Ready Set Camp! Dinosaur PP

Dinosaur Prov Pk
Site #S-33, $31 (x7) p only, wifi and some cell

Ahhhh..... camping feels good. We seem to have this gig down pat. We are well organised and once again nothing important was left behind.

It felt much warmer than the 14C in the park with the sun shining and no wind. . We set up camp and did our usual bike tour. I was extremely thankful that I could ride my bike with no problem. Although I have been riding my recumbent exercise bike at home, I was a little worried about the regular biking motion as I still have some swelling and stiffness in the op knee. However, it is working! A big relief. Hopefully when the other knee is done I can add more walking. 

These were the only other campers in the park last night besides us.

A little mishap at dinner last night. I forgot about the hot handle when I went to pick up the pan of onions and peppers. They ended upside down on the floor. So it was perogies and sausage without the side of veggies. Damn. Anyway, a couple of cocktails, a nice campfire and all was well in our world. 

Today it is cloudy with a breeze.  Hopefully tomorrow will bring some sun. We have paid for two more nights here.

2018 - Is it SPRING yet??

Whoa..  This has been a LONG winter with Spring reluctant to show it's face.  I believe April 20 is the latest our Cottonwood Golf Course has opened since we moved here 18 years ago. (Can you believe we've been here that long!!??)  Some of the passes are still seeing snow and Saskatoon showed possible snow this week. Seriously!!??

However, we have decided that this is camping season.  With the RV packed and ready to go, it was celebration cocktails on the deck last night. And we watched the semi-finals of the last curling event of the season. On Ron's tablet. What an evening with a high of 27C! It makes one wonder why we don't just stay home and enjoy it?!

And then this morning. Wind.... Ugh, a tow vehicle's nightmare. And, it's cloudy and cool today at 14C. *sad face* 

So our plans have changed and we'll be heading to Dinosaur Provincial Park tomorrow morning. We haven't planned further ahead than that. We will watch the weather and make plans as we go.

One day at a time. The good news?? I get to watch the curling finals on TV today!

Our final camp at Golden Sheaf Pk, AB

Golden Sheaf Park
Site #11 - $33, p/w (not potable, lake), Temp 22C, wifi golden20083

We managed to get through our appointments early - for the truck, a repair of the leaking transmission - for me, some Dr and lab work and we made the quick last minute decision to pick up and pack up the RV and head out for our last campout. We were on the road in just over an hour.

We had looked ahead at the forecast. It was not great after the weekend, so it didn't give us much time. We drove 20 min. to Golden Sheaf Park just west of town. We were the only campers other than some in the seasonal camping area. Perfect!

Upon arrival, the sun was hot and the beer / margarita was most enjoyable. Ahhhhh..... Camping!!

There was just enough activity on the reservoir to provide some great entertainment. Fisherman, canoers and something new to us. A sit-down hydrofoil board. I needed google to figure that one out!! Anyway, the board looks something like this attached photo.

And the fellow on it basically "pops" out of the water (very high!) with the help of the hydrofoil and also does some 360 spins. It was crazy fun to watch! We can't keep up with all these new water toys!!

We enjoyed some great weather. A number of propane fires (still a fire ban). Many bike rides about the park. Plus, the birds and wildlife. There are many bunnies in this park and a resident owl who we have seen and listened to on other visits. Huge flocks of geese come and go each evening.

The campground did get a little busier on Friday eve and we ended up with neighbours. Apparently it was a windup party for the seasonal campers and their families.  This seasonal camper (below) has the right idea!  And we did indeed celebrate 5 o'clock. Cheers, Ron!

Oh. Did I mention wind? The RV was rocking. And it wasn't us! It's a good thing it was a warm wind. It did keep the flies and the ladybugs off of us.  They were a bit of a nuisance the first evening.

We did enjoy our last campout.  Tomorrow we will do most of our winterizing on site and then it's back to the storage compound.  Camping 2017 has come to an end. 😢

Crawling Valley, Bassano, AB

Crawling Valley Campground
Site # - $30, p only, wifi office - poor, phone only

Well we high-tailed it out of Bow Valley and Canmore area because of Wednesday's forecast -- A high of 4C and nights showing minus numbers. Yikes.

