One nighter at Murphys Point

Finally a chance to camp but as it turned out only Sara and I were able to swing it. So while Emma shuffled off to a double-sleepover and mom slunk down to the basement to churn out report cards, Sara and I packed the tent and some grub and zoomed off to Murphys Point Provincial Park.

The weather forecast was sketchy but as it turned out it was more than adequate with the bulk of the rain falling during the night while we were snuggled up in our 3-man tent.



Upon arrival, we set up camp and than walked over to the beach - me with my new comfy chair and Sara with her newly patched rubber dingy. We were only there a few minutes when Sara came walking back with her first watersnake of the season (and first of 4 on this trip). Good catch Sar.


The mosquitoes seemed to come in waves but and mainly around our campsite. No worries though as the park was relatively deserted allowing us to wander down a couple of sites to one with more sun and breeze and far less bugs. The beach was also bug-free thanks to the dive-bombing dragonflies.



The animals kept us busy/entertained. Kato the raccoon (Sara named him) showed no fear as he zoomed in and out of our campsite looking for stray scraps or unattended babies. We scared him up a tree a few times but he would always come back looking for a bite of our yummy "Pete & Gus" sausage. It got a little tense when he walked to within 2 feet of me like he wanted to check my pockets. It was at that moment that Sara decided to yell, "He's got foam around his mouth Dad!". LOL Sara. I thought I couldn't jump any higher until later that evening as I was rummaging for my toothbrush I looked down with my headlamp to see 2 large June bugs crawling up my jacket only inches from my mouth. Now, those things are scary up close!

The other entertainer was Zig-Zag the snapping turtle (I named him) who we managed to save from certain death 3-4 times. The first time we spotted him on the road we stopped and I picked him up and carried him to the side that he appeared to be heading for. Moments later we drove by again that he was - smack in the middle of the road. This time I quickly moved him to the other side. A few laughs later and we found ourselves coming back down the road to find you know who hanging out on the pavement. Ok, enough already. This time as we approached he popped up like a Fred Flinstone car and his little legs just started motoring. It was hilarious. Luckily Sara managed to get it on video with her new iPod. Anyhow, we went to bed that night knowing that we would have made Ranger Rick proud.

May 24 at Murphys Point

With all the hot sunny weather in the forecast I decided to take the kids for a night at Murphys Point to start off May 24 weekend. Great choice too as we had a great time biking, swimming, snake hunting, turtle chasing, coon cussing, and we even managed to slip in some R&R.

The kids were eager to kick off the snake catching season so not long after setting up camp we hopped on the bikes and made our way to the beach. Strangely enough we had it all to ourselves for the entire afternoon. Sweet.



The trip was a simple plan with relatively few items forgotten back at home (sorry about your air mattress Emma). Dinner was wieners and Bush Beans with a side of Cape Cod chips and Garden Herb flavored Triscuits - a menu that only seems to work well when served in the great outdoors.




NOTE:
It turned out that Murphys Point was one of the 44 provincial parks with an alcohol ban in effect for the weekend. And as a warning to others out there, this ban is taken seriously and strongly enforced. Our neighbors were evicted only 2 hours after arriving. They were a quiet looking couple of about 45 years of age but that didn't matter none when the Smokey rolled by and spotted the case of Keiths in the trunk. Ouch. They had barely finished setting up the tent when he slapped them with a ticket and an escort to the front gate.

Snake hunting at Charleston Lake

Late last week the kids and I decided to head out to Charleston Lake on Saturday for a one-nighter with the tent while mom went out to a stag with some of her co-workers. Come Friday night the weather forecast was still holding up so I loaded the canoe on the van and threw in some camping gear. By 8:30 Saturday morning we were on the road with only one quick stop at the grocery store for some last second essentials - toothpaste, hotdog buns, toilet paper, and Double Stuff Fudgee-Os (which by the way are only available in Canada - izn't dat veird?).

We arrived in good time and quickly scoured the campground's available sites. Weighing all the pros and cons (size, privacy, level ground for the tent, proximity to the field, comfort station and beach) we settled on site 203.



The rest of the weekend was spent searching for snakes and frogs, paddling around the nearby islands, building sand castles, more snake hunting, campfire tales, and cozy cuddling in the tent (it dropped down to 10°C, eh). We had an awesome trip. Oh and yes, we did catch a couple of snakes... well technically Sara did all the catching. One northern water snake as it slithered in the water along the shoreline and one garter snake as it huddled in the back of the vending machine for warmth.






Bring on summer.