Shakedown 2, The Sequel

The Old River Channel at The Pinery

The Pinery is a large strip of Oak Savannah that borders the southern end of Lake Huron. The Savannah is protected from the ravages of the lake by a wide and high bank of sand dunes. I don't know how many camping sites there are hidden in the Oak, Ash and Pine woods but it must run to many thousands. Our trip in April was early enough for only one camping area to be open and even that was virtually empty, so I can't imagine what the place is like at the height of the season. Mind you, this is a big park so hopefully all those people blend into the woods; we shall have to do a high summer trip just to find out.

The Pinery is about 120 Kms from home and across country, so no nice wide highways but lots of right angle turns and towns to drive through; a test for my driving skills when towing.

Preparation involved making sure that we didn't have too much fresh water on board (it's so heavy!) and only taking enough stuff for the two of us; we were sans enfants for this trip. We also packed the Sat Nav because all those right angle turns can get confusing.

The drive was uneventful (thank goodness) and I was grateful for all the arrow straight roads between those right angles so I could get a feel for towing. There was a dreadful headwind but Airstream trailers deal with those pretty well. We also met a few big tractor trailer units heading in the opposite direction, at speed, and that is always a test of your hitching set up and general stability; I'm pleased to report that there was ne'er a wobble experienced, so our hitch and trailer ensemble is obviously working well.

Checking in at the park, I paid particular attention to any stray Stop signs and noted that the gate house had some obvious scrapes at eaves trough level; I'm not the only entry way crasher!

Lake Huron Shore

We'd been to the park to look at the camp site earlier in the year and now it looked a little different without the snow. A little scruffy was the initial impression. We filled up with water at the Comfort Station, backed up about 75m (it took a few attempts!) and headed into the woods. Drawing into the site, Mrs T decided that she'd like the trailer facing in the opposite direction so, with a confidence I don't really merit, I set about a complicated three point turn, with Mrs T spotting. With deft use of some simple instructions and the excellent two way radio system, we had Towed Haul turned around in no time at all, which wasn't at all shabby given the confined space. We're getting there.

The camping area was very sparsely populated so as the darkness fell, it was almost like being in the backwoods. It being Royal Wedding Day, we deployed the on board TV antenna and watched the re-run on a slightly grainy CBC before turning in for a very quiet and restful night.

Regular readers of my blogs will note that there has been only a passing mention of weather in this little missive. Now, though, is the weather report. A lovely evening it may have been but as the darkness came, so the temperature fell. It was 0 degrees C outside when we went to bed, which isn't right for the end of April, even in Southern Ontario. Still, I guess that's what the furnace is for.

The weather forecast look set OK for the next the day, though, so one cold night was bearable; look out for day 2......