Jul
2021

Camping… It’s seasonal for us now!

I had my Cheer assessments and am anxiously awaiting to see where I placed.

He said

One of the things that appealed most to us about having a seasonal camp site was the increased amount of use we’d get out of the trailer. When you take away having to tow the trailer to the park, unhitching & setting up, as well as doing that all in reverse at the end of of a camping trip, it feels less like work and gives you more time to enjoy. An hour after we load ourselves up in a vehicle, we are arriving at Auburn ready to relax and unwind. I never thought I’d want to get away from Provincial Park camping, and yet here we are!

The reason I bring this up is after having a week at the trailer with Emelia, and then Danielle joining us on the weekend, last week, we were right back there again this week. In fact I had Friday off work, worked Saturday and then today and tomorrow off too. So, as soon as I was done work Thursday evening, Emelia and I were off to the trailer. And because it’s only an hour away, I opted for driving to work from the trailer Saturday morning, and heading right back up there as soon as I was done work. It was perfect.

But, probably the best part is that aside from putting our clothes and food away, there isn’t much more before you sink into a chair around the campfire and maybe a grown-up beverage (or three). That was the case Thursday night. We got there, Emelia & I got something to eat and then we got a fire going and enjoyed the time relaxing by the fire pit. While they were getting some rain in London, we had none of it at the trailer. The temps were a little cooler (still warm) but it made for a beautiful evening (albeit the stars blocked by an overcast sky).

Friday after we puttered around, Emelia and I took our bikes up the highway and went for a ride on the G2G Rail Trail. She has said that she’s kind of getting bored of the stretch I ride which was part of the reason we did the river crossing and into Goderich last week. So, to keep her interest, once we got to the part of the path where we normally turn around at – where the trail is bisected by the road that runs into Blyth – we crossed Highway 25 and continued on into Blyth on the trail which we have never done yet. That stretch was obviously new, but also beautiful scenery. All-in-all Emelia did 20 km with me on the ride that day!

We relaxed for the rest of the day and some time in the middle of the afternoon the Sherwood’s showed up, and then after Danielle’s work week wrapped up, she was at the trailer too. We had our share of laughs around the campfire before I packed it in a bit earlier than I normally would as I planned the next morning to do my bike ride on the trail as opposed the TVP back home. I meant I was getting up 6:00 am so I could be on my ride for 6:30 am so that I could be done the ride in time to get back to London for work. The day flew by, and before I knew it I was back at the trailer, in a chair enjoying another campfire.

And, that’s when it occurred to me just how much I love this seasonal setup. We have our great friends as neighbours. We have the bike path so close by. It’s only an hour from the house. And, it’s not like a typical trailer park—it feels like a Provincial Park. And, we’re getting so much more use out of the trailer because. I bet if you add up all the days we’ve spent in the trailer in the last two years at Auburn, it would be close to – if not more than – what we had spent in the 2 trailers & 7 years prior to going seasonal.

She said

It is hard to believe that this time next week we will be on our first week off together in a long time. Honestly the vacation snuck up on me, after 13 years of self employment and therefore careful planning for unpaid time off this is the first time I have had paid time off since before Emelia was born. We are so happy to have this time off together and even better is that our great friends Danielle and Greg are going to be up there for most of the week with their daughter Kathleen who is a close friend of Emelia and Olivia’s. Emelia is so excited. What makes the week even nicer for Emelia is that she and Kathleen will be off to high school next year together so this will give them some much wanted catch up time.

This week was a bit of a rollercoaster. A few weeks ago we found out through friends that our long term family doctor was closing her practice what now looks like perminatley. All we know is that she is taking an indefinate medical leave and that we are now being told if we can find a new doctor. Well that is not easy and what has made things more complicated is that with Emelia’s mental health battles she needs more direct support we cannot get from a walk in clinic. In fact we are trying to add medications for Emelia to help with her anixiety. She has been on medication for her ADHD for a year now which also needs a family doctor to monitor. So we are scrambing right now. We have a few potential leads but even those are months out if they even work out.

It has been suggested that we try finding a nurse practitioner instead, they are allowed to medically support us fully and have a more patient focused approach. So this week we are on full press to get that moving so we can get Emelia the supports she needs.

In the middle of this we had Emelia’s cheer team placement assessment. This year it was optional but Emelia wanted to do an in person one. So we had it this week and she was happy to finally get back inside the gym even if it was for a short assessment. We will know where she places hopefully tomorrow. She is happy where ever she lands, she is just so happy to be back in the gym, have hopefully a more normal year where she can really get to know her team and go to the excitment of competition. So for now she waits!

We are hopeful that this week goes fast and we can get back to the trailer for the week to enjoy the water, sun, friends and family!

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