a peek inside the fishbowl

Click here for part one of this post about our road trip to Arnprior.

So we left Macnamara Nature Trail and decided to continue our journey. We had no plan, no schedule, no nothing, which is how we ended up at a tiny beach down the street from the trail entrance. A lone picnic table on a stretch of grass was nothing to write home about so I consulted the interwebs and saw something about a local park. I wasn’t able to find much about it quickly enough but we decided to forge ahead anyway after I read the magic words: SNACK BAR and BEACH.

Robert Simpson Park (at the end of 400 John St N. in Arnprior) is located where the Ottawa and Madawaska Rivers meet. It was only a five-minute drive away from Macnamara Trail and – SURPRISE – totally worth the visit.

Robert Simpson Park is very well maintained. There’s ample parking and plenty of green space, picnic tables, a small playground, a splash pad, a guarded beach, and a snack bar and washrooms. Basically, everything a family needs to hang out for an afternoon in the summer! Woot!

I was so taken aback that I only took minimal photos, so you will have to imagine stately trees and soothing shade, well-tended lawns, pretty flowerbeds, families spread out with blankets on the grass, older folks playing bocce, and kids scooting around on their bikes.

This is a glimpse of the beach. Note there are two levels of parking. The lower level makes the beach area easily accessible for those with mobility issues:

There’s a large covered gazebo at Robert Simpson Park too, which is where we shifted ourselves when it started to rumble and thunder. It would have been really cool to see the storm roll in, but it skirted us and the rain never did come. We did, however, have a pretty view of the water and the boats floating by while we waited:

It was mostly peaceful there. Mostly. I wrongly thought we’d left all the bugs behind us on the trail, but I was mistaken. This geedee moth WOULD NOT LEAVE ME ALONE even though I stank of bug spray. Was it playing chicken or what? It came close to fluttering up my shorts a number of times. Gah.

After awhile the girls had been in and out of the water and in and out of the splash pad and done cartwheels all over the park and Mark and I had just had the Best Coffee Ever, so it was time to finally pack it in.

Sidebar: I’m fascinated by menus for some reason. I always picture my grandkids reading them in disbelief. (“What’s a POGO and why was it only $2.00 grandma?”) Of note, there was homemade pulled pork to be had at the snack bar. Oh well. Next time!

Speaking of menus, I sent out a tweet about being in Arnprior and within seconds there was a change of plan. Mostly because of this tweet from local food writer Paula Roy:

@missfish oooh – are you going to Wes’ Hot Chips while there?

— Paula Roy (@paulajroy) August 4, 2014

So that’s how we ended up at Wes’ Hot Chips, en route back to Ottawa:

… with a large one of these to share:

Conclusion: twitter didn’t lie and the fries were pretty darn good. It was a great way to end a good trip to Arnprior.

Maybe next time we visit we’ll poke around the main strip. What else is good to see and do in Arnprior?

We were itching for something to do with the kids in Ottawa and we wanted it to be free, or very close to it, so we decided to ignore our recent experience(s) with mosquito-infested hikes and find a new trail to try, this time closer to home.

Mark did a bit of research and we settled upon the Macnamara Nature Trail in Arnprior. It’s a fairly easy trail (only 4km) and not too far from Ottawa.

This trail has an interesting history. Unlike many bigger area trails, this one is actually on private land, owned by Nylene Canada Inc., a supplier of nylon “to the automotive, packaging, wire and cable, injection molding, roto molding and carpet industries.” In fact, you drive right past the Nylene parking lot in order to reach the trail (which may be puzzling if you are looking for a more remote starting point). It’s part of a protected area that was explored and named after Charles Macnamara, who lived in Arnprior from 1881 to 1944. According to the Macnamara Field Naturalists’ Club (which was named after him), Charles was a naturalist and photographer who documented “wild orchids, birds, beavers, springtails (tiny soil insects, one of which bears his name), and the natural history of the Arnprior area” and his photos provide one of the “best available visual records of the early Canadian lumber industry.” I thought that was pretty cool.

While were in the trail parking lot sorting out our backpacks and divvying up the water supply, a fellow who was getting into a pick-up truck parked next to us told us the bugs were “really bad” on the trail. And so, we did the only thing we could do, we doubled up on the Muskol and ventured forth, feeling optimistic (or maybe it was just me) that it couldn’t possibly be as buggy as the trails we experienced at Presqu’ile recently.

We were right, and it turned out to be a lovely stretch of trail that was quite kid-friendly.

Sidebar: if you’re on a hike it helps to know what you’re looking at, which is why we enjoy interpretive trails so much. At Macnamara there were supposed to be trail guides at the start, but there weren’t any to be had when we were there. I really recommend printing one before you head out or downloading it in PDF format and loading it on to your phone. It’ll make the trip a lot more interesting for everyone, because there are definitely things to see that could use some explanation.

