Monday wes spent at Braddock Bay, paddling our canoes and kayaks, exploring along the back passages through the cattails until we found a way back out into open water. Some sections were pretty clogged with "green" but we managed to make it through anyways. We stopped back at the launch and cooked a picnic lunch. After cleaning up, most of us paddled back out onto the bay and around the point into Lake Ontario and then over to the swimming beach while the others walked over to meet us. We then "swamped" one of the canoes so the kids could see that it wouldn't sink and they learned how much fun it is to play with it while it is full of water. Too soon it was time to go so we loaded everything back on the trailer and headed home.
Tuesday found us peddling our bikes on a 12 mile treasure hunt that took us from Charlotte, over into West Irondequoit, down to Summerville, back over the Genesee River and down to the beach before riding back home. We made a stop at a school to find one of the clues, played at the water park in Camp Eastman, checked out the harbor in Charlotte from Summerville, crossed the O'Rorke bridge a couple of times, discovered the Charlotte Lighthouse, rode through some puddles and spent some time down by the beach before riding back home.
Wednesday, we started with a little play time in the yard before figuring out the clues from the treasure hunt the day before. Then we enjoyed our "treasure" before going over to Durand for a long hike way back into the woods to find a geocache or two. It was hot so we opted to spend some time at the beach where we could cool off. It was very hot and sticky so we opted to head home to watch a movie in comfort to end the day.
Thursday, we packed all our camping gear in the trailer and headed to Walmart to pick up some food for the overnight. After about an hour of shopping, we finally got up to the checkout. No sooner had the clerk started to slide the items past the scanner when someone yelled "fire". We looked back into the store and saw some smoke back in the clothing section. Suddenly everyone was being rushed out of the store. I looked back to see all our food and the huge bag of ice sitting there as we went out. We learned that someone had started a fire in one of the clothing racks and the employees had quickly gotten it out of the building but there was smoke. We ended up spending more time shopping at Wegmans. Finally we were on or way to Lockport to see the canal locks and hopefully go on the boat ride on a local cave. We arrived in Lockport, checked out the local museum and learned that the cave tour was permanently closed. Disappointed, we watched a good size boat come through the locks and then drove to camp. We were almost set up when the sky got dark and we heard the rumble of thunder. A short time later, the rain started and we all relaxed under the 2 shelters we had set up. The rain didn't last and we checked the tents and they were mostly dry. The boys tent hadn.t been completed before the rain came so there was a little dampness inside which we fixed with an old towel. After everything was set up, we cooked a delicious meal, played on the playground, walked down to the lake to skip some stones and watch the sunset and had a campfire with smores before bed. What an adventure!
Friday morning we cooked a delicious breakfast and then took down camp and packed it into the trailer. We drove over to Fort Niagara to see the encampment for the "French and Indian War" reenactment that was happening. Things were not quite starting so we went over to the pool for a little while first. Then we walked through the encampment area where the people were dressed in "period" costume and living as they did back in the 1800s. We got to talk to some of the people and learned a lot about the era . Then we got to watch the actual "battle" out on the open field next to the fort with rifles and cannons firing. When it was over, we started home but had to take a detour because the route I had chosen was closed. We arrived home about 15 minuted late. The adventure was officially over.
