Airstream Camping 2025 - Last Day (This Trip)

I had a bit of a rough night, and realised that the temperatures outside, and in, had suddenly shot up. DW had the A/C going at some time past two in the morning, and I awoke at four, but just couldn't get back to sleep. I retired to the couch at the front of the Airstream, set up a podcast on my phone, stuffed some earbuds in my ears and settled back for the final instalment of the Fidel Castro story. I awoke an hour later having missed the entire episode, but it was nearing six o'clock by then so I felt decidedly happier about my sleep, or lack of it.

It was hot, too. I went over to the Comfort Station and found that my elation at having a clean shower stall the yesterday and the day before was to be short lived. The floor of the vestibule area was clean, but the shower pan was full of sand, and there were the ever-present hairs and smears on the walls. Standards have been going downhill for a while, ever since the park ditched its contract cleaners and left the hygiene work to the kids they employ as uniformed park staff. I sent the Ontario Parks HQ a complaint form after the last trip, and thought things were on the up after seeing clean stalls earlier in the week. But things had not improved, at least not by much. I get it, uniformed teenagers who think they're going to have an exciting job in the park really don't want to be cleaning the Comfort Stations. I put the blame squarely at the feet of Ontario Parks and their abysmal attempts at cost cutting. I wouldn't mind so much if the parks were free, or a bit cheaper, but we pay serious money to camp in the park, and I reckon the paying customers deserve better. 

Still on the weather, the forecast had some rain in it, so I dismantled and stowed the bug tent, its chairs and its mat, in the car. I didn't really want to be dealing with it while it was wet. But, as has been the pattern this summer, the rain did not materialise, although the air was very hot and muggy and I was wet with sweat after what was only minor exertion.

The rest of the morning was spent doing a slow tidy up inside and spending an age deciding whether to stay right up until the 2pm check-out time. By the time we committed to actually preparing the Airstream for travel, it was almost one o'clock anyway. As I've said before, we are getting much better at setting up and breaking down our camp, and it seemed like no time at all that we were hitching the Toadmobile to the front of Towed Haul. I had occasion to use my shiny new aluminium step ladder that I had brought with me. Securing the awnings for travel can be done from the ground with the long pokey rod that's supplied, but nothing beats climbing up on a step ladder and working on the securing mechanism close up and with my hands. It's only taken fourteen seasons of camping for me to finally get a lightweight ladder for the purpose.

Hitching up is getting traumatic these days because our hitch receiver on the car is seriously rusty now and I don't know who long it'll take the strain, and it is a strain with the tongue weight of our camper; thank goodness for the weight distribution system. It's all been OK so far, so I keep my fingers crossed when hitching, but I probably should have had the whole thing replaced long ago. I will keep a close eye. There's a reason that I haven't replaced the hitch receiver up until now, and that may become apparent in the medium-term future. Watch this space.

Hitch worries aside, we dumped the tanks as usual and also as usual I was bitten by the myriad bugs that hang around the poop tank area. It was hot, too, which makes the already unpleasant task all the more nasty, both in the concentration of the inevitable smell, and in the general sweatiness.

The drive back was notable for the very strong wind, one that had been barely noticeable while we'd been tucked away in the campground. I could feel the crosswind tugging at the trailer when we were at speed and was relieved to think that I'd tightened up the anti-sway bars properly. People look at our tow vehicle and imagine that we can't do hills, or go fast, which is not the case. What we do struggle with is wind. It'll trash the gas mileage if you're driving into it, make the engine and the transmission get very hot, and if there's a cross wind, you thank your luck stars for a decent anti-sway setup. When we bought the Airstream, we were told by those that know that driving into a headwind all day is going to tax your tow vehicle far more than hills will, and they were right. Fortunately our run today was only forty-minutes.

Our next jaunt in Towed Haul isn't until late August, so we have a few weeks of non-trailering. There are a few days booked in hotel in St Catherines before that, so I'll probably document the trip here as well. Until then, happy camping!

Airstream Camping 2025 - Lazy Days

As anticipated, we had a lazy day today, Wednesday. Well, mostly, and the car didn't move, which is always a bonus.

I was awake early, showered early in a surprisingly clean and sweet-smelling stall in the Comfort Station, and was just settling down to write some nonsense for this blog when I was seized by the idea that I should go for walk. So, at eight-fifteen I sauntered over to the beach, took my slides off and proceeded to walk along the water's edge for an hour. I had come prepared, though, with a wide-brimmed hat and a shirt with a collar that I could raise up to protect my neck from the sun, because even at that hour, it was getting warm. There was a brisk breeze coming off the lake that made walking quite pleasant, but it's that kind of windy weather that leads to sunburn, so I was glad of that collared shirt. 

I walked half-an-hour southwards, and then half-an-hour northwards to get back to my original position. The waves were noisy on the shore, but it didn't detract from the cry of the gulls and the shrill "peeping" of the Killdears (A subset of the Plover family really, but Killdear is the local name, apparently so named for their distinctive call. I'd always thought they were Lapwings, but the Internet came up with the full difference between a Plover and a Lapwing, and should you be having trouble sleeping then you can read all about it here.). There are about twelve kilometres of beach from one end to the other at Rondeau, and while I only walked about two kilometres each way, I still saw just six other people in the hour or so I was out. Once you get past the public beach access points, it's only those that live in the cottages on Lakeside Road that are close to the beach, which is probably why the place always seems so deserted, even in summer.

The lake water was warm, I think because it's quite shallow hereabouts, and is great for kids to swim in, assuming you can look past the fact that it's not necessarily very clean water. The sand is fine-grained, although it is filled with all manner of detritus from the lake. Unlike the beaches on the edge of oceans, there's no tide to take stuff away, so there are whole trees washed up, goodness knows from where. But, it's a great beach, and as I say every time I visit, we are so lucky to live close by.

Then I settled into the serious business of doing not much of anything. I was getting my book read, which was nice, but still spent far too much time tooling around in Facebook and Bluesky. When we're at Rondeau we use our cell phones as hotspots for our laptops, and given that we have masses of data included in our (pricey) wireless family package, we never have to worry about breaching our data limit.  Now that the screen hinge on my Windows laptop has finally given up the ghost, I took the Hewlett Packard Chromebook laptop this time, one that runs a version of Android as its operating system. Given that it was just a fraction of the price of a full-blown laptop, it performed very well. It's an odd little machine, though, and whoever designed this particular model didn't test it properly because quite often you can't read the grey letters and numbers on the silver keys. Maybe that was why it was so cheap?

