Night at Grenfell, SK

Grenfell Regional Park

Site #1 - $15, p only

We made pretty good time today and drove until 7 p.m. In Ron's words: "It is so nice not to be driving in the wind." That was the deciding factor to keep going!  The trip went pretty quick for me. I worked on the computer most of the way -- getting caught up with my 'scrapbooking" or my digital photo albums. I hadn't worked on them all summer.  And then we arrived in Grenfell.

It's a good thing we don't speed.  There were 3 cop cars sitting in the ditch between Regina and Grenfell. Guess they were picking up all the speeders heading home after the long weekend!

This is a decent little campground. We pulled in to a drive through site that was completely level and it even had  a box of wood sitting by the firepit for us. Nice welcome!!  It was almost too good to be true. And, yes it was !!! There were TRAINS!! ALL NIGHT LONG!

Anyway, it was a beautiful evening.  We hadn't anticipated that we'd have any fires along the way -- and we may even do some Walmart parking lots, but it was nice to relax here last night.

I didn't sleep well, but Ron seemed okay with the trains. He said "there were only 2 through the night".  I said if that is all you heard, you were lucky!! There were at least 6 !

We were on the road by 8:45 am.  Tonight we'll make Kenora or beyond. The wind is coming straight at us today, so it's not smooth sailing like yesterday.

Fall 2007 - Ottawa & USA

Well, we did it... all packed and ready to hit the road....  We are getting away a day early as Ron's team had to cancel tonight's windup for lack of caterers on this holiday Monday!!! They'll get together tomorrow night, but we don't want to stay the extra day...

so we'll be in touch along the road when we can...  We hope to be in Ottawa by Saturday for a week to 10 days.... (if Greg & Kim will have us that long)... we should be able to park in his driveway as it is long enough to accommodate us.... so that will be nice!

and then from Ottawa to to states etc. and take our time home...

Probably won't get home until mid October...
anyway... must go...

Wedding Bells, Calgary, AB

Calgary West Campground
Site #407 - $29 (x3), p/w, Internet

We arrived Friday. After setting up we headed shopping for shoes and corn!

The "I Do's" were Saturday morning.  It was a lovely wedding in a really nice wedding pavilion just five minutes from the campground. There was light lunch and cake after the ceremony.





Bob and Marilyn came back to the campground and the evening reception/dinner was held at the Hotel.  We met back at the Hotel on Sunday morning for breakfast.

On Monday morning we dropped off my camera at the Canon Shop for repairs before heading home.  Lanny Church was the hired photographer for Deb's wedding and we ran in to him again at the Canon Shop!!  What are the chances after all these years. (Note: The Church family lived across from us on Ashley Drive when we were growing up!)

Hwy 41 near Hilda, AB

Sandy Point Campground, S SK River
Site #? - $5, n/s, Temp 30C+, no cell except from top of hill

Again, it was VERY HOT.  Also? Bugs!! Sandflies, mosquitoes and blackflies. Between the bugs and the heat, our stay wasn't great.  We ended up using the fan with the inverter for night two which helped with sleeping somewhat.

Although we were parked on the river, it wasn't easy to get down to it from our site plus the shore was rock and mud.  Anyway, we stuck it out two nights though it was not the best camping experience.

Curling at Bindloss, AB!

Thursday - Saturday:  We arrived with 5th wheel at the Fieldberg farm at 2 pm on Thursday and we parked on a cement pad in front of garage. Thankfully there was power was available!  It was HOT HOT at 35-40C and we ran the air conditioner.

The Fieldberg's daughter and young son live on the farm and were around during our stay.  She is a distributor for some oil field products and raises chickens on the farm.

The spiel was at the Empress Curling Club and Hills and us played at 7 pm. Ack! the ice was HORRIBLE.  It was very slippery underfoot and yet heavy for the rocks. We looked like real amateurs out there slip sliding everywhere!  The Fieldbergs/Elders curled at 9 pm and both of us lost our first games.  We were back at the farm at midnight.  Nightcap and bed 2 am!

On Friday the guys went fishing and the ladies played cards. We also headed to Tish and Harold's son's place and met their family.

Dinner was chili and salads. We didn't play again until Sat. at 2, but we headed to the rink to watch the Fieldberg's 9 pm game.



We had breakfast in town on Saturday and watched the town parade.



Three Medicine Hat teams ended up in the "C" Finals and we decided to split the winnings 3 ways and we said our goodbyes on Sunday morning.

Good to be Home!