For example, the trail passes by an abandoned lime kiln:

It also passes a not-too-tall lookout overlooking a marsh, where we stopped to eat our lunch (see pic) because it was virtually bug-free. (Yay!)

Macnamara Trail alternates between easy dirt trails (sprinkled with wood chips in soggy parts) and boardwalk. I like how the cattails were encroaching here:

Other points of interest included tall trees with crazy burls, mossy escarpments, and walking ferns, the name of which refers to its method of propagation. (When a frond touches the ground it starts a new fern, hence making it appear as though it’s “walking” through the woods.) The same area also featured a startling amount of historical porcupine poop. (Kids sure love poop stories eh? It never seems to fade. See labelled photograph here.)

There were a lot of neat species of fungi and interesting deadfall along the trail too. As for critters, it was CHIPMUNK CITY in there. I have never seen so many. We should have kept a count. As we walked we made up names for all of the different chipmunk neighbourhoods we passed by: Black Pond, Fern Hill, Birch Towers, Soggy Bottom, Marshy Way… fun stuff.

What you need to know about Macnamara Nature Trail:

• Macnamara Nature Trail begins on McNab Street in Arnprior. Look for the Macnamara Trail parking lot on the right after the entrance to the Nylene Canada plant, which is at 200 McNab St., Arnprior)
• Bring bug spray, snacks and water. Kids are never too young to carry an appropriately-sized backpack!
• Want to take it up a notch? Pack a picnic. There are a few park benches along the trail, or do what we did and eat at the lookout.

After our hike we decided we needed to find a spot to rest and take in a bit of scenery, preferably bug-free. More on that tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my post about taking car camping to the next level. You’ve given us lots of great advice and ideas. I definitely feel inspired, but whether I can convince the rest of the family to come along for the ride is another story. (!)

Speaking of advice, we published some helpful tips from parents who’ve been camping with kids and lived to tell the tale over on capitalparent.ca. I urge you to read it because there is some really great stuff in there, no matter where you fall on the camping spectrum.

Looking back on our camping trip, and the many others before it, I’ve realized that family camping has forced me to evaluate my style of parenting. Situations come up that don’t normally arise at home, and I have to take a deep breath and – in that moment – ask myself (a) what kind of parent I want to be (b) what kind of kids I want to raise and (c) how I want them to remember their camping experiences.

I got to thinking about this as the girls were whittling sticks while sitting around the fire during our time at Presqu’ile. They were taking turns making wooden spears using a hard core folding survival blade I bought for Mark years ago. My first reaction was not to let them use it (“YOU ARE GOING TO SLICE YOUR FINGER OFF WITH THAT THING”), but as soon as that idea popped into my head I chastised myself. Instead of taking the knife away I told them to make sure they’re always whittling away from themselves… and for good measure I threw in that old chestnut: “don’t cut yourself.” (Quite possibly the least helpful bit of parenting ever, because I’m sure kids don’t really want to cut themselves. But it couldn’t be helped. I do however try to remember to tell them to pay attention when it makes sense to remind them.)

We also let the girls feed the fire, pick up snakes and turtles in the middle of the road, and venture off on their own from time to time.

I want my kids to be many things: independent, smart, generous, fun-loving, kind, curious, brave. I want them to be healthy, and to be good citizens. I want them to be happy. And when it’s their turn, I want them to be good parents too.

I’m no expert, but here’s how I see how camping activities can translate to life skills for the kids:

• packing up/setting up the tent (life lesson: everybody pitches in/teamwork)
• observing nature without harm or damage (life lesson: sustainability and stewardship)
• hiking/canoe & kayaking (life lesson: hard work has its own rewards. I think personal achievement is a biggie while camping.)
• downtime at the beach & campsite (life lesson: finding ways to amuse oneself, patience)
• going off on a trail or to explore (life lesson: independence, self-reliance, risk assessment)

There’s so much more, really, but this is just off the top of my head.

Letting go of fear is a very hard thing to do, isn’t it? I remember how afraid I was letting my kids walk to school alone, or play at the park by themselves, or run to the store to buy a missing ingredient, or take the school bus for the first time. But looking back, I’m glad I overcame my own fears and let them do those things, because every time I did they grew up a little more and learned to think for themselves. They got a little bit closer to what they need to be, and a little bit more ready to take on the next thing. This is ultimately why we let them whittle sticks and poke the fire, balance on rotting logs that cross open water, and scamper up rocks.

Perhaps is this the crux of my job as a parent, to teach our daughters how to fly before they leave the nest.