Supper was bean and vegetable soup I'd made up ahead of time. I took a loaf of french bread and made a loaf of gluten free bread for Mum...weirdest bread I've ever made. It was like scraping a bowl of mashed potatoes into the loaf pan. Dad and I took Biscuit with us to take out the garbage and made the mistake of leaving him in the truck while we dumped our bags and cans. Mum had left a box of Timbits on the front seat, and when Dad got back in, Biscuit was eating them all. We managed to save 2 for the other dog.
It got pretty chilly the first night. We had the trailer's heater going, but when it cut out, it didn't take long for our noses to get cold. Mum and Dad taught the kids how to play cribbage (maybe the kids will teach me how to play...I can play it on a computer but totally suck at it in the real world.)
The next morning it was very foggy. and pretty darn cold. I got up fairly early to take Biscuit for his morning bathroom break, hoping to get back into the sleeping bag for some more shut eye, but Mum got up with their dog, Lucky, and we ended up walking them around a bit. By the time we got back, it was time to start the coffee and make breakfast. A while back, I picked up a 1kg frozen wad of peameal bacon ends, not really knowing what to do with it. We ended up chopping up half of it and frying it up with some canned potatoes and serving it with eggs.
After breakfast, we did the Hemlock Bluff hiking trail (or as the kids call it, Ham Hock Buff...don't ask...) and tired the dogs out so they'd be a bit more mellow the rest of the day. We made the monumental mistake of going to the Visitor's Centre for lunch...there were 9 tour buses there! We found out the next day that one of the ladies who works in the cafe there didn't show up that day, so there was one lady serving a huge line up of people. It was such a beautiful day too, and the place was packed. I guess the tour buses have a set agenda of things to see and do but it was too nice to be inside for very long.We headed back to camp and relaxed for a while. Dinner that night was supposed to be chicken stew with dumplings made in the dutch oven, but we forgot to stop and pick up more charcoal. The firewood was a bit damp and would have taken forever to get any decent coals, so we just made it on the camp stove in a regular pot. It was pretty tasty, though the kids didn't really like the dumplings.
That night while we were sitting around the fire, Dad and Squatch fought over the box of halloween candy. They kept trying to hide their favourites so the other couldn't get them. Both nights a group of campers a few sites over were talking loudly until well after midnight. It wasn't as cold the second night though, but I lost my snuggle buddy. Biscuit abandoned me for the kids' bed.
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| rainbow and sunrise over Rock Lake |
To make matter's worse, there was no water in the park. No tap or toilet (or shower) was working, so Mum, Bubbie and I headed to the Visitor's Centre after breakfast (gluten free 8-grain hot cereal) and used the bathroom. A lot of people didn't concern themselves with the fact the toilets weren't working and used them anyway. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be the guy who had to unclog them all. Chris was heading up to join us, and since he was just entering the park when we left the Visitor's Centre, we decided to meet him at the Two River's Store...giving us a chance to buy some snacks and check out the camping gear.
We got back to camp and got Chris's gear unpacked. It had stopped raining but was still cold. Thankfully, Chris had brought himself two hoodies and I stole one. I'd neglected to bring coats for any of us. While the kids could hide in the trailer and play cards, I was out with the dog or cooking most of the day so it was nice to at least be comfortable.
Around 3, we started the fire and the charcoal for the turkey (actually it was only a turkey breast and two turkey legs. With only six of us, we didn't need a whole bird. Potatoes and turnip were cooked on the stove, as well as the corn. We did carrots and brussels sprouts in foil packets. Instant gravy and Stove top stuffing were super easy, and we added some coleslaw as well (as per family tradition.) Dessert was pumpkin dump cake made with a gluten free cake mix. It was tasty but had a strange gritty texture that may have been due to the change in cake mix...not sure. Will have to try it with regular cake mix and see how it goes. We also had Thanksgiving crackers, you know the paper tubes filled with paper crowns and silly toys? Biscuit ended up swallowing one of the little pinecone decorations that went on them (and puked it up at 4:30 am on Tuesday) The wood had gotten rained on a bit, so the fire smoked like crazy while we were cooking. The wind blew the smoke directly into the trailer, and all of us reeked pretty bad. Bubbie had to wash her hair three times to get the smell out when we got home.The weather wasn't very good for sitting around the fire, so we retreated into the trailer after doing up the dishes and taking the garbage out to the MOLOKS. All of us were full and sleepy, but the rest of the camp ground was bustling with activity. We did spend some time trying to find Squatch's toys from his crackers since they'd fallen out of his pocket while he ran with the dog near the beach. We found one right away, but gave up on the other after searching Monday morning. Then Bubbie found it without even looking when we were getting packed up.
Breakfast on Monday was a different take on our normal Spam hash, using up the rest of the pea meal bacon. After we got packed up, Mum and Dad took the kids to their house and Chris, Biscuit and I hiked the Track and Tower trail. Chris has wanted to do this trail since our first trip to the park, so we were determined not to put it off again. This is a wonderful trail, though not easy. There's lots of hills to climb, lots of roots and rocks to pick your way over, and several muddy patches to navigate but it's worth it. Not only is the view from the lookout spectacular, there's lots of little water falls and scenic forest to view. I think the best parts were the area where the log chute used to be, and the little water fall where the rock looks like bear claws.
Biscuit was pretty tired after such a long hike, though he never stopped trying to gnaw on every tree. He almost walked right off the edge of the lookout (thank goodness he had his harness on and not just the leash.) As we drove back to get the kids, we stopped at Henrietta's Bakery, in Dwight but they were just hanging their "sold out" sign. I'm so glad we finally got to do Thanksgiving while camping. It was a little more extravagant than I imagined, but it was wonderful. With some preplanning, it wasn't even that difficult to pull off. Since we didn't have a whole turkey it didn't take long to bake, the turnip was pre cut at home, and instant stuffing and gravy saved us a lot of time as well. It was also cool to be able to say we were at Rock Lake for the opening weekend this year, and the last weekend the campground was open. We've got our sites all picked out for next year's opening weekend...and we're hoping to drag some family along with us this time.
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