(Camping) Adventure in Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park

Dude & I spent a cold, rainy weekend at Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park last week. My plans were to take advantage of their beautiful beaches and have a nice beach holiday with Dude, but the weather had other plans.

Friday arrival. As you can see, our stall (C23) was just lovely. And right across from the toilets, which is my favourite place to be. No sarcasm, it's really handy at night. We ate dinner (soup) and then went exploring.

Friday highlights:

- The beach truly is lovely, even in the cold

- Lucas rediscovered his love of this Pokemon guide

- There were so many feathers on the beach my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude

Today was (inadvertently) about dream jobs. Lucas & I got to watch a couple of birds get banded (mine) and then we ate lunch under a fire tower (Dan's).

On top of Marten Mountain we found a trail to Lily Lake. We made it halfway to Lily Lake before decided we were too unprepared and headed back with the promise that we would come back later. Spoiler alert: we didn't!

We may have missed the Fringe in Edmonton, but this one-woman-show about finding "Bear-a-Dise" was excellent. And a musical!

And so ends Saturday. Highlights include:

- Musical Amphitheatre Interpretive Programming

- Lots O' Games

- Bird Banding

- Picnic Eating

- Sunshine!!

- Half a hike

 For real...a lady name Connie backed right up into Delilah. And the mall wasn't even a real mall, so it really felt like a wasted trip. We ate lunch at an A&W while I felt sorry for myself, then wandered around the Walmart (NOT a mood-improvement kind of place) before heading back to camp where we both got a little reset. Video games in the van for Dude and a hot shower and a book for me.

You know what is a mood-improvement? When your son says "hey Mom, let's continue that walk that got rained out earlier." Hey Favourite Adventure Partner, that sounds amazing.

And so ends Sunday! Highlights include:

- "Fresh baked" cookies from Walmart

- Someone else made my lunch

- Stormy beach time

- Hot shower + great book = bye bye anxiety

- Shower stall poetry

- Listening to Tune-In radio while we fell asleep

- Dude snuggling up to me in the tent and chatting about our favourite Old-Timey radio shows

- Not freezing to death in our tent!

Monday = HOME DAY!

Yes, we came home a full day early, but I don't feel like we "gave up". I feel like we gave it our best shot, and made the best decision for where we were at. And it felt really good to play Lego for a couple of hours and then sleep in my own bed.

A few final notes:
- The campground was lovely, and they are building a new shower stall in time for the 2019 season
- The beaches on Lesser Slave Lake are gorgeous and I can't wait to go back
- Alberta is so dang beautiful
- The RCMP in Slave Lake are nice folks

Photos taken August 24 - 27
Marten River Campground
Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, Alberta

xo

FURTHER READING
This trip really reminded me of our first ever adventure in Delilah. You can read all about our coldest camping trip ever by clicking here.