It's December 2008 and another year is in the can.  We didn't get out for quite as many nights as in past years, which I think was partly due to high gas prices and partly due to a full schedule for two girls in competitive soccer.  Happily, things seemed to have picked up when one decided that playing at a high level of soccer was somewhat insane and the coach just too over the top in his "soccer better be your life" attitude, which sucked the fun right out of playing the game for her.  So the score was Common Sense: 1, Soccer: nil, and the family was better off for it.  Our schedule was suddenly 50% freer, so that was a bonus.  In the end we were out for 46 nights and travelled 11,345 kms.  For what it's worth, we drove an average of 247 kms for each night we camped.  I guess that would be almost a tank of gas...

Given the high price of gas and what it does to your wallet when getting 10 US MPG pulling a big barn door down the highway (I won't even give you the scary L/100 km number) we did most of our camping in the US, with only eight nights spent in Ontario Parks.  In the US camping is on average about 50% cheaper at state parks vs. provincial parks here in Ontario, gas is cheaper and beer is cheaper.  Works for me.  We can be in New York state in under an hour and there's a good selection of nice state parks to enjoy.  

Of course since gas prices were so high we did what anyone in their right mind would do: a big road trip.  We went out to the US mid-west to camp with some fine people we met, where else, on the Internet.  That took us as far west as Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri via New York, Ohio, a sliver of Pennsylvania, Illinois and Indiana.  From there we had to decide whether to head to Utah or south into Arkansas and make our way home.  We chose the latter, since it would be less driving, and got to visit Hot Springs, Little Rock, Memphis (Graceland), with stops in Kentucky, West Virgina, Pennsylvania and New York.  We saw some really neat places along the way.  Didn't see were many Ontario plates!

This year also marked a return to tent camping.  Well, for two of us anyway.  During the summer we bought two Necky Manitou 14 kayaks at Trailhead in Ottawa.  We only got out for one camping trip with them since we bought them late in the summer, but we'll do more next year.  We did get the thrill of chasing ocean-going freighters with them in the St. Lawrence, while camping at Robert Moses State Park.   Unbelievably, we got both the kayaks inside the trailer for travel, but it was a bit of a pain, especially for the border guards who wanted to go through the trailer while crossing back into Canada, on Search All the RVs Day.  Ah well.  Over the winter we'll get some roof racks.

This summer we were reminded about how nice the people are that we camp with along the way, and we learned how to make a campfire jump 30' in the air.  Outstanding.

For now it's time to get out the skis & skates and enjoy a few months of winter's finest, and plan next year's big trip.  Currently it's a toss-up between heading east to Newfoundland or to the Canadian west.  Stay tuned...