Bon Echo Memories

Last year we stopped at Bon Echo but only for one night as that was all we could get without moving to a different campsite each night. This year we booked early but still were pipped at the post for the sites we wanted. We got sites in the radio free campground that are further away from the lake; it turned out to be a much quieter campground. I arrived at the campground before my sister and brother-in-law; after missing my loop and doing a tour of the whole campground I finally found my site. It took me twice more around before I got my trailer backed into my site, but I did it. I have to say I did give some thought to just taking my sister's site because I could have pulled across that one. 

There's a nice dog beach at Bob Echo where the dogs are actually permitted to be off leash. The next day we took Teddy and Liam down for a swim. I had brought their life jackets. Teddy is quite keen to go wading and didn't even mind swimming. Liam had to be dragged out. I did that twice so he would get the idea that with the lifejacket he's not going to sink, then we just let him wade and meet the other dogs. 

We had a thunderstorm overnight and had breakfast in the rain the next day. Afterwards we headed into town as I needed milk and so we could go the Pioneer Museum. The bonus was that there was not only cell service but open Wifi so we sat in the pavilion at the small park for a while before heading back to the campground.

Pavilion

Cloyne Pioneer Museum

Later I walked the dogs down to the lagoon and the narrows through the adjacent campground. I walked back on the park road to our campground to get an idea of how far it was; it was quite a long walk.

Lagoon

Colourful canoes.

Mazinaw Rock

Bon Echo is known for the pictographs on Mazinaw Rock but to see them you have to take a tour boat or rent a canoe or kayak. I have never done that, perhaps one day I will.

The next day I drove down to the Narrows to take the dogs wading there. Teddy was all excited to go in wading and bark at boats, Liam stayed on shore.

Come in the water's fine!

I'm not coming in!

Teddy barking at the tour boat.

Later on, that same day, my sister came down with me and we let the dogs paddle again. Liam didn't want to be left behind this time.

Wading is not so bad after all!

When we arrived at Bon Echo there was a fire ban, but we got lucky, with the rain the fire ban was lifted so we were than able to have campfires. It's not camping without a campfire.

My sister's trailer by firelight

Ontario Parks campfire ring

Solar lights for the path to my campsite.

As usual, we at very well, our dinner menus included chicken, salmon, pizza and a charcuterie board. For breakfasts, we had blueberry pancakes and bacon, breakfast wraps with sour cream and salsa, and scrambled eggs, sausage with jalapeno cornbread.

Chicken breast with cheese, tomato and Balsamic glaze 

Strawberry shortcake

I really like Bon Echo even though it's quite hard to get into, I'm sure I'll go back again. One day I have to see the pictographs on the cliffs. 

I only have one more camping trip this summer as my big trip coming up in Sep is a river cruise on the Danube so Podrick will be going back into storage early. Sad to see the summer camping season coming to an end but getting excited for the next adventure.

Travel Plans

Looking for summer

Well, it's that time of year when I get rather tired of winter and when reservations open up to book campgrounds.  I hope to do more agility trials with Liam this summer, so I looked at all the posted trial dates and decided which ones I would likely enter him in, that showed me what date windows we would have for camping.  

Then my sisters and I found some campsites in New York state parks. I've always wanted to go to Watkins Glen but since dogs aren't allowed on the Gorge trail, I'd never gone. Hopefully, since I'll be with other people, we can take turns doing the trail or perhaps the dogs can stay with someone back at the campsite. Like many provincial parks here in Ontario, the New York state parks fill up fast, by the time we booked at Watkins Glen there were only four electric sites left. My youngest sister and I took the two sites that were side by side with my other sister booked the site just down the road. For me, this will be quite a long drive and you never know what kind of delay there will be crossing the border, so my youngest sister and I will stop at Westcott Beach on the way down and Selkirk Shores on the way back. We're already looking at wineries and breweries that we can go to when we're at Watkins Glen as the Finger Lakes region of New York is famous for that. 

I have been to Letchworth State park in New York where the dogs were allowed on the gorge trail. Letchworth is called the Grand Canyon of the east.

Beckett at Letchworth

Keltic at Letchworth

Letchworth canyon trail

Letchworth Falls

So, it will be a trip to New York in June. This morning, we got up early to try and book at Bon Echo Provincial Park for Jul; we didn't get the sites we wanted but did get two sites in the park. It's crazy that it's so hard to get camp sites, Ontario has even reduced the number of days you can book from 23 down to 7 days, but I'm not sure what measures they have to ensure you just don't do back-to-back bookings. We stopped at Bon Echo on our way back last year but couldn't even get two nights in a row, so it was just a one-night stop. Bon Echo has a nice little dog beach, so I hope this year to really be able to take the dogs swimming there.  

