It's Victoria Day long weekend, the sun is shining and it's camping time. There's something intrinsically wrong with that statement. Victoria Day is correct, but sun shining and camping are words that do not go together, at least for us. OMG!
To be fair, Victoria Day, or more correctly in these more enlightened times, May Two-Four, is traditionally a camping weekend. In this part of the world, though, it's more often associated with teenagers descending on a local Provincial Park and getting bladdered for the weekend; it was for this reason that we escaped to the Finger Lakes of Upstate New York last year. This year we took a chance and made our way to Point Farms, on the shore of Lake Huron just north of Goderich, in the hope that it was far enough away from booze crazed teens but close enough for us to get to whilst still light. Having booked the last available camp site, we were hoping our hunch was correct.
So it was that we were hitching Towed Haul up in glorious sunshine and looking forward to a pleasant run up north. Weighed down as we were with tadpoles and hound, it seemed a slow run up to our first (and only) way point, the party town of Grand Bend, even with the fine weather. The Pinery Provincial Park at Grand Bend is a big venue for the teens of London and Sarnia so we rolled past its gates with some relief and took the oldies trail up Highway 21.
We'd been to Point Farms before, one damp weekend last May, but this time the place was somewhat different; it was dry and warm for a start! Our site was on a slight slope and next to the Vault Toilets (more on that later), but comfortable for all that. Executing a masterful backing up manoeuvre in one deft movement, we lined up just about perfectly first time and we were complimented by our neighbours on a fine piece of trailer craft, and that's always a good start to the weekend. The Tadpoles came in handy as we despatched them with the hound "for a walk" whilst we Toads set up, but as ever in these cases, they were all back within three minutes; this is what constitutes a walk, apparently. As we were getting ourselves sorted, things did get a little out of kilter with the young ones not being exactly helpful, but we settled into a reasonable state of camp readiness and had the fire lit as the sun went down. A heap of pre-prepared goulash with macaroni later and we were all in weekend mode. Even the hound calmed down after a while.
Despite it getting a little cool, we sat under the rather daringly deployed awning (see earlier posts regarding awning deployment and weather) and basked in the feeble glow of the Airstream fairy lights and the dying embers of the fire. As a final act of the evening, the hound was propelled around one of the campground loops for mandatory bladder evacuation and we marvelled at the stars, so often not visible in the glowing night time citadel that is Chatham. This was shaping up to be a nice weekend.
Saturday
Having failed to make an advanced order for doughnuts from Goderich's famed bakery, Culbert's, Saturday started early for me and the large tadpole. We were despatched to the town at around 8am to pick up some "cream puffs", as they are known locally. Now I don't usually queue for food but this was the exception that proves the rule; stood in line on the street waiting to get doughnuts isn't my idea of a fun filled Saturday morning but the ends would surely justify the means. I watched in amazement as just about everyone in the line ahead of us bought cream puffs and cleared the shelves at an alarming rate. Folks were not stinting themselves, either, with one order for "three and a half dozen"; that's forty two doughnuts! Who buys that kind of quantity? I wondered if Billy Bunter was in town. We eventually left the shop with our measley twelve doughnuts, and without any fresh bread as it had all been sold some twenty five minutes after the shop opened - this is one popular bakery.
It's at this point that I have to mention last August's devastating tornado that hit the very centre of Goderich and trashed the place, and I mean trashed. Many of the buildings within a small area around the Courthouse Square were smashed to bits, including Culbert's Bakery. Even now, nearly a year later, a few buildings were still being rebuilt and some, sadly, had been demolished. The Courthouse, once surrounded by a circle of trees, now stood bare in the centre of it's traffic circle and the usual Saturday Framers' Market had been displaced to the outer circle. On the one hand it was sad to see the effect of the storm, but on the other it was good to see the place coming back to life.
Anyway, back at camp it was time for brekkie, with the tadpoles set tasks to complete the meal. The girls came up with some lovely pancakes whilst the boys, or more specifically the big tadpole, came up with some spanking bacon. With coffee and doughnuts it doesn't get much better! The weather was still fine, warming up rapidly and making me look nervously at the awning (see earlier posts regarding awning deployment and weather). I had a quick mooch around the campground, admiring the trailers but clucking disapprovingly at the tow vehicles and their hitching arrangements. There was a surprising amount of minivans on site, but sadly not one looking like it was towing anything bigger than a Scamp; my towing sensibilities were once again dampened.
