Saugeen Shores Conservation Authority Maple Syrup Festival

Saturday March 24th we attended Saugeen Shores Conservation Authorities annual Maple Syrup Festival. It was our second visit to the event. There were several vendors and display areas ranging from Kayaks and canoes to conservation officers to pioneer villagers demonstrating life during the time before confederation. Of course the theme was maple syrup and there were demonstrations of both old and new methods of turning sugar maple tree sap into delicious syrup. Of course for a small fee you could have a pancake breakfast complete with fresh syrup.
We visited each and every display and learned something new at many of the vendors and demonstrators. For example did you know it takes 40 litres of sap to make just one litre of syrup. It was a perfect day for walking around the area. I have included some photos below.

Spring Arrives in MacGregor

This weekend as my colleague Peter has stated on his blog was a busy one

at the Park.Many of the winter warriors arrived to remove their tarps and

winter coverings, I was included in this group.  It seemed that the more

seasoned winter warriors removed stuff while some of the first timers

preferred to let things be fearing winters return.  Most of us who have been

there for a few years take advantage of good weather and usually remove

our covers in the middle of march, knowing that we will have more snow but

 that it won't stay for long.  As you can see in my photo I have left my porch

in place to provide shelter for our BBQ and stove as we cook most of our

food in here.

As many of you know we are

thinking of spending next

winter in the warmer climate

that Myrtle Beach will offer.

We have not committed to this

100%  as of yet but it looks like

we are going to give it a try

for November then decide

about the rest of the winter.

We are also having a coffee

tea and goodies campfire on

April 7th prior to leaving the

park.

We want to take this

opportunity to thank all the 

new friends we have made this winter and wish them all the best for

the coming years.  Our next adventure is only 7 weeks away as we

travel to Europe for most of May,  Our itinerary begins in Amsterdam on

a 15 day river cruise passing through Holland, Germany, Austria and

Hungary. We then fly to Paris for a week to wind up the trip. We will 

keep you all posted on our progress down the Rhine, Main and Danube.

Stay tuned!!!! 

MYRTLE BEACH MARCH 10TH, 2012

Today, Saturday March 10th we are returning home after a very busy 3 day trip to Myrtle Beach in search of a winter camping ground. We have visited 6 private campgrounds and 2 state parks. I am happy to report that we have decided to try Pirate Land RV park in south Myrtle Beach. We have chosen this park as it seemed to be the least crowded during our visit and the sites we are looking at have a covered picnic shelter and concrete pad to rest the Motorhome on. In addition the staff is very friendly and there we many other canadians in camp at the time of our visit. I have added a couple of pictures of the sites we are thinking about bear in mind that they are not your average provincial park site, however with only 10% occupancy we should have all the privacy we need. The last three photos of just general interest of the the beach and one of a feeding frenzy we witnessed last evening. The larger birds are brown pelicans.

MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA

March 8th,2012

Today we began our search for winter 2013 campgrounds. In total we visited 5 different campgrounds. Three Rv sites were private, the other two were state parks and had restrictions on length of stay, 2 weeks-6 weeks max. The private RV parks are basic parking lots with space just large enough for your rig and a car/truck. Very little privacy is available and even fewer trees and what there were were not in leaf or they were Palm trees. The advantage is that at this time of the year occupancy is only about 10% and so there were a lot of empty spaces. Other advantages
1 today it is 72 F and most people are in shorts and t-shirts.
2 concrete pads with picnic tables.
3 permanent shelters on some sites in the appropriate side for your rig
4 fully serviced sites 50,30 and 20 amp electric, water, sewer, cable and local phone and free wifi.
5 $522-620 per month plus taxes for everything.

Tomorrow we will visit the remaining 3 parks. I think that we might find something to try for next winter in one of the six parks that we visit.

Today while driving around the first park we met a couple from Barrie, They had an Algonquin Moose crossing sign on the front of their rig so we just had to stop and say hello. They have been on the road since January 15th and have traveled from Barrie out to california and then have slowly made their way back here to rendezvous with family during March break. In total they have only had to pay for a couple of nights stay in Las Vegas and the 2 weeks they will be here. Boondocking is alive and well in America.

Photo is from our 11th floor balcony looking east over the Atlantic