Continuing with our rock 'n' roll lifestyle, both DW and I settled in for an afternoon nap; well, we are Seniors. The trouble was that it was past six by the time we woke up and we'd promised ourselves a joint run (walk, definitely not a run) to the beach. Still a bit groggy from the sleep, we staggered beachward and did make while still standing upright. The wind had died down quite a bit, and there were still a few people about, but it was still glorious on the water's edge.

After a supper of stew, a vegan-friendly stew, we sat out in the bug tent, under the string of coloured lights I'd rigged in there for Charlie, and chatted as the daylight disappeared. The park has been busy this week and I'd expected the campground to be noisy, but everyone seemed to be settled in by ten, and we were some of the later people out and about. We took a minute to view the stars, mostly because the light pollution isn't too bad on the lake's shore, and goodness, aren't they magnificent? Mind you, there seemed to be a lot of aircraft navigation lights in among the celestial bodies. 

Tomorrow, Thursday, is packing up day. I love being out in the Airstream, but it's always nice to go home, too. There will be a lot of work between now and getting home, and the weather is promising a scorcher, so wish us luck.

Airstream Camping 2025 - July Dry Days

Tuesday dawned, dry and sunny, and this despite a cooler night than we've had for a while. Being just a few yards from Lake Erie will reduce the temperatures a little, and it's good to be cooler at night anyway, and it brings no temptation to fire up Towed Haul's noisy air conditioner.

As is my usual practice when camping, I woke early (not that I wanted to), and sat outside with coffee and a book. I don't do that often enough at home, and I really should. The campground was quiet, strangely so given how full it is at the moment, but it certainly aided my concentration on my book. As the time ticked on, though, people started to move, and a steady stream of bicycles moved past our site.

Talking of bicycles, it's been a growing trend for people to use electrically-assisted bicycles rather than the traditional leg powered vehicles when they're moving around the campground. The bikes look bulky, often have big fat tires (a fashion rather than a necessity I think), and are equipped with disk brakes front and rear that wouldn't look out of place on a motorcycle. They are also undoubtedly expensive. The thing is, I don't really see the point of them. If you're unable to pedal a bicycle for some reason, then maybe they're a good thing, but the majority of people I've seen riding these bikes have looked perfectly capable of pedalling. Perhaps I'm being unfair and everyone who has an electric bike really can't pedal a regular one, but I'm not convinced. So if you can pedal a regular bike, why use an electrically-assisted version? Laziness? Fashion? Status? I don't know, it's probably a mix of all of those things, but for the able-bodied, for zipping around a campground, what is the point? Ah, it's just me being grumpy.

It has been very dry this summer, and despite constant threats of storms and heavy rain, Rondeau Park is looking parched. The threats, of course, simply have not materialised. Our little site here has turned to sand, which I've not seen before, and everything is dusty. I'd imagine that the standing water that is normally found deep in the woods here is still there, this spit of land is surrounded by water, fresh, non-salt water after all, but it is unusual for the non-wooded areas to look so dry. We have been here, even in summer, when everything has been wet and soggy, so I guess it's all cyclical, and I am enjoying having the awning out, unmolested by wind and rain. We leave on Thursday, and the forecast looks set fair up to and beyond that day, so I will make the most of it and enjoy the dryness. I will have to re-read this blog entry, though, the next time we're sat here in the Park and the rain is pouring down.

We chatted with some of our campground neighbours last night, and found out once again that the world can be a small place. Links were established over who knew who and what company did what, and it appeared that Mrs. Camper's work crossed over some work my brother does. As I said, it's a small world. We were also talking about what made Canadians Canadian, and Mrs. Camper came up with "Don't Insult the Butter Tart" if you're going to bond with a Canadian. That's as good advice as I've ever heard, and something I will remember, so think on if you're about to bond with anyone from Canada.

We spent a lot of our day at home when we should have been at Rondeau. Dear Wife had an appointment in town, and for various other reasons we didn't get back to Towed Haul until well into the evening. At least we were able to get some water onto the tomato plants, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Please note the heavy use of sarcasm there.

I turned in relatively early again, but Dear Wife fell asleep on the couch and was snoring gently at 2:30am, with the lights still on. Such a rock and roll lifestyle. Tomorrow, Wednesday, is a down day. We are doing nothing that isn't camping related, and the car is staying put. We'll see how that pans out.

Airstream Camping 2025 - July Summer Days

Camping again, only this time it's in the summer holidays. We thought we'd given up rubbing shoulders with the family crowds now that we're retired, but a slot came up at our favourite campground and it was too good to turn down. I thought that we might be the only seniors around but no, the place is full of them, and not all are accompanied by grandchildren either. It seems odd that when you have quiet campgrounds in May and June, and again in September and October, that any retirees would opt to camp when the younger families are scrabbling for sites; it seems almost unfair. It's not unlike seeing all the old geezers grocery shopping on a Saturday when they, we, have had all week to do it. I don't know, maybe Ontario Parks should drop the Senior's discount for July and August to give the young 'uns a chance? Anyway, we're here, we're seniors, and it's very warm.

This past week we'd treated Towed Haul to a clean up inside and out, and she was gleaming. Or rather I thought she was gleaming. Being a total cheapskate, I'd used a pretend Chamois leather to wipe the water droplets off the skin of the trailer and it left horrible smear marks all over, which serves me right for being cheap. Not in my control, though, were the lovely birds that had crapped on the back of the camper; c'est la vie I guess.

Prepping to leave on Monday, we had set a departure time, but that disappeared into the Coleslaw Vortex. As I'm sure you know, the Coleslaw Vortex is when your thrifty wife decides to use up some veggies that are laying around to make a Coleslaw, when you should have been hitching up. Frugality is important, and leaving on time for a short run to Rondeau really isn't, so I'm not complaining, and we were only thirty-five minutes off schedule. These things happen.

At Rondeau, we hit a line of other trailers at the water fill station. It's not the best idea to travel with a full freshwater tank, not least because even with our little camper, that near-fifty gallons of water weighs quite a lot. So most people will travel dry, or almost dry, and fill up at the campground, at least at Provincial Parks that don't have a water supply on the sites themselves. There were two trailers ahead of us at the single water point, and it turned out that the one filling had only just started. We waited, with the car engine running to keep its A/C going in the heat, and we waited. While the first one was filling, another trailer not in the line pulled up on the opposite side of the water point and started to unfurl a hose. There is indeed a tap at the base of the water point, and he connected his hose to that while the first fellow was still filling and started to fill his own tank. While I applaud his ingenuity, he had both jumped the line up, and made a very slow water point run at half-speed for the guy still filling from the proper water point. That's not really cricket, is it? Still, there was nothing we could do. While we waited for the person in front of us to fill, I emptied the black and grey water tanks of the residue from last week's cleaning efforts, and we continued to wait. Goodness, that trailer must have had a massive water tank because it took absolutely ages to fill. All in all we waited a good forty minutes before we could fill, and by that point I'm thinking that one watering point really isn't sufficient. 

