I'm almost ashamed to admit it's been over three years since we've gone family camping. The Kid and I have been to a lot of Girl Guide Camps over those years, but there's something about camping just as a family that I was really missing. It's hard to pin down exactly what it is about packing up and hitting the road to pitch a tent and do, well, not very much, that is so appealing. Or maybe that sentence there just explained it all.
Early Morning Camp Coffee. Everything tastes better at camp.
The Kid and I (and the dog) ventured out recently for a one night camp out in Fintry Provincial Park. I lucked out using the online reservation system and found the only 1 night stay available and amazingly it was a lakeside site.
The view from our tent - where else but a campground do you get a view like that for $35 a night?
Although packing for the three of us for a single night was a lot of work it was definitely worth it. We'll call this camping trip our shake out trip. It was a reminder for me of how Provincial sites work (check the reservation board to double check your site, remember to bring wood or you'll need to buy it), and also a good check of all our equipment. We had pretty much everything we needed - including an extra tent because it occurred to me as we were leaving it's been over 5 years since the large tent got used last. We discovered we did forget a few key things: oven mitts, hatchet, extra clothes for The Kid (no worries though her Maplelea doll had tonnes of clothing), smalls spoons, and a bike or other mode of transportation for The Kid so she can keep up with the other kids at the campsite.
Fintry Provincial Park is on Lake Okanagan so there's plenty of beach space to enjoy, including a pet beach which was a fantastic place to let the dog swim and burn off her energy. Fintry is also home a historic manor house (tours available), an octagon shaped barn, and trail/stairway to a scenic waterfall.
I'm going to admit that our menu was not the best, I let The Kid pick what we should eat and she asked for some Guide Camp favourites: walking tacos (aka taco salad in a bag), worms and dirt, and eggs and sausage for breakfast. We also tried a new campfire desert - Waffle S'mores.
Here's what you need for Waffle S'mores:
- Frozen waffles (2 per s'more).
- Chocolate Chips
- Marshmallows - mini ones will probably work best
Here's what you do:
- Place a waffle on some tinfoil.
- Place chocolate chips in some of the waffle holes
- Top with marshmallows
- Place second waffle on top and wrap the foil around the whole waffle s'more sandwich.
- Place on the fire - we put ours on the grill on top of the fire pit. I think you could also cook them on a Coleman stove in the event of a fire ban
- Flip the foil package over after a few minutes to let the other side heat up. Timing will depend on the heat of the fire and distance between the fire and your grill. I'd estimate about 5 minutes.
Remove from fire, unwrap and eat!
Waffles, Chocolate Chips and Marshmallows ready for the second waffle and the fire.
Melted Waffle S'more Goodness
The perfect amount of chocolate and melted marshmallow!
Very jealous! Looks like a great time :)
Posted by: Positive K9 Training | 06/10/2015 at 04:15 PM