Home Again

So that is what happened. We decided to drive home.
There is a good laundry facility here which I will make good use of!
We will probably load up again Monday and spend a week somewhere close by.
Everything is SO green back home. Amazing the changes in 5 ½ weeks!

Leaving Czar . . Home?

That train track is still in use.  Related… we are leaving here today.  Two trains went by after we arrived yesterday, but the 3:39 AM with horn blasting was the killer.

 

Yes, it is a little too close for comfort!

We did get in our bike ride and we went for a drive to check out another campground on a small lake just off Hwy 41.  That was a scratch. We won't be going there.  We came home and had our campfire.  After supper we checked out the ball games. Four of the five ball fields were busy.  That was good to see as it really is an excellent facility. There was women's fastball, a couple of boy's baseball teams and some little fellows just learning the game.  We watched for a bit before coming back to sit by the fire.

 

It is a bit cloudy today and we really don't have a plan.  I'm thinking we may just head home and 're-group' for the weekend.  If the weather looks good we'll try some local camping spots next week.

Shorncliffe Lake in Czar, AB

Shorncliffe Lake Campground

Site #25 - $30, p/w/s, no internet, Temp 22C

Yesterday after our drive, the rain moved off and it turned out to be a beautiful evening. We sat out for another propane campfire. I'm not sure how much moisture has to fall before this County lifts its fire ban?? It probably requires a big meeting and a vote. All that free firewood is just sitting there. Getting wet!

Today, after a leisurely coffee and breakfast, we packed up and moved on. To Czar, 42 kms down the road. Population 180 people. Mostly we are procrastinating going home because the sun is shining up here and we have heard that there are rain warnings for down south. Also, we do enjoy this 'nomadic' lifestyle and it is fun to check out some new grounds. 

Treasurers at Shorncliffe Lake

Tonight's stopover is Shorncliffe Lake Campground. It is a big complex for such a small town. Like Hardisty, there are rodeo grounds and ball diamonds. Plus it is on a small lake. The campground isn't quite as nice as Hardisty where the sites are buried in the trees and very private. However, we are the only ones here. The water is good and the fire ban has been lifted so that is good news. Also, it is a new area to explore. I am a little concerned about that train track out back!! I hope it isn't to active??

Ron continues to explore and gather. He scored big back at Hardisty. Besides another four tent pegs (yup, more of them!?), he found over $3. in coins. Also, I think he may have found the local teen's party hangout and he collected 40 or 50 cans and bottles. Pretty soon he'll have covered the cost of a night of camping!

We have had our lunch and the bikes are ready. Back later . . .

Another Day, Another Night

We took a look at the forecast and decided to stay another night. It showed rainy and cool back home, sunny and warmer up here. Our being here has peaked the curiosity of the campground caretakers. "You are staying another night????" As nice as it is here, I'm thinking it must be mainly locals or oilfield services that would use the facilities and not so many of us 'holidayers'. The downside to this campground is the water is not 'potable' as I believe it is very high in iron. The other annoying thing is the poplar fuzz is flying. It is a little better today, but the other two days, it was like a snowstorm.

Oh yes, and when Ron saw the last name of the caretakers, he asked if they were related to the Mazenod "Alstadt's". It turns out that this is a grandson. And apparently he is one of the thousands Ron has linked to the family tree. ;)

We did another bike tour this morning and rode to the boat launch. Another sign posted and another laugh. Besides the 3 motorized vessels at a time, your turn consists of three times around the lake. And you must go counter-clockwise. Also, you need a permit to launch. I have to wonder why anyone would go to the trouble of launching their boat here!? It is not worth it and I guess that is what they are striving for.

The Rules!

We discovered something else about this town. Hardisty was the location of the TV show from a few years back "The Week the Women Went". I do remember seeing a bit of one show as I clicked through channels. 

