Friday, August 24, 2012

Presquile Recap with Photos

We are home… we pulled up stakes (literally and figuratively) yesterday (Thursday) and were on the way home by 12:30. Aside from a slowdown on the 401 (what else is new) it was smooth sailing.

It was a wonderful trip, but way too short. We aren’t sure what we’ll do next year as we are thinking about taking a road trip to out West, but it seems hard to believe we’d miss a year at Presquile.

Our weather was pretty much excellent, although the wind was certainly a factor. There were several afternoons that we stayed inside, and many suppers that we ate inside too – we couldn’t keep the plates on the table! A family in a tent set up a few sites down from us the day before we left – I hope they have good luck, cause with some of the wind we had I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be in a tent – especially with young kids. I suspect they’ve never camped on the water before…

We did drive around a bit, but not as much as we had planned. We drove past a few places that were for sale in the area, but didn’t go to any open houses. Carm doesn’t want to leave this area while his mom is alive, so hopefully we’ll be here for many, many years to come. But it would be nice to have a summer place there!

The bad thing about the trip is that I gained a few pounds. I have to learn a little more moderation… we don’t really need butter tarts EVERY night! Nor do we need to have fish & chips 3 times in 18 days – we never have them at home so why so much when we are camping… And the marshmallows – their pillowy softness and sweetness… I don’t even need a campfire to enjoy those! And hotdogs for lunch nearly every day? Seriously? What happened to the planned whole wheat pita with hummus and baby spinach that was planned? Not every meal was plagued with naughtyness though – we had lots of green beans, zucchini, red peppers, snap peas, tomatoes, etc. The “pesto” (basil, garlic, olive oil – no cheese or pinenuts) that I made just before we left was used on lots of things.

 

20120810_presquile-site_016We used the grill Mom and Dad got us to cook up many pounds of vegetables.

Early Morning Walks with the Dogs
20120811_presquile-lookout_002As soon as I was up I’d take the dogs out for their morning constitutional. We always made it to the overflow parking area, but some mornings we would go for a few kilometers more so that I could look out over this vantage point. It was so pretty and peaceful.
20120815_presquile-around-campground_009Even if we didn’t make the lookout we would at least get this far. What a peaceful morning!
20120815_presquile-around-campground_005On many mornings Gull Island was still in a rosy glow.

 

Visit with Jo Ellen and Don
20120814_presquile-joellen-don_001Stuck inside for a short time while it rained. Thankfully the rain was short lived.
20120815_presquile-joellen-don_011Digesting our lunch the next afternoon. The weather was sunny and wonderful. They treated us to Captain George’s fish and chips. This was our second time eating it…

 

Around About
20120815_presquile-site_001Morning on our site.
20120815_presquile-site_005Morning on our site. The water was so still we could see the bottom way out. See the sailboat way out on the horizon. They were often gracing the skyline.
20120816_presquile-brenda-bill_001Drinks with Brenda and Bill from Brighton. They had the site across the road from us. Carm helped Bill install a satellite connection into his trailer, and we all shared many visits.
20120817_presquile-around-campground_010Along the “Lighthouse Walk”. Every morning we drove to the day use area, parked the truck and did a 5 or 6 km walk. It was such a lovely walk I think I could do it every day! Walking in the park is one of our attractions to the area.
20120817_presquile-site_007This was a wavy, windy day from our site. I love the colours. We had great fun swimming in those waves. The water is only up to our shins for the first 50 feet, and then it goes up to our hips for another 20 or 30 feet, until finally it is up to our shoulders. We didn’t go out far enough for it to be over our heads.
When the water was really wavy it got a bit green from all the algae stirred up, but when it was still we could easily see the bottom, even when it was up past our shoulders. The bottom is smooth rock, no yucky muddy bits to walk through.
The last few days the water got much colder, but no matter the weather or the temperature of the water we had at least one swim a day Smile
Inside Our Camper
20120816_presquile-camper_006
Grace’s new cage worked out really well! She loved it and was never unhappy to come back inside. In fact some days I think she preferred it. The cage has doors for the food, so Carm could feed her without fear for his fingers. The tray is deep which keeps some of the thrown food inside, and newspapers fit inside neatly, making it easy to keep clean. It fits perfectly in the space.

The new fridge is fantastic! An $88 Walmart deal, it kept one tray of dog food blocks frozen until time to use it – I just set the fridge to its highest setting. There was room for lots of water – mason jars with lemon and limes. Once the dog food was gone, there was lots of room for some “adult” beverages. And it kept everything ICY cold – ummmmm.
20120817_presquile-camper_010I treated myself to this cute little painting of the lighthouse – the destination of our morning walks.
20120817_presquile-camper_012Doesn’t the painting look great hung on the wall? It is just above eye level when I’m sitting on the sofa, so will be a constant reminder of our wonderful trip. The little picture of the bird hanging about the light is from my trip to Upper Canada Village with Kirsten and the girls. It is another nice reminder. In my advancing age I need these little memory joggers!
20120816_presquile-camper_004The space where Grace’s cage used to be makes a great computer desk area.
I LOVE this camper, and with those two changes (cage & desk) this unit really worked well for us. I don’t think we need a bigger space! Especially if we end up purchasing the slightly smaller coffee table that Camping World has. It is the same pop up configuration, but at 1” lower and with 4” less width it would work just that much better. Four inches counts for a lot in this small space!
Visit with Deirdre and Chris
20120819_presquile-deirdre-chris_003The weather turned perfect as they pulled into our site. The wind even died down! I’m sure they didn’t believe us when we mentioned how many afternoons we spent inside hiding out from the wind! I seem to recall that we were enjoying a margarita that afternoon Winking smile
20120819_presquile-deirdre-chris_005Starting the campfire – look at the colour of the water and the sky.
20120820_presquile-deirdre-chris_006Yes, this is back at Captain George’s. Chris and Deirdre treated us to this greasy, but yummy feast. Missing from the photo are the two big bowls of coleslaw.
20120820_presquile-deirdre-chris_008Oh my… how did we finish all that… burp. After this, back to the site for a glass of bubbly and … a butter tart. OMG I need to lay down.
20120820_presquile-deirdre-chris_009Enjoying that glass of bubbles that I talked about in the last photo. I think there is a bottle of water on the table – what the heck is that doing there!
20120820_presquile-sunset_001This was the sky. I had to take a picture just to convince myself that it wasn’t my slightly tipsy, fish & fry distorted eyes. It was taken from our campsite. Can I just move here permanently?
20120820_presquile-sunset_003Pink clouds with the first sliver of moon. If I had a painting of this I would think that it was done by someone on LSD and not by Nature herself.

 

20120817_uncle-ken_001We had supper twice with my Uncle Ken who lives in Trenton. We had a lovely visit each time. We had wanted to have him over to the camp for a day, but with the weather being so unpredictable we just never got it set up.

 

Dogs Travelling
20120809_spike-window_003Spike liked to have his head out of the window as we drove through the park. We were going slowly so I wasn’t too worried about him getting something in his eyes.
20120819_presquile-kabira-window_002Kabira enjoyed the trip as well. Some times on the way back to the camp after our walk she’d be fast asleep, but sometimes she enjoyed the view and the feeling of the breeze.

Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space have ceased.
John Steinbeck

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