July 18th, Belated

Distance travelled: 414 kms

Highlights: happy goodbye's to each grandparent, a tour of a hospital (grandma's work!), roasting marshmallows and actually eating them, deer up close!!

Jericho's fave: first sparkler's from our camping neighbours

Jericho's least fave: getting a small burn from his first sparker

Malachi's fave: swimming in Marie Louise Lake at our campsite

Wildlife spotted: two deer, one WAY up close

We had planned to leave Dryden around 9 am, but didn't get out of town until 10. I even managed to forget my book and cherries at the in-laws. Oh well... it's not an adventure without forgetting a few things along the way. So far we've lost: a Blackberry charger, Malachi's green flip flops (had to buy him new ones that were blue that he doesn't love as much.. and even now we're missing one once again), Malachi's care card at the Portage La Prairie hospital, my purse and Dan & Sarah's - we turned back, and Malachi's sunglasses at Dan & Sarah's. Most items seem to belong to Malachi or myself, forgetfulness must be hereditary.

Saying goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa wasn't hard at all, not because we won't miss them, but because we'll see them on Friday! We had a great stay and felt incredibly well rested. I went to wake up a 3 year old boy who seemed intent on missing our departure. He woke up, looked at me snuggling him and said "I have something to say. Thank-you for snuggling me." I have to say it's a pretty amazing way to wake up. Being appreciated sure goes a long way.

After a quick breakfast and stops at both the church and hospital to say our goodbyes, we had to head out of Dryden the scenic route as there was a serious looking accident on our highway. We were in good spirits though and nothing was removing the smiles from our faces. Except when we took a look around and noticed a low cloud of hovering smoke. There are quite a few news stories on about many forest fires in Northern Ontario, many of them were close to where we have been travelling. It's hard to imagine the work the firefighters need to accomplish to help extinguish these fires. The maid of honour from the wedding we attended on Saturday was flown out of Dryden on Sunday morning to fight fires.

Our itinerary entailed a solid 6 hours of driving to arrive at the Sleeping Giant campground. We had hoped to set up camp around 4 pm, but due to losing an hour (We're now 3 hours ahead of BC time) and the campground being 30 kms off the highway, we didn't arrive until 6:30. Luckily we had stopped in Thunder Bay for some hamburger fixings and had a quick dinner before driving down to the lake for a swim. The drive had been sweltering, most of our clothes were soaked from the heat. It was by far the hottest drive we've encountered so far and there were a few moments we wished for air conditioning... but swimming in Marie Louise Lake was that cool-down we had been hoping for. It was the perfect end to the day. But walking from the lake to the car, we all managed to get a little dirty. So I held the boys up front with me while Nate drove slowly through the campground. I could feel the glances of those grandmother types, but we just waved. We drove straight to the showers and I dressed the boys for bed.

But once we were back at the campsite, it didn't seem like the time for bed quite yet. So we started a fire and gathered some sticks for roasting marshmallows. When we attempted this in Banff, both boys preferred the non-roasted kind. But Jericho in particular took great joy in making his marshmallow 'golden'. Once the bag was empty and Nate was done burning his hand and whacking me with his stick, we started to get things ready for bed. That was when the neighbour walked over with glow sticks and sparklers for the boys. They had already started to go 'upstairs' but I let them come out just to light the sparklers. Nate had the camera ready and I lit them. The boys were so cute. They walked over to the neighbour kids and shared the glee. As soon as the light when out, however, Jericho touched his stick out of confusion and managed to burn his finger. So we had him stick his hand on the block of ice in the cooler while I told stories of my own childhood tragedies involving sparklers. Ok, there was only one.

I think it was soon after this that Nate and Malachi had spotted a deer on their way back from the bathroom. They told us to come quietly and with the camera we walked right up to her and snapped a bunch of pictures before she decided it was time to move on. The boys had never been that close to a deer, even though they are around our home often.

The boys sleeping, I read my book for awhile as Nate finished up some work stuff and before we knew it, it was 11 pm. Darn time change. That would be the end of the blog, except we had some weird experience in the middle of the night. Around 4 am, Nate woke up and told me that someone had banged on our tent canopy (top part of van where boys sleep) as they walked by. He couldn't see anyone, nor did he see them do it, but he heard it distinctly and he could still hear someone outside. Needless to say, we were both a little freaked out. He got out his trusty headlight and investigated. Nothing but a deer. But he's certain there were some shenanigans afoot. To say I'm glad I have a brave husband is a bit of an understatement.

*** This blog post is a day late due to zero internet access in the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.. so please send all complaints in that direction.