Looking across to Beach & Campground

This afternoon we drove up to Irma and back. The Battle River Valley makes for some pretty countryside. Also, a little hailstorm just passed through town. And there is a bit of rain now. That was NOT in the forecast!

Hardisty happenings

I love when your campsite is private and you can open all the blinds in the morning. Also, when the sun shines in and the only sounds you hear are from the song birds. No overhead air traffic!! So, yes, that is what we awoke to this morning. 

Yesterday we had light rain on and off, but we sat under the canopy with our propane firepit. Today? Perfect weather until mid afternoon. We rode our bikes around the area. It really is a nice little park. There is a good sized sandy beach with a great children's playground. It is a perfect camping spot for young families. Rhonda (Kesslar) Walker's father-in-law comes from this area and they bring their grandchildren camping every summer. In his words, it's the "best kept little secret". He is right about that. We will come again.

Entrance to Hardisty Lake Park

Beautiful sandy beach

This afternoon we decided to ride our bikes around the small lake. Not the best timing. When we got to the other side of the lake, the wind came up and it was heavy duty pedaling. And then came the rain. Nothing like rain to make one pedal faster. We got wet. Probably not enough for them to lift the fire ban, however. 

I am sending this email and posting some pics using the town library wifi. It looks like the shower has now passed over and the sun is coming out again. We haven't come up with a plan for tomorrow yet. We will see what the morning brings!

Hello from Hardisty, AB

Hardisty Campground
Site #10 - $32, p/w/s, free wood, no Internet (town Library), Temp 19C

Jim and Jan came for coffee this morning.  We said our goodbyes and we were on the road by 11 am.  We always enjoy time spent with them.  Plus we learned a great new card game.  Hopefully we will win more money on our next visit!

Every camping trip we like to check out new camping spots that we haven't stayed at before.  Today, after one missed turn and one wrong turn, we checked in to Hardisty Lake campground south of Wainwright.  It is a really nice little park on the west side the town on a very small lake.  We were quite amused with the sign posted at the park entrance.  Only 3 boats are allowed on the lake at one time.  Gotta wonder how that one plays out? 

Only 3 motorized vessels are allowed on Hardisty Lake at one time.

The disappointing thing is that there is a fire ban. One of those campgrounds with free firewood and a fire ban in place. I'm beginning to think the two go together. Also, I'm guessing that they must have missed out on the rains last week. Once again we made use of our propane fire pit.

We have paid for two nights. Tomorrow we will explore the area further.

from Leduc

Lions Campground & RV
Site #69 - $38, p/w/s, Internet, Temp 6C and rain

We are in Leduc at the Lions Campground. It was nice to wake up to the sunshine this morning. It was not nice to wake up to the planes taking off at 7:00 am. Constant air traffic overhead. I remembered why I didn't like this campground the last time we visited.

Anyway, we celebrated Jan's birthday last night with Mike, Rhonda and the girls. Jim and Jan are golfing this morning and we are headed there for dinner this evening. Tomorrow we will start making our way home.

Surprise stop! (Drayton)

Drayton City Campground

Site #2, Temp 18C, windy and rain, Internet Brazeau7805427529

We are in Drayton Valley. A big change of plans. We scratched Switzer Provincial Park. I was a bit sad about that.

However, a couple of reasons led to this decision. First, the weather isn't looking so pretty. Big winds today, rain and much cooler for the next few days. Second, Charlie and Carolyn are going away for the weekend. We decided to visit them before they left town.

As it turns out it was a very good decision. We arrived in Drayton and set up camp in the city campground. Ron plugged in our power cord and *poof*. . . a fried plug. It was off to Canadian Tire, Walmart and we finally found a replacement at Home Hardware. Ron is currently working on fixing this now. In the rain.

Our next stop is Charlie's. We are going out for dinner and we will have our visit. We've booked two nights in Drayton (even though I believe Charlie and Carolyn leave tomorrow morning) and then it is off to Leduc to visit with Jim and Jan.

