Two weeks!?

Things have been pretty quiet since the Mennonite family from next door left on Saturday. Mostly it is just us and the birds! 

A few new campers have popped in and out. Some families and some teens have dropped in to swim but most didn't stay long. Those cool breezes!!

Two weeks at Rolling Hills was a bit too long for us this year! A lesson learned. We will only pay in 4 day increments next time in case we decide to leave sooner! That wind on top of those rainy days inside get to be a little much! We were ready to head home!

One other issue with this campground is there is NO WATER in the campsites. We can not go much more than one week on a tank of water. There is one tap at the entrance for filling our 5 gallon jugs which we then have to haul back to pour in to our RV tank. It's heavy hauling and requires our truck and a hand cart. Not fun!

We woke up to rain on Wednesday so we made the 8 minute drive to Kinbrook Prov Park to see if there has been any changes since our last visit. And yes, the trees have certainly grown and filled in! The park looked good. The best part is we learned that in the "off season"  we can arrive and register at the office as opposed to reserving online! There were certainly plenty of empty sites as we drove through. We will probably check in for a stay come Fall. It will be nice to ride our bikes on the those trails once again.

Brooks was only a further 15 minutes away, so we made a quick trip for milk, yogurt and fuel. We will pack up and head for home in the morning.

Our unit will be put in storage for the summer.

             And then it is "Hello Lake"  time .........

It's Friday!

It was great to see blue skies again. 

We were stuck inside for 3 days. The heavy winds on top of the rainfall made it far worse! A lot of reading and rock painting were done! My pedlar enabled me to continue to reach my 10,000 steps. 

We had a short but smoky fire on Wednesday night. Damp wood. But things were back to normal Thursday. 

A Mennonite family pulled in next door with their motorhome and various paddleboards, bikes and toys. Six kids from a toddler (on a breathing machine) to teens. It was typical "old school" where the young ladies did all the work, cooking, cleaning and dishes while the boys played in the water, rode bikes and had fun. Dad had his nose buried in a cell phone and appeared to not notice they even existed. 🙄 Such a life. Ron chatted with the wife a bit and it sounds like they have a Motel in Coaldale. Anyway people around always seem to provide good entertainment!

There was a dead gull on the beach after all the wind and rain. The bird was removed, but we assume it is the partner that has been hanging in the spot and hardly moving for the past 3 days. There were no other Gulls around.

We googled and learned something new. Gulls are monogamous and generally mate for life. Pairs reunite each breeding season to share parenting duties, including incubating eggs, protecting the nest, and feeding their chicks. 

However, their relationships aren't always perfect:  "Gull Divorce": Pairs can sometimes separate, typically due to consistent breeding failures or if one bird arrives late at the nesting grounds. Interesting. I did not know. And this Gull obviously seems to be mourning!

No Sun Sunday

And just like that our HOT weather has disappeared. Crazy... How can it go from 30C to 9C overnight!? The fan has been put away and our little electric heater is back out 🥴. That '30' is now the wind speed and not the temperature.

Prior to today, we spent all hours outdoors. There were lots of "littles" around to keep us entertained. Baby geese, baby robins and little humans.

Then came last night's wind and drizzle. This may have been the last fire we have for awhile. 

This morning Ron only stepped out long enough to "batten down the hatches" from the wicked wind. He is happy spending the day on his electronics. 

My day will be spent on the rocks 😉😁 and reading.  

On the road again

Well we had a very busy Wednesday in the Hat. Ron was able to purchase a replacement spare tire and have it mounted on the 5th wheel. 

I did an online order at Superstore. Prior to the pickup time we stopped at the Greenhouse for our usual cuc's, tomatoes and peppers. We also picked up a few meat and veggie items at the Coop that I prefer not to order online. When I received a message that Superstore online Express was down and all orders were delayed, we opted to head home and wait. Packing and more laundry!! And then 5:30 rolls around. An email arrives saying the online orders have all been cancelled. SH*T!! So it was off to Superstore to fill my own order. I hate that store!! Except when someone else is filling the order. 

