We left on July 9th and spent our first night at an RV park just west of Winnipeg. The next day we drove to Aaron Provincial Park, located near Dryden. We spent a couple of nights there and then continued our trek east. As we were approaching Thunder Bay a pick-up truck drove up beside us and waved us over to the side of the highway. Unbeknownst to us, we'd blown a tire on the trailer! Pete managed to do a quick change on the side of the TransCan but we made a scary discovery when we took a closer look at the rest of our tires - they were all balding badly on the inside! This turned into an adventure all in itself and resulted in 4 new tires and 2 new axles compliments of Forest River - and aside from some extra headaches and phone calls, fortunately didn't affect any of our trip's plans.
Our next stop was Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and we had a great time hiking and swimming...
After that it was on to Neys Provincial Park where we camped for 3 days.
Obatanga Provincial Park remains our favourite spot to camp in Canada, and we were once again treated to our own private beach front.
Then it was on to New Liskeard and a much-anticipated reunion with Glenn, Paule, Patrick, Alexa, Heidi and Scott. The weather was sweltering and we made fantastic use of their backyard pool. The cousins didn't miss a beat after 2 years apart and we had an awesome 4 days together.
It was then on to Toronto (which we timed nicely with dropping the trailer off for repair work in Barrie) and a long overdue visit with Grammy and Gramps! Amanda, Greg, Zach and Jake came down from Sudbury for a couple of days which we filled with rides galore at both Centreville and Canada's Wonderland. Ethan took full advantage of being tall enough to tackle loop-de-loop rollercoasters and blew us away when he ventured on both Dragon Fire and The Bat!
Being in Toronto gave us the opportunity to visit with Great-Grandma Kitten (now 96 and still getting down on the floor to play with the kids!!). We also had some great visits with some of our closest friends.
From Toronto, we went to Caledon for a 3 day visit with Amy, Craig and Sabine. We were treated to another pool and had a wonderful time catching up and watching the kids play together.
After that it was on to MacGregor Point Provincial Park, where we met up with Mike, Shelley, Benjamin, Alex and Sue. It was fun to camp together again and let the kids run wild with their cousins. I'm pretty sure we won't soon be forgotten by some of our camping neighbours... oops.
Our final destination was at Bruce Beach, where we once again met up with Grammy and Gramps. These 2 weeks were amazing. We had unbelievable weather and it was the perfect end to a fabulous summer. The kids started each day with organized baseball, and filled the rest of the day with swimming in Lake Huron, playing "adult golf" with their new clubs from Grammy and Gramps, going for bike rides, playing tennis, and building sand castles on the beach. Bruce Beach is quite simply good for the soul and
we might need to make it a more regular destination in spite of the 2,800 kms that separate us.
While at the cottage we took the boys down to London on a day trip to visit Great Grandma Betts (also 96 years of age!). We also took them to Grandpa Chuck's grave and told him stories about the Blue Jays game we'd gone to in Toronto and left him some tee bits.
We waited as long as we could, but eventually had to face reality and prepare ourselves for the long trek home. We left on Monday, August 22nd and drove as far as Warren Dunes State Park (northeast of Chicago). The dunes were massive and we had an awesome time climbing and hiking in the sand. The following day we tried a new approach to cross-country travel and opted to drive through the night. We made it all the way to Saskatchewan and then spent the next couple of days camping at Moose Mountain Provincial Park (which conveniently boasts both waterslides and minigolf - a nice reward for 3 awesome travellers).
We made it home on Friday, August 26th - just enough time to plan a birthday party and squeeze in some back-to-school shopping. I never thought I'd say it, but after 3 months of life on the road, I think we're finally camped-out!
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