Travel Archives - Page 34 of 42 - Our View From The Road

Prince Edward county: Wine and sand… Oh my!

For our second trip to Prince Edward County this year, we teamed up with our friends Dean & Cathy to spend a week relaxing at Sandbanks River Country Campground. We chose to take the week immediately after the Labour Day weekend in the hopes that it would be quiet, we chose wisely!

The drive to PEC was uneventful with the exception of having to detour around the town of Picton due to water mains construction in the downtown. Dean & Cathy have a 33’ class-A motor home and so we were hoping that none of the detour roads would be impassable in a rig of that size. Luckily, no problems were had and we enjoyed the country drive to the campground.

As we were together and our van is small and maneuverable, we parked on our site ‘backwards’ by driving in. This allows our sliding door and awning to extend towards their site and thus makes it a friendlier camping experience. This meant that in order to dump our tanks we needed to partially pack-up in order to turn the van around to reach the drainage point and then turn back again to continue camping. This turned out to be easier than it sounds and was only performed once mid-week and then again just before we left.

Below you see our 2 campsites shortly after arriving. Setup only took about 45min after which we relaxed for the remainder of the day catching up with each other.

Early on the Tuesday morning, Tony headed out for his daily walk and went off to explore the access footpath into Sandbanks Provincial Park. The campground in which we are staying is directly across a road from the Provincial park and there is an agreement in place that grants campers in the campground walking access to the Provincial Park beach. The walk to the beach turned out to be only about 10mins. We will likely use this a lot during the week.

This morning the beach is empty with the exception of a few dog walkers and joggers. The picture below shows how big the beach is when it’s empty. We’re in for a couple of cloudy days and so do not expect it to be busy until the weekend.

Throughout the week we all had plenty of time to relax and enjoy our surroundings. Many a book page was read and many a drink was enjoyed. Once the weather improved later in the week for sitting out in the evenings, we enjoyed several campfires including the one below. At one many marshmallows were toasted or burnt and eaten in S’mores. At another pie irons were used to bake various campfire treats. We even explored making a ‘breakfast’ sandwich in a pie iron that included an egg and ham. Yummy!

On Thursday we were driven to a distillery, 2 wineries and a craft brewery as part of a tour we had booked. The following pictures are from that tour. A great time was had by all of us.

Our last full day was Saturday and the campground and Park beach had become much busier now that Summer-like weather had returned. We spent most of the day at the campsite relaxing and playing games before heading the the beach for one last visit.

We have already booked the same campsites for the same week next year in the hopes that the weather will be as good.

Great times were had by all. Friends for over 30 years and we’re still making fantastic memories together. Until next year, happy camping!

Mid-week excursion to Charleston Lake

Our grand-daughter, Elena, is staying with us for the week and so we thought a quick two day camping get away would be a nice break. However, Mother Nature decided to make the start of our journey a little challenging by delivering a deluge of rain just before we were to head out. In the picture below you can see the Summer shower ‘inviting’ us to enjoy the great outdoors.

Luckily the weather delayed our departure by only an hour and the drive from our home to Charleston Lake Provincial park is only an hour so even with the small delay we still arrived at our campsite well ahead of dinner time.

Setting up the van took a little longer than usual as we had to prepare a 3rd bed for Elena. This is comprised of a board and blankets placed on the swiveled front seats. Really quite a nice space.

After dinner we took a short walk to the beach and then to the playground where Elena had to slide, swing, bounce and teeter-totter before she would allow us to leave and return the campsite. The evening ended with a small campfire.

The campground is quiet and the sites quite large and level as well as shady amongst maple and pine trees. Ours had lots of space for Elena to run around.

On Day 2 we decided to spend some time at the beautiful beach that they have in this park. It is really quite suited to younger children as it’s roped off and quite shallow. The water was warm and clear, and frogs and fishes were spotted.

After lunch it we enjoyed some quiet time at the campsite.

In the evening we had a campfire where marshmallows were roasted and s’mores were made. Sleep came fairly early as we had all really enjoyed the outdoor air.

Day3 started with Grandpa cooking breakfast on the griddle before we all pitched in to pack up our campsite. Time for one last picture before heading out.

Although the camping trip had been fun, we all slept really well in our own beds at home that night. Until the next camping trip, here’s hoping everyone enjoyed seeing and reading about our quick get away to Charleston Lake.

July 21, 2022 – Recap and Statistics

Three weeks, yes it’s been that long since we arrived home after our 42 day cross-continent tour. A few friends have asked for some specifics about the trip and so we provide the following for your consideration.

The first question tends to be about where we stayed each night. Did we find suitable camping locations? So, here are the stats for that.

13 nights moochdocking (family laneways). Thank you all.
3 nights at Indianapolis Motor Speedway camping field (no services).
7 nights at Harvest Host locations
3 nights in Walmart parking lots
6 nights at KOA campgrounds (serviced).
3 nights at US state park (Fort Stevens)
2 nights at Canadian National Parks
4 nights at Ontario Provincial Parks

As you can see we mixed it up a bit and tried a variety of places. Favorites?

Harvest Host: Shiloh Winery & Vineyard, Kansas. Quiet solitude on the plains.
KOA: Central City, Colorado.
Parks Canada: Jasper, Whistlers Campground, Alberta.
Ontario Provincial Park: Macleod, Geraldton, Ontario.
Family laneway: Yeah, we’re not picking a favorite as we love you all.

The next obvious question is about where exactly did we go? Here’s a map that shows you the route West from Ontario, across the US Midwest, up to British Columbia and the back across the Canadian prairies.

Lastly, given the current price of fuel, folks have asked how much fuel we used and what it cost. So, here it is all laid out in a table for you to review.

So there you have it, a few statistics about the trip. Hoping you find them interesting.

Day 42: June 30 – Deep River, ON to Home

Slept in today as it will be a short drive home from Driftwood Provincial Park. Had time to cook eggs, bacon & hash-browns and enjoy them outside…. Yes, the weather has finally cooperated to allow us to do this.

Last breakfast on the road for this trip

This being the day before Canada Day traffic between the park and Ottawa was much heavier than we had seen in recent days. However, we enjoyed an uneventful drive and before long we found ourselves driving into our laneway. We are home.

We were greeted by Kyra and an overly exuberant Dublin (Kyra’s dog) both of whom had missed us these past 42 days.

The remainder of the day will be spent unloading the van and settling back into the house.

If you’ve followed our journey from the beginning, thank you. I hope that my writing and our travels have been engaging for you. I plan on posting one or two follow on posts in the next few days that provide some statistics and thoughts after the fact. So, stay tuned!

Day 41: June 29 – Timmins, ON to Deep River, ON

Today we shall complete our Hwy-11 journey and join Hwy-17 at North Bay for the journey down the Ottawa Valley.

We pass through Earlton and wave at ‘Earl’ the bison on the way past. We stop for lunch at a quiet rest area a little North of North Bay and find an amazingly tranquil lake.

North Bay seems overly congested after the past few days of driving. The return to civilization is a little jarring. We leave the Toronto-bound traffic and continue Eastward on Hwy-17 towards Mattawa.

At Mattawa we spot Big Joe Mufferaw and turn towards Ottawa. Our destination for the night is Driftwood Provincial Park near Deep River as it will leave a short drive for tomorrow, our last day.

We snag an amazing waterfront site and settle in for a relaxing afternoon in the sun. The view is incredible across the Ottawa River and the sun is warming but not hot.