Me and My Dog at Finlayson Point

I planned this trip in order to get some alone time and to spend some time with my aging dog, Balto. He turned 17 this month and I want to spend as much time with him as I can while he is still around. His back legs betray him now and again but he is still a puppy at heart. So I bundled him into the car and we went to Finlayson Point Provincial Park which is only about an hour away from where I live. 

​As I drove down the lane towards the office I could smell the fragrant scent of something like lilacs through the open car windows. I am sure it was something else because lilac flowers have long since been spent for the season, but whatever it was, it smelled good. Maybe it was just the smell of freedom!

The office had ice and a pay phone outside. 

Apparently you can rent bicycles at the office too. 

The sign outside the door indicated that there was to be a kids program going on that night having to do with frogs and amphibians. 

I went in and registered and while I was there I bought a T-shirt. When I went to pay for it the lady at the desk said it was called the "Goose Lady" shirt in her computer. We both chuckled at that because it made it sound like I was a goose lady with a farm full of geese or something. 

I was just about to head out the door when I stopped and realized that, in my haste to get on the road, I had forgotten to bring a sweater or jacket with me and there was a possibility of rain this weekend. I don't normally buy more than one shirt at a park but in this instance I figured I had better get myself a hoodie to have on hand.  I was happy to hear that the fire ban had been lifted this morning so if I got really cold I could always start a fire as well. 

I got site number 36. It was one that I had picked out on the website while I was researching this park. 

The site is a little small. I had to park my car on an angle and it was sitting closer to the road than I would have liked, but I made it work. Putting up the dining tent by myself was a bit tricky but luckily I didn't have too much trouble since I had a little help from the picnic table by standing on top of it. 

Everything fit and it was all kind of cozy. Balto seemed pretty happy to be here. 

The site is almost directly across the road from the second of two beaches. 

When the tents were up I took a quick jaunt down to the beach to check it out. there are no dogs allowed on the beach so I tied Balto up at the picnic table because I could see him from there. Or more importantly he could see me. Ever since he went deaf he can't stand to be alone and gets upset if he thinks no one is around. 

Both beaches are tiny. They are sandy and clean with a bench to sit on, but they are small and have no picnic area. 

Not only is the sandy part of the beach small but the roped in area of the water was tiny too. It only went out about 5 to 7 feet at most. It was almost laughable. Bathtubs are deeper than this. You might be able to get your ankles wet before you reached the buoy lines. 

Directly across from the beach, the site beside mine, (I think it was number 38) the site looked more like a driveway than a campsite. I wonder how anyone ever gets a tent set up there. I was glad I didn't pick that site. 

There is a lot of boat traffic on this lake. There was everything from motor boats, kayaks, and house boats. My mom had told me that this park was geared towards fishermen and I was beginning to see that she was right. 

And from the beach you can see (and hear) the highway. 

And to top it all off there was a plane that would go back and forth about 10 to 12 times a day. I am guessing that there is some sort of business that takes fishermen out by plane to the nearby lakes or something. I couldn't see why else  someone would take their plane out that many times a day. 

Despite all the noise form the cars and transports on the  highway, the boats and the plane, there was a solitary loon that would call out both during the day and the night that you could hear above all of this. 

​I am making it seem like the park was really loud. It actually wasn't all that bad. It was just not the peaceful serenity that you look for in a campground when you are just there to relax. Eventually I got used to the background noise and I didn't notice it so much after awhile. 

Across the road from my campsite was campsite number 37. It was a very nice site and was surrounded by a wall of cedars and pines.  It was big and open. I had considered that site when I was looking online but I thought it was reserved so I didn't ask for it at the office. 

Sure enough, after being in the park for about an hour and a half, my new neighbours moved into site 37. It was a gentleman and his two kids, Daniel who was about 7 or 8 and Sarah. who was about 10 or 11. 

I didn't really talk to them except when Daniel asked if he could pet Balto. But I could over hear their conversations and they seemed to be camping their way towards Vancouver. 

The kids were very well behaved and their dad never had to raise his voice even once. It must have been Daniel and Sarah's first time camping because their dad was teaching them things like how to make a fire and how to put up and take down a tent. 

I imagine this trip will be one that they remember fondly for years to come. 

I decided to go and find the bathrooms and the water tap. I figured it was a good opportunity to take Balto for a bit of a walk. A little Nuthatch flew down to say hello as we were starting our walk. 

​The next site down the road from mine was site number 35. 

This one was a bit different in that it had a retaining wall built around it.  It was long and narrow in shape. Probably intended for an RV or something. 

I actually liked this site better than my own, But I wasn't going to go change where I am, I will just keep it in mind for the next time I come here.

But as nice as this one was it was actually the next one that I liked even better. 

​I think site number 34 would be my first pick in the whole campground if I were to come back again. 

Like site 35, this site was also long and narrow, but it didn't have the retaining wall along the edge of it. 

This site and 35 are both relatively private, but this one was closer to the bathroom and the water tap and yet still walking distance to the tiny beaches. 

What I liked most about both of these sites though was that across the road was a little path directly to the water.  You can take a chair and go and sit and have your own private little lake front view. 

It's not too often Balto gets to go swimming these days; if you can even call it swimming. It's more like just sitting in the water. Since dogs aren't allowed on the beach, these little paths to the water seemed to be the perfect thing for him. 

We went down the path that had the least obstacles for him since he has troubles getting up and over anything more than 5 or 6 inches tall. It opened up into this cute little sandy beach area with a bunch of rocks that I could sit on. The water was very clear and clean and cool on this hot day. This mini beach was the perfect size for a dog. 

And Balto thought so too. He loved it! This would be a great place to sit and watch the sunset. You can't really see the sunset from my campsite.

Our destination, the bathrooms, was not much further up the road from Balto's private swimming hole. They are located on a bit of a hill, but nothing too steep. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were flush toilets! I was not expecting that at all. The bathrooms were spotless. Not even the usual spiders or bugs in there. And it even smelled nice.  For a campground bathroom, I was impressed. 

On the way back we went to the water tap and filled up the water jug that I had with me. The water faucet is not where it is shown to be on the campground map. It's close, but not quite. But it wasn't difficult to find. It was a twist faucet and not one of those ones that you have to push down and hold, so, that was nice. 

By the time we got back it was about supper time. Balto was worn out by even that short walk and he went into the tent and took a nap. 
I had thought ahead about food for this trip. I didn't know if the fire ban would still be on or not so I only brought food with me that didn't need to be cooked. Before I left town I bought 2 submarine sandwiches. I had one for supper tonight and one for supper the next night. 
 
After supper, Balto had gotten his second wind and was restless so I took him for another walk. We went past the mini boat launch area (there is a bigger one at the other end of the park) and saw one of the park staff sitting at a table with a blue table cloth. She was hosting the kids event about frogs and amphibians. I caught her at the very end of it because there were no kids to be seen at that point. I talked to her for a few minutes and she said that there had been about 5 kids there earlier and they had all tried their hand at catching frogs. She said that the park is much busier on long weekends and that most of the rest of the time it is pretty quiet around the park. 

I was going to go check out the second beach but the sun was staring to go down so I decided to do that tomorrow instead. 

I could make out a tiny bit of a sunset through the trees but the colours were not very vibrant this evening. I did see a bat fly by over head though. 

I decided not to start a campfire tonight. I didn't feel like sitting around to babysit it. Instead I went into the tent to enjoy a peaceful evening of reading a book. I could hear the loon again and except for the sounds of the transports going by down the highway every so often, it is actually be pretty peaceful here.