Brighton KOA (Aug 11)
We made a last minute decision to head out to the shores of Lake Ontario, where Presqu’ile Park made an attractive destination. Unfortunately, last minute decisions do not work well at popular tourist destinations at the height o the summer. Due to our late decision, there were no campsites available, and so we decided to stay at the Brighton KOA, where we got the last available campsite.
Our site was a “deluxe” site with a deck, chairs, and a fancy firepit. Some of the amenities can be seen in the very last picture in this posting. Most important, we were at the top of a hill with a great view to the east.
The campground was really hopping, with zillions of kids and lots of child-friendly facilities, including life-size chess pieces and a “car park” with those miniature plastic cars popular with the pre-school set. It was the total opposite of the campground we had just left in terms of size, setting and activity level.
We headed off to Presqu’ile Park, which is on a peninsula jutting into Lake Ontario. It is full of bicycle trails, so we unloaded our bikes on the main loop and biked out to the lighthouse (and lighthouse museum) as well as the main loop. The lighthouse is pretty tall, and it was a bit tough to get a photo with the entire lighthouse in which
Chuck was big enough to see. 
Here he is sitting at its base and beside a model of the lighthouse in the museum. The lighthouse museum is on a spit of land that was apparently known for its warblers – we saw several without much effort, as well as swans and the ubiquitous Canada geese.
The shoreline on that side of the peninsula is made up of flat stones perfect for skipping.
The “Friends of the Presqu’ile Park” sell burgers and hotdogs, the proceeds of which support programs in the park. We ate lunch at their BBQ, and learned that the previous week, with very high winds, the waves on the lake had been up to 7 feet.
On the other side of the peninsula are fine sand beaches which allow swimming and kiteboarding. We went to have a look, and stayed to watch the kiteboarders. The water there is very shallow and surprisingly warm. (Off Toronto Island, where I occasionally swam as a kid, Lake Ontario is icy.) The wind was strong and steady. Up to 30 kiteboarders were in the water, zipping along at great speed. Some of the kiteboards are on hydrofoils – with enough speed, the surfer and board rise about 2 feet above the water surface, with only the hydrofoil in the water. As well, some people were doing jumps, lifting more than 10 feet into the air before descending to the water surface. It looks like great fun, and quite dangerous. I have no idea how you learn this sport – it seems like it would be a good way to get injured.
When large dark clouds appeared over the lake, we decided to head back to the campsite. It did not actually rain on us, but we had a rainbow and a very nice sunset. With our site on the hill after dark we had a terrific view of several thunderstorms which lit up the night sky behind the clouds.
On Saturday we decided to split our day in 2. In the morning, we went to a conservation area in Brighton for a dog walk. This was pleasant, if a bit buggy, and Rumple enjoyed being out.
In the afternoon, we headed out for the town of Picton, and Sandbanks Provincial Park. The town was a cute touristy town. The park was really hopping. We did not realize that we could go directly to the parking lot and get a sticker there. Instead, we spent almost half an hour in line, before deciding we would rather not pay the day fee (it was close to 4) and would park outside. (That was a mistake – we had to pay anyways, and I would rather have paid the facility we actually used.)
Once parked, we bicycled into the park. It is aptly named, with several very sandy beaches and lots of dunes. We bicycled around and saw most of the beaches. We could see why it is so popular – a great place to bring the kids for swimming and beach activities.
Picton and Sandbanks are in Prince Edward County, a large peninsula the includes the smaller, sharper, Presqu’Isle peninsula. This area had a lot of shipwrecks and is a popular diving site.
In the evening, I stayed out late to see the Perseids. However, the viewing was not great from the campground – possibly hazy, although I could see a lot of stars.
On Sunday, we decided to launch the kayaks into the bay between Presqu’isle Park and Brighton. This is a marshy area, with a lot of birds, particularly swans, and lots of marsh flowers. We had a nice paddle.
Lake Ontario is no longer as high as it was in May, but many cottages still had sandbags protecting their foundations or gardens. (These are the orange bags piled on the rocks.) I also spent an hour on the bicycle trail that goes along the shore.
Monday morning we needed to be in Gananoque (Ga-na-nok-kwa) at 8:30 a.m. for our appointment with RV repairs. We got up very early – our reward was a beautiful sunrise. We packed up and headed out in record time.