There was a reason for my growing anxiety, and that was the fact that Emma and Charlie were due on site, and we had effectively lost our whole time buffer. Trying to set up while Charlie "helps" isn't easy, particularly in the heat, so we were rushing around and getting ever more flustered trying to beat their arrival. Sadly, we didn't quite make it. Curses!

Charlie wants everything at once, of course, so we had to finish setting up with the whirlwind around us. We did manage to get him away with his mother for a while, which enabled me to finish up, but on their return, things were back into rushing mode.

We had promised Charlie a fire and roasted marshmallows, so in the heat of the afternoon, he and I built up a kindling tower in the fire pit, set it ablaze and stacked some logs on top as the flames built up. It was a good fire, even if I do say so myself, but in the very hot sun it all seemed a bit unnecessary. DW had prepared some baking potatoes, in three layers of tin foil, so I positioned those at the base of the fire, while Emma and Charlie did their marshmallow thing. 

Now here's a Canadian thing I don't fully understand, S'mores. S'mores are sweet campfire treats that people go nuts for, but I just don't get. Take a Graham Cracker, put a square of milk chocolate on it, stand a freshly roasted marshmallow on the chocolate, then cover with another Graham Cracker. Squeeze the whole contraption together and eat it. The cracker crumbles, the melting chocolate goes everywhere, while your hands and mouth are covered in the sticky and crumby goo. Emma loves them, Charlie thinks he does, DW spills their contents all down her front and I look on uncomprehendingly. As I said, I don't really get it.

The upside of the fire, though, was three perfectly cooked baked potatoes. If you plan to cook in a fire, though, make sure you double or triple wrap the potatoes in tin foil, and turn them regularly. Oh, and a perfectly set fire helps as well - all that training with the Scouts wasn't wasted.

Once our visitors had departed, things settled down. We tidied the site up a bit, put a few things away, poured some drinks and retired to the bug tent for the evening. I'd strung some coloured lights up in there and it was quite jolly watching the light fade and listening to the campground quietening down. Despite the number of people here, by nine it was pretty quiet and while we couldn't see them, the Raccoons were abroad, if the noises outside were anything to go by. I hadn't intended to have an early night, but I was in bed by eleven, which is early for me, and in the Land of Nod almost immediately. 

Tuesday is going to be a bit of an odd day, but with fine weather forecast, I'm sure we'll make the most of it.

Airstream Camping 2025 - To Conclude the First Trip

We awoke to dry weather. Again. This despite the dire warnings of storms overnight. I guess we've been lucky.

Packing up day is always a little sad as there's not enough time to do much constructive, but plenty of time to think about the end-of-camp process and all the laundry it produces. Still, the weather was fine.

The previous evening, a group of young people took over the two sites opposite. They had three tents, fours cars and eight people. I admired the precision with which they erected their tents and amalgamated the two sites for the group gathering, this was obviously something they'd done before. They were quite noisy, too, but it was just friends, or possibly family, having a good time, and celebrating a birthday, too. They were equally as noisy this morning as well, but to my great surprise they started packing up their gear (with the same precision they'd set it up), and I overheard one of them tell a passerby that they were packing up because of the forecast rain. I wondered if that was an altogether wise decision given the imprecision of the weather forecasts.

We had our lunch before starting to prepare to leave, and again I was surprised at how easily we do this now, especially compared to when we started camping. A place for everything and everything in its place is a good maxim. Hitching up is easier as well, and in no time at all we were easing off the site and making our way to the dump station. 

There was a bit of a line up at the dump station, but no one was using the alternate side to the dumping area. I went to speak with the person ahead of me and asked if he minded me going around him to use the other side. It turned out that he was waiting to fill his water tank rather than dump, so I suggested that he use the alternate side of the water point for that, too. So, I went around, and he followed, and the line up evaporated - more camping experience coming into play.

As I was dumping our tanks out, I started to chat with a man who was using the regular side of the dump facility. I detected a British accent, but failed miserably when I accused him of being English; he was was, in fact, Welsh. I apologized profusely, because that's an awful mistake to make, although perhaps no worse than people accusing me of being Australian. Anyway, he turned out to be from Swansea, and he lived in Chatham, so we bonded over the poop as it flowed into the underground vaults. Nice to meet you, Anthony.

So relaxed was I as we headed home, north up Kent Bridge Road, that I didn't realise I was only doing 60kph, and not the 80kph limit. In these here parts, speed limits are the minimum speed you drive at, and I'd collected quite a line of cars behind me, so I thought I'd better step on it a bit. It was windy, too, although still hot and dry. I was glad that I'd firmly tightened the anti-sway bars because the crosswind was tugging at us a fair bit. People always assume that towing uphill is a problem, when in reality going downhill is harder, as is driving in any kind of strong wind. The Airstream is more slippery than all other travel trailers, but you can still feel crosswinds and headwinds quite markedly.

Back home it was hotter than at the lake, and it was seriously sweaty work unhitching and unloading, but you have to do what you have to do. 

We went on this trip to unwind from the excitement of a month in England, and I think that aim was achieved. We were also quite glad to be away from the campground with the Canada Day weekend upon on us, there wouldn't have been an empty site in the whole place. The weather looked set fair for the eager campers, so, Happy Canada Day one and all! 

Airstream Camping 2025 - The Camping Continues

A warm night. OK, a hot night, tempered only by the occasional rumble of the air conditioner on the roof, but I slept reasonably well. I’m going through a phase of waking ridiculously early and not being able to get back to sleep, so I was up and about outside the trailer before seven, making up some coffee and reading my book.

Despite the dire weather forecast there had been no storms, not even any rain, so I brought the awning out again, having put it away the previous evening. The Zip Dee awnings on Airstreams are great, but they are not good in windy weather and have a tendency to break their support arms, so it’s always wise to stow them if the weather looks a bit suspect. The way we’re parked, we’re in the shade in the morning, but putting the awning out makes it feel like you have an additional room in your trailer, so out it came, if only to create an atmosphere.

