Thursday in Cardston, AB

Lee Creek Campground
Site #42, $30 (x3) p/w/s, wifi (Camping2017)

Last night as we sat by the fire we were entertained by this guy fishing. It's not a great picture of the Osprey but he's pretty magnificent when he spreads his wings and dives for a fish.

Today was moving day. It's always a tough decision as to where we should go next when we wake up to cool, cloudy, windy weather with a little rain thrown in.  

And then we chose Cardston.  They do have a very nice town campground which we have stayed at before.  It is well treed and quiet.  One feels like they are in a park and not in town.  Also, it has all the hook-ups, wifi plus laundry.  In other words it will be 'catch-up' and wash underwear time for us.  Perfect for a rainy day.

another day

We had originally planned to stay for two nights at St. Mary, but that stretched into three. Our fire last night was shut down early with some rain and it rained on and off through the night. This morning the sun came out.

Ron has had a few conversations with our only neighour. They sold their home in Calgary and have retired to the Crowsnest area. They are obviously seasoned campers (like us!) from the stories that they have shared. And like us, they prefer the quiet of off season, week day camping. We were both sitting out enjoying our campfires last night when it started to rain. We 'one upped' them when we brought out our umbrella and stayed out longer. Hehe....

We continue to enjoy the bird life here. It is obviously good fishing as indicated by the cormorants, the blue heron and the pelicans that hang out. Although our neighbour with his fishing rod may disagree!

The Pelicans love the spillway.  Ron has also been over to check it out along with the dam shown above.

Anyway, we are not sure of our plans tomorrow. We did a drive to Woolford Prov Park today and we most definitely will not be going there!  A quick stop in Cardston where I found some wifi.

hullo St. Mary Reservoir

St. Mary Reservoir Campground
Site #19A, $27 (x3) p only, water not potable, no wifi, cell top of hill

We were a little sad to be leaving Rolling Hills -- Our home for 2 weeks. Incidentally, many campgrounds, this one included, have a maximum stay of 14 days. Sunday, our final day was perfect. We celebrated with steak and wine. One thing that was rather interesting. A group of local "old school" Mennonites showed up to enjoy the beach. Six young girls aged 4 to maybe 15 all waded in with their long dresses, some up to their neck. The two young boys were 'swimming' fully clothed in their pants and long sleeved plaid shirts. They had a great time splashing about while the adults sat watching on the beach in their black outfits. Nearby a young couple laid in the sun. Her in bikini and he in his skimpy swimsuit. It was quite the contrast. Anyway, it was fun watching those kids enjoy the water. Kids being kids.

When the campers head home after the weekend, there is often wood left behind. Ron was expecting a big find. And he was successful!

We drove to Park Lake Prov Pk just north of Lethbridge thinking we might stay a few nights. We had camped here about 16 years ago. We see the sign on the almost empty campground: "Reservation Only Campground". In other words, we would have to phone Parks Alberta to "Reserve" one of those empty sites before we pulled in. And pay the extra reservation fee on top of the camping fee. What a crock. We parked in the empty Day Use parking lot, had our lunch and left. They won't be seeing us again and it would appear that this 'new system' isn't really working for them. 

We ended up at St Mary Reservoir south of Lethbridge and not far from Cardston. Good choice! This is a pretty little spot on the St Mary River. 

Although it was a windy drive to get here, it was calm and hot down in the Valley. The pic above is the view from our campsite.  Unfortunately there is no cell service or wifi. I do miss staying in touch, texting mom and reading my morning news feed on Twitter! We are doing a little drive about later today, so maybe I'll find some wifi at Magrath. (success!) 

The lilacs here smell delicious! And we have a curious neighbour hanging around.

Last day

Well our stay here has come to an end. Tomorrow we will move on although we aren't exactly sure where we'll end up. It's been a great stay and we will miss our little spot here. The weekend did get a wee bit busier, but nothing like the May long. Our next door neighbour finally showed up with his wife and teens after his unit sat empty for 3 nights.

trees in bloom smell awesome!

Two things we won't miss. My bike carrier has a broken zipper. This little bird (wren?) has been determined to make her nest in it. It's been an ongoing battle of removing twigs every day. I've tried to close the gap, but she keeps squeezing in. She has also tried to set up home in a little hole in the trailer bumper which Ron has now taped shut. In the second pic below you can see the bird sitting on right side of the carrier pouch.

