Round One goes to the Black Flies

June 18


Francois and I were both up early this morning as we had lots to do to pack up our van after spending three days in Ottawa.  When it was time to wake up the kids, David just wanted to sleep in - he said his eyes were too heavy.      Thanks so much to Beth and Doug and their great hospitality.  We had a wonderful visit.  The kids were sad leaving Matthew and Cole - they had lots of fun playing with them.

Another beautiful day for travelling with the forecast set for a high of 22 degrees and sunny.  We were on the road shortly after 9:00 am and made our first pit stop in a little community called Pembroke.  Yard sales are just as crazy in this community as they are in Summerside as everyone parks all over the streets rushing to find their treasures.  Pembroke had a beautiful waterfront with a boardwalk and great playground equipment for the kids to burn some energy.  There was also 31 murals in the downtown area - each one was suppose to have a swallow hidden in the painting.  We looked at 5 beautiful murals, but only found the swallow in one mural.

We headed west to Matawa - the home of Big Joe Mufferaw.  We stopped for groceries and a bathroom break and headed to Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park for our first camping night.  I must admit I am very nervous about camping in the wilderness with bears, moose and deer, but I have to keep up a good front for the kids.  

The set up of the tent and bedding went well - everyone chipped in and did their part.  Francois made a lovely supper of BBQ chicken and boiled potatoes.  It was tasty.  The black flies were out in full force and attacked us during supper time.  Despite the heat we were dressed in our hoodies to keep them off our neck and head.  We headed to the lake for a walk after supper and the kids wanted to dip their toes into the water.  David was having a great time - walked into the water and started throwing rocks in.  He even took his crocs in with him so he could scoop up more rocks to throw.   Little did we realize that he scooped up a friend - we only discovered it later as he was changing for the night.  He scooped up a leech in his croc and it was attached to his baby toe!  He was a little upset when we took the leech off of him and his toe started to bleed, but he was good as new when we cleaned his toe and gave him a bandage.

We had a campfire and gave Natalie a few of her gifts she got from the neighbors before we left on our trip.  She really loved having some extra presents to open - since we celebrated her birthday last week.  She said she feels older and is ready to begin her new year of being nine.  We only had the campfire for a little while, because the black flies were just too bad for me, so the kids and I headed into the tent early for the night.  I am not sure how much  I will sleep as I am sure that every crack of the twig I hear I will be thinking a moose, a bear or a deer is coming into our tent.  Happy Camping!