All of us trooped down to the beach before lunch and as the place was almost deserted, we decided to break the law and let Willow off the leash. Well, she went loopy; into the water, out of the water, dig a hole, fill a hole, chase another dog, run away from another dog; typical Willow stuff, really. It all looked good, though, as she was tiring herself out in time for the incarceration in her crate later in the day.....
The hound was being locked up because on Saturday afternoon we had an appointment. Nothing frivolous, mind; football. Mrs Toad had done her scouting and selected the Goderich branch of Boston Pizza as the most likely place to watch Bayern Munich vs Chelsea in the final of the European Champions' League. She wasn't wrong, either, as the big screens in the bar area looked very promising. We arrived a little early but as time ticked by, so Chelsea bedecked supporters began to arrive and, by the time the game kicked off, there were thirty or forty people watching with us, mostly Chelsea but some Bayern, too; this is a very German area so I'd have been surprised if there were no Munich fans in. The game was completed on a penalty shoot out, meaning my nerves were shot and I could barely watch, but we won; cue relief at our table. Goodness knows what the good people of Goderich must have thought as they sat down to their pizza in the dining room as the bar resembled a very raucous Saturday afternoon at Stamford Bridge.
Excitement over, we headed back to camp to let the dog out of her crate, then built the fire and set about making supper. The sun was still shining and the awning was still out (see earlier posts regarding awning deployment and weather), which was spooky. The Ontario side of Lake Huron is famed for its sunsets, so I dragged the tadpoles and the hound out to watch this evening's display, albeit that we were a trifle late. The sun had gone into the mist on the horizon but the sky and the lake were a lovely glowing pink, as witnessed by the photographs which were very good but turned pink into orange; still impressive but not quite the right hue.
It still being a little cool in the evening, we weren't too bugged out, which was good. The campground wasn't too noisy but the smell of woodsmoke was all pervasive so we headed in to the trailer to watch a movie. For me, that didn't last long as I was snoozing in seconds, so I gave up the unequal struggle and went to bed (it's a rock and roll lifestyle, this camping). I think the others weren't too far behind and it was into the land of nod for all of us. And the awning was STILL out!
Sunday
I woke early. Too bloody early. I lay in bed reading the Daily Telegraph on my phone until 6am then decided I should scuttle off for a shower; beating the rush, as it were. The campground was lovely to walk through as the sun was just rising, with no one around and only the birds making any noise. The shower block was standard Ontario Provincial Park but clean, as ever, and new last year. Even when I made my way back through the massed trailers and tents there was no sign of human movement, apart from my own, which was just wonderful. I set up to make coffee under the awning (it was still deployed) and then sorted out the tablet PC so I could do some blogging. It wasn't very warm sat out in front of the trailer at 6.45 am but I had the birds, and the hound of course, for company. Using the connectivity of my phone to connect the PC to the Internet, I was able to write straight into Google's Blogger App, which was a whole lot better than last time when I had to transfer from one app to another. Let's hear it for technology!
Having fed the hound I thought I'd take her on an extended tour of the Park, which by 8am was beginning to show signs of life. We made our way to the other campground, about a mile away, for a nosey around and saw a very big deer out for its morning constitutional. Willow stood and watched, deciding, I think, that the deer was just a little too big to chase after. The second campground was quite nice and we saw another Airstream there, parked in a very nice site, the number of which I have logged for later use. We used the woodland trails to head back and by the time we arrived at Towed Haul, the campground was fully alive with kids abroad and breakfast campfires on the go, but strangely our site was very quiet! I had promised to take our two sluggedybed tadpoles out for a walk along some of trails and had to bodily drag them out of bed at 9am. Still, once up and out I think they enjoyed the mini-hike I took them on. We saw a big mangy looking raccoon out on its travels, which is unusual in the day time, and plenty of noisy Blue Jays. The lake was flat calm, as it had been all weekend, and looked very inviting as we clambered down some rough hewn steps in the cliff and emerged on a rocky beach; all most pleasant I have to say.
