Sandbanks Provincial Park

September 25 - 27, 2020

For various reasons, we weren’t able to leave until late afternoon and we pulled into Sandbanks Provincial Park just before 7 pm, right as the sun was setting. By the time we made it to our campsite, the sun had just disappeared below the horizon. It was a gorgeous day and the drive was really pretty with the sun lower in the sky and some of the trees beginning to change colour.

Our site number 26 (in Outlet River Campground A) was not technically a pull through site, but it easily could have been! We didn’t realize this, overshot the first entrance to the site and continued to just back into the site from the second entrance. Chris has become very adept at backing in to all sorts of different places!

We quickly levelled, unhitched and set up so that we could head over the dunes to the beach. Even though the sun had already gone down, the view was spectacular!

The beach at Sandbanks is fantastic and it’s one of the biggest reasons that people return over and over again. White sand beach, with a slow entry into the water - it’s great for people and dogs alike. We made the most of the last bit of setting sun on the beach and returned to eat a late dinner.

Being on a site practically on the beach meant no electricity. It was warm so we used our fantastic fan to help keep us more comfortable. We were up early (for us) with the sun. Chris took Daisy for a walk and I took my chair and newspaper to the beach on the other side of the dunes. Later in the morning, Chris went for a run while Daisy and I walked around the campground and read a little bit.

We spent the afternoon at the beach with Daisy, where we ran into our friends, Mike and Lisa, who we knew were also camping close by. It was fun to catch up and throw sticks for the dogs in the water! Daisy had a blast running into the water, chasing rocks and sticks and swimming. It was a pretty warm day for September and the water was refreshing but still a bit on the cold side. We dipped in for a quick swim but didn’t stay in the water for long!

Being in wine country, we had planned to go out for supper to one of the wineries in Prince Edward County. We cleaned up from the beach and headed to Norman Hardie Wines. We had been to this winery a few years before in search of their sought after pizza, but the day we were there, the pizza didn’t make it to the menu! The food was delicious anyways, so we knew it would be a great place to go back to. We arrived and it was pretty busy, with a wait to get a table for food. However, we were able to order for take out and eat at one of their “bar” tables and enjoy a glass of wine. It was great! And the food and wine were delicious. Of course, the best part is that Daisy was allowed to be with us also.

It was important to me to get back to see the sun setting (especially since we missed it the night before when we arrived!). The great thing about our take out option, was that we had settled up and we were able to leave as soon as we wanted to. We didn’t rush (I had a second glass of wine - it was so delicious!), but we also weren’t on anyone else’s schedule but our own. We arrived back at our campsite, climbed over the dunes to the beach and were treated to a most glorious sunset!

Once the sun was down, our friends made their way over to our site for a little visit and a few drinks. We hadn’t seen them in quite a while (because… pandemic…) even though we live close by. They hadn’t seen our little airstream and were curious about it. We’re in our third season, but they had just started and a few months before had bought a used and large Class A Motorhome. We enjoyed catching up with them, hearing stories from their first RV season and making plans to camp together in 2021.

We spent our last day at Sandbanks playing on the beach with Daisy, enjoying a delicious breakfast outside, walking around the campground and just taking it easy.

After a really wonderful weekend at the beach, we packed up and started the drive home. But first, we stopped to dump our tanks. While we were there, our friends showed up to dump right behind us!

The drive home was sunny and pretty, with the leaves just starting to change colours.

Next up… Our last “camping” trip is to Uxbridge for Canadian Thanksgiving, where, due to covid, we’re camping in my mom’s driveway!

Ottawa - Sandbanks Provincial Park - Norman Hardie Winery - Sandbanks PP - Ottawa

Towing: 582 km

Driving: 69.9 km

Battery: It was warm during the day, but cooler at night, so we didn’t deplete our battery using the fan all night. Also, we were out at the beach or at the winery for most of Saturday and didn’t need to use a lot of power!

Fresh Water Tank: We didn’t run out of water and didn’t need to use our water carrier, so that was a good thing!

Black Tank: Pretty full - we dumped on our way out of Sandbanks

I didn’t take any photos (again!) of our tank or battery usage.