Campsite # 7 Bristol, QC
Our second pause in the camping regime. This is one of our favourite places – my cousins’ home on a farm in Pontiac County ,Quebec. We parked under the big tree in their yard. OrangePekoe, the cat, very contentedly stayed tethered to the tow-hitch. She watched birds, the dogs (my cousin also has a dog), and us from a vantage point in the vehicle, or sheltered underneath it. With plenty of water and a small bowl of dry cat food readily available, she was, we presume, in cat glory. Granville, after an initial aggressive display, settled down and made friends with Rosie the farm dog, if you can call dogs palling around friendship. Nigel and I were comfortably accommodated in the house. Thereafter it was good conversation, updates on our respective families, quiet times for reading, and plenty of time to relax. It was, as always, an easy-going atmosphere at my cousin’s home. We enjoyed a tasty lunch, with a friend, at a small restaurant – a bonus for us. After a couple of days here the two of us certainly felt relaxed and ready for the next portion of the trip west.
Campsite # 8 Roe Campground, Arrowhead Provincial Park, Huntsville, ON
It was a surprise to find that Ontario campsites provide power, but no water. However, there is a water-filling-station near the sani-dump, so people with trailers can fill their reserve tank for use during their stay.
Arrowhead Park has three large campgrounds, with a total of nearly 400 campsites. Roe Campground has 100 campsites, some electric, some not. We were in the middle portion in a large site that felt as though there was no-one else nearby. The vegetation between sites was thick, obscuring almost all sight of other trailers, even from the roadway leading to the campsites.
We chose to spend a couple of nights at Arrowhead Park. It was long enough for a short pause to catch our breath, and be rested for the next phase.
Plans for a walk along one of the trails at Arrowhead did not transpire. The rain was coming down in torrents, and included thundershowers. This was not weather for walking through the woods and beside lakes. We were not able to enjoy all that Arrowhead had to offer, nor to share it with our visitors. But we had a fine time because we had visitors.
Campsite # 9 Green Bay Lodge and Camping, Noelville, ON
Originally chosen to meet with the friend who visited us at Arrowhead, we kept this reservation because it was a classic Canadian RV holiday campground. There is a lake with a plethora of water toys, boats, kayaks and canoes to rent, a restaurant and bar for the evening’s entertainment – in other words, the works.
Our site is at the very edge of the permanent sites, where people have set their trailers, added patios, and essentially stay all season. It’s like a small cottage encampment, set for long-term stays. It is a lively place with children and young adults everywhere, riding around on bicycles and ATVs, wearing only swimsuits and carrying nothing more than a towel.
There are only two sites for night-by-night rentals, and we had one of them. Like we’ve experienced with commercial campgrounds, we are cheek-by-jowl with the neighbour, and wide-open to the road. That being said, it has been congenial, with several short conversations with the other campers. We wanted to rest, so we took the time to read and relax. I think this was a good experience in terms of R&R.
Campsite # 10 Agawa Campground, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Wawa, ON
This campground should be glorious, and certainly the setting fits that description. Campsites run in four rows parallel to Lake Superior. A long, sandy beach, peppered with larger pebbles, lined the water’s edge. The beach is human only, no animals allowed. But, bearing in mind that many campers, including us, bring pets, there is a designated dog beach. We took Granville and OrangePekoe to the beach every day, and usually we were alone there.
The unfortunate component of this campsite is that Highway 17, the Trans Canada Highway, was adjacent to the campground. The traffic noise of the huge transport trucks, cars, and motorcycles driving up and down the road. It did quieten down at night, but by 05:30 the trucks were already in motion.
Other than that distraction, this was a lovely campground. The campsite itself was covered with trees, with a cleared space wide enough for a large camping trailer. Plenty of room for us, with our smaller trailer.
Campsite # 11 Marathon, ON
Marathon – a couple of nights inside, visiting a long-time friend from Botswana days. As always, our friend was warm and welcoming. We were extremely comfortable with lots of conversation, and some moments of quiet time together. Her dogs, after an initial stance, accommodated Granville. OrangePekoe stayed in the camping trailer, much to her delight (we think she likes it because she gets to explore the hidey-holes in the trailer).
Wendy asked us to stay an extra night, and we gratefully accepted her invitation. It began raining soon after we arrived, and continued to rain, at times heavily, for the next day. A quiet day is always good, but this rainy disruption gave us a long, quiet day, gratefully received. We read, talked, talked some more. Granville, on the other hand, was glad to have an opportunity to sprawl out on the couch.
Campsite # 12 Campground, Quetico Provincial Park, ON
Quetico, the quintessential back-country campground. We were front-country camping. That is to say, we were camping in regular sites. Ontario provides power only at camping trailer sites. We had to fill our tank from a designated water filling station in the park. This was fine with us, of course. Our very large campsite was fairly open, but as we had come to expect in Ontario provincial campgrounds, privacy barriers in the form of shrubs and trees surrounded the site.
Ontario provincial campgrounds provide many activities for campers. There is always canoeing, and often a beach for swimming. At Quetico there was a small museum outlining some of the centuries-long history of the area. That captivated us. This area has piqued my interest, and that requires more research on my part.
Campsite # 13 Campground, Rushing River Provincial Park, Kenora, ON
Rushing River Provincial Park seemed to not quite come up to its potential. We were assigned a very public campsite, where we tried to create an illusion of privacy. We were relatively successful because we had a corner plot with a huge rock on one side and a small clutch of trees on the other.
And then the rain came. We had a terrific thunderstorm. Rain was pouring down as though someone was dumping buckets of water on the earth. Thunder cracked, lightening flashed – a very loud display. A couple of the thunder-lightening episodes seemed to be right overhead, certainly nearby. Quite a show and it seemed to confuse the electrics in the trailer – the smoke detector bleeped, the carbon monoxide and propane alert completely gave up the ghost, and the water pump went on the fritz. We always hope to have a bit of excitement when camping, but this was a bit too much excitement.
I guess in the campground bingo game 13 was lucky for some.
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