Fanshawe Lake Conservation Area

Day 6 Continued

Set up camp at Fanshawe Lake Camp Ground was done by 17:00. Rain is moving in. We can hear thunder and the sky is darkening. Tarp goes up. It’s an automatic response by now. As luck would have it, there is a family 2 sites down with a girl of similar age to E. They begin their friendship by riding their bikes around the camp ground.

How easy they make friends. While resting for a minute on our campsite the increasing roar of an airplane flying overhead becomes overly apparent. Of course. The London International Airport’s main runway 15/33 lines all the airplanes on their descent and takeoff glide path right over the camp ground. Oh well. Hope there’s not too many landing and takeoffs this coming week.

A few minutes later, we hear a Choo-Choo! Of course, the main railroad passes not far from here into London. We are determined to make the best of the stay here. Went into town for dinner (sushi of course) and some groceries and citronella candles. Rain held up. I guess the thunder we heard passed us by. Forecast calls for rain tomorrow afternoon though.

Hanging out by the fire and snacking on some chips around 9pm, a raccoon wonders around the corner as if it was his turn to get some chips. He was literally 1m away from H’s chair, which of course freaked her out. I stomped my foot and it ran away, but man that raccoon felt comfortable around people. Too comfortable. Mental note: put all garbage away/hang it before going to bed each night or before leaving the camp site. There are a few mosquito out. Even though there’s not a lot, there are enough to be a mild nuisance.  Only been here half a day and already have more mosquito bites then all of last week. The citronella candles will come in handy.

Day 7

Again sleepy slept 10ish hours. Feels good not to wake to an alarm clock.

Flying through some fast sections

This morning the girls H and E are going into town for the morning. The weather forecast calls for slight chance of rain early afternoon, so I decide to go for a bike ride around Fanshawe lake. There is a 21.8km bike trail around the lake that at one time (when living in London) I used to ride on a weekly basis. I set out with just an energy bar, my phone and a credit card. Having ridden the trail before I know my way around though not having been on my bike in over a year I am weary of the length. There are no short cuts (unless i want to swim). Just one loop around the lake. I take it easy, remembering the different parts of the trail. At about 8km into the loop I have 1/2 my energy bar and continue going.
Energy levels are not so bad as I thought. I continue to take it easy. Ugh. The mud puddles were not fun, and there were lots of them. Another rider passes me and I see their camel back water pack. I left mine behind unfortunately.
At 15km I’m getting tired and I  eat the rest of the energy bar and I feel a burst of energy though I know it won’t last long. By 18km I am sapped of energy. Even the flat sections are tough to pedal and the slightest incline makes my legs burn.
Yup, I am out of shape.

A bit of mud never hurt anyone.

By 19.7km the trail through the trees is complete and I am on roads through the campground to get back to the site and now even the flat smooth road is challenging to pedal on.
My blood-sugar level is getting dangerously low as I’m starting to see fast pulsing faint flashes of light. Made it back to the site in one piece. Will have to do it again a few more times while we stay at this campground.
Time for lunch and replenish my energy levels. I’m sure I’ll be feeling the aftermath of this bike ride in the days to come.
After lunch I meditated and followed that with a bunch of French lessons. I’m getting to a point now where I’m learning small new things each day. Later on the afternoon it poured for an hour then the temperature dropped. Time for a sweater. The girls return with a bunch of clothes for E’s camp this week. Some boots, overalls, straw hat and PJs . After a quick dinner and a fire (you sure don’t get much wood for $8 here) it was E’s bedtime. We followed soon at 9:30

Dinner is cooking

Just after 10pm H called the camp office. We picked a camp site in ‘radio free zone’ for a reason.
One camp site had some rock tunes playing and an adjacent group camping site had (what sounded like a mob of) Asians singing and playing drums and guitars. It was cool earlier for the first 5 minutes, but it’s after 10pm. Soon a camp ranger came by and had a chat with both groups and the music subsided. Around 1:30 I awaken to what sounded like an alarm clock or smoke detector in a nearby site, and people talking rather loudly in another. I think it was an alarm clock; too quiet for a smoke detector. The alarm continued to go on for a good 10min at which point I either feel sleep or it went off. Love being near people!