Massassauga June 13-15

We had wanted to go camping the weekend before this one. But although you could get into The Massassauga (it was finally open to campers! :) ) it was not possible to rent a canoe at the park. And we don't own any...so we had to reschedule. Lots of time was spent on hold on the phone...but eventually things were arranged, and we went the next weekend, when things were a bit colder and when our church had it's first in person worship service since March.

We are thrilled to be away from home!! It's been so long since we've gone somewere! Look at that!

We made it to our first site after a fairly lengthy paddle. It took a bit longer to get our passes and canoes too, as well, you have to wait outside until it is your turn and not get to close to them and still sign all the papers (I couldn't believe all the paperwork! I even had to sign we didn't put more than 3 people in a canoe--I was like "come on, we used to fit 8 in a canoe. Kids were smaller than, but 3 only? Seriously?". And then I forgot and we had 4 in later. Oops.)

No portages, so before we knew it we had camp all set up. We were in a channel, and, like the campsite number review had said, there was "heavy boat traffic" all day.

We paddled off to go check out a walk. After all, we can't just sit on our site all day and watch the boat traffic!

The walk was over an hour long, and a bit buggy in spots. But very pretty.

Ah, yes. I see where the bugs are coming from. ;)  Pretty, though.

Watching the boats go by. It can be quite noisy, with the motors and voices and then all the following waves.

Exploring nearby.

Don't worry, Daniel is just getting a potential marshmallow roasting stick, he's not doing anything else. ;)

Ooh, it's chilly! Not warm enough to swim, but the water still draws us to it!

Yup, cooking needs to be done on holidays too. At least it's limited to one potful, so things are simpler and more relaxing. :)

A beautiful Sunday morning.

Soaking up the sunshine.

We had a good internet connection and live-streamed in the bush away from the noisy traffic, which would easily have drowned out a cell phone's speakers! We even got hot and thirsty by the end of the service, which meant it was a nice day. :)

Our "church" was very pretty and peaceful.

Packing up. No portages today, it's a day of rest! :)

About ready to go. We are happy to leave the noisy site. There was a lot of garbage. People had left an old tent. And tried to burn the fiberglass poles. Don't try. It makes a mess. The kids thought it was hair at first. ;)

Now we get to paddle through the channel. The boats are all very thoughtful and slow down around canoes. It was a fairly long distance to paddle to our quiet site. We didn't have a lot of selection of sites when I booked, but other than a shortage of good spots to put our tents, it was a nice peaceful spot open enough to let the sun in (not so hot, so shade is not something desired) and calm water to paddle and explore with islands and inlets everywhere.

The campfire is right by the water.

The designated tent pad fits only one of our tents. If we had a bit one we could fit more people here. But it's just a bit too small to fit 2 small tents. The boys are happy to sleep on the flat boards. No, they don't have any sort of pad to cushion them, but they slept pretty well anyways.

A wild orchid. So pretty! Matthew took a bunch of photos of it.

Campsite shot. My old phone/camera doesn't take as nice pictures when the sun is coming in at an angle. Huh, maybe my new phone is fancier.

So peaceful!

Melanie borrowed some of Matthew's art supplies.

Matthew set out to draw the orchid he'd taken pictures of. Until I told him he was allowed to use my camera to take pictures, but I wasn't sure he should be using it for drawing. I wasn't sure if the battery would last until his picture was drawn. And I might like to take more photos. Sorry, man.

This time everyone had their own designated bowl/mug, and had to wash their own dishes. That way, if you don't do a good job, it's you that suffers. ;) Doing dishes is a nuisance, since you are supposed to go away from the shore for 10 meters or something like that, and away from your campfire and tent, and all that. So your food and soap don't go in the lake, and so they don't attract wildlife to your site. Not sure I always want to make all 8 of us go to the "dishes washing place" to do dishes. Especially if it is chilly and you all have to get cold/wet hands.

There were lots of cool places to go paddling. No big waves to worry about, or currents...the only trouble was you might possibly get lost. Thankfully none of us did. :)

Marshmallows really are essential for the camping experience.

Good night Daniel!

Sure is a fancy platform to set up your tent on. Makes a nice seat too, and storage place. Multipurpose!

Kids exploring, and working on their paddling skills.

Yup, he's still with us! :)

Found their way back again! The kids mostly do a pretty good job of steering the canoes.

Melanie got the shock of being rattled at. Massassauga rattlesnake is a real rattlesnake. With a real bite of venom! She was just dashing off barefoot to use the thunderbox. When she startled the snake and it startled her.

I didn't see it myself, but it was quite a bit bigger than I thought it would be. I am glad that my kids are bigger than last time we were in this park! Philip got rattled at while collecting firewood that time. And we had little toddlers and all in sandals. I was not thrilled about the sighting then. This time I wasn't thrilled either, but I was also a bit calmer.

It wasn't very hot. But some of us went for a swim anyways. The slope into the water was steep, and it was slippery once you got in. So it was a bit like a slide. Tricky to get back out again though!

Wee!

 Such a short holiday, time to pack up and head back home again. But it was a beautiful sunny trip. We're glad we got to enjoy a change of scene and a small piece of God's beautiful creation.