Ontario Residents What are Your Summer Plans?

[Kaadk]

And I was shocked at ho many Canadians seem to think this is all over. I was in for an xray today and there was a family before me. Only one person getting something done, but the whole family had to go with them. The 10 year old had his mask on his head like a hat and mom and dad were wearing masks with their noses sticking out. Only the teen was wearing it right.

Even not worn right, at least they had them, which was a step up than what I saw last weekend.

 

[Iralyn]

I've got a KOA booked mid August, but I've been reconsidering. We were just in a provincial park last week, and while it was decent most of the week, on Friday, when that area went to stage 3, it was like COVID had went away. Suddenly nobody's wearing masks anymore, no more social distancing, I saw several families all packed in side by side to watch their combined 20-30 kids play on the 2 swings and 1 slide at the playground, again, all with no masks or other protection. My kids wanted to go play too, but I told them no, not while others were there. With all the the callous attitudes there we ended up skipping our last night and pulled out of there on Saturday afternoon.

We had the same issue with the playground at Emily PP last night. I think it was a few large family groups plus a couple smaller ones but way too many people in a small place so I told my daughter that she couldn't go (she totally understood why). I am okay with her playing with one or two other kids we don't know at a playground (not touching but not necessarily distancing 2m) but not with that many kids/adults close together.

Our first camping trip we just used a luggable loo and didn't go into the comfort station at all. This time we did, partly because the sites are so much more open and close to each other at Emily. Last time we just used it in our SUV but that wouldn't have provided enough privacy. I wasn't 100% comfortable with the washroom set up. There were only 2 people allowed in at a time but often you'd be waiting and two people would have been in there right before you. You also have to turn on/off taps and no paper towel.

 

[Kaadk]

We had the same issue with the playground at Emily PP last night. I think it was a few large family groups plus a couple smaller ones but way too many people in a small place so I told my daughter that she couldn't go (she totally understood why). I am okay with her playing with one or two other kids we don't know at a playground (not touching but not necessarily distancing 2m) but not with that many kids/adults close together.

Our first camping trip we just used a luggable loo and didn't go into the comfort station at all. This time we did, partly because the sites are so much more open and close to each other at Emily. Last time we just used it in our SUV but that wouldn't have provided enough privacy. I wasn't 100% comfortable with the washroom set up. There were only 2 people allowed in at a time but often you'd be waiting and two people would have been in there right before you. You also have to turn on/off taps and no paper towel.

We have the full bathroom in the fifth wheel, but we used the comfort station in order to avoid filling up our black tank too early. Our trailer has 2 gray tanks and I can equalize the water between them, so I wasn't worried as much about the showers, etc, just the black. I was fine in the comfort stations where I didn't really need to touch much. Not sure how the wife and daughter did, but son and I had it pretty easy in there. Use your foot to flush, and then we'd use one particular sink that had one of those touch sensors (like they use in the showers at the parks) that runs the water for a minute when you touch it. So, lather up, touch sensor, relather and rinse under the running water. Then shake off excess water, and walk out, using foot to push open the door so you don't touch anything. Head back to the site, and then for good measure, sanitize again.

 

[uandmfan]

We went to African Lion Safari this past week. this is a yearly destination for us.

We thought the drive through was amazing. Less crowded than normal. We didn't use the washrooms or eat outside the car.

It was $$ but worth it for us. it does seem to be less busy in the mornings from what we saw.

 

[Susan2771]

Someone earlier in this thread suggested Mont Tremblant. Our family hasn't been so I checked it a little more, and my goodness such a wonderful outdoor destination. There is a lot to do there in the great outdoors and a wonderful selection of accommodations, so we booked 5 nights for start of August! Got a 2 level loft with a kitchen for a great rate. Going white water rafting, booked dune buggying, going to hit the lake for some water fun. Really looking forward to it, so thank-you to the earlier poster who suggested it!

 

[wdwmom3]

Someone earlier in this thread suggested Mont Tremblant. Our family hasn't been so I checked it a little more, and my goodness such a wonderful outdoor destination. There is a lot to do there in the great outdoors and a wonderful selection of accommodations, so we booked 5 nights for start of August! Got a 2 level loft with a kitchen for a great rate. Going white water rafting, booked dune buggying, going to hit the lake for some water fun. Really looking forward to it, so thank-you to the earlier poster who suggested it!

You are welcome. We loved it there. Our favourite was horseback riding. And yes there are lots of different accommodations including lots of condos and townhomes you can rent.

 

[MoreTravels]

Your plans make me want to try them too.

My wife is the cautious type. I have asked about camping in our own backyard with the kids for a couple of nights. She said no. She said would you sleep with the patio door unlocked at night? If not, why would you sleep in the backyard? Oh well... I guess I am staying home this summer.

 

[vegs1]

Your plans make me want to try them too.

My wife is the cautious type. I have asked about camping in our own backyard with the kids for a couple of nights. She said no. She said would you sleep with the patio door unlocked at night? If not, why would you sleep in the backyard? Oh well... I guess I am staying home this summer.

