I know! It's been a while, and yes, the blog name has changed. Turns out I reeealllllly enjoy taking pictures whilst out and about. And, it's impossible for me not to share my likes, dislikes and overall joy of "doing stuff". With no exception, this summer has been fully loaded with outings and our most recent weekend away at
Driftwood Provincial Park has me thinking, I may have found my new favorite provincial park. Or at least my new favorite park fairly close to home.
Driftwood is just a short 2 1/2 hour drive west of Ottawa off Hwy 17. Nestled in Driftwood Bay on the Ottawa River, this small park is unique because a majority of the tent sites are what you'd call "a room with a view".
Although rocky, our beach front was the perfect perch for a snack before bed.
For all you seasoned provincial park enthusiast, you know that in order to get the "BEST" site possible at all the top parks, you have to book 6 months in advance, and that's what we did and it paid off. And when I say we, I mean our friends with whom we camped. They came from South River, Ontario. So Driftwood was a great in between location for our 2 families. (The other bonus with booking in advance is getting a site close to the comfort station, which is super helpful with 2 little munchkins).
What I loved so much about this park is the size and natural appeal. All 61 non-electric sites are sprawled along the length of the river in the Ottawa River Campground (which is divided up into east and west). It makes for a quiet week-end, especially our time there because with a strong wind coming off the bay, we really couldn't hear a thing from sites on either side of us. If you wanted to stay on an electric site, you aren't quite as lucky to have waterfront, but the Brumm Campground is located closer to the day-use beach.
As for natural appeal, I think you understand my thoughts about being on the beach. Something else surprised me though - the trails. Often we go to parks and the beach, campfires, and swimming are the focal point. This trip we had brought our canoes along and we had planned to do some paddling, but as mentioned the wind was crazy. So instead of paddling we rocked the trails.
The Lookout Trail
We picked the lookout trail for 2 reasons. 1) We were able to access it by walking from our site and 2) it was a short 1.8 km loop, which we figured the kids could handle without too many "up" requests. The trail system had its faults with crazy signage, we were never quite sure where we were going, but we managed okay somehow. For example, after the above photo op, we continued down the trail. only to end up in a large open field. So we jumped on to another trail which lead us back to a road. We then hopped onto a second trail on the other side of the road, which was part of Loop 1 of the Chevrier Creek Trails. Were we ever glad we picked that trail, because we lucked in with the best wild blueberry patch, this side of the valley.
Celia was probably the most excited about wild blueberries. We also found and picked lots of wild raspberry and blackberries along the trail.
While the kids (and my hubby) napped on Day 2, I tagged along with the Froats family for a hike. The trail head was once again this blueberry patch. I went prepared and brought an empty dish this time and told them I'd catch up after picking a few.
Needless to say I never caught up. Instead I was lost between Loops 1, 2, 3 and 4. Again, let me remind you about the poor signage, however, in all truthfulness, maybe I should have actually looked at and/or carried a map with me. My rationale is "they're loops" how can you get lost...
In spite of being lost, I savoured the alone time, just me, ferns, the odd mosquito and the Jack Pine plantation.
I ran into a man along the same trail, who asked me whether I knew anything about the trail system - he too was lost. He was looking for the creek that the trail is named after and never found it. When I found it after hiking about 7 km, I felt a real sense of accomplishment, because I knew that water leads to water. I would find my way back to our river oasis one way or the other *damnit*!
I felt like
Mantracker, guiding through the woods and skirting the ravine looking for any sign of the Froats family, even laughing to myself, when I told the trees "I found what looks like a footprint." And then I did it, I found our campsite....
See that white trailer beyond those islands? Our site was right next door. All I had to do was find the right trail back and thankfully, I did. I also made it back to the site before the Froats clan and was happy to know the kiddos were still sleeping upon my return (gotta love that fresh country air).
After working up a sweat on my hike, I decided to go for a dip despite the cool wind. While changing, my daughter woke up and decided she was down with the swim plan. Of course, as soon as she stepped out of the tent in her bathing suit her teeth started to chatter. That didn't stop her though, that girl belongs in the water, so we spent some time jumping waves before dinner and our campfire.
We have awesome friends. So when you get to camp together and share the meal cooking it makes for a very relaxing day. Our Day #2, dinner was being catered so we wandered down to a small little beach area and enjoyed the late afternoon sun.
On the same day, we also had some other friends join us in the park, so we shared the sunset, a campfire and my kids first fireworks experience, which turned out to be quite an unexpected show hosted by firefighters across the river.
Day #3 forecast: WIND! So, there was a little more hiking, a whole lot of lounging, and sandcastle building on the beach.
Again, we did a short 1 km loop on the Oak Highland Trail.
Just the perfect amount of rock climbing for a 2 and 4 year old.
The key to happy hikers - telling them they are on an adventure, putting them in charge of sign watch, and checking out all the cool mushrooms on the trail....
...oh, and snacks, always have snacks!
No one is going to storm that castle, with such a great fence around it.
Every year, it's a goal of mine to visit a new Provincial Park that we haven't been to yet. Although I had been at Driftwood once before, it's a different experience when you have children. With kids, I'm finding that when something works well, stick to it. So Driftwood, will go on the camping "yes" list and hopefully we will visit it again in the near future. So if you're still reading this, just remember there are lots of things to do at a campground even when your plans may not go quite as expected.
Our last night there included another gorgeous sunset. But it was colder than the 2 previous nights and we probably should have brought a couple extra blankets, "just in case". I will also admit that the more I camp with kids, the more I believe a 3 night stay is always better than 2 because the 1st night is always a little rough for the little ones, while getting used to sleeping outdoors and on an air mattress.
Murphy's Law: last day - best weather! After packing up the tents and loading the car we decided to get our long awaited paddle in, along with one last swim (this time much warmer). Until next time "Keep Calm and Camp On" people.