Anyway, with much hustle in the high heat we were off to the Rolling Hills Thursday morning. It was such a relief to be in our choice spot with feet in the water! 

Hopefully our luck is changing and we can enjoy some relaxation!! We were lucky with a couple of great wood finds!! It was a little too warm for an evening fire but there will be other evenings. We made use of the air conditioner!

Home

Well we are home. It has not been a great day. We blew a tire just beyond Tilley. It is not easy jacking up an RV and removing a flat. We have done this too many times before!! Loosening the lug nuts was almost impossible. It took some swings of the axe on the wrench. This was all taking place on the side of the highway in 36C weather. 

Of course our spare was low. 🤬 Our little converter can't handle the compressor. And yes we knew that. We've been there before!! 

So we disconnected the 5th wheel and Ron drove back to Tilley for air. Finally we were hooked up and rolling 1 1/2hours later. 

We arrived home at 5:30 to discover the re-stucco and painting that was to have been completed on our condo unit was in fact not done. They had a rain delay and then today their machine broke down. So all our windows and doors are covered in plastic and taped shut. At least we can go in and out of the garage. 

Anyway, Ron will be tire shopping tomorrow and I will continue with the umpteen loads of laundry and some food restocking. We'll see whether we can be ready to camp again on Thursday??!! 

Something that put a smile on my face...Some of my rocks were found and posted on FB when I got home. I love putting smiles on little ones faces!

P.S. It was great not to boil water and manually make coffee this am!! And the first thing I did when we arrived home was pack the coffee maker!! 

Heading home

... and then there was us! Monday morning and the campground emptied once again. We were able to extend our stay for 1 more night thanks to our sweet Mexican gal. They have a 14-night limit rule and we had reached it. (It certainly makes no sense this time of year!🥴)

Funny incident. We love and make good use of the Merlin Bird app. If we hear unfamiliar bird chirps we use the Sound ID and the bird quickly pops up. Anyway there was chirping behind us while we were sitting at the fire the other night. Ron turned on the Sound ID and nothing. I tried on my phone. Nothing. That rarely happens. Anyway I finally locate where this "bird" chirp is coming from....

This is actually one of 5 babies running around our site. They are quite entertaining. And Merlin wasn't a fail after all! 😂😂

We did enjoy that extra day with 30C weather. Another hot one expected today. Anyway we are mostly packed and will head home after lunch. Lots of laundry and some grocery shopping will be involved. We we likely head to Rolling Hills on Thursday.

Still here

There have not been many changes to our daily routine. I did a load of laundry on Tuesday and on Wednesday we drove to Hanna for some groceries and a propane fill.

We did come across this family in the campground. A Great horned owl and young ones! Obviously the young ones were able to fly as they left this perch after a couple of days.

We had been enjoying the empty and very quiet campground when this happened. Two bus loads (about 16 people) of students along with tents and gear pulled in and set up camp. Right next door to us in an empty campground!!?😳 What are the odds? Anyway it turns out they were from the U of AB and were doing water sampling around the province. They were already gone by 10 am the following morning. They were more short term entertainment than a disruption! It was a lot of work to set up camp for that overnight stay. They also had to deal with some rain and chilly (3C) overnight temps!! Apparently their next stop is in the Medicine Hat area.

The week flew by and it was Friday once again. The weekend campers began to arrive.  We now have 3 young families camped next door. Hopefully they find some of my painted rocks!

We plan to head home on Monday for a few days. Our condo unit is getting new stucco and paint, so hopefully that will be completed before we arrive!? 

The Weekend Past

Our week at the Oasis has flown by and we have now paid for another week. 

It's amazing how busy it was for the long weekend despite the weather. Our loop was almost full. Campers are a tough bunch!! There were even a few tenters in the crowd...brrr!

People were out and about on Saturday even though the high for the day was only 6C. We spent the morning indoors, but we did go for an afternoon walk and we sat at the fire for a bit. We opted to use the propane firepit with our Brella. 

I brought out our thermometer and it showed that it was 10 degrees warmer in our little "dome".  A couple of roasted marshmallows made it just perfect! 

