CAMPING    

We started camping around 1988. We had purchased an 18’ Taurus camper. We had a big Pontiac Parisienne, and we had a towing kit added to it to pull this trailer. We took several trips with it, and one of those trips was to Ontario Thousand Islands. My daughter was going through dermatomyositis, so it was a nice distraction from our weekly and monthly visits to the hospital. Our 1st son was only 3, so he didn’t mind sleeping sometimes in a cold, damp bed. That changed later on!                      

Once my second son was born, we took a break from camping. We sold the trailer, and then later on, we started up again but with tents. One of our first trips was to the Morrisburg Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary in Ontario with our neighbours. We didn’t have any extra space to put all our stuff, so David got some air conditioner boxes from his work, and we put them on the roof rack of the Honda Accord station wagon. We were then named “The Schmenke’s”. We were very fortunate that it didn’t rain. It was always a big joke!

We did the tenting way for many years, and then in 2000, we bought a used 1978 Coleman cub tent trailer. It was in amazing shape and travelled to Old Orchard, Bar Harbor, Maine, and onto Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec and then retired it in 2003. It eventually was turned into a motorcycle trailer by our youngest son.            

In 2004, we decided to purchase a property in the laurentiens near my sister's place. We purchased a used 21’ Prowler camper trailer to camp in on the property. However, after I developed Fibromyalgia in 2006, we did not use it as often as we would have liked, so we sold it in 2008.

We took a break from camping due to my health, and in 2011, we bought another tent trailer. It was more work than parking the camper trailer and less than putting up a tent.  We did some fun trips to Wellesley Island, NY, and Massena, NY, and many weekends at Voyageur Campground in Ontario, only about 45 minutes from our home in Pierrefonds.

In 2015, we took the big step and bought a used class C 29’ Fleetwood Motor Home. We called her Dora the Explorer. That was traveling in real luxury and so much easier with the dogs. At the time we had Maddy and Riley, and they enjoyed camping as long as Maddy could see where I was because she had separation anxiety. I could hear her whining when I would go to the bathroom, and she couldn’t see me. At times, I would just bring her into the bathroom with me. My favourite spot was camping at Higley Flow State Park in South Colton, NY. It was probably the only time I didn’t get eaten up by mosquitos. I only got one bite, and it was when we went hiking in the woods. We went back two years later, and I got a few bites. When I mentioned it to the park rangers, they said it was because they used to spray the woods and didn’t do it that year. I wouldn’t say I liked that they were using chemicals to kill these insects, but it made for pleasant camping.   

One of our last camping trips was to Morrisburg Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary. Maddy had some seizures in August of 2016, and in September, she took her last trip in Dora. She was back to her normal self, and then she did not want to sleep in our bed one evening. I let her be, and when I woke up, she had wet her bed, which was not like her. We went for a walk that day, and she met a new friend. It turned out that this dog was rescued from the same puppy mill as her. They seemed to have an instant connection. It was like they recognized each other from that horrible place. Her name was Hope! They were now both living the best life possible with people who loved them. We also came across a little snapping turtle. Maddy was very interested in it, but I never let her get too close.

The following day, September 12th, 2016, she was just not herself and started having seizures again. We brought her to the veterinarian, and they gave her some medication to calm the seizures, but as soon as they wore off, they would be even worse. It was so bad that we had to have her put down. It was the most humane thing to do but extremely hard. I am just happy for the time we had with her. I think that maybe the Turtle was her Spirit animal, and sometimes I ask her to send me a sign with a turtle. Amazingly, she lets me know that she is still around. She was an extra special dog! In 2017, when we decided to move to Lac Farmer, we sold the motor home because we were not using it much. Seeing it sitting on the side of the house made us sad. We had a great time camping. We made many memories with the kids.

It was a lot of work but so worth it. I guess our camping days are over?

I loved Fall camping!

One of my favorite pictures of myself with my two best buddies, Maddy & Riley.