About 3 Kms W of Hanna on Hwy 9 is the Fox Lake Campground site. While the sign said swimming in the lake is allowed, I'm not sure that anyone would want to. It looked like it would be very slimy; however the lake itself is nice to look at it. The campground seems to be designed mostly for RVs, and don't offer much in the way of privacy, but some make up for that in size. After circling the site a couple of times, we decided to set-up camp at site 1. It seemed to offer the most in the way of space and possible shelter with all the large trees. What it did not offer shelter from was the wind.
I think that this would have been a better night to stay in a hotel. It was cold, damp and EXTREMELY windy. The three of us couldn't even set up the tent. The wind would catch it like a parachute and fold it in on itself. Eventually, Magoo managed to peg down one corner. However, the ground wasn't very hard and the force of the wind won; the tend quickly decided to fly free. Poor Doodles was trying so hard to force the tent together that one of the rods broke. I tried my best to duct tape it together. Just as things seemed hopeless and we resigned to the fact that we would very likely be sleeping in the van, the campground manager pulled up with our cart of firewood. He was kind enough to help us fix the post, with thinner electrical tape. Having a forth hand also made it easier to stabilize the tent against the wind. Finally the tent seemed to be in place.
The boys started emptying the van and placing items in the tent. Doodles filled up the queen size air mattress. This presented a new challenge: how were we supposed to get the mattress through the small entrance of our tent? With the broken zipper, it offered even less of a hole than normal. We not only fought with the zipper, but also with each other. Our patience was certainly being tested and stretched to the limited. After trying very angles at getting the mattress inside, it was decided that perhaps deflating it was our best option. Problem, we had nothing else top offer comfort from the hard earth that lay beneath the tent and none of us liked the idea of sleeping on the roots and gravel very much. Did I mention that at this point the wind had died down?
We fought some more with the zipper and did at some point manage to open it. I'd love to say that getting the mattress in was easy at that point, but I would be lying. The fly offered a problem of its own. Doodles and I did eventually manage to get the mattress in. At one point he seemed top be pinned between the mattress and the tent, but with some creative shuffling, all was quickly right again: all but Doodle's mood.
I'm not sure what happened to him after that point on, but he seemed content to spend his time as far away from Magoo as possible. It turned out that this meant, sitting in the branches of a tree. Once his hunger took over, he joined us at the fire. I'd like the record to show that I lite the fire on my first try.
I meant a wonderful woman, who was and perhaps still is, riding her bike across Canada. She'd been on the road for three months already. The journey began in Nova Scotia. She seemed a bit worried about the next section heading up and over the Colombian ice fields. Can't say I blame her. I wish that her adventure had inspired me to get back into shape.
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