I did eventually make my way to the “Comfort Station” – toilet and shower block to you and I – for a shower, and that’s one of the treats of Ontario Provincial Parks. We have a shower in the Airstream, but it’s small, and it uses up both fresh water and space in the grey water waste tank, so I make use of the Park’s facilities. I’ve spoken before about the curious design of the shower stalls, made to wet anything within range, and the fact that the authorities have saved money by getting rid of the cleaning contractors in favour of letting the Park’s own employees do the task, reluctantly and not at all well. But even a slightly grimy and sand filled shower stall doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of privacy and copious amounts of hot water. I always feel better after a park shower.

I do find it odd, though, that people feel the need to drive to the Comfort Station from their sites. It must have taken me three or four minutes to walk, in the glorious sunshine, yet my camping neighbours, on the two sites to the north of us, felt the need to drive. Each to their own, I guess.

Talking of walking (I’m a poet and I didn’t know it), what is this thing with electric bicycles? People haul a pair of big electric bicycles with them on camping trips, then scoot around the park on them, and I don’t know why. Not the scooting around, but why the need for electric motors and batteries? Everyone with these bikes looks more than capable of using a regular person-powered bicycle, especially here as it’s as flat as a billiard table. I suppose they go a little faster than a regular bike, but it seems a bit pointless to me. Again, each to their own.

The day was then spent doing the square root of nothing at all. Well, not quite. I caught up on blogging, wrote a couple of notes to people, read a third of my book without falling asleep, so maybe it was a productive day. The main aim of the trip, though, is to recharge a little after the big UK trip. A holiday from the holiday. In that respect, all aims were being achieved.

I say it every time we come to Rondeau, but we are so lucky to live close to such a wonderful place. It’s a spit of land jutting out into Lake Erie, has 12km of sandy beaches on one side, and a captive, shallow pond, Rondeau Bay, on the other. It’s also one of the last vestiges of natural Carolinian Forest left in North America and is home to an amazing array of flora and fauna. The bay’s turtles have done laying their eggs, but they’re still around. The snakes, though you rarely see them, are about, and the rabbits and chipmunks are legion. Indeed, so legion that I had one little cheeky chipmunk try climbing my leg as I sat reading my book. The surprise was enough, but DW has seen the event unfold and failed to mention the impending assault. As I’m sat here writing, under the awning again, the chipmunks are skittering around my feet. The little buggers.

Birds are the real draw here at Rondeau, though. As we sat out in the afternoon, we watched Grackles and Red-Winged Blackbirds bouncing around our patio mat. A blue jay sat on the fire ring not eight feet away, and the Mourning Doves and American Robins were everywhere. We saw an occasional Baltimore Oriel, and some Yellow Warblers, and high above the tree canopy, the Turkey Vultures circled on the breeze. There are many birds you can’t see but can hear, and that’s where the Merlin bird call phone app comes in, listening for birds and suggesting what type of bird it’s hearing. It all great stuff and is what makes Rondeau such a wonderful place to visit.

It was baked potato and beans for supper, plus beer and wine, and a squiz at an old movie to wind down in the evening. Our film was “Went The Day Well”, a classic British wartime movie about a failed German invasion in rural in England during the Second World War. I don’t know how I’d never seen it before, and I may have to watch it again, because I managed to fall asleep during parts of it, and that takes me all the way back to the beginning of this post, when you wake early, you end up falling asleep early. Still, who’s complaining?

We’re here until Friday, it’s a long weekend in coming up in Canada, and so far, we have had great weather, despite the forecast. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Airstream Camping 2025 - We Start Again

Our first trip of the year in Towed Haul and an auspicious start it may turn out to be.

When cleaning her out, I discovered a soft spot or two in the floor, just by the couch by the door. A gentle press with my fingers resulted in a muted rustling sound beneath the vinyl floor covering, and a definite dip. The dreaded rotten floor, caused by some unseen leak of water under the vinyl. Repairing that is a major task and I don't think we have will, or the money, to fix it. Maybe we'll call this our last season and sell the old girl on as a project for someone else. It's a bit annoying because it's all happened unseen, and therefore we've done nothing about it. Interestingly, the noise from the floor is giving off dry vibes, but maybe I'll check it again after some rain. Who knows?

Back to this trip, and it's the usual three-nighter at Site 16 at Rondeau Provincial Park. Almost as soon as we'd hauled the old girl out of storage, we legged it to the UK for a month, so my first job in returning to Canada was to clean her up, inside and out, check everything was working, and sanitize the fresh water system. To my surprise, the good people at CanAm RV had filled the fresh water tank, so after draining it, refilling it and adding a little bleach, I had quite a bit of stinky water to clear out of the internal water lines. CanAm had cleared the anti-freeze, but water in the lines, sat there for a month, needed to go. It's worth pointing out that we don't drink the water from the fresh water tank and lines, we always bring fresh in another container for that, but no one wants to shower or wash their dishes in stinky water. The bleach (3/4 cup for 45 gallons), by the way, works well, but you do have to flush it through properly.

When we loaded up and prepped for travel, the weather was being silly. Temperatures around 36-37C and blazing sunshine, plus some humidity, and I was wet through with sweat. The onboard fridge and freezer was complaining as well, struggling to keep cold. But, being the troopers that we are, we hitched up, checked the lights and brakes and hit the open road. Well, we had to inch past the badly parked cars fifty yards from our driveway first, but then we hit the open road.

Our hitch receiver on the Toadmobile is rusty, the result of thirteen Canadian winters. I fret that it will break as we're towing, and perhaps I should have had it replaced. But, it's been modified by CanAm RV and is pretty sturdy. When we hitch up we use the Airstream's jack to lift the car, and I reason that if it's going to break, it'll do it then. Today it was all good.

It was hot driving towards Lake Erie, and windy, too. The gas mileage was moderate, but you could tell that the wind was coming into play. But the Toadmobile took it all in its stride and in no time we were wheeling into the park and making our way to our personal site. It's not really our personal site of course, but it feels like it.

Setting up was another sweat-inducing chore, although the temperatures were seven or eight degrees down because we were on the lake front. Site 16 also allows us to set up in the shade, which was helpful. The forecast was for thunderstorms, and the sun was in and out of the clouds. There was a few spots of rain, then a short shower, and the occasional rumble of thunder, but that was all. The sun came out and the temperatures went back up, and everything was summery again. 

Someone came by and stopped at the site opposite and expressed amazement that it was still dry in the park. She had been caught in a storm just a couple of miles away, and yet we knew nothing about it. It's a good job that thunderstorms are so localized.

Of course when it gets hot, we have to power up the cold air in the Airstream. It's good to have, essential actually, but it's noisy. DW, though, did a fine job tuning it so that it was come on and go off at reasonable intervals, which is what we needed if we were to get any sleep.

