Cheater Park with Beverley and Robert

Disclaimer: This is a joke and should not be taken seriously within the context of the Blog.

After having a glorious cheater night in North Bay September 2013, I think it only right to talk about rain.  Rain can kill a camping trip before it ever starts, I can't tell you how many times we've returned home with sand in every crevice ... of our camping gear.  A three day rainy stretch in any camping trip is bad, but an East wind September rain is only good if you are wanting to be sick or toughen yourself up for winter.  Here are a few tips to any of you campers out there if you want to try a camping trip with a chance of rain;

• Always bring a raincoat.  If you have rain-pants even better, even if it's just for getting up in the middle of the night -- if you know what I mean.

See raincoats and happiness.  Please don't question what camp site we are at.

• Get an eating tent.  I know it may seem extravagant (about $200), but if you can hang out and be dry then the rain doesn't make you question whether you should wake up at 7am and go home from lake Erie (Rock Point).  It's also good for bugs, can block the wind, and it's a great place to store things like dry wood, clean cooking gear and drink coolers. 

A simple man with his simple eating tent.

• Potato Chips are an amazing fire-starter.  I guess it's the oil in them (which I wish I could unlearn) but if you need to get a fire started in the rain potato chips will give you a consistent flame for up to 3 minutes to get everything else started.

• When setting up your sleeping tent always take into account which direction is west and the angle of the ground. (personally I like to be under trees and on grass if there is any question about weather)
• Try to have some dry wood.  If your wood is wet you'll never get a fire started.  As a side note if you are ever going to Fundy National Park bring your own wood.
• When all else fails -- get a hotel.

Cheater's Park in North Bay at site 136 after a good night's sleep and a swim.

And if you're like me no good site can be too far from the water, which for us was about a minute walk from our site.

They even had a wholly unnatural hot spring in the back.

Now just for shiggles let's see where the Cheater Park would have numbered in the Provincial Park ratings.

Privacy:  Fairly private.  Even had our own comfort station.

Hiking and Activities:  Poor.  There were no hikes and patrons had to pay for their own activities, but this site was right next door to a bar.

Park Class:  N/A.

Beach Quality or Ease of Getting to the Water:  There were sites closer to the water, but we were within a minute walk.  The water was warm, but not much room to swim.

Recommended Length of Stay:  One night just to warm up and stay out of the rain.

Overall Impression:  We needed this after the tent ate Beverley at Lake Nagagamisis.

Rating out of 107:  I would honestly put this park at 99, but truly this is a 1% sort of camping spot.  Now on to Restoule!