Another update from Valemount

Too bad this 'perfect spot' is marred by an abundance of mosquitoes. Gah.. such annoying beasts. They are huge!

We did a bit of a town tour and saw a bit of the surrounding area. Back at home, we lit the fire. A rental unit showed up and checked out the spot next door to us. They introduced themselves and asked if we minded them camping beside us. They were a really nice couple from Germany who were on their first visit to Canada. They spoke amazing English. Ron lent them our axe and helped chop some wood. Plus they made use of our WD-40 on their squeaky door! We joined them with wine in hand after dinner for more visiting. They came back to our fire for roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. This was a first for them and a tradition that was unknown to them. What?? You mean it isn't a world wide custom to roast marshmallows over a fire??

Tomorrow we plan to check out Switzer Provincial Park north of Hinton, AB. Another new place for us to explore. We will miss our river front site though.

Rules say not to move the picnic tables. ummm....okay then??
(for those who travel with a crane maybe?)

and the road to Jasper . . .

Canoe River Campground

Site #33 - $30 (x2), p/w/s, Cell, weak Internet slow, Temp 14C

Stopped at Valemont. 

The road to Jasper. There is snow up there!

What a great choice. We are outside the park, so no there are no park fees and we found an awesome little spot along side a creek. How perfect is this!? There is only one other camper camped a few sites down from us. We are likely to hang here for a few days. Ron is already out scouting the other campsites for treasures. Hopefully, No. More. Tent pegs!! Speaking of which, if anybody has the need, you know who to ask! Oh yes. This view has internet!

The Painted Turtle

After the first night, we lost the wifi connections on our laptops. So much for the free wifi. It will probably be fixed tomorrow. When we leave. 

So I caught up on laundry. We had plenty of campfires. We got a few groceries and toured the town. We road our bikes. All the usual. Campers have come and gone, but it certainly wasn't the usual long weekend craziness. The busiest spot has been the restaurant. Today there were 8 tour buses that pulled in for lunch. The owner told us they arrange their stops and they are supposed to arrive at ½ hour intervals, but they showed up in pairs today. About every 15 minutes. It is obviously a very popular spot. Did I mention that the restaurant is called "The Painted Turtle"? This is why.

 

We have enjoyed the peaceful beauty and quietness of this place. And the loons. It is such a treat to hear their forlorn calls on the lake every morning and evening. I love the sound.

Tomorrow we pack up and move on. Probably to somewhere around the Jasper area. Once again our connectivity will be questionable. I just hope there is cell service!

Dutch Lake Resort & RV in Clearwater, BC

When we arrived at Dutch Lake yesterday our neighbors, two young men, were lighting a fire to prepare some lunch before moving on to their next destination.  Ron struck up a conversation.  They were from Saudi Arabia, but have been going to school in Ontario.  They had travelled and camped here last year during their school break.  They got their fire going, borrowed some cooking oil from us and proceeded to start cooking on their open fire.  With a pressure cooker.  (And yes, much to my embarrassment, Ron said something about that.)  Pretty soon their cooking smells were filling our campsite and they informed us that they were having rice and lamb. Before they left, they came over with a large plate for us.  We had just finished lunch, but Ron sampled, told them it was delicious, thanked them and that rice and lamb dish became our evening meal.  It really was delicious.  I loved the spices they used in the rice and the lamb was very tasty and tender.  It was a pleasant surprise to me, because unlike Ron, I really didn't care for the smells while they were cooking it.  Anyway, you gotta love all the different people you meet while camping! 



Enjoying that rice and lamb dish

Other than the row of rental cabins below us, this place is relatively quiet for the May long weekend.  As mentioned earlier, I don't think the place is that well known. Plus, Clearwater is a small community. There is, however, a restaurant on site called "The Painted Turtle" and we have seen bus loads of tourists arrive on our previous visits.  I expect it is much busier during the summer months.  As we sat around our fire last evening we were treated to the sound of the loons on the lake.  The quiet is rather nice!

