived very well without hydro and it is another beautiful sunny day.
Breakfast was good. Sat around for a while after that deciding what to do for the rest of the day.
The mosquitoes were still very hungry, so we decided the Waterside Trail was not a good idea right now.
About 11 a.m. we enjoyed a nice cuppa tea and cookies, as most people do when they are camping without hydro, at such a really nice site. Then it was time to get moving.
The weather was good. It was hot and sunny, but there was a good breeze so we decided we would just walk around the park for a while.
We found an area of very pretty flowers just a few sites from ours.
Then we walked past "the orchard camping area" again. Still very quiet around that area.
Next stop was one of my favorites, the beach area.
A little further along we came across two seagulls enjoying the wonderful weather.
The water on the shore of Lake Simcoe was very clear, as you can see from the reflection of this dock. There were a couple of boat docks along this part of the beach.
We walked more of the park but remained on the roadway away from the trails. It was still a very nice walk.
Got back to our site after about an hour and a half.
After a nice tasty lunch the sun blessed our site with it's presence, so time to relax in the shade for a while.
It now appears to us that this will be one of those slow, lazy camping trips where we sit around a bit more than usual reading or writing and generally doing very little. We do not do that very often as we are usually off exploring rather than sitting around.
No, we could not sit there for the rest of the day. That just reminded us of that TV programme "Waiting For God". So we took off for a walk towards the lake.
Through the afternoon it had clouded over a few times and more of a breeze, consequently the lake looked a little different to how it was this morning.
It did not deter the ducks any. They enjoyed it just as much as we did.
For some reason this blog will not allow me move these pictures (that did happen once before, and I cannot remember how I corrected it), so unfortunately the pictures will just be centered until I can get it to work again.
Further along the shore we saw signs that some of the birds, gulls and ducks became quite hungry around lunch time, as there was evidence a good number of shrimp had met their demise.
We just meandered through the park at our leisure and finally got back to our site.
It looked as if the bush on our site had doubled in size of blooms since our arrival here.
We still had a fair amount of wood to burn before we leave, so the fire was lit earlier today. Plus it helped keep some of the mosquitoes away.
And that was where we spent the rest of the evening. This is our last evening here, and truthfully - we have really enjoyed it.
Friday June 5th 2015. 150738
We had some rain through the night, but the morning was good. Still a few clouds visible but a large expanse of deep blue sky.
After breakfast we took our time packing up to head home again.
We have really enjoyed this little trip. And yes, it was a little different to our usual camping style. But they say "variety is the spice of life" and that is always fun.
We had no problem without hydro as we do have a 1200 watt invertor, should we ever be in this situation, and it really did work very well.
By the time we were ready to leave a few darker clouds were gathering up. However, it was a really pretty drive through the countryside, although we did get a few raindrops along the way.
We stopped at Eugenia Falls around lunch time. It was well worth it. This is the tallest waterfall in the area, approximately 30 metre drop into the Beaver Valley below.
Eugenie Falls was discovered in 1852, and named after Princess Eugenie, wife of
Napoleon 111.
From the roadway there is no way you would ever know there was a waterfall and a huge drop to the bottom of the world right here, just 30 minutes from home, which is where we are heading right now.
It certainly turned out to be an adventurous trip for us, now we can't wait to find another new park, or even return to one we have already been to. 150893
You will be the first to know!
The following is the result of our lazy afternoon yesterday. I had to keep the brain working, if that is possible.
This has been
A different trek.
A spur of the moment
But what the heck.
We checked ourselves in
As best we could.
Oh, how we wished
We had some wood.
The grounds were good,
And manicured well.
Not quite the area
We usually dwell.
The calm of the lake,
The gulls swimming by.
Some pictures to take
Before they fly high.
This is a neat place
I must admit.
Good for a base
For just a bit.
Time to journey
On once more.
Can't wait to see
What lies in store.