Mazinaw Rock

Bridge over to the dog beach

In Aug, I have dates where I can get some more camping in, but we'll have to wait for booking windows to open up for those dates. Who knows maybe Vermont, although, their state parks now charge $2 per dog per night. What's up with that? I don't mind pet fees but per dog per night; like really what extra service is provided for that fee, free poop bags? The Lake George or Lake Champlain regions of New York could be another option.

But the big travel plans are in Sep when we've booked a Danube cruise starting with a land portion in Bucharest and Brasov, Romania and ending with a land portion in Vienna, Austria. Vienna has always been on my bucket list. The trip is of the lower Danube so apparently while there's a lot of history, we won't see fairytale villages. We'll be sailing again with Amawaterways. We did a Rhine River cruise with them in 2016 and just loved it.

Amacerto on the Rhine River

Riquewihr, France

Afterwards we're planning to take the train from Vienna to Prague where we'll stay five nights. This part of the trip will be on our own. Our flights have been booked and a hotel in Prague is already reserved.

So, you can see why I'm eager to see the end of winter. It can't come soon enough but I know we probably have another month or so to go.

The Journey Home - the Last Leg

On 10 Aug, we crossed the Canadian border at Sarnia, On; as luck would have it, we were in the line with the most diligent customs agent in the world. I think in our line only one vehicle got through for about 3 to five vehicles in the other lanes. One UHaul truck behind me, pulled out and got into the next line over, he was long gone before I got through the border. There was a shift change just as I got there, the new agent didn't take much time letting me through. 

Our first stop was Point Farms Provincial Park on Lake Huron near Goderich, Ontario.  It was at one time, like the name says a farm, a popular Victorian resort, so more like a health farm or spa where people came to relax.  The camp sites were wide but not very deep, even with my small trailer I had to park the car across the site. They had a very nice dog beach. I just walked down the first evening but took the dogs back the next day to play in the water.

Point Farms Provincial Park

Lake Huron dog beach

The next day I drove into Goderich, which calls itself the most beautiful town in Ontario. But first I stopped to see the grave site of Tiger Dunlop. I had never heard of him before but he seems like he was quite the character.  Goderich was very pretty and the dogs and I walked around town and down by the lake before returning to the campsite to go to the dog beach.

The next day it was quite windy so the waves were a little high. The dogs did enjoy chasing and snapping at the waves. I found it was easier to hold Teddy's leash and let him go out deeper while Liam on the long line stayed in shallower water.

I also caught a beautiful sunset on this second night at Point Farms. Actually I think I missed the best of it; the sun had just dipped below the horizon when I arrived at the lookout but the sound of the waves is also beautiful.

The next day we were off to Sibbald Point Provinical Park. Sibbbald Point is on Lake Simcoe and is only 70 kilometres from Toronto so the park and its facilities were quite crowded. We were camped on a small loop with only 6 or 7 campsites so it didn't seem bad but once you went down to the washrooms, the camp store or beach you noticed how crowded it was. In the afternoon, the parking lots were full and they stopped letting day users in, even the parking lot to the camp store was full as it was also the parking lot for a day use area.  There's a museum onsite called Eildon Hall which was once the home of the family the park is named after. Admission is free so that was nice but you're not allowed to take pictures inside. 

Sibbald Provincial Park

Eildon Hall

Also just outside the park is a church with a nice cemetery on the shores of Lake Simcoe. Stephen Leacock and some other notables are buried here including many of the Sibbald family.

St Georges Church

Lake Simcoe view from the cemetery

Stephen Leacock's grave

Sibbald family plot

Sibbald Point also has a dog beach so Teddy and Liam got to play in the water again.  I waited until the afternoon hoping that it would be a little less crowded; it probably was but I still had to maneuver between crowds of people picnicking to get to the dog beach.  The water was much calmer here so Teddy was easier to handle, with waves he is just so frantic to chase them.

Lake Simcoe

Teddy wading in Lake Simcoe

The next day we would be off to our last stop, Bon Echo Provincial Park. This is a very popular park and we were only able to get one night in the same campsites, staying even two nights would have meant moving campsites so the last stop on the journey would only be for one night. Bon Echo is a great place to canoe or kayak. There is a large rock face called Mazinaw Rock that has pictographs on it. Bon Eco also has a very nice dog beach. It's a small sandy crescent with a large grassy area. Dogs are even allowed to be off leash.

Bon Echo Provincial Park

Bridge to dog beach

Teddy wading at the bridge

Mazinaw Rock

Kayakers coming back.

When we started out the trip seemed like it would last forever but like everything else it had to come to an end. We had bad weather and little mishaps but in ten weeks we never set up or tore down in the rain, we got home in one piece and have many wonderful memories.  I'd call that a great trip! Am I ready to do it again? Well, maybe next year.