Murphy's Point PP - June 2011
We were here, in a tent, probably 30 years ago. All I can remember about this Park is that we arrived on a Friday night in the pouring rain, and set up the tent, a big canvas one, by the lights of our little Honda Civic. I recall the entire weekend it rained, and that is all I remember. No recollection of the Park at all. Traffic was light this evening, sailed right out of the city no problem. This park is just past Perth, about an hour and fifteen away.
As we pulled in, snippets of memory came back. The Park is quite hilly, and so are the sites it seems. Not a full house by any means this weekend. Found our site, up high, with a bit of a view of the lake through the trees. This Park is heavily wooded, with little light making its way through the overhead canopy. All the sites along here are pull throughs, fairly large, but also very sloped. Scoped out where we will put the Alto. As the electrical box is on the wrong side, we will need to use our extension. We put the Alto in what we thought was the best spot, hoping that the electrical will reach. So we plug in, add the extension, and naturally, end up about 3 feet short of the outlet. As moving around the Alto on a bit of a slope was dicey, we hitched back up and spent a little while getting it shifted to another spot. Got plugged in, but not much to spare. The front of the Alto is quite high, as the pull through starts to slope away down to the other road. Set up is fine, but with the front up high, the trailer is more sensitive to the movement of us in it. Seems to wobble around more. All secure though. Situations like this cause you to think how to better prepare for the future.
Went for a bit of a tour, we are pretty close to the beach. we will have to do a site tour tomorrow to capture some numbers for the future. This really helps with booking sites in the middle of the winter. Chilled a bit inside, listened to the radio, then hit the pit.A little overcast this morning, but rain does not seem to be threatening. It was chilly last night, but the heat pump cured that quickly. Got going slowly, certainly a relaxing morning. Went for a tour of the campgrounds. It certainly has a different feel than some other provincial parks. More quiet and peaceful. There is not a lot of activity here. The sites are well placed, and because it is so hilly, few seem to have direct line of sight to one another. Gathered a site numbers to keep on file for future visits. There are definitely some nicer sites around than the one we are on. the beach is kinda small and is situated in a little bay. The Big Rideau itself is nowhere to be seen, so it is like the campground is on a tiny lake. Walked up to the park store, which always has nifty stuff in them. Talked to the lady behind the counter. These stores sound like they are little independent entities, as she told us how she and another lady go on buying trips in the fall for the next season, and that is why all the stores have a different selection of goods.
Got talking to a couple outside the store that were camping in a new truck slide-in. They were riding a couple of folding bikes that looked pretty nifty. The wheels looked a little larger than normal on these types of bikes, and they had a six speed in hub shifter. Pretty cool. Naturally intrigued for our own situation, I asked her all about them. She offered a spin, which I gladly accepted. It rode very nice. A little getting used too, steering wise, but certainly did the trick. The size is perfect. They got them in Florida, but they are available from a company in California. it got us to thinking that this might be a nice alternative to our normal bikes, for camping use. They were really pleased with them. I think a little research and perhaps some Kijiji hunting may be worthwhile.
We put up the awning as it does seem like rain, and it offers excellent protection if one happens to be BBQ'ing. We started to get ready for dinner, as Alex & Paula are coming over from their place on the Big Rideau. On the menu is Montreal chicken thighs with grilled veggies and a salad. Late in the afternoon the sun came out and the sky looked very clear. We decided to take down the awning, as it really did not look like it was going to rain at all. It never ceases to amaze me just how inaccurate a science weather forecasting seems to be, given all the technology available at their fingertips. Dinner was tasty and we had a great visit, very comfortable in the Alto.
Sunday morning was overcast. Tidied up outside and put away of some of our stuff, in the event it decided to rain. The sky is pretty high, so hard to tell if it will rain or not. We slowly got things squared away, and hooked up and pulled out around 11:00. A little earlier than normal, but the day seems really iffy. Stopped at Woody's along the way for a box of fries...salt and vinegar half way of course! So another fine outing, a return trip to this park would not be out of order.
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