Camping Season is Near!

I know it's early, but I love camping so much, that I am already anticipating summer 2010 and all the camping trips that will be had once the weather turns around. This reminds me of what last summer was and the trips that happened during July and August. The best one, was at Riding Mountain National Park.

Joelle and I had a great 3 hour drive to the park together (awesome sister time). The one thing I didn't realize, was that we had to pay per person, per day when we arrived at the park. Our campground was inside it so we payed $36. I was surprised and kind of annoyed considering an unserviced site at Wasagaming Campground was $31/night. So to be in the park and camp for two nights, we payed $98. And that didn't include Rachel, Jessica and Sandra who were coming in a separate vehicle, our food or gas.

Once Joelle and I arrived at our site, we set up the tarps and the tent. Once the other girls arrived, we grabbed a snack and took a drive to purchase firewood. Once we got back, we realized our fire pit was on a pole about two feet off the ground. It was difficult to get our fire going, but we managed. By walking through paths we found the town of Wasagaming. Checked out the tourism building and pocketed paper for our fire (paper was the one thing we had forgotten). There always seems to be something. :)

We decided we'd go on the Gorge Creek guided hike. A 2 hour hike on the Manitoba escarpment (yes, Manitoba has one). It rained all night, so we decided against it. We went on a hike that was more difficult than we thought, but when we arrived at a clearing, we could hear loons and were in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. We had a good laugh when the loons responded to our turkey calls. For the rest of the afternoon, we sat at our site and played "The Game Of Things" for hours. We laughed so hard at times that my stomach ached (this is how i gauge my level of fun - stomach pain). That evening we went to the Bison Enclosure. Once we got there, it was dusk. We saw no Bison at first, but the silence was amazing! Only crickets and frogs could be heard...until one of saw a bat and freaked out. As we left, we spotted a lynx. Then, in the darkness, we saw a huge bison walking slowly down a dirt road. We stopped and drove alongside it. It was taller than the car. We tried to take photos, I gave my camera to Sandra but she was so scared of it, the photo you see to the left is all she got. It gives me a good laugh every time. She got everything except it's genitals...which were very large. Ha ah ha.

One thing I adore about camping is the food. I don't like to take a camp stove, so we cook everything over the open fire. I figure, you have it going already, why not use it for more than roasting marshmallows?! Over the last couple years we have perfected our recipes. Potatoes, cooked with onions, butter, garlic, seasoning salt and farmer sausage is our favorite. And it's so easy, considering I do all the prep work at home. We just dump everything into a foil pan and cover. But our newest favorite, is biscuit on a stick.

The wildlife that we spotted during our stay in Riding Mountain were a bison, a lynx, a baby grizzly bear (we knew by the white mane), bats (ha ha) and an elk. Amazing! We were awe struck by the scenery and the wildlife. And even though it rained a lot, we had a great time. Even knowing that it's quite a bit more expensive than we thought it was to begin with, it was well worth it! I will be there again this summer for sure.

If you are planning a camping trip to Wasagaming, here are a couple tips:
1. Be ready for the daily park fee. There is a campground outside of the park, but odds are, that you'll want to take advantage of all that the park has to offer. Have more than 2 people/car, this way you can pay the family rate ($19/car load)
2. Bring some sort of fire starter or pick one up at the store in Onanole. They sell a little paper cup filled with wood chips and wax that was a lifesaver for us. The firewood isn't the best quality, you will need something to keep it going.
3. Ask about the fire pit on the site you want. The pits that are above the ground catch too much of a breeze and are harder to keep going than the ones on the ground.
4. Visit the bison enclosure during the evening, before sun down. The edge of the road meets with a heavily treed area. Wildlife could jump out at anytime.
5. Bring extra cash so you can make use of the kayaks, paddle boats or boat cruises they offer in the town of Wasagaming (on Clear Lake).
6. Visit the tourism office in Wasagaming. They have a lot of hikes to choose from, and the staff can tell you if they are easy, moderate or difficult.
7. Don't bother with the viewing towers. They were built a long time ago, and you really can't see the beautiful scenery over the trees anymore.
8. Have your camera ready.
9. Don't be scared away by the bear warnings. They monitor the grounds really well. If a bear has been anywhere near the site you have, they will move you if they feel it's necessary. If you follow their directions and keep your garbage bag in the trunk of your car, don't leave food outside or inside your tent, you will be fine.

