2019: Sandbanks...hanging out in The County ~ Route Alto 80

Our yearly trip to The County has become part of our DNA. It is a destination we just have to get into the camping schedule, and without a visit, I’m sure we’d feel as if the summer was not complete.

We try to book a good chunk of time at Sandbanks, as we are on the go much of the time. Between visiting with friends who live here, wandering the towns, and of course the great beaches and kayaking, it is a fun filled getaway. It took quite the effort to book a site this year, not only because it is so popular and the demand is high, we were also dealing with time zones, as we were in the SouthWest when the reservations had to be made. We finally got a site when we were in California...at 4:00 o’clock in the morning. Now that’s hard core camping dedication!

We ended up on a nice site, full sun until about 2:00pm, then nice cooling shade for the rest of the day. It gave us a chance to try out our new sun shade, which worked great at keeping the intense sun off the fridge area.

However, after a couple of days we realized we really needed the full awning to keep more of that side of the camper shaded. We had picked up a second “old style” awning a few years back, when we saw it offered for sale by another Alto owner. In situations like this, a second awning sure helps keep the whole camper cool.

sort of looks ready for flight

Lots of visiting this year...a couple of dinners with Mark & Angela, always fun, and we got a real good look at their very impressive Alto 2114. Then Helen & Paul arrived on Tuesday, and we spent the next couple of days hanging out with them. We discovered a very cool pub, the Bloomfield Public House, where we had an awesome charcuterie style lunch. This place cures their own meat, offering a variety of sausages and cold cuts which all tasted wonderful. Paired up with local cheeses and frosty brews, it made for a nice little lunch.

We also got together with our friend Geoff a few times, then on Thursday our friends Lee & Howard dropped by for a swim and a bite to eat. It was great getting caught up with everyone, lots of good conversations and laughs all around.

The water levels in Lake Ontario were very high, so much so that Lakeshore Beach was closed, and the main beach was only half the depth of area that it normally is. We got in a few good paddles, putting in at a day use area that is close to the campground. We paddled one morning up around the point, where we could see the closed beach. The point is a shelf of limestone, large blocks that are strangely symmetrical, reaching far out into the water. It made a nice base to walk around in the water.

this guy was seriously friendly

a little time lapse vid of our friendly duck

We wandered around the county on Friday and Saturday, and dropped into a neat brewery called Matron. Our neighbours are friends with one of the owners, so hearing we were going to be in the county, they suggested it would be a good spot to check out. I had sampled a couple of their brews over the week in the local restaurants, so a visit was definitely in order. They have been brewing a while now, but only recently were able to move into their own building.