Later in the day, Mrs T and I took the opportunity to escape from the small ones and headed out to the local grocery store to get some more bottled water. Even an hour's peace was most welcome and we dragged out the trip just a shade longer than we needed to, giving our eardrums some much needed rest and recuperation. The tadpoles love camping but they do add an extra dimension of chaos to the proceedings.
Sunday afternoon was beach time. The sun was high, the lake was flat and there was the merest hint of a cooling zephyr as we sat and watched the hound try running in two feet of cold lake water then digging holes in the sand to lay in. I have no idea what goes on in that animal's brain but it tends to get quite jumbled when there's lots of new and exciting things about; we're very similar...
We returned to the campsite with two sunburned tadpoles and set us up for supper, building a monster fire into which three very large foil-wrapped potatoes were to be placed. It's at these times that I wish I has some asbestos gloves because manoeuvering heavy potatoes in what turned out to be a fair imitation of the surface of the sun was not an experience that my hands enjoyed. OK, I was using a pair of tongs, not just my bare hands, but the tongs could have done with being three feet longer. Mind you, the pain was worth it because those spuds were cooked to perfection; the big tadpole's attempt at flame-broiled burgers wasn't bad either. It is fun to cook on an open fire but I have the feeling that the smell of wood smoke is going to linger about my person for the best part of next week!
Mrs T and I made no pretense of watching DVDs on this warm evening; we sat out for a bit then went to bed, at 10pm, which is some kind of record for us. The tadpoles may or may not have stayed up; I have no no idea, which demonstrates amply my parenting skills.
Monday
Another involuntary early start, met with the 6 am shower again and a period of quiet reflection (and blogging) under the (still deployed) awning, over a cup of hot coffee. This was move out day for most and a lot of trailers were on the move at 8am, which always seems to be a bit odd to me when you've paid for your site until 2pm. Still, I was able mentally criticise their hitch setups and, in one case, praise it. Yes, I know, I'm going soft in the head.
The Toads of Towed Haul are not known for their early morning activity so it was almost lunchtime when we sat down to croissants, toast, pancakes and bacon. It matters not, of course, when you eat in such relaxed circumstances so it really was a slow and gentle lead up to packing everything away and hitching up the Airstream, ready for the off. It's an absolute delight to be able to pack up in the warm sunshine and, of course, to put the awning away - for the first time over the entire weekend! Did I mention that deploying the awning usually results in monsoon weather? Well not this weekend, it didn't. Oh Bliss.
Talking of bliss, I did say that I'd tell you about vault toilets earlier and, as using one was one of the final things I did before leaving the site, I'll keep my promise. The vault in question is a large underground chamber atop which sits at least two toilets, contained within a wooden hut structure. The toilets are not like the "Thunderboxes" of old but resemble real loos. It just when you open up the lid you look down not into water, but straight into the vault and the surface of its contents some seven or eight feet below. It does smell a bit, but not as bad as you might think; I'm sure some agent or enzyme is added to the vault to help keep the contents from getting too high. These are not the only loos available on site, water flush models are available in the bath house, but these vault toilets were surprisingly well used over the weekend, even at night with no lighting other than that you bring yourself. Being in a fairly swanky trailer, we have a water flush toilet, but in order to keep our trailer 'vault' from filling, I use the outside vaults and encourage the others to as well, particularly as there's proper hand washing facilities there, including soap and towels that are kept well stocked. My only word of caution would be to ensure that you keep a tight hold of your mobile phone when you use the vaults;if it goes in there it's never coming out again!
So there it was, a warm and dry weekend in a nice campground with a lovely beach nearby; well worth the effort of dragging Towed Haul nearly 200 Kms north. We ambled back at 50 mph and benefited with a healthy gas mileage figure. Poor Mrs Toad was struck with the lurgy on the way back and spent the time trying to breath and to stay awake. The weather broke in the evening but, and I know that you'll all appreciate this, the awning had long been stowed!
Until the next time Toad fans.
PS - Chelsea FC, Champions of Europe.
