If vanlife makes one thing easier it’s being spontaneous! You know those moments when without a plan you just do it! I have always been spontaneous person! But with a house, and kids it was a tad more difficult! But doable! 😊
Thursday I was at work. We had a good hold on the project we were on with my team. I was texting Kim in the morning as they were heading north that day! Ahhh north in the fall! They were going to visit friends in Meldrum Bay on Manitoulin Island in North Ontario! Ohhhhh I soo want to go!! There’s that Itch!!! Almost like a wiggle! Lol! Hmmmmmm
If you read my last blog you know how much I love fall. The north would be close to peak for colour foliage and beautiful. There is nothing like a drive through the forests with the changing trees!
Soo hmmm, I go and talk to the guys, “hey can you handle this without me for a couple of days? It’s time for a roadtrip” Yup no problem! Woohoo! So I text Kim and say you have a follower!! Lol!
Spontaneity!!! Just do it! Since I have no place to drive back to, to pack, or change vehicles it’s so easy!!! It gives such a breath of fresh air! A sense of freedom! Yes working still limits my Adventures but I work with a great team of people and when we can, we cover each other so all of us can adventure!
Kim and Tom come meet me at work and off we go! Got to follow this pretty ass through some beautiful country!
We decided to stop at a campground near Parry Sound! Tom has it all picked out! Cool!! Let’s go! We pull into what I would call a junkyard not a campground. Step over a pile, I mean pile of dogshit to get to Tom’s van beside the office and shake my head! Ummmm nope!!! Reminds of the murder scene hotel room Diane and Lynn made me stay in! We are not staying here!!! Lol! I look to see whats around. We are an hour from Restoule Provincial Park! Let’s go there!! Hahaha! New rule!! Tom does not get to pick the campgrounds!!! Lmao! Oh boy!
Restoule is beautiful! I have not been there in a very long time but it is just as I remembered! We pull in late and the office is closed! We find a spot get set up and Kim says she wants a fire. But we have no wood, the office was closed. I unplug, we jump in the van and go to the front. No contacts for stores or wood that were listed on the board were open! Dam! Back to the campsite empty handed. As I get hooked up again she says she is going for a walk in the dark to see if she can find wood! Lol! Omg! Ok! And Yup! She comes back with wood! Apparently she found a kind neighbour!
With a little coaxing! We have fire!!!
It was a chilly cool night with a clear sky and a almost full moon!! I love watching a fire and feeling its glow!! The next morning we got up, Tom made breakfast and we went for a walk in Restoule! The leaves and the air crisp but the sun was warm! You know I had to skip a little!! Lol! What a very pretty day it was! The water was not working in the shower tho which was a little bit of a drag! But no real issue!
We left there heading north then west across the Island! Had to stop for a moose crossing which always adds some cool to the trip! Now if you have never been it is definitely worth the trip. I have been a few times and each time I see something new and beautiful!
Meldrum Bay is at the west tip of the island! Population 40! Lol! But what a quaint beautiful little town! A good time and a great meal with good friends adds a warmth to a chilly fall night!
The next morning Tom and Kim are headed back on the Cheecheemon! It is the ferry from Sandy Bay to Tobermory! I do not really like boats! It was over $100 to carry both me and my rig across! Ummm nope! I do not want to pay $100 to throw up! Lol! So we said our goodbyes and see you later at Egansville and they went south and I went north. Back around the lake. Hmmm where to stay??? I wanted a shower and a place to park. I looked at the map and decided on Grundy Provincial Park.
You can not go wrong with a provincial park. I prefer the provincial parks, or conservation areas to private parks if I am not boondocking! You never know what your driving into in a private park. Whether it is dogshit you need to step over and the place is a mess, to what I call condo-camping for way too much money, or too wayyy weird rules! Now I have found a few awesome private campgrounds but they have been what I call run across finds. You know those things that you just run across because you happen to be there! They are the best!! So here I sit! Drinking coffee! Writing a blog! Looking at the rain fall in a most perfect setting! It will not last forever but I am hoping someday I can make it last for more than a day! 😊
So I sit and drench in the moment to make it last if not in front of my eyes but in my soul for just a little while!
Hoping the rain will stop or at least slow down so I can walk to the shower and not have one before and after as well! Lol! Back to reality soon but first an afternoon and evening tomorrow with my kids! More moments to drench in to keep my soul warm on those cold days of reality!
Thanks for coming along on my Chipmunk Adventure! See you next time!
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