We officially kicked off summer vacation with a camping trip at Algonquin. We picked up the kids from their last day of school around noon on Thursday and headed north. We stopped in at Webers for a late lunch. Summer starts now!
Q can reach the bell this year!
We pulled into our campsite around 4:30 and got set up. We knew the rain was coming so Dave put up the tarp right away and E helped by climbing on the car to get some good height.
Time for a beer!
We had sausages and salad for supper.
We made a fire and our friends arrived around 8:30.
It rained overnight and into the morning. Q was not deterred. He was ready for breakfast!
You know if we're nice and dry under our tarp and have our jackets and boots, then I don't really mind the rain while camping. We were cozy with our coffee and hot chocolate.
The rain ended mid morning so we tried out the beach. We were ready for a full day but it wasn't really beach weather. Dave went for a paddle board, the kids swam and played in the sand, but we didn't stay all day.
Some badminton and bocce, drinks and chips.
We had chili and nachos for our supper.
An after supper dip felt good.
Then time to warm up by the fire.
On Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful day. I love these tall trees.
Pancakes!
Then we all went for a hike at Booth's Rock.
It was already a beautiful forest to hike in and then we got to this lookout and it was even more wonderful.
It was a long hike, over 5K, but everyone made it!
Then back to our site for lunch and down to the beach.
I had paddled over to the beach with the paddle board but it was pretty windy so we didn't go out for any big trips around the lake. E tried but gave up pretty quickly.
And then Dave paddled back to the site with Q and N.
We got new camping dishes, and Q had picked a bouquet on our hike. With the fresh veggies too, I had to take a photo of our colourful table scape.
E's torch (and our garlic bread on the fire).
Sunday morning - our last breakfast.
We packed up and drove into Huntsville for lunch. We couldn't drop E off at camp until 3:45 so we had some time to kill. I usually don't like sitting in the sun to eat, but I felt like we had been looking for hot weather all weekend, so I didn't mind.
I did apply sunscreen twice while sitting there though!
E is ready for camp!
There it is!
He is in a new group this year, but he's in the same cabin building as last year. When we drove up we immediately saw one of his counsellors from last year and he shouted to E with a big hello! What a nice welcome back. It was just a quick drop off for us so we could hit the road.
On the way out they were giving out water and freezies. Q was pretty happy with that!
Even with some heavy traffic in a couple of spots, it was actually a pretty good drive home. We got everything put away, had supper, watched Silverstone from earlier that day, and had a very sound sleep!
A few notes - we got a Yeti cooler and Yeti blanket for Christmas this year and this trip was the first time we got to use them. I was very impressed with both items. Regarding the cooler, it stayed really cool and we were able to bring food home with us. The blanket is so good for the beach, no sand sticks to it and it's so soft. We also loved our new dishes, as I mentioned above, plus Q got a new camping chair.
