STARTING RETIREMENT!

Drayton Valley, AB
Site #6 - $90/wk p/w/s
Showers 25¢ free wood

Yay!!  Ron is officially retired and we head off on our first 'Now Retired' RV trip!

We left Saskatoon about 9:30 a.m. and arrived in Drayton Valley at 5:30.  We set up camp in the town campground.

We had dinner with Charlie, Carolyn, Dominique and Dustin. Scott was at camp. Vera was in the hospital with a broken pelvis which was the reason we headed to Drayton.

Our week:
- Shopping
- Ron & Charlie go fishing and Ron tries out his new fishing rod, a retirement gift from Marv/Linda.
- Hospital visits
- Campfires (joined by Carolyn's sister Janet and the kids)
- to Edmonton for an evening. The bros meet the Michauds at Leduc to discuss the 2000 family reunion. 

- another fishing trip with all four of us this time. Temp only 3C brrrr!!

We packed up and left on Monday June 7th at 10:30 a.m. Charlie came for breakfast, but Carolyn was working (school aide).

1999 - First Spring Outing!

Manitou, Sk
Site #114 - $13 (season pass $20) p only (x2)
Temp 22C

It was a cloudy day, but the temperature continued to get warmer as we left Regina. 

The evening was beautiful as we sat around the fire. Not a breath of wind!

On Saturday, we were up by 8:30. We drove to the spa and and wandered through the few stores in the townsite. We then walked to Camp Easter Seal and back.

It got very windy and it continued to get worse. The temperature dropped from 25C to 20C mid afternoon.

Back home Sunday.

Wakaw Regional Pk

Site A28 - $12.

Last campout for the season.  Always a sad time.

It was a warm sunny weekend.  We drove through the cabin area and ran in to Brian Cebryk and his kids who had a cabin across the lake.  He came to the 5th wheel for a beer.

Also saw Ted and Sue Trenchard (from church) at the Beach.

And then the weekend and summer camping was over . . .

Battleford Prov Pk

Site #100 - N.camp $18. p.only
wood available
free showers, push button

We made the decision to go camping while having lunch on Friday.

We dropped our old Chev Truck off at a consignment sales lot and headed to the park, arriving at 7:30 p.m.

It was a cool evening.  Fall had arrived early!  There were a lot of coloured leaves on the ground.  We had a campfire, shower and off to bed at midnight.

Saturday we hiked around the park area and went for a drive through the cabin area.  It was fairly windy, but it let up in the evening in time for another campfire.

We left the park at 3;30 on Sunday.

Cochrane, BC

Kinsmen Campground - $17. w/p

Your basic stall parking.  The campground was mainly filled with oil field workers.

We went for a walk along the river.  There were a lot of large homes backing on to the one side of the river.

We had an evening fire with smokies, cheese and crackers for supper.  We were homeward bound after breakfast.

Kesslar Reunion, Skookumchuk

Aug 1-8

Springbrook Resort (Barnie & Marnie - owners)
Site #25 - $18. + $4. Tents, full hookup

We spent Friday night at Mike's in Medicine Hat and then headed to Skookumchuk on Saturday.  Charlie's, Shawn's (Brea 2 1/2 mon.) and John & Jill had already arrived on Friday.  The rest of the crew arrived Sat, except for Rhonda who came Wed.

Note: Jeff and Greg came.  Jeff had just returned from Montreal on his way back to Banff to resume work there.  We picked up Greg in SC.

Such a fun week!!  Believe it or not, Charlie had brought along his deep freeze filled with all the meat for the week.  (How the Kesslars camp!!)  We potlucked the rest of the food.

It rained when we arrived, but we had hot days (cool nights) the rest of the week at 28-34C.

We played a lot of Bocce ball, went to the beach at Wasa Lake and some went to the Hot Springs - both the natural ones and the one's at Fairmont.  Some went for go-cart rides and some headed over to Fort Steele. Jim, Janet, Larry and Phyllis golfed every morning and Ron went out twice.





