Camping!

Camping season is upon us this weekend is the first official weekend of the camping season. Guess what we are doing? Yep your right we are going camping. Some of our friends will be joining us at Awenda Provincial Park. Awenda is a nice enough camp ground... It is lacking in the hyking department however it is located on Georgan Bay and has some wonderful scenery. It will also be our new puppies first ever camping weekend!!! I'm sure if he knew what was to come he would be as excited as we are!

Shannon and I would perfer to camp in Algonquin over anywhere else in Ontario. Algonquin offers a ton of camping options. You can go back woods camping either by hiking in or via canoe either way it is beautiful and serene. We most often go "car camping" which means you drive into your spot and set up camp. The reason for this? Its easier, we can bring along all our comforts of home and have a truly relaxing weekend. Also when you back woods camp you have to move sites every night which is a pain. Algonquin has a bunch of hiking trails that are second to none, which is our favorite camping past time. The trails range from really easy to rather difficult. The most difficult is called Centennial ridges, this is a ten kilometer loop that is MOSTLY up hill. When I say mostly I mean 9.5km is uphill and .5km is down hill. There are multiple warnings at the start of this hike.. "You MUST be physically fit to do this hike.. You MUST have proper clothing and shoes to do this hike.." etc.. Needless to say I shyed away from doing this hike a few times before acutally taking the plunge!

At the time both my partner and I were chubby ass dykes.. Physically fit.. well.. not so much! But we did it and in good time. The notices at the start of the hike told us it would take upwords of 8 hours to complete the hike.. (gosh I was a tad scared) We managed to complete it in less than 6 hours!!! The guest book at the end of the hike will forever read.."Jenn and Shannon.. Two fat dykes completed this hike!!!" LOL..

But damn let me tell you I payed for completing that hike! My legs were on fire by the end. I learned an interesting little fact while on this hike... Which I will now share with you.. A person has a dominant leg. (there I said it) This is the leg you will start all your steps with, the other one simply follows along. Particularily when you are stepping up hill! For me it is the right leg.. at about the 7km range my right hip began barking at me... I am strong (at least that is what I told myself.. at 7km there is no turning back) I plugged on. When the hike was over and I was safely back in my seat at our camp I desided it was time to shower before dinner... soooo.. off I trot to the shower wearing crappy shower shoes up (again) a rather steep gravel path to the showers. Guess who whiped out? Yep. Me. landed (hard) right on my already barking right hip.. And let the payment begin. For a week my hip was all but paralized. Refusing to move with me. Fighting every movement. Damn that hurt. But damn it I finished a hike that warned me I needed to be physically fit to complete it! Yay for me!

I have always envied those people who have black labs. I see them all the time while I am camping, throwing sticks, balls or whatever else, into the water for their labs to retrieve. My dog was a sucky little chinese crested hairless dog. I loved him dearly but secretly wished I could throw a ball into the lake and have him retrieve it. So now I am the one with the black lab and its my turn to throw stuff into the lake for the dog to retrieve. I can't hardly freakin wait!

One small problem that didn't make its way into my envy of those lab owners... I hate the smell of wet dog! hmmm.. delema... Well I will have to bring some soap along and wash him on his way out of the lake...LOL.. Shit I am sounding like a poodle owner... Wish us luck!