The afternoon was hot and we did very little, apart from drive out to the convenience store just outside the park's gate and stock up with beer and nibbles. Then we went back to the store to exchange one of the boxes of cookies we'd bought for a non-dairy type. Gawd, pick up the wrong ones. 

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

As the evening set in we enjoyed some of DW's homemade vegan stew (which is really very good), before setting off on a short walk to have a look at Rondeau Bay. The little park store was closed up for the night, but the Barn Swallows that live there were busy, as were the Purple Martins and the Tree Swallows. We watched a pair of Tree Swallows feeding their young in a nesting box that had been installed by the park rangers. At first we stood too close, which made the male fly around us in wide circles, and the female sit and wait. We took just a few steps further back and then the feeding commenced, with the female flying off to get insects, and the male sat atop the nesting box, on guard. There were a ton of other birds around as well, as our Merlin bird call app registered around ten other species of birds, just from their calls. This is why we love coming to Rondeau.

It's not yet school summer holiday time yet, so the campground is occupied most by old geezers like us. It was very quiet last night, and I think many had turned in for the night by 10pm. We campers are pure rock and roll. How we will sleep with the "air" on I don't know, but hopefully it will seem like background noise. Still no thunderstorms, but I put the awning away, just in case.

Last Run. Short Season. Thursday.

Thursday is packing up day, and we'd decided to get a way a little earlier than usual, so we were both up with the lark. Well, I was, not so much DW.

The weather was still good, and the gazebo had dried out, or at least on the outside. The roof inside was wet with condensation, so as we took it down for the second time this trip, we didn't fold it up tightly, just threw it loose into the back of the van.

The rest of the packing up went to plan, and I took special care to put things away properly, given that Towed Haul is headed for her winter sojourn next week. So much to plan were we that it was almost dead on noon when we rolled off the site and made our way to the dump station. It was there that things took a slightly sideways twist, although not in a bad way. I was about to get grumbly because the Park people had decided to change the fitting on the sewer station's water hose which meant that I couldn't connect it up to the black tank flushing system, when we were approached by some very nice people who had apparently been reading these blogs. They recognized the car, and the trailer, and engaged us in animated conversation, and asking us all about the tow vehicle and it viability. I was a bit surprised to meet someone who had read the blog, although these were not the first, but they weren't camping in the park, just visiting. It got me thinking that I should conclude this, the final trip of our thirteenth season, with some well chosen words about the combo they said would never work.

Before I go there, though, I'll just mention that the waste tanks were dumped successfully, I couldn't get the clear plastic hose extender off the hose and had to stow it in the rear bumper storage compartment until I got home. Our run back was without incident, there was virtually no wind (when you live in an area heavily populated by wind turbines, you notice when there's no wind), and the fuel mileage was down to 16.4 litres per 100 kilometres (the smaller the figure the better), so that was a win. We deviated from our regular route after we were stuck behind one of the double-trailer tomato trucks that ply our roads at this time of year (field tomatoes are big business here and French's Tomato Ketchup plant is just down the roan in Leamington), and drive very slowly. Our final backup onto the driveway was good and we were ready for Charlie's arrival home from school in good time. A very good day, I think.

As to the combo they said would never work, well it has worked for thirteen years with nary a hiccup along the way.

As you'll know, we tow our 28' Airstream (around 7,000 lbs loaded) with a 2011 Toyota Sienna Minivan. This tow vehicle offends the sensibilities of just about everyone who tows a travel trailer because, well, it's not a pickup truck. But, you may also know that North America's most respected towing authority, Andy Thomson, set the Sienna up and said it would work. He'd been in the business for 40 years at that point and had set up thousands on non-truck tow vehicles building his entire business on his reputation. He is Airstream's towing consultant after all.

So many people told me that the Sienna wasn't a proper tow vehicle and would either conk out on the road, or have us all killed in a fiery crash. Even friends looked at us pityingly and wished us good luck and hoped we didn't come to regret our choice, all said with drooping eyebrows and looks that said "you WILL regret your choice". But, we had gone to the best for our setup, and as I will elucidate, he was right on everything, everything he said. All of the naysayers, conversely, were entirely wrong.

A tow vehicle doesn't have to be heavier than the trailer, that's the first thing people get wrong. If tow vehicles did have to be heavier, what size would the tractor unit on an 18-wheeler towing a 53' trailer have to be? We were told that the "tail would wag the dog", but after all these years towing I have never felt the trailer pushing the Sienna around, nor have I ever experienced a "sway" event.

The next thing people get wrong is power. The Sienna will churn out around 270 brake horse power, but actually only ever uses about sixty or seventy when under way. At maximum load, I only ever saw 120bhp required (measured using a ScanGauge) once. The Sienna feels strong on the steepest grades. Not fast, for sure, but strong.

Then they told us the Sienna would never stop the Airstream, but that's wrong, too. The trailer has four braked wheels which will stop the trailer on their own. The Sienna's brakes, discs all round, are pretty good for a car, too. 

Front wheel drive can't be used to tow a trailer they said, and again they were wrong. Yes, when towing I can spin the front wheels, but I can do that when not towing as well. In fact I've only ever lost traction twice with the FWD when towing, and that was applying power on steep, gravelly roads in camp grounds. Indeed, where I've seen pickup trucks spinning their rear wheels to get a trailer moving on wet grass, I've never had any wheel slip at all, and have hauled our trailer out of muddy and wet grass on numerous occasions without ever spinning the front wheels.

Apparently you can't use a unibody constructed vehicle to tow a trailer. After thirteen years towing, I think the Sienna has shown that in reality, a unibody does work.

I've had people tell me it's illegal to tow with the Sienna (it's not), and that my liability is too great to be insured (no one has ever produced a documented case of such a thing happening, although the incidence of "I know a guy..." cases is high). I've even had people say to my face that it was impossible for the Sienna to tow the Airstream, despite the fact that it's sitting in a campground, so patently having been dragged there by the Sienna. 

Actually, it all gets a bit wearing and as people newer to towing than us join the online groups, I go through the same loops as I've described above, over and over again. Every one knows what's best for me, and I'm a poor sap who'd been conned by an unscrupulous salesman, this despite a total lack of experience towing using anything other than a truck.

The Sienna is really a very good tow platform with it's forward weight, independent, low-slung and wide stance coil spring suspension, and six-speed automatic gearbox and is a better design than any pickup up the road.