It was a very windy wet drive home. We considered pulling in to a Walmart parking lot and spending the night as it's not easy driving in those head & side winds!! Anyway, made it home and didn't unpack any more than we had to in the pouring rain. Everything certainly looks green and lush around here though!!

Our home seemed pretty big after the month of trailer life !!  The best part was the long soak in the jet tub!! Now our 5th wheel is back in the compound and I am just finishing up the last of the laundry. Ron's checking out the ball schedule.

That's all for this trip. We'll pick up Greg & family in Calgary at 10 a.m. Saturday.

south of Pincher Creek, AB

Beauvis Lake Prov Pk
Site #6 - $18, p only, Temp 23C

The weather was good, so we decided on one more night of camping south of Pincher.  This campground is nice, but the sites are quite close together and a bit open.

We set up, had a beer and went for a quick bike ride.  There were thunderstorms developing all around us and it began to rain during supper hour.  It was over by 6:30 when we were done our perogies and sausage, so we went for another bike ride and then had an evening campfire.

It rained on and off through the night and we made use of the heater.  It was raining lightly when we left in the am.

At any rate, we were able to see a bit of the area. It's really a very pretty area of the province. I can see why people would be enticed to move to this area.  There are some really nice acreages in the area.  And now, we are homeward bound!

Wasa Lake

Wasa Lake Prov Pk
Site #7 - $17, n/s Temp 32C

and the hot weather continued! We even had our windows and vents open at night to cool down. That is quite a change from when we started out a month ago and had trouble staying warm at night!

We swam a couple of times in Wasa Lake. The beaches were full of people on Sunday when we arrived, but had it to ourselves Sun evening and yesterday. I couldn't get over how warm it was. I don't think I would be swimming in Lac Pelletier yet !! Anyway, this little lake was great. It is advertised as the warmest lake in the rockies and I'm sure it would stretch a little further! We also did our usual pedal around the lake on the bike path. It is not a very big lake, but it's a nice ride.

The rivers are running pretty high and muddy around here. The Kootney River was flooding in some low lying areas and they are preparing for more flooding with all this heat. We did have a rain shower last night and were unable to have our campfire. Still it never cooled off below 18C and we still had to open the window during the night.

It's a little cloudy & gray this a.m. as we leave Wasa Lake. We still intend to give Beauvis Lake a try, however, that will depend on the weather as we get closer. If raining, we may just continue on home.

Sunday

Upon leaving Revelstoke this a.m., we decided to go south at Golden and spend a couple of days at the Wasa Lake Prov. Pk just south of Radium. It is still pretty warm here, so I think we'll look for a shady site this time!! :-)

After Wasa, we'll likely spend a night at Beauvis Prov. Pk in AB, which is just south of Pincher Creek.  Our next stop is home!! 

It's been a great month on the road other than the few little 'mechanical problems". We'll have to get the inverter problem fixed when we get home. Luckily, our 5th wheel batteries seem to get enough charge on the road to get us through 3 days, so that's a good thing. We've done more 'dry camping' this trip than ever before!

So it will be a busy few days when we get home. I only did laundry the one time while we were at Kari's, so that will be one big chore.  We will stock up on some groceries and it will be off to Calgary to pick up Greg, Kim & Connor!! 

Revelstoke, BC

Blanket Creek Prov Pk
Site #6 - $14, n/s, Temp 24C

Wow !! It is CRAZY hot here - 28C in the shade. It is so weird to see the snow on top of the mountains just beyond our site and we are sweating big time down here! Usually for our May camping trip we are looking for sites that get lots of sunshine as it is normally cool camping weather. So -- same thing here. We pick the sunny site and think we are so smart! :-) We didn't expect Revelstoke would get so hot. It's a good thing we have the canopy to provide a spot of shade!! Our camper is like an oven !@ during the day! Oh well, it still cools down at night, so it's comfy for sleeping.

This is a beautiful campground, although no services, as with all BC Prov. Pks. MOST spots are well treed and somewhat private -- Humingbirds a plenty!! There are not very many campers so far, but maybe tonight being the start of a weekend.

We are just beside the Columbia River and at the start of the Arrow Lakes. We've been on a couple of easy bike rides and an easy hike. In the heat of the day, some shade and a beer is still the best! There is a large 'man-made' pool surrounded by sand on site and we hung out there for awhile after lunch. I read while Ron scoured the beach with his medal detector (not much money being found!)

Saturday:  We are heading in to Revelstoke (24 km) for a few groceries. Our bikes are on the back of the truck and we'll do a quick pedal along the Riverside Bike Path. We will be leaving tomorrow, but we are not exactly sure which direction or which campsite yet!