Darlene and I went up in the VW, and Dan and Katy in their rented car (they were proceeding on to Ottawa after our two days). Our trip up was not too long, and went well. However, our rendezvous place in Minden was closed; the Library next door, though, was open and wonderful, so we waited there. When the young folk arrived, we all went together to the cottage, a place just off one of the roads along the river. Interestingly, Shawn, who was renting the place out, was a midget. He showed us through, and left us alone.
We settled in, scoped out the place, and sat down while Dan and Katy went to do some shopping. It rained. Then it stopped. When they got back, there was some talk, some reading, and then some cooking. Darlene and I had brought some steak and corn with us, and it went over well. Lots of wine to accompany it (and some beer and some bubbly: those British sure can drink!). And just as we settled down at the end of the meal, it really began to rain—hard. But the rain finished with a beautiful sky.
Lots of talking and reading and sitting. We had taken board games, but none of us wanted to play, particularly. We went to bed at a good time, and slept with the air conditioner on for part of the night. I for one had a fabulous sleep, even though there was thunder, lightning, and rian through the night.
Next day began with some clouds, but pretty soon became a blue-sky-with-puffy-clouds day, and we altered our plans. First, we got Katy in a canoe, and she did very well indeed. Then we decided to go our exploring. We had a great breakfast at the cottage, then headed north to the Dorset area, first to see the Fire Tower there, then for a lunch by the water.
On our way back to the cottage, we were going right by Camp Kandalore. At Darlene and Dan’s suggestion, we stopped and went in to see if they would let us take a look. We were in luck: the campers had left the previous day, and the camp was almost empty, with only a few staff hanging around. They were very welcoming and told us we could go and look wherever we wished.
(A point of explanation: I had been a camp councillor back in the 60’s for three or four years, including being a tripper the summer after we got married.)
So we walked over to the Senior Section, looked at the swimming area, saw the Chapel Island, and in the Dining Hall we found a board with my name on it from the Nor’Westers.
It was quite moving for me to be back there, in a place that had shaped my life as a late teenager, after all these years.
We had to celebrate, so we stopped at Kawartha Dairies just outside of Minden for their wonderful ice cream, before returning to the cottage.
That evening, we eventually had some supper of hot dogs and such, and after sleeping not as well, got up and packed and cleaned the next morning. Breakfast at Molly’s Bistro and Bakery, and we went our separate ways: the kids to Ottawa and us back to Dundas.
