Time Travelling

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

START: White Lake Provincial Park, Godknowswhere, ON - 10:30 a.m.

STOP: Sandbar Lake Provincial Park, Ignace, ON - 7:00 p.m. home time/6:00 p.m. Ignace time.

WEATHER: Overcast; sunny breaks; torrential downpour; clear and sunny (but chilly!)

We were up and at'em around 8:30 this morning and got Beula back in bounding shape in record time, if I do say so myself. Dad and I went au naturale today, while Mom and Mike guinea pigged the shower sitch - and from what I hear, it's quite the experience.

Dad: "So how was the shower? Everything okay? Kinda like bouncin' around in a phone booth with water pouring on you?"

Mike: "Worse than that."

Dad: "Worse than a phone booth?"

Mike: "Yeah, it's like showering in a mailbox."

Hahaha, needless to say, I'm not all that upset that I decided to hold off in favour of the 'comfort station' at the next provincial park. But sooner than later I guess we'll all have to cram ourselves into that mailbox at some point.

It was also discovered this morning that Mom is the worst of the worst when it comes to ideal campers. While reading through the list of things NOT to do, Mom fit the bill on every one.

Do not snap branches or burn wood found around your campsite --> Guilty.

Do not peel bark from the trees --> Guilty.

Do not carve anything into the trees --> Not guilty, but she did suggest it.

DO NOT HAVE ANY FUN AT ANY TIME. We're obviously not guilty of that, but that's pretty much the summation of all of those rules. Also, keep in mind friends, the first tip for water safety is 'learn to swim.' Think about it.

Before heading out of White Lake, we stopped to perform the ritual 'Shower of Sadness.' This comes from the movie RV, in which Robin Williams is showered in fecal matter when trying to empty the poop tank. Dad also thought it might be fun to grab hold of the water hose and spray it at the window where I was sitting, 'causing me to recoil in horror thinking the Shower of Sadness had sprung a leak. What fun.

The drive was relatively uneventful today, aside from the transport that decided to do us a solid and launch a boulder at our windshield, causing it to chip. Sonvabitch. Mom had some kinda sticky sealant thing to put over it from the LAST window we had to get fixed though, so so far so good. We've also come to quickly realize that Beuls and gale wind forces are sworn enemies, as we are practically blown off the road every time a transport passes us from behind. Smooth sailing it is not. Reeeal excited for when it's my turn to take the reigns. You should be, too. Other than that, we played a few rousing games of 'let's-see-how-close-we-can-get-to-the-pilons-without-knocking-them-over' while passing through numerous construction sites. Two points so far.

Today's eight-hour journey wound down with a quick stop at a gas station where MIke deemed the bald, lanky gas attendant Howie Mandel and we all followed suit. It also involved a little time travelling on our part, since we are now an hour behind home time until further notice!  After paying for the gas, Dad came back in and announced, "Howie says we can stay here." However, while appreciative of sweet Howie's offer, we decided to venture the 11km down the road to Sandbar Lake instead. Upon arrival we discovered their handy (and by handy I mean not handy at all) self-registration system, and basically blew right through in search of an appropriate campsite, proceeding to blaze the wrong way down a tiiiiiny one-way dirt road, 'cause that's how we do. After discovering that the electrical posts were hidden 50 miles into the bush at each site, we tracked down the owners and found one with the outlets right on site and then proceeded to make a down payment of three arms and a leg for roughly 11 pieces of firewood - having learned our lesson after being harshly reprimanded for burning down our campsite the night before. After smoking Beula out trying to cook up a couple of pizzas, we enjoyed our expensive fire and then sat around being all family-like and watching Mike play video games before hitting the sack.

Dad would also like it known that so far, it's been relatively skitter-free. Here's hoping that doesn't change!

And MOM would like it known that she bought a plunger for the toilet. This may not strike you as odd, but the toilet empties into a black abyss. Chances of it getting plugged are slim to none. She basically laughed herself to sleep after Dad pointed it out.

Tomorrow we break for the border.

Letting the good times roll,