The place emptied quickly on Monday. We are back down to 3 only units. Ron is busy making the rounds looking for treasures left behind. Unfortunately people rarely leave wood these days! ☹️ It's too pricey. 

The sun is out and the temperature is rising. That seems to be typical for the end of a May long weekend. Thankfully we won't have to run our little electric heater all day!

THURSDAY WIND

It's Thursday and those "Yellow" wind warnings have struck. It rather discourages outdoor activities! Plus it may keep some campers from arriving.

I had a bad start to the day when my coffee filter full of grounds and boiling water tipped over on the counter, me and the floor. What a mess.  I will never forget our coffee pot at home again.

A couple things I didn't mention in my previous post. The campground attendant, Monica, is a young lady from Mexico who has been working here for the past 3 summers and who then heads back to Mexico for the "winter".  We always enjoy chatting with her. She originally came to Canada to pick vegetables before taking this job. A very sweet and interesting young lady!

And the not so sweet thing... MOSQUITOES!!!  I do not recall them being out and about this early before. YUK!! 

Anyway we have enjoyed plenty of outdoor time and hopefully we will be enjoying the outdoors the rest of our stay!!

            

       Warning: This 'face' could cause nightmares!😂

I am currently baking a loaf of bread and my current audiobook is calling to me. A little time indoors suits me just fine!

Later: Ron tells me it's quite pleasant in the sun and it is out of the wind along the side of the RV. I will give it a go! 

Moving on . . .

Sheerness (Hanna), AB

Prairie Oasis Park

On Monday morning we awoke to wind and rain so we opted to not move until after lunch. The rain stopped but it was not a pleasant drive in 30 km winds! Luckily it's only a 75 km drive! 

Part of the reason we chose to move early in the week was to make sure we got a decent site prior to the May Long weekend which is typically busy. We had quite the chuckle when we arrived and there was only one other unit in the campground! 😂 Our favorite sites were all available! The sun was shining and the winds subsided. It was a lovely evening for a campfire! 

We have done our bike tours and a walk along the beach which is groomed and ready and waiting for little footprints. 

I found one of my painted rocks from last year. Most of the paint had worn off so it's been touched up and rehidden along with a few others. 

Happy Mother's Day!

It's been a great 4 days. The nights are a little cooler but our little electric heater has kept us cozy. The one thing I forgot to re-pack is our coffee pot. I'm not really sure why it was taken out, but... ugh... coffee made manually!🥴🤬

The weather has been decent other than a bit more wind then we would like! The windscreens are much appreciated!

There are only 2 other units camped here besides us. We visited with one couple from the Hat and they are here for the month! There were 3 weekend fisherman in a tent for a couple nights. Other than that it's been pretty quiet. 

We continue to enjoy our walks and biking plus we went for a drive around the Reservoir. I am still painting and hiding my rocks for the kids to find. I actually found a couple that I had hidden last fall, so I must be hiding them a little too well! 😉😁

We love all the bird activity! It is crazy how many pelicans and cormorants gather here! I suspect they don't leave very many fish for the human fisherman! 

Unfortunately one poor robin built a nest in the wheel well of our truck. At least the discovery and removal took place before the eggs were added!! 

We will be moving to Prairie Oasis tomorrow and hopefully get a decent spot before the "long weekend". I suspect we will 'homestead' there for a couple of weeks. 

Camping 2026.. FINALLY!

Big Stone, AB

Blood Indian Park

Camping season started later than our usual or our planned date. We had hoped to be on the road April 29 or 30, but we got hit. With head colds, sore throats and coughing. Ugh. It was a rough few days. 

The wind also chose to not cooperate and we had to postpone for a couple additional days. We finally brought the unit home on Monday and started packing. More bad luck. The slide wouldn't pull in. Shi*t!! 

Ron was up early on Tues and took it to our RV guy. A replacement slide controller was overnighted and installed at 9:30 am on Wednesday. Finally some good luck!! At 11 am we were off!!

We pulled in to our choice site at 1 pm.  The sun is shining and no wind. Our good luck continues! We are looking forward to some campfires and relaxation! 🤞