Camping in Ontario

 We did a short camping trip to start the season but we hit three provincial parks. We went to Balsam Lake, Awenda and Emily. 

Balsam Lake was just a one-night stop as the drive to Awenda was too far for me to do in one day. I left home at 9:17 am and made it to Balsam Lake at around 3 pm. It wasn't a bad drive, but you get quite fatigued even with stops for gas and to stretch our legs. We had pull thru sites right near the bathrooms. At first, we couldn't figure out why so many people drove to the bathrooms, then we looked at the campground map. The two comfort stations in our loop were the only ones in the whole campground; of course, there were privies but no other showers or flush toilets. It didn't help that many people who did walk also brought their dogs up with them. I guess they thought, have to go for a walk, why not take the dog. But all in all, Teddy wasn't too bad, and it was only one night.

Balsam Lake

Teddy likes sleeping in the trailer

We were able to have a relaxing morning the next day as Awenda was only about a 2-hour drive. When I was posted to Borden, I'd always wanted to camp at Awenda but it was always full over the summer. We were in Hawk campground at the far end of the park. If you like cycling this would be a nice park, as it was, we were nearly 10 km from the beach. I had always read that Awenda was part of the Niagara escarpment, and it is, I thought that meant there would be views over Georgian Bay, but the tree canopy is so thick that there wasn't much of a view until you get right to the lake. 

Awenda

Trilliums

Rocket at Awenda

Georgian Bay

I took the dogs down to the dog beach twice. The second time a thunderstorm was approaching, and it was Teddy who decided it was time to go. I got to the store for ice and was headed back to the campsite when it started pouring rain, the worst of it had stopped by the time I got back. We did lose power for a few hours though. The funny thing was that none of the park staff that drove around stopped to update us on the situation.

Liam does wade

Teddy loves wading

Liam would rather keep his feet dry.

The sites at Awenda were huge, if you're camping with other people, it's hard to get sites that are really close. We were camped near the central bathrooms. There was only one set of privies in the loop so some sites would be quite a hike to use the toilet. I don't know why they don't install some additional privies. The sites are well shaded with a canopy of oak and maple trees.

My site from the road.

Tree canopy

On our last day at Awenda, we drove into Penetanguishene. We walked the marina and went out to Discovery Harbour. Penetanguishene was a Royal Naval station, long before Canada was a country. Discovery Harbour was free for military veterans and very dog-friendly, so it made for a nice day out.  Since most kids were still in school, I think we were about the only ones there. All the reenactors were looking for something to do and gave us detailed accounts and demonstrations. We had to say no to seeing a musket firing as the dogs likely would have been quite upset by that. The dogs were allowed in all the buildings except the Officers' Quarters. I don't know if that's normal or if it was because we were nearly the only people there.

Penetanguishene

The town marina

Discovery Harbour

H.M.S. Temcumseth

The next day it was a short drive to Emily Provincial Park near Peterborough for two nights. Again, this was really just to break up the long trip back. We had no plans for Emily, but to relax. I took the dogs down to the see the campers beach and to the day use area that has a dog beach.

Dog beach

We're still batting a 1000 for setting up and taking down in the dry. We enjoyed all of our meals outside, didn't have to head to a restaurant once due to rain. I bought a new camp stove for this trip, no more naphtha or pumping up the old Coleman stove. I also got a propane fire bowl with Airmiles points, but we didn't use it on this trip, perhaps we'll use it for our one-night stops or if there's a fire ban during our long trip that starts next week.