 

So, yes, I missed having the internet while we were at the Shuswap Parks.  I am getting caught up on the news, my picture posting and my social sites.  But what I REALLY appreciate is the power.  I missed the coffee maker and our little electric heater in the mornings.  Boiling water and pouring it through the coffee filter takes so long (haha) and our little propane or catalytic heater just takes the chill off this big unit.  (We choose not to use the furnace as it requires too much battery.)  Power. Awesome.

 

It looks like today will be our laundry day as it is cloudy and cool. Or maybe tomorrow…??  The sun is trying to shine so we may have to get the bikes out.

Friday Goodbyes to Shuswap

Dutch Lake Resort & RV Park

Site #34 - $36 (Good Sam), p/w/s, Cell & Internet, Temp 19C

Another campfire and another bike ride around the park yesterday. No rain to send us inside early. A few more campers arrived throughout the evening and the chatter of children and partying adults was a little preview of what is in store for the weekend. It will be busy and us old folks are happy to be moving on. We did just that this morning at 9:30 am.

While camping at Shuswap Lake, we have been wearing jeans, sweatshirts and fleece. It was such a change from the 30C weather we saw at Osoyoos. As it was 12C when we left this morning and we once again were dressed warmly. We felt a little silly in black fleece when we hit the 19C weather at Kamloops.

We are now settled at Dutch Lake Resort in Clearwater, BC. We opted to come here as it is a quiet little spot off the highway and it doesn't seem to be so well known. Perfect place for a long weekend hangout. We have full hookups and we are back on the internet! Also? A Laundromat. That will be tomorrow's agenda as it appears that rain is in the forecast. Enjoy the long weekend! 

Dutch Lake - our campsite view

Shuswap Lake Provincial Park

This truly is a beautiful park. Probably up there as one of the nicest we have stayed in. The sites are large and spread out over acres of cedar forest. Even if every site was occupied, you would still feel somewhat secluded in your own space. Right now there are only a handful of campers and as we rode our bikes up and down row after row of empty sites, we can hardly believe that by tomorrow night, every one of these 275 spots will be occupied. It is hard to believe. The signs have been posted indicating that the only available area is in the overflow parking lot. 

Appropriately named newspaper

Yesterday as we sat around the campfire before dinner a light rain came up. We were able to remain at the fire with our umbrella attached to our chairs. Ron was disappointed that no one drove by to witness our cleverness.

We did remain indoors after dinner as it was a bit on the chilly side. Our little catalytic heater came in handy and kept our temp at about 15C while it was 8C outside. Just before bedtime it began to pour and we fell asleep with the heavy rain drumming on our camper. I love the sound. This morning we awoke to a bright blue sky once again, but it was only about 12C. We opted for a sightseeing drive along the lake. Lots of impressive real estate along here. It is interesting how many sale signs are posted though. I can't even imagine the price tag.

We have enjoyed our stay here. My biggest complaint would be the cost. It is now $30. for these unserviced provincial campsites. During the busy season or long weekends you must reserve at an added cost of $6. per night. Ridiculous. We stayed at Osoyoos for that and had full hookup plus cable, a pool and a hottub. Their price, however, will increase for the summer months.

Ron should be home momentarily from his extended bike ride to the beach area. It must be beer time!

Shuswap Provincial Park

Site #37A - $30 n/s, cell, Temp 15C

One of our 'big moves' again this morning. Left Herald at 10:15 am and drove 55 km to Shuswap Provincial Park. One of the couples we were chatting with were headed there and talked about how beautiful it was, so we decided to check it out. We'll probably just stay a couple days as there will not be any power once again and it will likely be very busy for the long weekend. 

We'll have to look for a less popular spot to hang out for the weekend. Also, I am badly in need of laundry facilities. Not sure if we will have cell service there, so thought I would send this off while I can.