That’s too bad. My kids loved sleeping in the backyard. Now my grandkids do it. If you’ll be with them, they are perfectly safe. If someone wants in your locked house, they can get in. Life is too precious to worry it all away. Can you lock your gates? Would that make her feel better?

 

[samsteele]

If I had kids or grandkids this would be on our list. Camping out in a basic pup tent or amazon special - with mosquito/blackfly net - in our back yard. Close to the house if big rain and emergency toilet break needed. But isolated enough for flashlights, headlamps, ghost stories, s'mores from the microwave and a few special candy treats. I appreciate everyone's back yard is different and not eveyone lives in safe suburbia where everyone knows everyone. But still, one or two nights under the stars is a mini vacation to remember. And when your kids or grandkids look out on that backyard in January, just think of the 'do you remember when we slept out under the stars last summer' stories while the snow drifts.

 

[mkmommy]

Spent a week up on Lake Huron. This is the
beach in Kincardine. It is beautiful up there.

 

[Kaadk]

Spent a week up on Lake Huron. This is the
beach in Kincardine. It is beautiful up there.

View attachment 513696

That's an amazing shot of the falls! (J/K)

I love how blue the water is. My Sis-In-Law sent some pics from KillBear a couple of weeks ago (when we were at Earl Rowe) and the missus was saying we should have went there instead. Lake Huron's got some beautiful waters.

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

We sold our camper 2 years ago when we outgrew it. We didn't have the storage space so always had to store it off site and when you factor in insurance, plates, storage, we were in over a grand a year before even turning the key. We haven't done anything this year since I've become unemployed and by the looks of things it will be like that for a while. We did get a projector and started doing outside movie night on the deck. Honestly been one of the better ideas we've had. We got an IKEA cart and mounted everything on it with a power bar and it's less than a minute to set up and bring back inside. The screen is a blackout curtain I added metal grommets and made a frame out of black industrial pipe. And my wife can make a bon voyage drink that would make a DCL bartender envious.
Edited note - no idea why the pic is 90 degrees off but I can't fix it

 

[pigletto]

We sold our camper 2 years ago when we outgrew it. We didn't have the storage space so always had to store it off site and when you factor in insurance, plates, storage, we were in over a grand a year before even turning the key. We haven't done anything this year since I've become unemployed and by the looks of things it will be like that for a while. We did get a projector and started doing outside movie night on the deck. Honestly been one of the better ideas we've had. We got an IKEA cart and mounted everything on it with a power bar and it's less than a minute to set up and bring back inside. The screen is a blackout curtain I added metal grommets and made a frame out of black industrial pipe. And my wife can make a bon voyage drink that would make a DCL bartender envious.
Edited note - no idea why the pic is 90 degrees off but I can't fix it

What a great idea !

 

[Kaadk]

Edited note - no idea why the pic is 90 degrees off but I can't fix it

I ran into this all the time on another set of (RV) forums I used to moderate at. It has to do with the way the cell phones take pictures. The camera in a cell phone really only has one way that's "up". And that way, is actually sideways. For an iPhone, it's usually when the phone is rotated with the camera in the top left, which puts the volume buttons on the 'bottom' of the way you're holding it. I'm not sure on the various Android devices. When the camera takes a picture, it needs to rotate the image it captured to be right side up for the picture to appear correctly.

Rotating a picture however, takes a bit of processing power. So, instead of rotating the actual picture, cell phones just store the picture as grabbed, sideways, upside down, etc... and then they add some additional data into the picture (in the EXIF data, see this wiki to learn about that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exif) that tells programs what orientation the camera was in, and leave it up to the program to handle the rotation when it displays the picture. This is why pictures look 'upright' for you on your phone, or when you extract them to certain programs on your computer, but not necessarily others. The forum software that other forum used had a quirk where it would strip the EXIF data from your photos when you uploaded it, which then stripped out the 'orientation' that your browser would have needed to display the photo correctly. I'm not familiar with this forum's software, but I assume it's probably something similar going on.

On that other forum, we used to recommend to people to pull their photos onto their desktop, rotate them manually (using a photo management software on their computer) so they were 'upright' and then upload the corrected photo. But of course, nobody ever did, because it's just so much easier to upload right from your phone while you're browsing the forums on your phone.

We sold our camper 2 years ago when we outgrew it. We didn't have the storage space so always had to store it off site and when you factor in insurance, plates, storage, we were in over a grand a year before even turning the key.

I'm guessing you're referring to a motorhome, with the references to plates, etc... A trailer style camper (fifth wheel, travel trailer, popup, etc...) is a lot more cost effective for that. At least here in Ontario (I'll admit I'm not familiar with all the provinces regulations) you only pay to plate the trailer once and they never need to be renewed. You'd still need to store it though. In Windsor, a 40' deep spot at the local storage yard used to run me $85 a month. My in-laws have a bigger site for their company, so now I can store it there for free, but back when I was paying, it was yeah, a grand for storage. But trips with the trailer can still be very fulfilling. Having the camper (this year aside) we'd get out for 8-10 trips a year. If we didn't have the camper, it would basically just be our Disney trips, 1 every 18 months or so.

