Xplore the Journey

07/07/2022

Long hikes, town with funny names and amazing seafood is only some of the things we have had fun checking out in Newfoundland.

03/07/2022

After a long day of adventures on the water and hiking dinner at Chafe's Landing in Petty Harbour. Fried Moose burger and fresh cod for dinner. Unfortunately forgot to take a photo of the cod. Thanks to the staff for fitting us in!

21/05/2022

Back at Mikisew PP. Last night we had some severe weather come through, crazy thunder and a few close lightening strikes. Not a lot of sleeping was done last night. Today cool with period of sun. Tonight and tomorrow more rain. Yup Victoria Day in Canada.

20/02/2022

We are in the midst of planning our camping trips. Our trips so far
Valens conservation area - May
Mikisew PP - May
Burwell PP - June

Stayed tune for more updates

01/10/2021

Toes in the water ass on a rock. ,

06/09/2021

New blog post up about Emily Provincial Park on the website.

05/09/2021

New blog post up in the website. All about Rock Point Provincial Park.

"Rock Point Provincial Park" https://xplorethejourney.com/blog/f/rock-point-provincial-park

Rock Point Provincial Park is about an hour drive from Hamilton, Ontario and is located on the shore of Lake Erie. The drive to the park is pleasant as it is mostly farm country and smaller towns for us.

05/08/2021

Old camp song
Camp fire's burning, camp fire's burning
Draw nearer, draw nearer,
In the glowing, in the glowing
Come sing and be merry.

03/08/2021

One of my greatest joy when camping, is watching kids who didn't know each other become the best of friends while camping. Watching them whip around on their bikes, shouting out to each other, seeing the interest when they see someone bring in fis and watch the person gut it.
Take kids camping. Get them out in the "wild", get them out of their rooms and off the electronics. You would be surprised just how much they love it. Oh and if they are 9 and older, let them go by themselves out with their friends to explore. Give them this freedom. It isn't like they can go to far. They generally stay close to camp, but this is a huge teaching moment for both of you, learning how to trust them to do the right thing, and for them to make those choices. All those lesson you have thought them over the years, they will use those to make good decisions.

Don't have kids, it will be good for you as well. That mental break, that time away from electronics, even if you have signal you can chose not to answer that call. It is good for healing our minds and souls as well.

Everyone needs a little camp time I'm their life

02/08/2021

2 more members of the family learning more about enjoying the great outdoors.

The weather was not the greatest on Saturday but it improved a bit on Sunday and these two jam packed a whole weekends worth of camping experiences into one day.

From fishing and catching a monster (just a medium size monster) Pike, to frisbee golf, to hiking, to yoga on the beach, to campfire chili with corn fritters and s'mores.

The skies cleared up and did some beautiful star gazing where we spotted satalites, falling starts and planets.

Wishing they could spend more time with us, but some great memories were made. Going to miss them this week and the pure joy H showed everytime she experienced something new.

01/07/2021

And just like that we have rain and thunder. Maybe my headache will go away now.

01/07/2021

Happy Canada Day. Please take time today to remember the victims and survivors of the residential schools.

29/06/2021

Only 16 more hours and it will be vacation time. Looking forward to some new adventures in our Xplore Pod up at Emily Provincial Park.

16/06/2021

Fresh lettuce from the garden. Anyone else when picking your crop think that is money back in my pocket. Just me? Okay.

06/06/2021

The last year and a half has been a challenge to say the least. Many of us are starting to feel the strain of the prolonged lockdown and the isolation from our family and friends.

It times like these it is important to find the joy in the little things life. Like taking the dog for a walk in the forest, or exploring a new hiking trail. Basically, anything outside makes me happy as my work keeps me inside all the time.

I am going to be real here, this is really starting to take a took a real toll on my mental health. The stress of the job coupled with no place to burn off the stress, with the lockdowns being extended over and over again and not being able to even go a buy a non-essential item in the store really suck as sometimes just walking through a mall can be a stress release.

Tell me how you are getting through this pandemic. What have you found that helps you retain your sanity.

24/05/2021

New Blog post is up. Hope you all enjoyed your Unofficial Start to the Canadian Summer.
https://xplorethejourney.com/blog/f/the-unofficial-start-to-the-canadian-summer

Victoria Day Weekend. The first long weekend of summer. Well, technically summer isn’t until June 20, 2021 this year, but for us Canadians, we celebrate the unofficial start of summer on Victoria Day Weekend. This is the...

22/05/2021

About to head out on this unofficial start to the Canadian summer. Home and maybe a canoe trip this weekend.
What do you pan to do this weekend?

16/05/2021

Well, our first camping trip of the season has been cancelled, thanks to Doug Ford and the Covid 19 Pandemic. I know they are trying to minimize people travelling but this has gotten old.

Today over on our website, www.xplorethejourney.com we are releasing a new blog post about our camping trip last year to Bon Echo provincial park. The blog post will be released at 4 p.m. today.

09/05/2021

Today, at https://xplorethejourney.com/f/do-you-miss-travelling-yeah-we-do-too, join us as we reminisce about our trip to Savannah, Georgia. We discuss some of our trips highlights, some need to know items and tips.

03/05/2021

Good morning, our website went live yesterday. Please check it out and let us know what you think.

www.xplorethejourney.com
Thanks
Ben and Christine

Ben and I have been together since 2007 and our lives have changed a great deal over the years; we went from a blended family with two kids to empty nesters.   One of the things we both have always loved is being outside surrounded by nature.  Now that we have less family commitments it was time ...

29/04/2021

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.

26/04/2021

Where are you planning to go for your next vacation? Our first camp trip is to Valens Conservation area if we are out of lockdown by then.

24/04/2021

Hiking trip number one, the back side of Binbrook Conservation Area