Night one at Herald Prov Pk

Herald Prov Pk

Site #92 - $30, n/s, cell at mailboxes at entrance, Temp 19C

It was a cool night, but we slept well. The toughest part is getting out of bed in the morning. Brrr….

Shortly after we arrived yesterday a little thunderstorm and rain shower came up. It was a good excuse to do some sightseeing via truck. We found an area down the road where there was some cell service and it allowed me to check the email. It is interesting to see all the cabins along this side of the Shuswap. There aren't very many services near by and it is a long slow drive along a winding road to pick up supplies in Salmon Arm.

Back at the RV, the rain had stopped and the sun came out once again. We were able to have a campfire and roast some wieners for supper.

and then it started to rain again . .

This morning Ron did some sleuthing around the sites but is disappointed at how clean they are. No treasures to be found. There are only about 4 or 5 of us camped here, so it is very quiet. Perfect for enjoying the birds and the sound of the rushing water from the nearby creek. We rode our bikes around the campground and down to the day use area. I found a place with some cell service and I will head back shortly to post this update using my mobile wifi. Right now I am enjoying a spot of sunshine at our campsite. Ron has taken the camera and hiked up to Margaret Falls.

We did the hike last time we were here in 2004 and 2005. We have paid for one more night here and then it is decision time once again.

Leaving Vernon

Christal's parents came over yesterday morning and the men took charge in the kitchen and served up some bacon, eggs and hashbrowns. Once again we spent most of the day outdoors and Christal's sister, Cara and family stopped by for a visit in the afternoon. The planked salmon Christal prepared for dinner was awesome. I discovered I love Quinoa.

Best way to eat!

This morning Ron and I fueled up, picked up some groceries and said our goodbyes. Sad face on this Grandma. I will certainly miss those smiles and snuggles.

As we drove away from Jeff's, we were still having the conversation. Should we go north to Herald Provincial Park or east to Gold Miners RV Park at Cherryville? The final decision? Herald Park. It's a bit cloudy and cooler, so we'll see how long we last in the trees without power for our electric heater.

Later: All set up at Herald. It is actually quite pleasant here and plenty warm in the sunshine. We have a nice private site next to the showers. Unfortunately there is no cell service or internet available, so we will be off the grid for a few days. The test . . . . how testy will I be without my electronics ;)

Fun Times

So today consisted of water, dirt, dandelions, bubbles and plenty of smiles. Best summed up in pictures rather than words.

More Vernon photos can be found here: https://goo.gl/photos/A5arpw79NQksGULo8  

Vernon arrival

We are camped out in Jeff and Christal's driveway for the weekend. Owen was very intrigued with Grandma and Grandpa's 5th wheel that is parked in his driveway. He has been up and down the steps many times but he will not go through the door. A cautious peek in the RV door is as far as he will venture.

'Dude' in the bushes

Evelyn has grown and changed so much from when we saw her at Christmas. We've been treated to plenty of smiles and lots of happy cuddles. We continue to spend much of our time outdoors. Owen, a ball and a Frisbee have provided great entertainment. Jeff and Ron just took the kids for a neighbourhood walk with the double stroller. 

That 30C weather has followed us here. The report from Richard and Janice from the Moyie Lake Prov. Park last night was "It's frickin' cold!" I think we'll just hang here for awhile!

saying Goodbye to Osoyoos

Another day of perfect 30C weather. What an awesome stay at Osoyoos.

Yesterday we biked along Lakeshore Drive and then hung in the park on the lake for awhile. The fish were jumping and the birds were busy -- great entertainment. Back home we had lunch and beers and another 'laid back' afternoon. Damn… retirement is a tough life! The evening menu? Spotted prawns. Caught and prepared by Richard. Yum! Another evening campfire at the end of another great day. 

This morning, Richard and Janice were on the road by 10 am. They are en route to Regina, but unsure where they will set up camp this evening. We will be making our way to Jeff and Christal's driveway shortly. Looking forward to some grandparenting time.