Aug
2013

“Wolfie” does Wolfe Island

IMG_3992Mommy and Daddy let me name the trailer and while it took me a few days to think of a name, I finally chose “Wolfie” after my favourite music festival we go to. And that was where we went to this weekend in Wolfie!

IMG_3886He said

So, this was the big week to test the trailer out, before making our big, yearly trip down to Kingston for the Wolfe Island Music Festival. We started, out with a mini trip to a park nearby to make sure that everything worked okay. And that it did — passing with flying colours.

By Tuesday morning, we were headed home from our first test of the trailer for a quick 24hr stopover at home to do some laundry and pack the things we figured out we’d need on her maiden voyage. The most important of which (and the reason we had to be back home) was to pick up the Wolfe Island Music Festival program from the printer to bring with us to the festival.

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With everything loaded up, we hit the road on Wednesday morning at 11am and were underway to Presqu’Ile Provincial Park in beautiful Prince Edward County, about an hour and a half away from our final destination, Wolfe Island.

The camper drove beautifully on the highway, and while we noticed we weren’t getting as good gas mileage as we were used to with the CR-V, it certainly wasn’t a burden to drive. I managed to lock in the cruise control at a comfortable cruise speed of 105km… At times I actually forgot the trailer was even there. Which coincidentally was a line we had read about these type of fibreglass, lightweight trailers and quite frankly thought was malarky — turns out, it was true!

The campground at Presqu’Ile was much more larger and impressive than Selkirk with a lot more picturesque sites. Because we booked late, last week, to get the two days at this park, we had to take two different sites. The second was clearly our favourite, as it was a little more secluded, but was very close to the showers and bathrooms. In either case, we were a short walk each night from Lake Ontario and the sites, two lanes over that literally backed onto the lake.

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The first night there we got in one of the most important tests there was for our trailer: Our first severe thunderstorm! While the forecast we saw earlier in the week called for blue skies and no rain for the entire trip, by the time we arrived at the site and got settled there was a change from first a severe thunderstorm watch to then a warning. We quickly got dinner cooked on the fire pit and then retired into the trailer to hunker down for the storm over some Mancala.

Boy howdy was it a doozie! About twenty minutes after Emelia got to sleep, we were hit with the first wave of rain. And then about an hour and a half later, we were hit with the real apex of the storm… Rain so hard it sounded like it was coming through the trailer’s fibreglass hull. And lightning that cracked at the very instant we saw it. Suffice it to say, the trailer stood it’s ground, and aside from three or four drips of water that came through the roof vent, because we can’t quite get it sealed shut, we were dry and protected perfectly! And the best part was Emelia slept through the entire thing!

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After our two relaxing days at Presqu’Ile, it was time on Friday morning to move on to Wolfe Island. One of the best things about this trip, was that our usual Friday afternoon pell mell rush through the five and a half hour drive to catch the ferry, was now just an hour and a half and afforded us the time to do some laundry in Kingston before getting on the Island. A much more breezy pace to start the weekend was far more agreeable to us all!

The festival and weekend was amazing like each of the last three years we’ve been. We managed to get the same site we had last year – a little away from the hubbub of the main camping area – to set up our compound. But, with the added advantage of having a trailer over the tenting like the previous years. The only thing we’ve come away with is to sort how to use this trailer completely off the grid as we are without hydro or water connections like we had gotten use to in the Provincial Parks. By next year, I’d like to have some sort of solar power solution and an awning figured out.

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Otherwise, this was my favourite festival yet. With the luxury of our little camper to retire to, it made the stress of sleeping and the chances of inclement weather dampening our spirits a thing of the past. We got to just sit back and completely enjoy the music and atmosphere like no other year, yet. Highlights for me musically was Bahamas, Justin Rutledge and Matthew Barber on Friday night, and Grey Kingdom, July Talk, Hannah Georgas, and The Joel Plaskett Emergency on Saturday.

We went to bed Saturday night, completely content after a wonderful weekend of music under a star filled sky as the cool breeze made the curtains in our wonderful little trailer dance me to sleep. We were up, packed, hitched up and off the island in under an hour and a half. It was the most perfect way to end a week spent with the things that mean the most to me: music, nature, friends, and of course, Daniella and Emelia.

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I already can’t wait for next year!

 

She said

What a week, I think I need a day or two to recover from our week of camping and family time!

This week was everything I had hoped it would be, taking life at a different pace, escaping reality to spend time with my favourite two people. And we had lots and lots of family time.

The weather was beautiful at times and down right crappy other times but it didn’t matter. We managed to get in sun (and a bit of a sunburn), swimming, nature walks, relaxation (thanks to the hammock and a great book), games, campfires, and lots and lots of time with my family.

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I keep trying to figure out what I love most about camping, I love the hours and hours of fresh air, the sitting by the fire with a glass of wine looking up at the stars while John and I enjoy some much needed adult time. But what I love about it is the forced taking life a bit slower. There is nothing quick about anything camping. It takes longer to make food, clean up after eating and with that you find a different groove.

IMG_3988John and I found our groove quickly, we shared chores around camp equally and Emelia wanted to help at each turn. So we gave her tasks and she fell in love with the whole experience. And so did we. Bringing our little girl to the trailer brings me back to my own childhood memories of camping with my family. I hope we can use this trailer as a foundation of some of Emelia’s best childhood memories as it is was for me.

All in all we love having our own mobile cottage. The wish list has grown to make life just that much better when we are away so we will pick away at the list as money allows and sales are on. My obsessive neat and organized side has an outdoor rug as a top priority. Well after we get an awning. I am amazed how quickly things did come together, with little to no time to really plan getting the must haves together for a week camping John and I got things together in short order and thanks to a couple loaner items from my camping experienced best friend we had a small home away from home.

IMG_4044As I said the pace of life was slower, I took as many chances as I could to unwind and bury myself in my book, I was successful polishing off an 90% of a 800+ page book in the week. Needless to say we managed to get a fair bit of down time and well with a fair bit of driving it did help me polish off most of the book.

The highlights of the week were many, from campfires and Emelia having her first smores, watching the stars, bringing Emelia for many, many, many bike rides around the camp ground, the hikes, visiting the lighthouse and nature centre at the park, swimming at the beach, playing games, making our own story book, listening to music and dancing to some of our favourite Canadian musicians. The list goes on and on…

IMG_4037So needless to say our first of many family vacations in ‘wolfie’ was a tremendous success. Now to relax until we return to reality tomorrow. Oh that and a shower for me because I have two days of festival to wash off me.

 

 

 

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