Of course, I didn't just buy the Sienna and a hitch, and drive off. The hitch receiver had been modified to limit the torque at the hitch head and transfer the weight more effectively to all the available axles. There's an electronic brake controller, a second transmission cooler, weight distribution and sway mitigation systems in place, all of which are essential to make everything work safely. There's the key statement, to make everything work safely, and it so patently does as thirteen years of hassle-free towing demonstrate. 

Apart from the additional transmission cooler, and brake controller, the Sienna is bog standard. It has 230,000 kilometres (143,000 miles) on it and still has the original transmission. I'm not sure how many changes of tires it's had, but it's on its second set of shocks, new ones fitted as routine maintenance rather than as a result of a failure. I've just had the rear section of the exhaust system replaced, and one suspension strut was renewed at around 75,000 miles. It's only on it's second fill of synthetic transmission oil.

That's a lot of information, and I wouldn't be surprised if you fell asleep reading it. The crux of it, though, is that despite all the bad stuff that's been said and written about our setup, it's still going strong and has been entirely safe and entirely reliable throughout. I would love to think that we've challenged people's ideas about towing with a non-truck, but sadly If I put up a photo of our combo, I'll be hit with "it'll never work" nonsense all over again.

Anyway, that's a wrap for season thirteen. Hibernation starts next week, and we're looking forward to season fourteen.

No wheel slip pulling off a waterlogged site.
The puddle is formed in dip made by trucks spinning their rear wheels.

Last Run. Short Season. Wednesday.

 Nowhere to be this Wednesday, so it was a slow start for us both.

Surprisingly, not only didn't the promised thunderstorms show up in the night, it didn't even rain. Not a drop. Putting the gazebo away in the fading light wasn't necessary, nor was weighting down the groundsheet we use in the gazebo to prevent it from blowing away. The temperature was even bobbling around 19C. Where had the weather gone?

I consistently praise the campground's "Comfort Station", that is the shower, toilet and laundry block, and today was no exception. Certainly the campground is very quiet this week, so the shower cubical was dry and clean thanks to little usage, but the copious hot water was an absolute delight this morning and really set up the day for me. I could use the shower in the trailer, but why have to eke out the onboard water supplies when I can go mad in the Comfort Station?

On the way to have my shower, I said hello to a couple who are camping with their three under school age children. The kids looked clean and pink, dad looked OK, but mum looked a little ragged around the edges. She said they were good kids, but not necessarily when taking a communal shower. I can't cope with one kid, let alone three. Still, camping is great for the little ones, so well done mum and dad for putting in the effort.

For breakfast we had crumpets. If you're not British you might not know what crumpets are, so have a look at the Wikipedia definition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumpet. There are scads of people who will offer the "best" recipe for crumpets, but you can't beat a shop bought, mass produced crumpet, at least when you've been brought up on them. The problem with these crumpets, though was that they were frozen, and we have the world's worst electric toaster on board the Airstream. For reference, it's a Black and Decker model, and looks quite nice, but it can't toast anything properly to save its life. Even with a regular, unfrozen slice of bread, you have to put it on maximum power, and run the cycle twice, just to get the bread even slightly brown. It's hopeless. I wonder if it wasn't designed by someone who didn't really know what toast is? More likely, though, even when it wasn't cheap, it's made from cheap, inferior components. It's made in China, for sure, but the manufacturers will only build to the specification they're given, and B&D is a Canadian company, shame on them. We have promised ourselves a new toaster for next season. The crumpets, with three cycles on maximum power, turned out to be passable. For the non-Brits, if you ever try them, don't be tempted to add jam, or even Marmite, to the piping hot crumpet. You only need plain butter or spread for the authentic taste.

Just before lunch, and given that the weather was looking far from the rain that had been forecast, DW suggested a drive out to Ridgetown, just to have a walk. We're camped in a place with lots of walks, but Ridgetown promised to be free of bitey bugs, so off we went. The town itself is typical south western Ontario, full of wooden houses in tree-lined, grid-patterned street. We nipped into the residential areas north of Main Street and meandered around to a little park we'd visited before. Then we followed the small stream that flowed though the park, up the hill and onto the south side of town, enjoying seen the start of the autumn colours in the trees, and listening to the bird calls. Ridgetown lacks any modern development, at least in that area around the centre, so the streets are broad and straight and most of the houses date back to the mid nineteenth century. We walked a big square, north and south of Main Street and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Back at the campground, we set up the still slightly wet gazebo again, pulled out the slightly damp chairs, and positioned ourselves inside for an afternoon, enjoying the bug-free environment. I fell asleep in my chair, and for far longer than perhaps I should have because I woke with a very stiff neck and the start of a niggling headache. Getting old sucks.

After supper we put some music on inside the trailer and spent the evening chatting and putting the world to rights. Again, no TV, which is a feature of more recent camping trips we've made. I'm certainly not desperate to be watching TV, and our stay away from home is our chance to do things a bit differently.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is packing up day, and we have decided to get moving a little earlier than usual, thanks to a commitment at home. I hope the weather holds, because apart from Monday night, the weather's been glorious for late September.

Last Run. Short Season. Tuesday

 A different start to the second day's camping, at least for me, as I jumped into the car and headed back into town. At 7am!

I had a breakfast appointment with the world's greatest school bus drivers (it says here), but I wanted to do double up the run with a haircut in preparation for our travel to the UK. It had been raining in the night, quite significantly if the puddles in the campground were anything to go by, and yet I hadn't been woken up by it. Anyone who's been inside an Airstream in the rain will know what it's like to be inside a drum; it's very noisy, but clearly I have become used to it.

That said, on the run back to town, just a few kilometres north of the park, the roads were dry. So, it was localised rain then.

While in town, I dropped in at home to shower and get a change of clothes, then headed over to the Links Golf Course for breakfast. I did get my hair cut afterwards, a process I do not enjoy, although I always like the end result. Then it was back to Rondeau.

We went out for a walk, given that the rain was holding off, but didn't stay out as long as we'd have liked. In the summer it can get very "buggy" in the park, although it's not usually so bad in the autumn. Unfortunately, the east side of the peninsular seemed to be under attack from some horrible little flies that were, to say the least, a bit nippy - as in bitey. We met a woman pushing a baby in a buggy and the poor baby was getting bitten, this despite there being a net over the buggy itself. We put up with the nipping for only a few minutes before retreating to the safety of the trailer and its nip-free environment.

 

 

The remainder of the day was spent in full relaxation mode, doing a whole lot of very little, which was the aim of the trip after all. 

Just as the night was drawing in, and with the prospect of some heavy rain and thunderstorms, we decided to take the gazebo down and stow it in the car, it being largely dry at this point. I say largely dry, but what rain and mud it had on it was quickly transferred to me and my clothes as I manhandled the beast into the car. Still, we didn't want the thing damaged in a storm, nor did we relish having to take it down wet, so it was looking like a wise decision.

