Camping on the normal Sat/Sun weekend has been a rare occasion for us so when the opportunity arose to socially distance camp with our friends, we made last minute reservations at Beavermead campground. Situated by a river and beautiful little lake near the heart of Peterborough, this campground offered some great potential for both nature and water activities. Here's the van all packed up with our bikes, food and aquatic gear!
Beavermead campground is less than a 2 hour drive from home and we had a non-serviced site so it was another opportunity to test out the LiFePO4 batteries (which performed amazing).
This was a special camping experience because we were able to camp with our good family friends that had the site next to us.
All of us took advantage of the river and beach for some excellent swimming, kayaking and exploring!
Our friends had to leave on Sunday but since we had the entire week off we decided to reserve another 3 nights at a choice camping site with direct access to the river.
It doesn't get much better than this.
The girls had lots of exercise everyday and this marks the first time they played on playground equipment in months. Brooke did great keeping up on her bike (with no training wheels)!
My amazing wife celebrated her birthday this week by doing one of the many things she does so well. Here she is showing up the other teenage boys that were too nervous to jump.
This was a much needed and relaxing trip that was not only lots of fun but also very scenic!
I must admit that camping with two young children is lots of work but it's all worth it knowing they have experienced some incredible places, scenery and my hope is that they continue enjoying all the beauty that being outdoors can offer.
2020 has definitely been a year to remember and now that campgrounds are open again, we felt safe to try out our first official camping experience of the year. The past few months of not camping has enabled me to learn and upgrade the van with a new LiFePO4 house battery, solar panels, sink pump just to name a few so we were ready to go.
Just under a 2 hour drive north, Six Mile Lake Provincial Park looked to be an ideal spot to spend the next 2 days. We took our chances on finding an available site as it was Wednesday and we ended up getting a beautiful spot that was both private and close to all the activities.
We quickly set up our new home and got to the business of relaxing, exploring and having fun.
There was lots to explore at this campground so we took one of the short hikes to enjoy the surrounding Canadian Shield, forest and wetlands.
The girls enjoyed getting close to all the animals, creatures and insects.
A new experience for this trip involved the girls playing safely for the first time in months with two new friends close to their age. Socially distant and wearing masks, it's remarkable how kids adapt.
Of course the highlight of this campground was it's proximity to the beautiful lake.
It was great to be out camping again and we felt safe as both campers and staff were respectfully socially distant along with clean facilities. We're hoping that we can fit in as many short trips as we can before the camping season is over.
Sometimes it's refreshing to hold off on blogging about our camping trips as going over the photos now have brought back good memories from our journey almost a month ago. We started our next voyage with a full day of fun at Niagara Falls and immersed ourselves into full tourist mode.
There were many inexpensive all day parking options at the nearby run down/condemned hotels, so we took advantage of that and toured Clifton Hill first.
Then we hit the always majestic Falls which never fails to impress.
I was trying to take in the whole experience but had to cave in and join the 200+ other people on the boat with their phones out to take this video at the base of the Falls. The rumble and physical power is truly incredible.
Niagara Falls also holds special memories as it is one of the first places I took my beautiful wife before we were married. Here's a shot of us from our first trip together over 9 years ago.
After a fun filled day, we set off across the border and on to Stony Brook State Park. As usual, I picked this campground based on reviews and pictures and was very happy with our large site right by the stream.
This popular park and campground is part of the Finger Lakes area and features a beautiful gorge with several waterfalls so we took advantage of the scenic trails and views along the way.
The highlight of this park however is the stream fed natural swimming pool. The inspirational pictures I saw before arriving certainly didn't disappoint with three separate levels of wading, standing and deep level swimming in cool fresh water for everyone to enjoy.
They even allowed diving in the deep end....and of course Cannon Balls!!!
Lots of normal camping fun was also had:
We only spent 3 days here and kept busy with all the exciting things to do and see, definitely a park we would visit again in the future.