We haven't done anything this year since I've become unemployed and by the looks of things it will be like that for a while.

Yeah, that sucks. Really puts a damper on any plans. Hopefully things turn around for you.

We did get a projector and started doing outside movie night on the deck. Honestly been one of the better ideas we've had. We got an IKEA cart and mounted everything on it with a power bar and it's less than a minute to set up and bring back inside. The screen is a blackout curtain I added metal grommets and made a frame out of black industrial pipe. And my wife can make a bon voyage drink that would make a DCL bartender envious.

We've been thinking of getting a projector for doing outdoor movies, coincidently, for use with the RV. Is your screen more of a permanent setup or does it break down for easy storage?

 

[Frozen2014]

Anyone tried or thinking of trying one of the resorts in Ontario (e.g. Blue Mountain, Horseshoe, Deerhurst)? I did a quick check for a get away for a couple nights. They seem to have some things closed but some stuff is open with covid protocols. (Still a big downer since we should be going to Disney but trying to see if we can do something)

 

[Jrb1979]

Anyone tried or thinking of trying one of the resorts in Ontario (e.g. Blue Mountain, Horseshoe, Deerhurst)? I did a quick check for a get away for a couple nights. They seem to have some things closed but some stuff is open with covid protocols. (Still a big downer since we should be going to Disney but trying to see if we can do something)

I am heading to Blue Mountain next week for a few days. I need my coaster fix and their alpine coaster is open. Its also a get away.

 

[Frozen2014]

I am heading to Blue Mountain next week for a few days. I need my coaster fix and their alpine coaster is open. Its also a get away.

Noticed that coaster on their website. Looks like fun.
Have a great time. Would love to her your comments about how you found it during covid time, if you don't mind.

 

[Jrb1979]

Noticed that coaster on their website. Looks like fun.
Have a great time. Would love to her your comments about how you found it during covid time, if you don't mind.

For sure.

 

[shaycamp21]

Anyone tried or thinking of trying one of the resorts in Ontario (e.g. Blue Mountain, Horseshoe, Deerhurst)? I did a quick check for a get away for a couple nights. They seem to have some things closed but some stuff is open with covid protocols. (Still a big downer since we should be going to Disney but trying to see if we can do something)

We ended up going to Deerhurst Resort for 5 nights in mid July and though definitely not Disney --it was a nice little getaway. It felt safe there with the Covid protocols in place (frequent cleaning, masks indoors) and there were lots of open spaces to have socially distanced fun. The resort was not busy and we were told it was only at 30% capacity. The hiking trails and pools were open (with reduced numbers and time limits), as was the beach (beach chairs were distanced and the lake water was warm and clear--our dd 8, loved it) with non-motorized water sports included (kayaking, canoeing, SUP, water bikes, paddle boats etc.) which we took advantage of and enjoyed. There was also tennis, basketball and beach volleyball equipment you could use. Though we only did the "free activities" there were also activities available at an extra cost such as golf, jet skiing, water skiing, wake boarding ATVing, treetop trekking and there was also a petting farm. Algonquin Park is also not too far away (about 30 - 40 min). DH and I splurged on massages at the Amba Spa on property which was lovely and relaxing. We did have a kitchen and brought groceries with us for breakfast, lunch and snacks. We ate dinner (which was pretty good) at the Maple Restaurant one of the two patios open for dining one night, we also ordered pizza (meh) for curbside pickup from the resort menu (room service was also available) and also ordered Thai (decent food) another night for pick up in nearby Huntsville. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and it did feel like a mini vacation though it was a bit pricey.

 

[Frozen2014]

We ended up going to Deerhurst Resort for 5 nights in mid July and though definitely not Disney --it was a nice little getaway. It felt safe there with the Covid protocols in place (frequent cleaning, masks indoors) and there were lots of open spaces to have socially distanced fun. The resort was not busy and we were told it was only at 30% capacity. The hiking trails and pools were open (with reduced numbers and time limits), as was the beach (beach chairs were distanced and the lake water was warm and clear--our dd 8, loved it) with non-motorized water sports included (kayaking, canoeing, SUP, water bikes, paddle boats etc.) which we took advantage of and enjoyed. There was also tennis, basketball and beach volleyball equipment you could use. Though we only did the "free activities" there were also activities available at an extra cost such as golf, jet skiing, water skiing, wake boarding ATVing, treetop trekking and there was also a petting farm. Algonquin Park is also not too far away (about 30 - 40 min). DH and I splurged on massages at the Amba Spa on property which was lovely and relaxing. We did have a kitchen and brought groceries with us for breakfast, lunch and snacks. We ate dinner (which was pretty good) at the Maple Restaurant one of the two patios open for dining one night, we also ordered pizza (meh) for curbside pickup from the resort menu (room service was also available) and also ordered Thai (decent food) another night for pick up in nearby Huntsville. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and it did feel like a mini vacation though it was a bit pricey.

Thanks so much for the feedback. Sounds ok considering....and things mostly seemed opened.