Pinery Provincial Park (Ontario)
May 2006

After spending a chilly May weekend on the Ontario shore of Lake Huron with the Scouts, Jeanne noticed a favorable weather forecast and decided to return for a warmer, dryer weekend in the same general vicinity. We packed up the family (along with nephew Douglas) and headed for the Pinery Provincial Park for the long Memorial Day weekend.

The weather was just about perfect (as forecasted) and the park was great. It's noted for it's many sand dunes, oak savannah flora, and of course, Lake Huron. We played in the dunes, went swimming in the lake, fished in a nearby river, and generally had a lazy and fun weekend.

We were happy to have Douglas along, and also to meet up with the Jensen family (friends of ours from Scouts). We did a little fishing together, shared dinner and sunset Saturday night (highly recommended), and went out for ice cream to top things off.

We also had some fun Sunday night with a persistent raccoon. They are a regular part of camping in the Midwest, and Matt and I are accustomed to having them in our campsites at night. He was a little surprised, though, upon returning from his nightly shower to find one perched in a tree just a few feet above his tent and not moving away very quickly. When he returned with dad to defuse the situation, he (the raccoon, that is) ran up another tree and watched us until we retired to our tents. In the night, he decided to try (unsuccessfully) to break into our cooler, waking Jeanne. We watched him for a little while longer, then returned to sleep.

Pinery Pictures (click the thumbnails to view the enlarged photo)