We pulled in to another first for us campground at Crawling Valley Reservoir just north of Bassano. A really nice campground. There are a number of seasonal campers with boats. They come to fish on the Reservoir. We are told that all fish are available here, but you can't keep them.





The weather was decent when we arrived and we biked about. We sat out for cocktails while cooking dinner, but the wind came up and chased us indoors. It was another evening of me beating... I mean us playing Sequence.

It rained during the night and on and off Wednesday morning. And it remained windy. And chilly. It was a sad decision but as we looked at the upcoming week temperatures, we made the decision to head home tomorrow. (We had paid for 2 nights here or we may have headed home after 1 night!!) However, Ron did get a morning walk in and after lunch we drove out to see the Bassano Dam. We were impressed to find out it was built between 1910 and 1914. Pretty remarkable!



Thursday it was back home to wet and chilly (7C) Medicine Hat. We won't winterize as we still hope to spend a weekend or two and maybe Thanksgiving in a park. Somewhere.

NOTE: Links to more of these trip photos can be accessed from column on left of this blog under Trip Pics.

Bow Valley Prov Pk, Camrose, AB

Bow Valley Prov Pk
Site #E25 - $40, p/w

We were able to take advantage of the free Canada 150 National Park entry on Sunday with a partial drive along the Icefield Parkway.

We thought tourism might be slowing down for September but that wasn't the case. There was plenty of highway traffic, most of the pull offs were full of vehicles and tourists plus the shuttle parking lot between Banff and Lake Louise was jam packed. I can't even imagine what the two townsites were like. There were also a lot of bikers riding the path between Camrose and Banff. There is little doubt where the AB tourism 'hot spot' is located!

We stopped at Camrose to stock up on groceries and check the internet. This was another place that was humming with vehicles, people and activity. Everyone was out enjoying the last of the summer weather. (Yes, we did take a peek at the upcoming mid-week forecast -- yuk!)

And then it was on to Bow Valley Provincial Park. We like this campground and I am happy to have power and water hookups once again! It's the first 'fire ban' we have come across on this camping trip. We've been lucky to date. At least we can still have propane fires and we did just that! However we opted for an evening indoors and a game of Sequence after dinner.

We were warned of a bear in the area when we checked in and warning signs are posted in the campground. We also had an evening knock at the door with further warnings from the conservation officer. We have been told to stay off the park paths and to stick to the road. We did see a bear in the ditch along the Icefield Parkway. Of course there was a traffic jam with people out of their cars and crossing the highway trying to grab a photo. Crazy.

Monday was fairly windy but the temp warmed up nicely. We rode our bikes about the park and sat out for a late evening fire.  Hooray for propane firepits!

This tree intrigued us and had us stumped (hehe) for awhile. It looks like a pine tree with one branch of leaves growing out of it. It is actually a poplar tree with the pine tree snuggled up tight behind it so the pine branches are embracing it and appear to be growing from it.

We said our goodbyes to Bow Valley this morning.

more from Fish Lake, AB

We thought we might head to Bow Valley Prov. Pk near Canmore next, but decided it would be best to not arrive on a Saturday. Therefore one more night at Fish Lake.

Friday after our Nordegg visit, we drove through an area north of town. We were amazed at the number of beautiful "Alpine Homes" throughout the area with lots of new construction taking place. It was quite the community. 

We also drove through a gated RV park, with open gate, to see what it was all about. It was basically a large campground filled with permanent trailer and RV residents. Anyway, some old fart waved us down and told us to "turn around and get the hell out" because this was private property and we had no business there. (I sure as heck wouldn't want to be HIS neighbour, thank you very much!) Anyway, we are not really sure why there is such a large settlement in this area -- fishing, quading, skiing??? or maybe all of the above. It's strange that they don't have a decent grocery in Nordegg to accommodate them all?

We had a light rain on Friday evening as we sat around the fire, so made use of our umbrella. It was an enjoyable evening.

On Saturday we drove to Ram Falls Provincial Park. On the map, it appeared to be closer to Fish Lake or we may not have made the trip. It was a very winding drive down to the N. Saskatchewan River valley and up the other side through heavily forested area. Pretty but slow going. 

