Wellesley Island camping trip

This year was our first time camping on Wellesley Island. The park is located on a large island in the St. Lawrence Seaway just off the Hill Island border crossing - conveniently located between Ottawa and our friends in Bowmanville.

We arrived to find our site located in a grass field well away from the river but also far enough away from the monster sized motorhomes with their patio lanterns and noisy air condition units. While a nice open field is great for soccer and frisbee it is not the best for setting up rain tarps. Luckily the McMullans were only a day behind us with their large dining tent but in hindsight we had nothing but sunshine for our entire stay.

We swam, we paddled (while the McMullans motored in their new "canoe"), we fished, we bbq'd, and we kept ourselves hydrated. We faired well with only one incident where Steve managed to hook his thumb after releasing a wee rock bass. Unfortunately the hook was buried deep and they opted to call the day short so they could boat back to the park and cross back over into Canada to go to the hospital. The fear of racking up a US medical bill is enough for any Canadian to make the slightly less-feared US-CAN (and then CAN-US) border crossing. Some hours, some freezing, and some stitches later, Steve and Rhonda rejoined our group for the late night fire.

Here are some pics of our week's adventures... oh, and as for the pic at the top? Well that has gone viral on Tumblr - no idea how it made it to Tumblr in the first place but such is this crazy Internet thing. For those of you interested, here is the background on the photo. We had just headed out for the day when we stopped to check out a view of the St. Lawrence. The spot also seemed to be a good time for a group photo for the annual McMullan-vanTol calendar so I set up my camera on the hood of the Jeep. I took a moment to level it out and after a couple of test shots I hit the timer and ran back to the group. As per usual there is always one in the group (or all) that opt to make a funny face or close their eyes so I quickly reviewed the shot only to find that somebody had lifted their leg and and and well the rest is history now. And no, for the record Rhonda had no clue what her husband Steve was doing when she kicked up her leg. That's what makes it priceless. Cheers folks.

March Break at Finger Lakes

Like every other year, we managed to pull off another last minute March Break get together with the McMullans. Normally we head north to snow country where we frolic in the Great White North and all it has to offer... snowshoeing, tobogganing, ice-fishing, snow fort building.... memories in bathed in white. This year we turned south to a halfway point that landed us in the Finger Lakes district in up-state New York. This is wine country... 25 degrees, sunshine, shorts, and even a dip in the lake. Who would have thunk it possible?

After spending the better part of the first (semi-wet) day at the nearby shopping outlet it was high time for a hike and a return to nature. Thanks to geocaching.com, I managed to find an old abandoned rail trail that provided us with just the right fix.




We even managed to squeeze in a little history lesson on Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Very interesting and well worth the read/visit.




On the last day we opted to stick close to the cottage and relax. The kids decided to take a March Break plunge in Owasco Lake thinking it would make a great post on FB. Well while four waded in, only two opted to go all the way dipping several times before crawling back out and heading for a hot shower. Thumbs up to Sara and Connor for following through on this challenge.





Okay, as it turned out they were having the very same weather in Ottawa but... um... did I mention the wine and the great company?



Cheers!

Previous March Break blog entries...
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011

Charleston Lake 2011

Our first family camping trip of the season and where better to start then at Charleston Lake with the McMullans. It was stinking hot which really simplified our daily game plan - load up canoe with food, cold drinks, swim gear, fishing rods and paddle to the nearest cove or island. And that is exactly what we did. For 6 days straight.



The various jumping rocks were a definite highlight for both the kids and I. Even Sara managed to work up the courage to launch herself from a 4 foot overhanging rock. We all played it safe and kept our life jackets on knowing that at least one poor soul drowns in these waters every year. This summer it was a 15 year old high school boy from Ottawa, Hay Mu Tha Kyu. He was born in a Thailand refugee camp and moved to Canada when he was 11. Sad to think that after a difficult start to life he was finally heading towards a much brighter future and then one jump off a rock on a hot summer's day and it's all over. My advice... bad shit happens, play safe.








Good times in the summer of '11.

Chillin' at Charleston Lake

Our annual summer trip to Charleston Lake always provides a bundle of great memories with the McMullans. This year we added a few more to the vault - the day trip picnics with the canoe, the campfire stories by the glow of the iPhone, the fish tales (complete with photos), multiple trips to the beach (only 50 feet away), rock jumping, gourmet suppers, and of course the snake catching. Good times.




Fishing was good this year, though maybe we only noticed because this time we actually unleashed the poles for a change. We caught several smallies, some large mouth bass, a couple of pike, and the boy even scored a nice sized lake trout while trolling with Steve along the shoreline. Well done.







I spotted this large northern water snake just as we were leaving our camp for a day on the water. Sara wanted to catch it but mom said we needed to get going. I kept quiet and snapped the pics.



Another year come and gone... I can't wait to book 2011.