Some camping trips are all golden-hour sunsets and quiet mornings by the lake. Others test every ounce of patience, preparation, and calm you have. Our trip to Bon Echo Provincial Park during the derecho firmly landed in the second category—and it’s one I won’t ever forget. Bon Echo is one of those parks that feels almost sacred the moment you arrive. Mazinaw Rock towers over the lake, ancient pictographs etched into its face, the kind of place that naturally slows you down.

I grew up in the Peterborough area, and still go back regularly to visit my parents, and until recently, I had never visited the Canadian Canoe Museum . It’s one of those places you grow up knowing about but never quite get around to seeing — always assuming it will be there another day. When I finally went, I was honestly surprised by how much it made me reflect not only on Canadian history, but on my own connection to the outdoors and the waterways I’ve spent so much time