Mr. Moose

Not Your Average Cardboard Box

When Victoria was younger I had told her about moose.  The big giant creature that lived in our wonderful forests.   While driving home from Quebec one day I told her to keep her eyes peeled for a moose.

After a couple hours she declared "Mr. Moose show yourself or you do not exist!!!" Well, the moose never showed and years went by without seeing a moose.   From then on whenever a moose was discussed or seen via picture or video,  Victoria declared, "These are cardboard boxes that are photoshopped.  

The time was right; the long hard winter we all had would accommodate a moose sighting at Algonquin Park if we were lucky.   This would also be the last year I could pull Victoria out of school   for a few days as next year she will start high school and god forbid if I mentioned to her,
"Want to miss school for a few days?" I can feel the hyper-bufflelating that would occur if such a thought would come forth from me.

We stayed at this wonderful place called the Wolf Den Nature Retreat with wonderful hosts Jen and Jacques.  A cross between camping and the luxury of a dry roof and warmth.   One morning while driving through the park it actually snowed with temps around 1-2 degrees Celsius.  I never would have expected that for late May.

Did we see Moose?   10 sightings in 12 hours and then none at all for the next few days.   However, we had an amazing time hiking, talking, and just spending quality time together.  One I will never forget as one of the best trips I have ever had.  The irony is that I literally burned every meal I cooked up there.  Not sure why but maybe it was a cross between knowing your equipment; pots and pans and stove etc.

The first moose we saw Victoria said, "Oh that's not too big,"  until I told her it was a baby.  We saw many moose, from a mother and baby which is just heart warming,  to a magnificent bull with a full rack.   That was huge and declared finally by Victoria as in her words 'ginormous'.

The cardboard box has finally been recycled into a memory that neither of us will ever forget.  Here are some pictures of our trip courtesy of Victoria.