There is a nice little campground at this park in the middle of nowhere. I can't imagine pulling our 5th wheel there. Ron hiked to the Falls -- including the 133 steps down. He said the rock formations and the coal banks made for some pretty views. I didn't get to the Falls, but enjoyed the surrounding scenery. 

Back to camp for dinner and another evening fire and on to Bow Valley Prov Pk tomorrow via the Icefields Parkway.

Fish Lake, Nordegg, AB

Fish Lake Prov Rec Area
Site #5-96, $30 (seniors), n/s

It became quite smoky as we headed west towards Nordegg and the Icefield Parkway. We worried that campgrounds might therefore be closed. However, a quick phone call to assure the park was open and we pulled in to Fish Lake Park (94 km down the road from Crimson Lake). The power site loop was a narrow and steep. After one trip around the loop noting the best sites were already taken, we almost left. We chanced a drive around the non-powered area and found a great site overlooking a small pond. Sometimes it's worth it to forego the power.



Ron's luck finding firewood continues! This calls for a bigger fire!







Friday: It began to sprinkle as we ate lunch today so we decided to head to Nordegg for some groceries and internet. (We had to wait for our neighbour to drive away so we could snag an armful of wood!)

We managed to find some internet, but not much for groceries in Nordegg. Actually not much of anything to see there at all.  So, back to camp we go. The rain appears to have passed over. Happy Friday!

Crimson Lake, Rocky Mountain House, AB

Crimson Lake Prov Pk
Site #F19 - $33 p only (x3)

We passed a steady stream of campers on the road to Rocky Mountain House and we arrived at a near empty park just out of town. I suspect most are probably done camping for the season. We are certainly enjoying the quiet in the campgrounds once again. It was an opportunity to charge up our 5th wheel with some power and our bodies with a little extra sleep!

This was our first visit to the park. Very nice. We were excited about all the pathways around the campground but found that most of them involved pretty steep hills. We did do a quick bike tour around the campground loops followed by a driving tour of the cabin area. This resulted in a wood find for two evening fires.

Tuesday we drove to RMH for fuel, a few groceries and to use the laundromat. (Ugh, it was not the cleanest place.) I would have preferred the campground laundry, but there were only 2 washers and one of the 2 dryers was out of order. After nearly 3 wks on the road we were looking at 3 loads. On the up side, there was free internet!

It was an enjoyable stay with great weather so we opted for a third night. Also, we added this park to our 'come again' list.

Leduc & Buck Lake, AB

We spent one night on the street in front of Jim and Jan's in Leduc. Nephew, Don, and family dropped by for an evening visit.

Jan and I picked up a few supplies at the No Frills and we were all off to Buck Lake -- which the auto correct on my phone insists is F*** Lake!!!







So, our long weekend at F*** Lake:
Good times, busy times. Plenty of talking (mostly all at once lol), laughing, plenty of good eats (bacon for 15 coming right up!







And there was a turkey and a steak night). The guys got in a little fishing while the gals headed to the local market. (I opted to enjoy some quiet time.) There was a constant flow of people coming and going and almost as many dogs as people thrown in the mix.



The campfires were huge with many logs burned. Camping done right!







Games were played and minor repairs were made.
We had lots of visitors popping by. Lucian helped cut wood for the evening fire. Anora upped the cuteness level in the camp.

The Sunday night low was 0C, so it was pretty chilly in our camper. Our little propane heater only warmed us up to 9C. The sun was shining and it warmed up nicely as we said our goodbyes on Monday morning. The old truck required a little boost to get going and we motored a whole 85km to our next stop arriving just in time for lunch!


-----The Weekend Peeps Reminder-----

Kesslars: Ron, Shanon, Jim, Jan, Charlie, Carolyn, Rick & Ann Babb
C Sisters: Janet, Murray, Bonnie, Mike
Friends: Cathy & Kim, Collette & Jeff
Short termers: Desiree & baby William plus her parents, and hubby Kyle and 2 friends, Mike's mom Marilyn, Jessica and Jarrett, Tyler, Don K & Karen with Lucian & Anora, Dustin, friends Jackie and Howard