It is a cold and snowy March when we head to the southernmost tip of Canada, Point Pelee National Park. Two-thirds of the way there, during our three-hour drive, the weather magically morphs from full-on blizzard to sunny and four degrees warmer! Already this quick two-night getaway is worth all the packing and the drive. We entertain the Bean in the car with Wiggles videos on an iPad mounted on the back of the passenger side front seat. Bean was great on the drive, but still super happy to arrive at Camp Henry (the area of the park where the oTENTiks are located).
The Bean really enjoyed running along the footpaths that connect all of the oTENTiks and it was a relief not to have to worry about vehicles. Quick tip on the oTENTik sites: if you have a little runner in your group, best to book a site that has the porch/BBQ/picnic table ‘yard’ area behind the oTENTik, rather than in front. We were able to contain the Bean in the back yard area by standing in front of the exit to the path, but with a yard facing the network of paths, that would have been much more difficult.
Once we settled in to our oTENTik, we decided to hike the Tip Trail. The trail runs along the water and leads to - you guessed it - the Southernmost tip of mainland Canada. It was gorgeous and we took our time on the short trail, stopping to admire Lake Erie and watch the ice drip as it melted off of the trees.
After our hike we headed back to our oTENTik and ate some chili that Grandma had prepared in advance. Each site has a large BBQ, complete with side burner, making it super-quick and easy to heat up food. Also included in each oTENTik is a large container of kitchen supplies: pots, pans, cutlery, dishes, mugs, glasses, etc. Be sure to bring dish clothes, tea towels a BBQ lighter and a tablecloth for your picnic table. After dinner clean-up (Camp Henry has a beautiful kitchen clean-up area, with 2 sink stations, dish soap and drying racks. Doors on either side are glass, so you still get a view while you’re doing dishes!) it was time for a game of cards, during which the Bean swept up our cabin or, maybe spread more dirt around our cabin floor, depending on how you look at it. Then to bed! The thermostat-controlled oTENTik stayed nice and toasty.
The next morning, while Hubs and I drank Bodum-coffee like our lives depended on it, the Bean woke up, fresh as a daisy and danced over to Grandma, a huge grin on her face. She seemed so happy to be able to spend the whole day outside again! While Grandma made breakfast, we took turns chasing Bean on the foot trails connecting the oTENTiks and giving her rides in the “Gorilla Crates”, the carts used to haul your stuff from car to oTENTik. As there was electricity, but no running water, we took the easy way out and tube-fed Bean with pre-made Compleat (the only pre-made food we’ve found that doesn’t make her hurl!). This also meant that we didn’t need to lug our huge blender and mass amounts of fresh produce, meat and carbs with us to make her food while we were there. After we were all fed, we headed out for a hike.
At just over 1 km long, the Point Pelee Marsh Boardwalk was a no-brainer pick of a trail for us. Touted as showcasing cattails, red-winged blackbirds and painted turtles, we saw geese and 2 huge swans. Of course Bean enjoyed the trail; she loves a good Boardwalk. We brought along the baby backpack (ours carries a max of 40 pounds) and she hitched a ride for part of the way.
I’m always surprised by the joy the Bean manages to find in the little, unplanned aspects of our camping trips. On this trip, she delighted in the oTENTik bunk beds, kind of a platform bed that could sleep 4 and a top bunk that could sleep 2, complete with rubber flaps for privacy. She had a great time crawling under the ’tunnel’, formed by the top bunk, and crawling from one end to the other. She spent a long time just taking in the view from the top bunk with Grandpa. Watching her find her own fun is one of my most rewarding experiences as a parent. Having 20 minutes to myself is not a bad thing either.
A short path leads campers directly from Camp Henry (where the oTENTik sites are located) to a beautiful beach.
Here, too, the Bean found some fun - insisting on mittens off, running the sand through her fingers and throwing stones from the beach. She even managed to find some friends on this nearly deserted beach, at what was hopefully the tail end of winter! Luckily the parents of these other little winter beachgoers didn’t seem to think it to odd when Hubs and I took turns standing awkwardly close to the now 6 year-old Bean and, by default, them - while we closely monitored the Bean’s play for wayward rock or sand throwing. In fact the whole scenario became much less awkward when we found our way to small talk and later sand tracked onto their blanket and the Bean climbing onto the other mom’s lap, were all easily forgiven (or at least it seemed)! There was an awkward moment when the Dad from the other family asked the Bean’s age and reacted with surprise perhaps because she’s small for her age/non-verbal/her play skills aren’t those of your average 6 year-old. Regardless, this dude’s not asking questions, nor does he really need to know anything about the Bean, so I decide that I don’t really owe him any sort of explanation. I’m on vacation!
I started this blog to share our experiences of travel and local attractions, some information and the strategies we use to make these experiences fun for the Bean. With this type of trip though, “behaviours”, as they say, were at a minimum. The primary strategy really was choosing an activity that the Bean loved - being outdoors. So we find ourselves making destinations of the best boardwalks and waterfalls and making it a goal to visit every Ontario Provincial Park. This has been a shock to many of my family and friends, as I was formerly a self-described City Gal. But I suppose the Bean has changed me. I’d rather be hiking a Provincial Park trail than the mall, I’d rather be in front of a campfire than in front of a movie. Most of all though, I’d rather change our environment to suit my daughter than change my daughter to suit our environment.
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