See You in September
Weeks 1–3 on the road camping across Manitoba & Ontario
The time has flown by
We’re two thirds of the way through part two of our epic road and camping trip and we’ve had a blast. I’m pleasantly surprised at how well it’s gone, to be honest (aside from some major hurdles before we even left home).
I know my son and I are good campers, and we’ve done well on shorter journeys together in the past, but this one is the longest yet.
My husband was with us for the first week of our trip and will be joining us again next week, but unfortunately for him, he has less flexibility with his work schedule and couldn’t take as much time off as I can. (Being self-employed and able to work remotely certainly have their advantages).
Falcon Lakeshore Campground
We started out not far from home in the Whiteshell, just West of Kenora, camping with friends. One thing I will say is this: generators are the most obnoxious things in a campground. If you have a generator, please use it very sparingly. They are loud and annoying.
Otherwise, we had a great time. The weather wasn’t hot, but it was sunny and comfortable. My son had his good friend with him, so the boys had a lot of fun biking, exploring, playing, and generally doing kid things.
We stayed three nights until our friends had to return home.
Blue Lake Campground
We camped at Blue Lake the last time we headed East and my son loved it, so I made a point of stopping there again. The sites aren’t the most private, but they have gorgeous coniferous trees and they are good-sized sites. No generators could be heard, so that was a plus.
I made sure to choose a campsite close to the playground, and our son spent approximately an entire day there. It was a challenge getting him to come back to the campsite for meals because he was so busy playing with other kids, which is awesome.
This is a new era for us as parents. Last year we could see it coming: our son no longer wants to hang out with us. When he was young, we could all camp together and have fun just the three of us. Now our son finds us “boring” and “old” (hmph) and wants to find kids his age. Sigh.
There’s nothing wrong with needing adult time or alone time, of course. But to cite a tired cliché, they really do grow up fast. Although a developmentally-appropriate level of independence and healthy separations are important, remember to slow down and cherish this time because it really does go by in the blink of an eye.
Okay, enough of that.
Kakabeka Falls, Pancake Bay, and Grundy Lake Campgrounds
We stopped for one night at Kakabeka Falls, then Pancake Bay, which is in Lake Superior Provincial Park. This is one of my favourite spots. Lake Superior is the largest great lake in Canada and it is very deep, meaning it stays extremely cold, even in late summer.
There are, however, some campgrounds on smaller lakes, yet close enough to Lake Superior to head over and enjoy the gorgeous views. If you or your family love to swim, you might consider a smaller lake for less frigid waters.
Rabbit Blanket Lake campground has a small beach on Old Woman River, but it’s not a short walk from the campsites, you have to drive a short way to get there. Most of the sites in that campground are electric. I prefer the basic sites because we tent camp, but also because they tend to be much prettier, with more trees and privacy.
Grundy Lake had gorgeous campsites and a small but beautiful swimming area. There was a main beach, which we did not visit, but I prefer the quieter beaches anyway (shocking, I know). The water was warm and clear, and the scenery stunning.
Earl Rowe Provincial Park
We met up with friends again at Earl Rowe and stayed there for a full week. I had camped there with my sister a few years ago and we enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to it.
Our friends were staying in the electrical sites, so we had a site there to start. Those sites are large, but with little privacy. Later on we switched to a basic site and it was gorgeous, surrounded by trees, and still quite large for a tent-only site.
The best part of this week of camping was the friends. My closest friends were there, along with their kids and extended family, including my son’s best friend. The kids all got alone really well and had so much fun playing together.
There was one fairly significant downside to this campground: the lake is often closed for swimming due to high levels of bacteria. The campground has a pool, which apparently has been closed for repairs for at least two years.
This was particularly disappointing because it was 30 degrees for most of the week. We had fun with water fights and luckily our site had a perfect spot in the shade for our hammock, but it definitely would have been nice to have a beach to swim at.
It was so hot even the squirrels were looking for a way to cool off.
We’re having the time of our lives
We’ve stopped off to visit family (and shower… and do laundry!) and to prepare for the final two weeks of our trip. As we pulled into one of the campgrounds last week, my son made the comment, “I wish we could do this all year round… but I guess that would be too expensive.”
Expensive, yes, and we’d have to travel quite a distance south to be able to continue camping!
”I wish we could do this all year round.”
I’m so glad my son is having as much fun as I am. We are having adventures and creating fantastic memories. I’m not usually sentimental, but I hope we will carry these memories forward with us for the rest of our lives.
© Jillian Enright, Neurodiversity MB
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