It's been a while since our last report, and in the meantime we have been busy preparing for our first major road trip of the year. After returning from Georgian Bay, Adam and Katrina visited the Bancroft area on a day trip to do 2 shows.
At Silent Lake almost the entire campground came out to see the reptiles. After a few hours visiting nearby towns, we returned to the Paudash Lake Marina to do a show for their annual Rock Bass Derby. After our return, we enjoyed a couple well-deserved days off!
On Wednesday, we departed on our 2.5 week journey for our first stop at Bon Echo Provincial Park. Unfortunately, some challenges caused our departure to be delayed and the cancellation of our first day of shows. We would like to apologize to all the people wishing they caught the shows on day 1, and invite them to follow the calendar for our other shows in the area. Luckily, the problems were fairly minor and we were back on the road that evening. After a stop at the 24 Hour Egg Store in Asphodel, we were happy to arrive in Amherstview where we stayed for 2 nights.
Thursday was a joyful day. With a new team member joining us, we enjoyed all 3 shows. Bryna loved teaching about the Black Rat Snake in a place where you can actually find them! Our first show at the Queens University Youth Science Camp saw us performing in a University lecture hall. Even with the more formal setting, the kids (and the counsellors) had an amazing time. After a delicious lunch, we met some great families at the Amherstview Library. Here, Amanda's family came out to see the show and they were by no means our biggest fans. Despite a mid-speech hug, Adam pulled it together and connected with the audience.
To end Day 2, we were at the McLachlan Woodworking Museum in Joyceville. Many in the audience had come all the way from Kingston and the press even came out to photograph the show. Katrina had a great time letting the children hold the snakes that we had brought- one of the best things about our programs!
Day 3 was no less busy, as we went out to Pirate Week in Gananoque. The girls were excited to meet Captain Jack Sparrow, and even managed to convince Adam to get in the picture with him, although with no snakes. Then we went to Lansdowne Library, en route to Charleston Lake Provincial Park, where we spent the next 2 nights. We didn't manage to find any Black Rat Snakes while there but we did find a shed skin in a tree. Other highlights in the park were 5 different woodpeckers, flocks of Cedar Waxwings, a Scarlet Tanager and a variety of warblers.
Saturday saw us at the Farmersville in Athens, where the antique car and motor show intrigued us greatly. In the evening, we did the actual show at Charleston Lake. By then, we had already made some friends with the campers and we were glad to see many familiar faces.
Sunday morning we did some early morning wildlife watching and then moved on to our newest temporary home in Murphy's Point Provincial Park. We would like to thank the staff who are letting us park the trailer outside of their bunkhouse. This is the closest campsite we have had to a beach yet! Before we could do the evening show at Murphy's Point we spent the afternoon at the Stewart Park Music Festival in Perth. We competed with both the main music stage as well as a waterfall, but still the show was enjoyed by all! The evening show ended with a bang as rain starting pouring and the lightning was striking. Some of the keenest campers took what little shelter was to be had as they clamored to hold the snakes.
Upcoming are many library shows, so hopefully everyone will get more frequent updates as should have better internet access!
Adam