Solo Camping Trip

Lunch at Spitfire Pub

For this summer, I decided that I wanted to go on some camping trips and the first one was last month. The only times I have been camping before was in junior high during a school trip and 2018 when my mom and I went to Cape Breton. People say that when you get a new RV or want to go camping, you should do at least one trip that is close to your home to familiarize yourself with your setup, etc and that is what I did. 

I live in Dartmouth but had no idea we had a KOA in Nova Scotia which is in Lower Sackville so this is where I decided to make my first solo camping trip be. There really isn't much to do as a tourist in Sackville so I did a few things in Windsor but the whole weekend did not go as planned. Windsor claims to be the birthplace of hockey and it is also host to one of three ski hills in the province. Across from Martock ski hill is a business called OnTree Adventure Park where you can do rope courses and zip-lines. So my first stop was here where it was quite hot actually around noon, it was really only about 25 celsius but very sunny. It was a bit expensive; adult fee and price of gloves came out to be about $61. I went through the training course and was fine, then moved to one of the actual courses with an easy rating and this is where I ran into problems. I am scared of heights but wanted to try to get over my fear, however that didn't happen as I got up the ladder, did three planks then had to turn around because my legs were shaking so much. 

Fort Edward Historic Site

So I decided to leave and go out for lunch at the Spitfire Pub in town. After I finished eating, I walked around then visited Fort Edward historic site which was unfortunately not open officially so there were no information plaques out yet. One thing that was suggested to me to do was go see Ettinger Falls. I got to what I think was the correct entrance but it was a dirt road with lots of rocks so I did not feel comfortable driving my car further then I got out to walk but hit a wide river which I could not walk across. By this time, it was about 4:30pm and I didn't want to check in yet so I hung out at the park near Mount Uniacke Estate Park and read my book. 

I checked in to the KOA, got set up and had my supper while watching the sun go down. I decided to sleep in the back of my car which this time was a bad idea, I only slept about two hours the whole night because I was uncomfortable. I'm going to try a few other things the next time I go out. Because I was up early, I checked out of the campground around 8am. 

Sunset from my campsite

I got home and had a nap then my mom and I went to the waterfront for the Taste Asia Food Festival for the afternoon. I was thinking we would go down for supper but I am glad we decided to do lunch as we had a lot of food we ended up wanting to try. We weren't sure if we were going to go but I after my nap, I felt good enough to go. My mom got some tofu kebab that came with bbq corn on the cob and I got a pasta dish which I could not eat because it was too spicy but I did enjoy the corn. Then we got lamb kebabs and dumplings which were delicious. After we ate we walked along the waterfront and saw some of the new restaurants and shops on the boardwalk. Then we went back for more Asian food; she got a Chinese burger (again to spicy for me) and I got another order of lamb kebabs and dumplings - both from Mr. Yan's Chinese BBQ. 

Lamb kebabs and dumplings

This was a bit of a negative post but I wanted to share my experience anyways and let you know what you can do in Windsor if you go at the right time. My suggestions for the area are OnTree (if you are not afraid of heights), the Birthplace of Hockey Museum, Fort Edward, Ettinger Falls, the previously mentioned Mount Uniacke Estate Park where you can go learn history and walk on a trail and see the tide change on the dykes. Of course if you are coming from away, the Halifax West KOA is a great place to park with a rig then take your vehicle to downtown Halifax, Dartmouth and Peggy's Cove.