a peek inside the fishbowl

29 Jul, 2013

A quick note and a pickup truck

Posted by andrea tomkins in: travel talk

This is one of my all-time favourite camping photos. It cracks me up every time:

Chipmunk photobomb

CHIPMUNK PHOTOBOMB! Haha!

This morning Mark will be packing up the pickup (YES, there is a TRUCK. Read on for the backstory!) while I’m scrambling around like a madwoman trying to strike things off our very very long list.

We are heading out for our annual camping trip this week. We’ve been so happy with Ontario Parks that we chose a new site called Grundy Lake for this year’s trip too. It’s south of Sudbury. I was reading more about it lately (Mark booked it so I’ve been a bit oblivious for the past five months) and I learned that our area has no comfort station nearby (we will have to drive to get to proper flush toilets and running water) and there’s a drinking water advisory. You may draw your own conclusions about how I feel about those things, but I will say that I’m looking forward to some peaceful time in the great outdoors and some quality hiking and beach time. :)

It bears mentioning that Grundy Lake is a 6.5 hour drive from Ottawa but at LEAST we’re going to be travelling in comfort.

A couple years ago Ford loaned us a really great vehicle for our camping trip – an Explorer – and it was ideal. I can summarize the experience thusly: four people, loads of camping gear, total comfort. They didn’t have an Explorer for us this year but they did have something… er, a little unexpected. This is it. Now I am secretly wishing we were towing something, anything. (Anyone got a boat they can lend us?) This baby has power. No truck in its class can carry more weight than the full-size Ford F-150. It also has that impressive back-up camera I liked in the Explorer and the same attention to safety (which I deeply appreciate).

Driving a pickup is a bit of a departure for us but I really like the experience of driving something totally new … as evidenced by my time on the “racetrack” with the Ford Escape last summer!

I will be writing more about the F-150 upon our return, but I wanted to let you know that the Fishbowl is not going to be dry for the week. No siree! I have scheduled a bunch of excellent guest bloggers to keep you entertained, so please stay tuned. The first post is coming up tomorrow! Please help our authors feel welcome while I’m away. Thank you! Have a great week everyone!


1 Response to "A quick note and a pickup truck"

1 | Andrea

August 6th, 2013 at 8:38 pm

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How fun! Hope you enjoy your trip and the truck! :)

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My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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