vaneramos | Aug. 21st, 2006

During recent summers I haved visited and camped a variety of different places with my daughters:

July 2006: The Pinery, Goderich and the Lake Huron shore with Brenna
August 2005: Montreal, the Maritimes and Quebec
August 2004: Bon Echo Provincial Park and Ottawa
July 2004: canoeing in Algonquin Provincial Park with Marian
July 2003: An extended visit (the first in years) to the place where I grew up on Lake Erie (apparently we didn't go camping that summer)
August 2002: A camping trip to Manitoulin Island, the north shore of Lake Huron and Kilbear Provincial Park with my boyfriend at the time (this predates my arrival on LJ, and I don't have any record of it online; the photos from Kilbear were stunning and I should post them sometime)
August 2002: Camping in Algonquin Provincial Park with Marian

Prior to 2002 we had only made summer trips to one place, Bruce Peninsula National Park. That was where my daughters cut their teeth on camping, at Cyprus Lake campground. It is still one of the most beautiful places we have ever visited, with high cliffs overlooking Georgian Bay and amazing wide beaches on the Lake Huron side. One of the most breathtaking, memorable days of my life was the time we rode a glass-bottom boat tour of the shipwrecks around Tobermory (Fathom Five National Marine Park), and visited Flowerpot Island. The girls stood in the front of the boat catching wind and spray off the coral-blue water. Our first visit was in about 1999, when the girls were seven and five, and we returned at least once. In my imagination we visited each summer for three years, but I can't be sure. I only know we forged some valuable memories there. It was a difficult time, when I defiantly asserted my love for them despite depression, and the geographical distance that had been placed between us when they moved away in 1998. We forged valuable memories on the Bruce Peninsula.

This week we will return for the first time in five or six years. Tonight I'll drive to the cottage where I'll meet Marian and Brenna and pack our gear. From there we'll head to Cyprus Lake and camp for three nights. It was a nostalgic choice for me, not knowing when the three of us will have much opportunity to camp together again (Marian's dog daycare has closed down for holidays this week). The girls are much more mature, and we'll be able to do different things. I hope we will ride the Blue Heron again. I'm also excited about the chance to post photos and stories from one of my favourite places.

Friday we'll return via Goderich to visit clairenolen, and arrive in Guelph that evening.