The opportunity to spend time simply unwinding should never be underestimated. Sometimes to sit and do absolutely nothing is good for the mind and the body. There are many people who are not happy unless they're busy, and many that think to be constantly busy is a virtue. Well, that's not us thankfully, and we both enjoyed just sitting around chatting and idly browsing the Internet for, well, nothing of any great value. We didn't even fire up the TV for a movie, but put our brains in neutral and relaxed. 

That is the essence of quick and easy camping.

Last Run. Short Season. Monday.

 

Here we are, back at Rondeau, and back on site 16 of the South Campground. Same old, same old, but easy when you're in need of uncomplicated camping.

It's been a short season for us, with other travel at either end of the summer, and our usual self-imposed hiatus when we don't camp in July and August. I say self-imposed, but since COVID it's been impossible to get camping reservations at Provincial Parks during the school holidays, unless you're prepared to get up in the middle of night when the booking system releases the sites, which I'm not. There's the double irritant there of some 44% of booked camping reservations that are never taken up, which is a product of people over-booking blindly, usually to make sure they get something, then being happy to swallow the cost of not taking up the site. But I digress.

We're heading off to the UK in a couple of weeks time so after this trip we'll clean Towed Haul up and put her into winter storage, around a month early. The camping season in this balmy part of Canada now runs into the first couple of weeks of November, but we've opted not to camp late this year,

September's weather has been hot and dry. I was in the pool up until last week, and still watering this year's new tree plantings, such was the fine weather. So, our first real rain came at the weekend, and now we're looking at a very wet couple of days here at Rondeau. Still, a wet day's camping always beats a dry day's working.

We hadn't really cleaned the trailer up since the last trip, but I re-sanitized the fresh water tank, and cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, even if I didn't get the duster or the vacuum cleaner on the job. I had worked hard at maintaining the batteries over the summer, and even though I'd hooked her up to the house's power a week before so that I could run the fridge up ahead of time, I was pleased to note that when I hit the electric jack button, she sprang to life without a hiccup. 

When you've not been camping for a while, there's always a nagging thought that you're missing something, or not doing something right, but we loaded up, and hitched up, all without incident. We use something called a Weight Distribution System on our trailer hitch, and put simply it acts a little like the handles on a wheelbarrow and pushes the weight at the hitch ball both forwards and backwards, to spread the load over all the available axles. In order to get the system attached, I have to drop the tongue of the trailer onto the ball of the hitch on the car, lock it in place, then lift car and trailer up together a couple of inches using the trailer's jack so that I can get the mechanism hooked up. Dropping it back down and letting the weight distribution system take the strain is always a worrying time because if anything is going to break, that's the time it will do it. Happily, it all went well.

All loaded and hitched, we put our grandson into his seat in the back of the car with strict instructions to watch the trailer and let me know if it became detached. He's only four, but even he didn't fall for that one.

On the way down to Rondeau, we usually negotiate Indian Creek Road, just on the south side of town. I think the various tranches of sewer work in the street has made the road sink in places, and watching the trailer in my driver's mirror as it lurches up and down over the dips and rises in the road surface is quite alarming. Still, both car and trailer seem to deal with it.

I think we must have had the wind at our backs this day as the drive down to the park was very smooth and easy. I record the gas/petrol usage as we go, and it bottomed out at 17.4 litres per 100 kilometres by the time we arrived at the park. That looks seriously scary as it's more than twice the usual consumption, but it can go up around the 20-21 mark if the weather's against us. It's a fact that steep hills don't really bother the tow vehicle when it's under load, but driving any length of time into a stiff headwind really puts some strain on it, and the gas mileage suffers. Given that the Airstream is quite aerodynamic compared to other trailers, I hate to think about the gas mileage you'd get with a taller, flatter-fronted model.

Down at the park we filled up the fresh water tank, then dumped out what was sloshing around in the waste tanks so that we could start completely empty. We camp three nights at a stretch, usually, and the tanks will deal with three showers for the missus, and all the general toilet and water usage that ensues. We are careful with water consumption, not least because there's a finite amount of water, and a finite amount of capacity in the waste tanks. However, we manage the fine balance between supply and waste quite well these days. One little trick you can do is to tip any washing up water you have into the toilet. That has a two-fold advantage of both keeping your toilet solids from drying out in the Black tank, and spreading your waste Grey water across the two waste holding tanks. 

Backing onto the site was fairly easy, which is one of the reasons we like this site, but we readjusted because there was a lot of Poison Ivy in the bush right next to the trailer and, as I have to get down the side of the trailer when setting up, we thought it wise to move the old girl a couple of feet away. Again, we do this sort of thing a lot when we're camping, so repositioning the trailer isn't a tough job for us anymore. I should perhaps add for the benefit of my European readers that these North American trailers weigh a couple of tons and have to be moved around using the tow vehicle; there's none of your grabbing it by the handles and manhandling into position.

Because we had Charlie with us (his mum had followed us down in her car), I strung up our fairy lights inside the camping gazebo, and set a camp fire, which is something we rarely do. With an inquisitive four-year-old around, you have to be super-vigilant with a fire burning, but we cooked some vegan sausages over the flames and no one was harmed in the process. Of course, we all stank of wood smoke, but I guess that's what camping's about.

Once the young people had left us, we settled into our grown-ups' camping routine of relaxing, relaxing and more relaxing. The beer and wine flowed, as did the chat, and we settled in for a few quiet days on our own. The weather had stayed dry all day, too, despite the forecast saying rain. Sometimes these things just work for you.

Rondeau in June (4 of 4)

 

Thursday.

Packing up day, and it wasn't quite as sunny as previous days, but still dry and getting very warm. Today was the first day we weren’t witness to the Mad Mowers, two busy young Park Rangers riding around on big mowing machines and mowing the life out of any bit of grass they could see. On Tuesday I swear that between them they mowed the same patches of grass near us at least three times. I get it, young people trying to look busy and justifying their existence, but pity the poor grass. And my eardrums.

I made my final sortie to the shower block for this trip, spent ages in there and enjoyed the hot water very much. Yes, my flipflops were wet, but I didn’t care.

When it came time to break camp, it all went swimmingly well, up until the bit where we had to hitch up. There was nothing wrong with the actual process, but we were attacked by the biting bugs of Rondeau, all of them at once it seemed. This was despite liberally dousing myself in insect repellant. To be fair, I didn’t get bitten much, but the little buggers were everywhere. Poor old DW had to retreat to the sunshine because they seem to like her flesh particularly, and she was gnawed on quite viciously.

