camping we will go...

back in july we rounded up a few friends and went camping at elora gorge. there was s'mores, bbq food, cards against humanity, bocce ball, and a little reading by the fire. the weather was semi-cooperative (the rain held off for the most part, but of course it was the sunniest and hottest on sunday when we were leaving), but the mosquitoes were out in full force.

the walk-up to our super private campsite. 

 being put to work.

 guys, i got this.

 our giant 10-person tent blocks the other two in behind.

campfire goodness. 

best part of a fire, amiright?

starting the morning off reading and boiling water for coffee. 

bocce tournament! 

home bound with crazy bun hair.

summer is quickly winding down and i'm slightly behind on posting, but i should have a little more time now that we're kind of stuck in the house because of  dylan's ankle!

camping at the pinery...

please remind me to never again go camping in september, especially when it's been a cooler summer. on friday evening, we arrived at our campsite at the pinery where our other friends already had a nice roaring fire going. even though it was pitch black already, lucky for us we just have one of those little pop-up tents that you literally throw and voila, it's ready! once that was done, we settled around the fire and tried to get warm because it was freezing!!

the days only reached highs of 13C and the nights went to about 8C. about 1am, i hit the sac when it started to lightly rain. but the worst was yet to come. around 5am i woke up and it was absolutely pouring. after falling back asleep, i woke again about 7 and me and dylan made the short drive to the bathroom (yes, we drove the 1 minute) to try and stay dry. once there, we thought, hey since we can't make coffee because we can't get a fire in the rain, let's go in to town and hit up a tim hortons and grab a box of coffee. once in town, we decided to stop for a nice warm breakfast at a small restaurant while all our friends were still sound asleep in the rain. we grabbed a box of coffee and headed back and woke everyone up.

we spent the rest of the afternoon stuck in tents; we played cards against humanity (love it), and then everyone played risk while i went back to our tent to read and nap because i hate that game. long story short, no one had much energy left the second night, and we called it an early night. we all spent the weekend cold and damp. granted, the rain did break here and there, but not for too long.

a break in the rain! checking out the grounds.

2nd place in cards against humanity, thank you very much. picture courtesy of our gopro in a pocket in the roof of the tent!

on sunday morning, it started clearing up, so after cleaning up our campsite, we took a walk to see the beach that we couldn't use.

while it wasn't a terrible time, the coldness didn't make it the best. we were prepared with lots of sleeping bags and blankets, but i'll still pass on september camping trips from here on out.

a cabin adventure...

an adventure is the best i can call it. 30 minutes before we were leaving, i had my blow dryer out to take with me and dylan lets me know that there is no electricity. only propane powered. well this just keeps getting better and better doesn't it? first outhouses and now this?! i seriously considered backing out, but i went through with it. after a few hours in the car, we met up with his aunt and uncle at a friends where they park their cars, saw a couple horses which live on the farm, loaded up the atv's with all our stuff and then went on the 30 minute rocky, muddy, bumpy atv ride to the cabin. this cabin, which belongs to his aunt and uncle, sits on 220 acres of land that they own. insane. so private is an understatement. and there's a real threat for bears and moose.

when we got to the cabin, i was pleasantly surprised; it was bigger than i thought. it took his uncle and his brother 3 years to build it. there's a nice big porch, a living/kitchen area on the main floor, and an open upstairs with about 6 beds. we had s'mores, burgers, open fire cooked wings, potatoes, you know, the usual. they all enjoyed doing things like fishing and swimming in the lake. i was down for neither. plus, the weather was not fantastic. it was a little cool and i was in pants and a sweater the entire time. come sunday, i just couldn't do another day. i needed toilets, i needed clean running water to wash my hands (not lake water siphoned in), i needed electricity, and no bugs! around 1pm, we took an atv ride back to our car and back to civilization. the first stop was obviously starbucks, though we were driving for an hour before we got to one ;)

7am, not sure if i'm ready.

making friends.

looking good for the ride through the forest.

off we go!

and we've arrived.

their dog looking ever so regal. and the outhouse in the back.

peaceful.

the best part of camping.

cheers!

here's a little video which was put together using the vine app clips i took. meaning, the quality is horrible and it's quick 6 second clips!

i'm glad i went and experienced this, but it's not for me. i'll stick to fully equipped cottages and a night or two of camping on campgrounds, because at least there are washrooms! but you know, i tried.