Book: Say You're One Of Them

This book is a little difficult to read. Here's why:

1. The story is written normally, but then in a strange way, breaks into characters speaking. - This just feels like an interruption every time
2. The characters who speak, speak VERY broken English. What I like to call engrish. - If you're going to write a story...use either or...not both English and engrish
3. There are bits of french mixed in with the engrish. - I hate French...so this angered me.

I wont be finishing this book. Got through roughly 100 pages, because I wanted to at least give it a chance. But it's not for me. Just another binding of kindling for the 2010 camping season.

For The Love Of Siblings

I was clicking through Facebook pages and photos when I came across a photo of three people I know. They were piled on top of each other and looking at it, you could feel the love and laughter these three were enjoying the day it was snapped. I scrolled down to see a couple comments from others, one, caught my eye. "I wish I had a sister." I thought, "wow", I really haven't thought about how lucky I am to not only have one but two sisters and a brother. Just another example of how we take life for granted.

Things haven't always been great between my siblings and I. But they blossomed over the years into what we have now.

I am so thankful that I can laugh about things with my sister Lori. Over the last few years, Lori and I have been able to leave our sisterly aggressions in the past and enjoy each others company today. Our relationship wasn't always a happy one...but time and maturity have taught us both a lot.

Joelle and I have a bit of a different relationship, but it's equally as important. She's artsy and willing to do anything for a laugh. I love that about her.

I am 10 years older than Chad. I can remember when he was oh so small, and now...he's massive. I'm not talking overweight. He towers over me and when he gets in my way, there's nothing I can do to make him budge...except tickle him.

The best things about having siblings are the fun times where we laugh till our stomachs hurt and knowing that when I have kids, they will be more than I could hope for as aunties and uncles. That's so important to me.

Even though some people are not blessed with siblings, some friends can be just as special and important. After all, they are the family we choose. I just lucked out with the family I was given.

Book: Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

This is what I got out of this book:
1. It's possible to detect abnormalities through an ultrasound as early as 18 weeks - that's pretty early
2. Each chapter in this book is written from each of the main character's point of view - Different, but an effective way to write a story
3. Raising a disabled child is difficult - Ya think?
4. Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is an extremely brittle bone disease - Interesting
5. I will NEVER read another Jodi Picoult book - No joke.

While there were interesting issues brought up in it's thought provoking pages, it was also a repetitive, quite depressing at times, too long and drawn out...and the good parts of the book were completely erased by it's ridiculous ending.

Tupperware Party Anyone?

I usually steer clear of any party where there will be a room full of just women. This includes baby showers, tupperware parties, passion parties...etc. But my friend had committed to going to a tupperware party a couple weeks back and it seemed like she needed a party buffer. In case you are not familiar with my use of the word buffer, I am referring to when you go somewhere and you need a friend to lighten the pressure that get togethers bring. For instance, my friend Sam was always my family buffer. When I took her to my family functions, all eyes were on her and no one bothered to ask me annoying questions.

And back to the tupperware topic. So I volunteered to go with her to this party. First of all...they shouldn't call it a party. The host was so over excited about the plastic bins it was embarrasing. I was embarassed for her! I felt like I was a kindergartner at some points in her descriptive speeches. She had all the cheesy lines...but she was very knowledgable.

I could not believe how excited some women get about tupperware. Seriously...it's just plastic ladies. It was as though hearing about a pop top air tight container was bringing them to climax. One woman was so excited...she had no idea what to do with her hands. So the whole time, they were shaking above her shoulders. Another couldn't stop talking about how her husband gave her the cheque book, and the fact that she wanted to sock her kitchen with products.

Then came time to order. Everything in the catalogue was overpriced in my opinion. Everything. One friend wanted to buy sippy cups for her kids...she had to buy the lids separate. They were actually more expensive than the cups themselves.

There was one particular product that I thought was very, very strange. A bowl to cool hamburger meat in the microwave. My stomach turned at the thought of this. I just can't trust a microwave to cook meat thouroughly. And seriously people, it's not that hard to use the freakin stove and strainer!

Thank God I was with 3 friends. We laughed about things together. At one point, Carla and I had a laughing fit. The tupperware rep must have thought we were laughing at her. Well, we were some of the time...but mostly, we laughed at the names of containers. (Easy Access Bin - wouldn't you laugh at that?) I wonder if they paid someone to think up the fancy names so they could charge more.

I will be steering clear of any tupperware parties in the future. I just can't handle the bubbliness and exagerrated excitement over, over-priced plastic.