Camping in Nova Scotia

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Our first camping trip since our move to Nova Scotia. In fact, our first camping trip since two Labor Days ago. Last year we were living at separate ends of the country (while DBF was out here on his course and we didn't even know we would be moving) so no camping at all for us.

At first it seemed as though someone up there didn't want us to go camping. The place we wanted was booked, then the weather was supposed to be bad, then we heard about the campfire ban, and so on....but in the end we got up on Friday morning and decided to just go. I worked my buns of until noon then emailed my West Coast co-workers and wished them a happy TGIF and signed off for the day.

We chose to go to Porters Lake Provincial Park as it is the closest campground to us and they still had lots of available spots so we didn't need to book online for the extra fee. :) A couple of friends had wrinkled their noses when we mentioned the spot, but we figured since we've never been anywhere around here it would be fun for us.

And it was!! What a beautiful spot! The lake is huge and gorgeous and blue. The campground is large and spacious (a bit dusty but what campground isn't?). Our site was in a great location and it was massive and mostly grassy. And we didn't have a neighbor until late last night and even then they didn't bother us at all. Fairly private in general with just enough exposure to enjoy the goings on along the roads and stuff. They even had a proper bathroom with running water and real toilets...which I know defeats the purpose of roughing it...but it sure is nice to wash my face at the end of the day.

The fire pit was a bit chintzy but it served the purpose, and hey, at least we were allowed to have a fire at all! We kept warm for only $3.50 for wood (back in BC it's like $5 for half as much) and had enough of a blaze to cook our smokies and that's all we needed.

Friday afternoon and evening we just lounged around the site after we set up. The sunset was freaking amazing. Super bright orange, then pink, then glowing magenta. Awesome!

Saturday morning DBF got up early with Mojo and I ended up sleeping in for another couple of hours. hehe :) When I got up I made us a yummy breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs with mushrooms and hashbrowns. We forgot our coffee cups, so drank our tea from our travel wine glasses. LOL. Then we took a run to the front gate for extra ice and fire wood, then a nice long walk around the park. I considered going in for a swim, but we had Mojo with us and he doesn't like water and kept barking at all the other dogs. He's not good at sitting still for beach sitting either (and it's not a very big beach, and it's rocks not sand...). Instead we just took some pictures and enjoyed the walk. The sun was blazing! Then we decided to drive back out to the road and see if we could find a store for something refreshing to drink (we only had booze and Cokes and in this heat we needed something less dehydrating). Once we had waters and Powerade in hand, we came back to the site and just enjoyed the afternoon playing cards and reading our books. Our evening was spent at the fire pit again, with Trivial Pursuit and hot chocolate with Bailey's. :) Oh, and yet another fantastic sunset.

This morning we slept in a little longer then got up to another yummy greasy breakfast before packing up to head home. Yet another beautiful day! The location was just the right distance away to feel like a little trip away from home, but close enough that we were home by noon. DBF cleaned my car (holy dust and dog hair Batman!) because he's nice like that, and I unpacked and tidied up our stuff.

We were both covered in a massive layer (or ten) of dust and camping grime (ewwww....sunscreen)... a shower has never felt so good! Too bad a shower doesn't cure mosquito bites...but such is the price you pay for spending the night in nature.

All in all I totally recommend it. A perfect camping weekend.