Norbury Lake, BC

Norbury Prov Pk
Site #6 - no charge (x2) noone came by! n/s, cell service

We said our goodbyes to Taber and hopefully the snow!?? As we left the park, there was a prison or remand centre gang in their orange jumpsuits along with their uniformed "supervisor" raking the campground! It was great see them out working off their "misdeeds"!

Despite the snow, it was a good 3 day stay. Many campfires, walks, some reading and relaxation. Gotta love camping!

So we are back 'online' - cell service again. We are certainly getting some news. We were bombarded with the announcement of Meghan Markle and baby.

Anyway, typical of our usual "no firm and last minute change of plans", we ended up at Norbury Lake Prov Pk, south of Ft. Steele. It was our first time visiting this park! Ahhhh..... that pine smell. What a nice quiet little park beside a beautiful little lake.



It's was a HOT 23C with sunshine!! What a day! And there are crocus's everywhere! LOVE Love them!!!

We did our bike tour, found the pretty little lake nearby, wood was gathered and chopped and -- BEER TIME!

A great day ending with an evening around the campfire. It was warm enough to be outside after dinner.

HO HO HO...Not!

Yup the forecasters were right about the snow. Damn. We had hoped it would be more wet than white!  We did have a short fire yesterday but we barely had time to barbecue dinner before the rain got heavier and turned to snow.

It would have been pretty if it wasn't May and if we weren't camping!

Anyway, our little electric heater has kept us warm and the temps are going up. I expect things will melt fast.

2:00 -- Another quick trip to town.Thankfully most of the snow has disappeared. We will be headed through the Crowsnest Pass tomorrow, so hope it's clear sailing! Our next stop is likely Kikomun Prov. Pk, south of Jaffray.  It will be nice to have cell service again!  In the meantime, this is how we have to try and capture that weak cell signal.... phones in window.

Tally ho to Taber

Taber Municipal Park
Site # 44 - $25 (x3), p only, Temp 11C

Well we made it through night one in the RV! Although it is never good to see snow in the ditches when you are headed for camping!

It was a big surprise to see all the other campers in the campground when we arrived. Crazy people, lol!! Obviously snow in the forecast doesn't deter people!

Anyway, we were able to grab our favourite spot and we set up camp.

It was decent enough in the sun and after a walking tour of the campground we enjoyed some of that free firewood. Cheers!

I have to say that I'm pretty excited that my campground tour now involves walking!! How cool is that!!?  It's been a lot of years since I've walked or hiked.

We went for a short hike this morning and then warmed up with some homemade soup for lunch.

It is cloudy and cooler at 5C today, but that didn't stop this young couple from saying "I do" on the river bank. Brrrr... those bare arms...

The cell service is sporadic to non-existent in this campground, so we will head to town shortly for some wifi. We haven't firmed up plans, but I think we are here until Monday.

Anticipating Spring will arrive?

This past week has been COLD. And WINDY. It's makes it difficult to get excited about camping. Today when we awoke to NO frost on our deck glass, we decided that it was time. And then came the rain with a mix of snow. Geez..... !@*!

But you know the old saying -- "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute." And yes after lunch the sun came out and the temp went up.  So we made the decision to pick up the old beast.

Most of our packing is done and Ron is working on a hot water tank leak. If all goes well, we will leave tomorrow and go as far as Taber for a few nights.  Updates will follow!

Later: That leak is repaired, the day's packing is done and we enjoyed an awesome meal of ribs on our deck. Seriously, it's hard to believe that there was snow this morning! Crazy weather!

Headed Home

Feeling sad.  But looking ahead there doesn't seem to be much [sun] light at the end of this [cold] tunnel.  So with much disappointment, we decided to cut our Fall camping season short and head home.

We had a great 2 weeks but mother nature hasn't been very cooperative.  We have emptied and prepped the 5th wheel for winter, but if someone were to turn up the heat, we could be convinced to head out for a few more nights.  Anyway, looking forward to a hot bath and a warm bed tonight!

I've added a couple more photos from Writing on Stone.  You can view more by clicking on the photo link in the left column of our RV Travel webpage under the heading Trip Pics. 

Writing on Stone Prov Park

Milk River, AB
Writing on Stone PP - Site #22, $33 p only (x4), Temp 11C, no cell, wifi Interpretive Ctre

Writing on Stone turned out to be a good choice. When we arrived on Friday, the sun was shining and at 12C, it was probably the warm spot of SK and AB. But, what is with this weather?? September used to be our favourite camping month with continued summer-like weather. Not so much anymore. I miss those good old days.

The campground was quite busy with weekend campers. We are continually amazed when the cooler weather doesn't deter campers. Not even the tenters! There was a group from the U of C Archeologist program camped across from us in tents. One of the fellas told Ron he was quite comfortable last night, but if he got cold he'd come and knock on our door. (It was about 5C outdoors when we woke up that morning.)

We were disappointed to see the fire ban when we arrived on Friday, but we made use of our propane pit.