We had huge bonfires (called a 'Jimmie' as Jim kept adding wood as Shannon chopped) and we got in trouble for being too loud a couple of times. It was a busy awesome week!

We left Saturday at 1:30 pm and dropped Jeff and all his belongings off at Banff, then headed on to Cochrane.

Dillberry Prov Pk

Site C106 - $17.
Wood available, no store

This was the first camping trip with our new truck. We picked up the Ram 2500 quad cab Cummins diesel long box at 11 a.m. and we left Saskatoon at 2 p.m.

It was pouring rain and very windy. We had some concerns about the power of the truck but when we arrived at Dillberry, we discovered that Mike and Charles had the same towing problems. The wind was totally to blame.

We arrived at the park at about 6 p.m, set up camp and had lasagna and buns for dinner. Charlie and Mike arrived about 9 p.m. We put the three units on two sites plus there were tents for the kids.

It was quite windy on Saturday until about 6 p.m. and then the winds died and the sun came out.

We walked to the beach. The lake is very shallow, but there is a really nice sandy beach.

Sunday was sunny and hot. We left about 3 p.m. all the others were still sitting around roasting wieners.

It was a great weekend - good food, lots of laughs and lots of fun!

Pike Lake Provincial Pk

Site #95 - $18. (nice private site)
Wood available

I had spent the week doing data entry for the upcoming bi-election. We finished up Friday at 4:30, so made a last minute decision to go camping.

I phoned Ron at 5 pm. He came home, loaded up, filled the water tank and we were on the road by 6 pm.

It was a cool evening and a 'warm water' only shower didn't help matters. We went for a hike.  The nature trail was very interesting switching from a dry sandy area to wet lush growth.

The campground was not real busy. Most all of the double sites were empty. There was some loud music being played Saturday and Sunday during the day, but thankfully, it wasn't too bad at bedtimes.

Darryl and Deanne came out on Sunday afternoon for beer, smokies and sauerkraut.

Darryl tried flying a kite but there wasn't enough wind. The weather remained cloudy until late afternoon and then the sun came out. (18C)

Darryl and Deanne went on the nature trail hike while we did the dishes. We were packed up and ready to head home when they got back at 6 p.m.

Manitou Regional Pk

Site #114 - $13.
Wood sold

Friday evening was perfect. No wind and sweatshirt only needed at the fire. Dinner was a Caesar salad with a wiener roast.

On Saturday, we test drove a Ford diesel truck. Later we went for a long hike to the Camp Easter seal property. We ended the hike with an icecream cone from the spa.

In the late afternoon, it clouded up plus got windy and cool with a temperature drop.

It's Camping Season, 1998!!

Wakaw Lake Regional
Site A-11 $12. (+ park pass $15.)
free wood available

Finally!!  My urge to camp becomes a reality! Wakaw Lake opens on May 1 with their power and water turned on.

Sign says "Choose-a-Site", but it turns out we pick a seasonal rental spot. Crap!  Turned out it wasn't a problem and we didn't have to move.

The sun was shining and it was 15C when we arrived. Got set up, bread-a-baking and had dinner at 7:30 - raw veggies and dip with a wiener roast!  Awwwww...... contentment!

Unfortunately, the temp dropped to 0C in the evening, so it was out with the parka and mitts. The showers weren't working but the attendant rectified the problem the next day.

Saturday, we had problems with a very persistent robin who was seeing his shadow in our mirrored 5th wheel windows and who was continually 'attacking' himself.  He would not give up! Even though he was dazed with a bleeding beak.  :(

We finally covered the window with newspaper.  At 5 am the paper blew off and the robin was back at the window.  Unbelievable crazy! (and very annoying@!)

We stayed at the park until after dinner and then headed for home.  We got caught in a horrible windstorm -- 70 to 100 km winds plus poor visibility with blowing dust.  We ended up waiting it out at the Wakaw corner garage for 1 1/2 hrs.  Finally, we arrived home at 9 pm.