Once hitched up and secured, we drove off slowly towards the waste tanks dumping station. A fellow towing another trailer had stopped in the loop road for some reason, so I took a different loop, and we had a very slow race to see who could get to the campground gate first, to use the dump station first. He had a few yards on me to start with but then, a schoolboy error on his part, he stopped at the dumpsters to drop off his garbage, and I sailed serenely by. We take our garbage home.

At the dump station there were no other trailers using the facilities, so I was able to drive right in and connect up the tank flush to the handily provided non-potable water supply. It’s never a nice job dumping the waste, and it was really niffy around the hole in the floor, and that was before we started to dump, but these are the sacrifices us hardy campers make. I’d finished both tanks, and flushed through, before the fellow I was racing finally turned up, and he was behind someone else now. What had he been doing at the dumpsters, rescuing Raccoons?

The drive home wasn’t the best as there was a really strong headwind for the first section of the run, then when we changed direction, it became a cross wind. In the mirrors I could see the trailer twitching as we drove, but fortunately its twitches were not being translated to the steering of the Toadmobile, so it all felt solid enough. The fuel consumption takes a dive in those situations, though, and that’s when the engine really has to work hard, which bothers me far more than the twitching trailer. It’s a good job, I suppose, that the drive was mercifully short.

Unloading on the driveway at home is a chore, but one we like to get completed, mostly, more or less, as soon as we’ve chocked the wheels and unhitched. When it’s warm, as it was, it’s even more of a chore, but we stuck at it and emptied the Airstream, remembering this time to grab the bag of garbage, and to empty the recycling bin, especially as the following day is the City’s recycling collection day for us. We have, once or twice, forgotten one or both of the aforementioned chores, and neither omission has helped freshen the air inside, strangely enough.

I will just mention the weather (being a British Canadian, I am bound by law to mention weather at least three times in every conversation), as it was another totally dry trip. When we started this Airstream adventure in 2011, our trips were constantly rained on. We even spent a couple of weeks driving to and from Florida and it rained at some point pretty much every day, and the rain in Florida can get quite scary, let me tell you. A couple of years back we were all but flooded out at Science Hill (St. Mary's, Ontario) when the storm drains couldn't cope with the 36 hour deluge. But in 2024, we've had two dry trips, both early in the season, too, and I have to say that I'm thankful. Camping in the rain isn't so much of an issue when you have a good trailer, but trying to do trailer-type stuff in the rain, or even waterlogged ground, is never much fun. Hurrah for the fabulous weather this time around.

So that’s it for camping for a couple of months, now we can concentrate on the garden and the pool while the Province’s families enjoy Rondeau’s campground. We do have an annual pass for the park so I doubt that Charlie will go the entire summer without spending time on the beach there.

We have organised another travel trip, not in the Airstream, but I’ll keep that under wraps for a while. Roll on September.

Rondeau in June (3 of 4)

 

Wednesday

It’s been quite a bit warmer today, but that didn’t stop us from being slothful in the extreme again, and not really doing much of anything. The bugs have been particularly bitey during this trip, so we sat in the Pleasure Dome for a while, but the sun was up and it was getting a wee bit warm in there, so we repaired to the Airstream where we had some moving air (Aren’t Fantastic Fans fantastic?).

We spent quite a long time scoping out another trip, not Airstreaming, on our computers before realising how quickly the day had slipped by. Donning shoes and hats, we shuffled slowly through the campground, on the lookout for more turtles, but also checking out the other trailers, their equipment and their occupants. If you’re a people watcher then you’ll appreciate what fun that can be.

We saw another Airstream parked up, bigger than ours and looking quite shiny and new. Their truck had a US license plate, but I couldn’t make out from which state at a distance, so I might have to go and have another look later.

We didn’t see any more turtles, but the Chipmunks, Squirrels and Rabbits were thick on the ground. Coyote food I’d imagine.

We did get to have a little walk along the edge of Rondeau Bay, the smallish lake (comparatively speaking) kept from the main part of Lake Erie by the spit of land that is Rondeau Park. It’s shallow, normally very sheltered from the worst of the wind, and is therefore a haven for all manner of boat-related pastimes. There is a little “yacht club” that only operates in July and August, and loads of kids get out in little dinghies to learn the rudiments of sailing in the relatively safe water of the Bay. This being June, there was no one about, and the club’s portable dock structure was still out of the water. North Americans are not overly excited about dinghy sailing, so they seem happy to limit the club to the summer months only, but I couldn’t help thinking that if this was Europe, the dock would have been in the water as soon as the ice had gone, and the Bay would be filled with dinghies every weekend. Ah well, this isn’t Europe.

We did find a lone turtle, sat quietly in the shade and looking for all the world like he was going to cross the road. He didn’t move, though, so we took it that he was indeed resting and building up the energy to strike for the woods. We kept looking back as we walked away but no, he was definitely having a rest.

I’ll skip over the bit where we bought yet another ice cream from the Park Store and move onto the bit where we had a delightful afternoon nap, baked potatoes for supper and watched the darkness draw in from the bug-free environs of the Pleasure Dome. As the light faded we were treated to the sight of a small Raccoon snuffling around the site, and even trying the edges of the Pleasure Dome, that was until he heard our voices and scuttled off into the undergrowth. It was a reminder for us not to leave anything vaguely edible or drinkable in the gazebo because those cheeky critters will be in and trashing anything that gets in their way when they’re in search of an easy snack.

This fine evening, we broke out the TV and watched a film that I had on my laptop. It was the 1960s classic Georgy Girl, starring Lynn Redgrave, Alan Bates and James Mason. I slept through too much of it to be able to recount the plot, but I was content that I hadn’t seen it before, not even through closed eyes. We rarely watch the TV when we’re camping, which I guess is a good thing. We have a retractable TV antenna built into the Airstream that we can extend should we want to watch broadcast TV, but I can count the times we’ve used it on one hand, although that really speaks to the dreadful quality of broadcast TV as much as to our disinterest in the TV when we’re camping. I was reminded why we don’t have a TV in our bedroom at home as we deployed Airstream’s sofa-bed platform and I watched, or tried to watch, the film from a semi-prone position. Of course, I can sleep standing up, pretty much, but being prone like that made the act of actually nodding off so much easier. A TV in our bedroom would be better than sleeping pills, if I ever needed them.

The morrow would be our last day, and we had a much warmer night to enjoy, but we still didn't turn in until much later than we should have. Again, the pleasures of retirement are many and varied.