Then good news! The ban was lifted on Saturday! We were burning wood by 3 pm for the rest of our stay.

Ron hiked the hoodoos and took some great photos. I biked around the campground and did a little walking with my walking sticks. Also, there is no cell service in the campground so I drove to the Visitor Centre at the top of the hill for cell and wifi updates. (Poor as it was!)

We enjoyed those early fires (to keep warm!!) but moved indoors in the evenings for a game of Sequence or some reading. Damn! It was just too chilly outside.

We have paid for one more night and then will decide if it's time to give up and head home. Or maybe we'll do a couple nights at Taber Municipal Campground. Decisions decisions.

Moving Day

Wednesday afternoon at Cypress was interesting. Thunder, lightning, downpour, then sunshine and blue skies. All within 30 minutes. We remained at our campfire with a little help from our umbrella and the canopy. 

It actually turned out to be a beautiful evening complete with rainbow. Gail was back in Cypress on Thursday and joined us at the fire for the evening. 

Friday we awoke to -0C on our thermometer. It was wet, foggy and friggin' cold outside! Time to move on. We decided to go the shorter south route through Consul. Wrong decision. The road beyond Consul was gravel and slippery with the recent rains. We turned around, headed back the Maple Creek, Hwy 1 route and marked it up to a wasted 2 hours and an extra 120 km drive.

Lunch and a quick stop in Medicine Hat. We were passing through, so why not. We dropped off laundry, picked up mail and it was on to Writing on Stone Prov Park.

Our week at Cypress

On Monday many of the campers checked out. Maybe they had heard the SK/AB snow forecasts and decided to flee. Then there was us who actually paid for 4 of more nights! Ron loves having all those vacated sites to check out for little treasures that may have been left behind.

Our Monday and Tues weather was great and we continued to enjoy our biking and campfires.

Popcorn, yum! And our bikes are a great way to check out those "closed for season" campgrounds.

The deer were never far away, and that little guy in the next photos came for daily drinks. (Yes, we will need to get that leak in our water tank fixed!) 

Wednesday we awoke to rain and cold. A good day for a trip to Maple Creek for groceries. The day certainly looked brighter and warmer when we returned to our RV.

So here's hoping that the weather warms up for the weekend. We have yet to decide where (or which direction) our next stop will be.

more from the Hills

Except for the wasps that continue to torment us, we are enjoying our stay in the Hills. The weather has been awesome.

On Friday we biked and did a driving tour. Ron drove with Mike to pick up Zoe and Ashton. We had our evening fire at their campsite in Rainbow. 

Saturday we decided to would ride our bikes to the Bald Butte lookout. The sign at the corner of our campground said 5.4 km. Not so far, right?? Well we peddled for 20 minutes or so thinking we would be arriving soon. And then we came to the next sign saying 2.4 km. A much younger, much more 'in-shape' couple zoomed by. We left them to it, turned around, headed home, got the truck and drove to the lookout! We passed those in-shape bikers on their way back. 

Saturday evening Mike, Gail, Zoe and Ashton came for supper. Their day had consisted of painting rocks, the Segway tour and watching the Rider game via laptop. We enjoyed a chicken/pork tenderloin meal together and we roasted marshmallows over the fire.

The evening entertainment included a couple of bucks locking horns just behind our campsite. Cool. Unfortunately it was too dark for photos. Mike and gang left early for the 'Star gazing' program at the Observatory. Ron and I enjoyed the stars from our spot at the campfire.

Sunday came and went with more of the same - great weather, biking, campfire.  Loving the Fall Colours!

And that brings us to the office this morning to pay for a few more nights. We are a little worried about the upcoming weather forecasts, but will stay put for now... Lots of wood, so a warm campfire remains inviting!

It's September!?

Cypress Hills, SK
Meadows Campground, Site #110 - $30 p only (x7), Temp 22C

Holy... SUMMER... Where did you go so quickly?? I can hardly get my head around the fact that the cabin is closed and we are camping. Yikes! It was a bit of a whirlwind week leading up to this point. There was a lake visit with Richard and Janice. A trip back to Medicine Hat for laundry and groceries plus we picked up Kari at the airport. Then it was back to lake for a weekend of partying and wedding festivities in SC. (Gail's son Lucas and Maddy got hitched.) The cabin was closed and packed up with water lines blown and the pier taken out. Back at home we enjoyed one last evening with Kari before she flew home. We retrieved and packed up the RV, then, lo and behold, HERE WE ARE! Camping. At Cypress Hills Provincial Park.

It took a few tries to find a decent site. Who knew it would be this busy? And unfortunately for us, the Online Reservations are still available cutting down the "First Come" choices. 

Anyway, the weather was great and the firewood is free so we enjoyed our first evening. Well, mostly... WASPS... 'Tis the season. Yuck! 

Friday: Mike and Gail will be arriving at the park shortly and Zoe and Ashton will be here for the weekend. Let the good times roll!