My partner and I had been dating about six months when we decided to take our first trip together. He was looking for something a little closer to home, and one of us suggested we take a day trip to one of Ontario’s many gorgeous national parks.

So we did some research and decided to go to Tobermory’s Bruce Peninsula National Park.

It was only about a three hour drive north from where we live, but the vacation started in the car. It was a really relaxed drive – no traffic, not a lot of twists or turns, and a decent road trip playlist set the mood.

We also stopped on the way there for lunch at a place called Elsie’s Diner which was pretty perfect, seeing as how Brandon is a sucker for diners, and his dog’s name is Elsie. It was super delicious and just what we needed to fill our stomachs with before our afternoon trek through the Bruce.

I’ve never been “hiking” before. I knew to bring comfortable shoes, a water bottle, some granola bars and of course my camera, but I had no idea how well I would be able to maneuver through the paths, however difficult they were.

We started off into the park on a very straight forward path. This was the end of May in 2018, so the weather was absolutely beautiful. The trees were tall and leafy. This was going to be a nice day.

Bruce Peninsula gets a lot of visitors during the summer because of the gorgeous grotto, where the water appears ultra blue in photos. I can confirm that the water is just as vibrant in person.

Once we saw the grotto and got some nice photos, we wanted to get away from the crowds. As you may be able to tell from the photo below, the grotto is absolutely stunning, but given the weather, we definitely weren’t alone. So we climbed back up to the main hiking trail and decided to look for somewhere to spend some quiet time walking together.

It didn’t take too long before we started to look for a challenge.

For those who know Brandon, he is fairly athletic and constantly looks to push himself. I also love to push myself, but I have about 1/5th of his physical capabilities. So we ventured off the hiking path and found ourselves climbing (probably dangerously) around and over the cliffs near the water. (Do not try this at home).

Honestly, this was probably one of my favourite moments of the whole trip. Partially because of the awesome views, but mostly because I wasn’t sure if I could actually do it, and I did. We ended up sitting in the place I’m standing in the photo below, stopped for some water and a snack, and Brandon told me he was super surprised by the fact that I was keeping up with him.

And maybe this isn’t a super impressive hike to other people, but it was to us, and that made me feel really good about myself.

We took a lot of photos and some time to reflect before heading back to the car and driving home again. This trip meant a lot to me. It was our first “travel” experience as a couple. It was my first time engaging in this kind of physical activity because it was fun, not because I was being forced to for gym class.