Arista Ramblers: MacGregor Oct. 23-25 2015

After a rather difficult start to our weekend at MacGregor we were able to relax and enjoy our weekend away. The water at the filling station had very little pressure so it took us 40 minutes to fill and when we headed to our site there was someone else setting up. We found out they had booked it to someone else while we were filling and we therefore had to pick another site. After one and a half hours at the park we were finally setting up for the weekend. We went for a scenic drive through the countryside to see the fall colours and try and relax. When we returned we did a short tour to see if there were any deer out and about. Unfortunately there were none to be found. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and spent a few hours by the fire before climbing into our warm bed.
Saturday we went into Southampton for a while and did some shopping in Port Elgin before returning to camp. It was quite windy and we had brief showers off and on during the day. The blue jays, chickadees and nuthatches were visiting and enjoying the nuts and seeds I had out for them. It is amazing how fast a jay can swoop in, collect a peanut and be gone. Some of the chickadees and the female nuthatch would feed from my hand. If I didn't have my hand out when the nuthatch arrived she would land on the camera lens and wait for me to put it out. Before dinner we went for a drive and were able to see one doe in the forest along the park road. She would look up at us once in a while and continue her eating. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of homemade turkey pot pie and fresh buns before settling in for a movie night. There would be no fire tonight as we were getting thunder storms rolling through. We enjoyed watching Gravity and Almost Famous before heading off to bed.
We both slept in on Sunday which I was quite surprised about. I am usually up by 8 but not today. The sun had returned and it was quite a nice day. There were two red squirrels trying to get the peanuts out of the bird feeder but not having much luck. When one was there the other would be chattering away to try and get it off and would eventually chase it away only to have the other do the same thing back to it. They gave up on the feeder after a period of time and started to eat the seeds and nuts I had put out for the birds on a log. It was fun to watch the squirrels go and hide their nuts and the clever blue jays would then collect them from where they just hid them. We stayed on our site until 3 and then headed home. Our Sundays in the park are not as long as they use to be since the sun is setting so much earlier. We always try to be home before dark so that we can get parked without having to use a flashlight to avoid hitting anything. It was a wonderful relaxing fall weekend away and I enjoyed the antics of the wildlife.
We will be staying home for Halloween weekend so that we can hand out treats to all the ghosts and goblins that come for their goodies. Hope you have a great Halloween and don't over indulge in to many treats.