Camping Weekend 2

So I'm already finding that some of these camping weekends will be grander than others. This one was one of the grander ones. My dear friend Casey Butler is on his way (or already arrived, perhaps) out west to New Mexico to join several of our old friends at a summer camp. He'll be working as a summer staffer for now, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he ended up out there long-term. One thing I've always loved about Casey is his love for adventure. He understands a side of me that many people do not.

So he told me he and a couple others might be doing a camping trip in Canada before he roadtrips out to NM and I was instantly on board. It was an appropriate sending off, in my mind. So Here's the recap.

The trip was eventful from the start. We'd been in Canada only for a few hours when a tire on the car blew. We were fortunate to have a spare and took the next exit to get a new tire on Tom's car. We had to stop at a Tim Hortons (our 1st of many Tim Hortons stops along the way) to get directions to a tire place. We also bought a map of Ontario since GPS was a little unreliable in Canada. You can see (above) Casey and Tom arguing about directions in the classic "map on hood" pose. This photo marked our 2nd stop at a Tim Hortons. 

Traffic was backed up for miles (or kilometers if you prefer...) at one point because of this overturned semi. 

We finally arrived at the campground but there was no staff around to help us check in, so we wandered around until we found the campsite Casey had reserved online. We were fortunate that few other campers were around, we had a large area to ourselves. We arrived later than we had planned on, so we set up camp, gathered some wood and got going on dinner. Mac and cheese with hotdogs was the main course. S'mores later, obviously. None of us slept very well that night, it was colder than we had anticipated, so I was thrilled when the sun came up. 

    

I got up and got the fire going again. As has become my tradition, I heated up some hot chocolate over the fire. Breakfast was bacon and eggs. Good hearty food for men on an adventure. I also started experimenting with cookie s'mores, which can only be a good thing. We were exhausted from a long night of poor sleep, but went on with our plans to go on a hike at a nearby park. 

                 

The hiking trip was great- except that it revealed how grossly out of shape I am. Beautiful views, fresh air and good company. 

        

On our way back from the hiking trails we stopped at a house that advertised maple syrup for sale. We each bought a bottle. Then proceeded to toast with it and each took a swig. We had a long laugh with the Canadians. 

  

We had lunch at a strange little family owned diner on the side of the road. I ordered the appropriate drink (Canada Dry).

        

After a brief naptime back at our campsite, we headed to Toronto for some poutine. Casey and I had never had any- it was delicious but we took no photos of it, apparently. If you didn't know, it's french fries with cheese curds and gravy. I got some bacon bits added to it, which was the greatest decision of the night. A cute girl at the poutine place was whispering about us- whether it was about our rugged good looks or the fact that we reeked of campfire will forever be a mystery. We had fun in Toronto but headed out since it was getting dark and we still needed to get a campfire going. Above are photos of bagged milk- it's real, as well as a photo of the sunset as we left Toronto. 

Our final morning was filled with maple/milk scrambled eggs and what was left of our bacon. We then packed up and hit the road. The camping was great, the company was great. Lots of memories. More camping to come! God is good.

PS. Thanks to the guys (Tom and Casey) for most of the photos.