In the Middle of Nowhere: We're Back!

On Friday, July 27th we left for a nine day camping trip to Arrowhead Provincial Park, which is just north of Huntsville. We had amazing weather (it only rained once and that through the night) and the park is gorgeous. We were most impressed with the sites as they were large and well secluded. Our site was at the end of a loop so the girls had lots of fun biking around the loop and there was very little traffic. The park has numerous things to do and we tried to get a glimpse of it all. Colin and the girls canoed down a river to Stubb's Falls where you can sit/swim in the little pools. On the way they saw a beaver and an otter playing in the water. We went on a 3 km hike that Anna suggested we try and enjoyed the terrain but couldn't stop too long because of the bugs. We went swimming every afternoon in Arrowhead Lake and the kids became part fish. They pretty much lived in the water and enjoyed playing lots of beach games with their cousins. My brother and SIL's site was one road over so we spent lots of time at each other's sites playing and enjoying campfires. We made a day trip to Algonquin Provincial Park and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the park. We stopped at the interpretive center (very impressive) and spent time swimming at Lake of Two Rivers. We were also very fortunate to see a moose along the side of the road in a marsh. That was definitely the highlight of the day!
We were also very surprised one supper evening by a bear wandering around our site. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to get a really good picture so you'll just have to believe me. The kids were quite excited about it all and we spent the next hour trying to track down where it went. I was surprised that the kids were not scared and didn't even mention it before going to bed. Hopefully I can get a picture of the bear from my brother so that we have real proof! The one animal we did not encounter on this trip was a raccoon which is almost a given when camping. I guess the bear scared them all away!
We arrived home Saturday evening at supper time and spent the next few hours unpacking and cleaning up. Now this morning I'm working on all the laundry that needs to get done. The memories of such a wonderful trip should keep me motivated for awhile anyway!