3 Lakes Trip - Dog Lake - Part 1

Our last summer road trip took us to Dog Lake in Ontario, Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks and Maidstone Lake in Vermont.

How come these three lakes you ask?

We visited Dog Lake and Saranac Lake last year. Saranac Lake was especially amazing as we kayak camped on an island (yes we kayaked all of our gear and ourselves to an island and spent a few nights there). Friends of ours asked us if we wanted to come this year with them to Saranac Lake as they loved our pictures so much. So we started planning our trip.

Dog Lake we went last year too but we were so upset because it was only one night and we loved it so much. During our stay at the cottage at Dog Lake last year I took some pictures and the owner asked me if she could use them for her website. In return she gave me a major discount for any future stays. With only a few hours away from Saranac Lake we knew we would have to take advantage of that.

And the third lake… Maidstone Lake. We have never been but heard about this amazing place from a dear friend who has had a cabin on the lake for decades. In fact, even her grandparents have had a cabin at Maidstone Lake. I have always wanted to visit Maidstone Lake and realized it was “only” five hours from Saranac Lake.

This is how our big road trip of the year came to life. Three Lakes, three totally different reasons on why to be there.

I am going to blog this trip in 3 blog posts, one post for each lake.

Dog Lake in Ontario.

Our boys spent two weeks with my mom in Ontario and when we picked them up we stayed another 2 days with my mom and then headed north to the cabin at Dog Lake near Battersea. I found this cabin via AirBnB last year you can read about our last stay HERE and HERE is the listing on AirBnB.

There are three different cabins, hence the name, Three Little Cottages, and we stayed in a different one than last year. Just like last year, the cabin is the perfect size for us and has everything we need. We love the screened in porch, the adjoining farm where we purchased fresh greens for a salad, and a dock to swim, fish and kayak from.

Just like last year, the boys made quickly friends with the kids in the cabin next door. This time three girls (two of them the same age as Finn & Jake) and the first time I ever saw the kids brush their hair and teeth without being asked! Haha

We did a whole lot of nothing at Dog Lake. A lot of fishing, a lot of kayaking, swimming, bird watching, playing soccer with the girls next door, bonfires and marshmallows, walks on the farm, coffee in the morning on the porch… it.was.perfect. Just what we needed!

A couple of fun memories include:

On an evening walk we noticed a few of the chickens got out and with the owners not being around we tried to catch them and put them back. While running around, Scot was making fun on how much these chickens are worth (he was making up a rare breed) and if we don’t catch them we would have to pay for them and our trip would be ruined… “So catch these chickens!” I couldn’t stop laughing, the whole thing was just to hilarious.

Taking out the kayak on my own and coming across some strong headwind and then also being stuck in a blanket of seaweed that would totally stop my kayak in its track. I fought hard to get back to the dock that day but it was so awesome to be all on my own out on the water.

Seeing a beaver swim by. (No Photo <cry>)

Seeing a full double rainbow! My camera battery died after I took a few pictures and before the second rainbow became visible BUT it was there and I will never forget it.

Having smores with the family next door and just being so happy for their friendship even though we have never met before!

Eating Buttertarts at a small grocery story and washing them down with a small carton of milk.

Dog Lake we will be back! Next time even longer! 

Scot's favorite part: Meeting family next door who were Chinese who immigrated to Ottawa.

Jake's favorite part: kayaking and fishing

Finn's favorite part: playing soccer with the girls next door.

My favorite part: sitting early morning on the porch with Scot. It was so cold and we were bundled up in a blanket, sipping our coffee and watching the sunrise.

You can click here to read about PART 2,  PART 3 and PART 4 of our trip!

Day 2 McGill's Go Up North - London, Battersea Ontario

Day two, we woke up to some yummy pancakes from Oma and a cooler full of food for our trip! It was so nice not to have to worry about the food for the first few days of this road trip.

We didn't waste much time at Oma's and left soon after breakfast for our first adventure on this trip. I booked a little cabin, situated on a farm by a lake near Kingston Ontario.

We arrived at the Dog Lake Cabin early afternoon and loved everything about it immediately! The setting was perfect. The cabin was small and simple but super cute and had everything we needed!

We were greeted with a cute little sign on the door and Scot had to laugh when I said "Don't let the boys in yet, I want to take pictures of it while it's still clean". I want these twin beds for the boys room.

The cabin had it's own little dock and canoes. The boys immediately went out to fish. Unfortunately Jake's fishing pole was broken beyond repair, even though I reminded him to get his fishing stuff in order before we left. Oh well, he had a fishing net with him and actually managed to catch a few fish with it.

Again, this was a great little cabin. I love the décor, even though simple it was all well done. I am a huge fan of maps and was pretty excited to see a map of the lake on the wall. My favorite part was the view though. Just sitting on the porch and watching the kids play on the dock was pretty special.

The farm itself was pretty cool and we took a small walk around. Lot's of animals to pet and a sweet dog named, Ditch. The owner of the farm at this point walked over, welcomed us and handed us two bags of fresh greens and sprouts for a salad (good thing that salad is one of Jake and Finn's favorite food) and a basket full of firewood.

We decided to take a little canoe trip. Across the lake from the cabin, about a 15 minute paddle, is a little beach with a swimming dock and the kids really wanted to go there. We left with perfect sunshine. Once there the kids jumped out of the canoe and swam a bit and that's when I noticed the black clouds. Aaaaand about 5 minutes later it began to rain. It rained HARD. Kids climbed back into the canoe and Scot and I paddled hard, because now it's also lightning and lightning + water + canoe don't mix. We paddled hard and we all go from being scared to OMG can you believe this is happening to laughing hysterically because now Scot and I are drenched. And I kid you not, we step on the dock and the sun is shining again. Hahaha

After getting all dried up and changed, Jake made Mac 'n Cheese for Finn and him and Scot started building outside a fire with wet logs and newspaper. It took him a little longer than usual but we soon all enjoyed a big campfire.

Being at the lake house was absolutely relaxing and I just loved sitting on the dock with my new camping chair . It really was MY highlight of the day... probably not the boys highlight but mine!

After a while of sitting on the dock, I noticed a family coming back to the cabin... and after a few more minutes I realized that this was a German family with two boys Jake and Finn's age. I took the boys over, introduced ourselves and within a minute all 4 boys were playing Hide and Seek or "Verstecke" in German. This occupied them until late into the night. All 4 of them went fishing, turtle catching and just had a great time exploring the farm together.

I spent the evening untangling Finn's fishing pole, which will seem later in the trip like a daily ritual, and Scot and I sat on the porch for a while. The kids took late night showers and we all went to bed happy and relaxed! Day two was perfect!