We have left the States to explore Canada visiting Uxbridge & Port Perry

Occasionally, as the saying goes, there comes a moment in time where you either have to “put-up” or “shut up”.  So, if one is going to drive around in a monster truck, pulling along an RV of some 40 feet in length, then eventually there will come a time where you are required to backup and maneuver this caravan into a rather tight campsite.  And if you’re really unlucky, this will occur in the most public of setting with hundreds of people around.  Such was the case when we arrived at the Port Huron KOA just about 60 minutes north, north-east of Detroit, Michigan. Let me set the stage for you.  We pulled in at around 3:30 pm on a Saturday afternoon of one of the busier weekends of the camping season.  Saturday is a particularly busy time at a campground because all the weekend warriors who drove into camp on a Friday are now in full-blown “camping” mode.  Let’s also convey the point that we have been placed in a campsite directly on the main road across from the busy volleyball courts and the recreation center.  Ohh, and it’s a really nice day, warm & sunny and the area is populated with people, music is playing, golf carts, bicycles and children are all around.  OMG are you kidding me!?! Judy was very concerned and had started to flag down KOA personnel to ask for a different spot.

I kept my cool on the outside, but there were definitely butterflies in my stomach, as I sized up a plan to maneuver the 40-foot 5th Wheel RV into a 50’ campsite. Fortunately, I was the first campsite off the main street so I reasoned that I could clip the unpaved sidewalk, run over some grass, but maneuver a back in swerve off the main thruway.  My biggest problem was all the pedestrian traffic that could have just cared less that an RV was trying to back into a spot directly in front of them.  I suggested to Judy that the best thing the KOA personnel could do would be to stop pedestrian traffic, which is eventually what happened.  I took one last look, placed the truck in reverse, cut the steering wheel, and started to creep backwards into my spot.  The first cut of the wheel is the most important. The tail of the truck moved out into the main road whilst the tail of the RV was now pointed into the driveway of the site.  After rolling backwards for about 15 feet I got instructions from Judy that I needed to straighten out the camper.  I cut the steering wheel the other direction, digging up some grass along the way, but eventually straightening the camper out to be parallel along the side of the concrete pad.  I nailed the parking job, on the first try, requiring only a minor adjustment of pulling forward to align the front of the RV with the back.  Within 10 minutes we were plugged into shore power, the landing gear was deployed, the RV was level, and I was unhitching the truck.  No fuss, no crying, no hostile words, and most importantly Judy and I were still on speaking terms, and proceeded to congratulate each other on a successful landing, under very adverse conditions.  An important milestone in our young RV careers.

We pulled out of Port Huron, MI, and headed into Canada on a rainy Wednesday morning.  Our destination was a small town with a lovely RV park with great park reviews, located in Sanford, Ontario, Canada.  Sanford has a population of less than 1000 residents.  Probably one of the most pristine and natural places Judy and I have visited on this trip.  There was no litter, we were surrounded by farmland and rolling hills, and the air smelled special.  Like the air seemed cleaner, the trees seemed greener, and the sky seemed bluer than anywhere else we had been.  The campsite was easily 10 miles from anything that could be considered a grocery store or even a diesel gas station.  Then we discovered the nearby towns of Uxbridge and Port Perry.

It was fun discovering Uxbridge, and there was much to explore.  Very quickly we came to learn that Uxbridge is considered, and was designated by the Canadian government as, the “Trail Capital of Canada”, containing over 130 miles of walking & biking trails.  And in fact, Uxbridge has several trails that connect to the “Trans Canada Trail”.  The Trans Canada Trail is a trail, or series of interconnected trails, that spans the entirety of Canada, connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.  Canada takes her “hiking trails” quite seriously, and we walked about 8 ½ kilometers (5.25 miles) on the “Quacker” and “Oak Hill” trail.  It was great weather for walking, and we packed a picnic lunch.   After doing some grocery shopping in Uxbridge, and walking through the center of town, we made our way to the Uxbridge Historical Center and campus and got ourselves a private tour of the ten (10) historical buildings on the grounds.  Most of these buildings were moved to this campus, and only the Quaker School House is original.  The museum possesses several artifacts, mostly related to the township's agricultural & Quaker heritage.  We saw an old-fashioned print shop, the aforementioned Quaker School House, a number of barns containing a lot of old farming equipment, and we got a special surprise when we stumbled upon the antique “dog powered” corn shellers.

Quaker School House circa 1817

Port Perry is situated at the southwestern edge of Lake Scugog.  I’m not sure we would have even ventured into Port Perry, if not for Judy’s keen eyes and relentless research for attractions, museums or hiking trails in the area.  Judy flushed out information about the annual Port Perry Fair which was going on over the weekend.  So early Saturday morning we made our way to the fair, and it was a great time.  Everything you would have expected to see at a county fair was included. But what we really enjoyed, besides some of the food, and something neither Judy nor I had ever seen before, was the BMX Motocross Show. We were sitting in the grandstands watching a tractor pull contest, which again was something new for us, whilst we saw the preparations for the advertised BMX Motocross show.  And when the Motocross show began, we happened to be sitting adjacent to the take off ramp. Honestly, it was so thrilling to be sitting there watching these stunt riders taking off some 30 feet into the air and performing stunts on the backs of what appear to be dirt-bikes. WOW! Directly in front of us. Here are just a couple of sample pictures I was able to capture on my phone.  Sooo exhilarating!

As the day turned to dusk, the fairgrounds started to get really crowded, so we walked back to the Beast, and negotiated the 27 or so kilometers back to the RV campsite for dinner and a movie after another busy day.  A day or so later we packed up the camper in Sanford, Onterio, and moved out on an east-northeast trajectory towards the northern reaches of New York and the St. Lawrence Waterway to an area known as 1000 Islands, Canada.   Who knows what experiences we will we encounter and share with you, our readers, in the upcoming weeks, as we tell… the Rest of the Story.