The second little issue is that when you stay so long and there is no water in the site, you have to haul pails on a daily basis. I'm sure Ron won't miss this! Plus we are definitely due to empty our tanks! 

Regardless, we will be back here someday. It's a great little campground. And we will miss all the birds that make their home here. This mama and her baby have been poking their heads out the nest for the past few days.

 

and the week(s) goes on . . .

This is why we haven't moved on. Our view.

And this . . . Yup, this is the life! It is so quiet and peaceful.

You'll find us here every afternoon. The weather is amazing! There are so few people around. It feels like we are alone. Us, the warblers/songbirds and the geese which are by far the noisiest occupants of this campground! There is a unit next door, but it sits empty. Saving their site for weekend maybe?? 

window reflections

And so we have paid for 4 more nights and will be here for the weekend. This is by far the longest stretch we have stayed in one campground for many years. It may just be our new favourite.

our week at the Reservoir

There is not a lot to write about since we haven't been moving about much.

We had two very hot days but the Thursday prior to the long weekend was windy and wet, so we made the 1 ½ hour drive to Medicine Hat for the afternoon. It was good to do a home check, pick up mail, do a couple loads of laundry and pick up some supplies. We were in need of a new lawn chair as someone (I won't mention his name) backed over mine with the truck. One must remember to put the truck in park before exiting. 

Apparently it poured while we were gone. The 8 km stretch of grid road back to the park was horrible -- mud and slippery. I was pretty happy to see our 5th wheel again! Ron spent the next afternoon with a brush and many buckets of water. 

We are enjoying our stay here. (One of those trailers above is ours.) Even though it's been a busy weekend, our spot is fairly private and quiet. It's nice to have such large campsites with decent space in between! Some of the upper level off lake sites are more open with units closer together and doubled up. We did hear that the cops were called in for one group of young partiers. 

The weekend weather has been great other than some wind. Kids have been swimming, but holy moly the water is COLD! I don't know how they can stand it! I walked up to my ankles and instant numbness. I promptly re-packed my floating chair. 

wind block

Today the units are lined up at the RV dump and heading home. We have paid for another night and then will make the decision to stay or go. With all the weekend traffic we haven't been able to access the wifi network. I'm glad to see it available again!!

Exit line-up at the dump. Glad we are staying!!

Rolling Hills Reservoir Campground, Scandia, AB

Rolling Hills Reservoir
Site #A-19, $35 (x13) p only, cell & wifi (spotty at site, good office)

We are camped beside the lake (a reservoir) and the temp is 30C. Heaven! Just look at this beach!

We did our two nights at Kinbrook Park. It was nice and we enjoyed our usual activities -- bike about, etc. We had neighbours on either side, so it was not the 'privacy' we are used to. While there, we also took a drive to check out Rolling Hills Reservoir campground. We had heard about it, but had never been. Well we got lost. We took some horrible grid roads and we ended up in the town of Rolling Hills. We turned left when we should have turned right. Ron talked to some locals at the golf course and we backtracked on those horrible roads. We took another wrong turn and almost gave up. Then voila! We finally found it! It is directly below Newell Lake and Kinbrook park. Crazy we missed it. 

But we are so glad we pursued! What a great camping spot. Other than some 'lease sites' all the spots are 'first come'. These places are getting harder to come by and it is almost impossible to get good sites on a long weekend without a reservation. So we made our way here this morning and here we will stay. For at least a week to get through the long weekend. It will be interesting to see how busy it gets. Right now it's very quiet. 

In the meantime, we will hang in the shade, soak up the heat and enjoy our large, fairly private spot in the trees with the birds. Love it! We have wifi! We could do without the mosquitoes! 

Some beach life

on to Kinbrook Island Prov Pk

Kinbrook Island Prov Pk
Site #H-112 - $33 (x2) p only, no wifi

Well the sun finally came out again and we enjoyed two more days at the Oasis and evenings around the campfire. It was back to our regular routine!

Three more units joined us for the weekend. There were a couple of boaters and a ski-jet on the lake. One realizes this lake is much bigger than it first appears when the boats drive off and disappear into the horizon. I'm sure it's a very busy place in the summer months.

Sunday -- Happy Mom's Day! Flower's camping style from Ronnie.

We headed south with the wind at our tail and landed at Kinbrook Prov Pk. It's always a busy place on Sundays with the locals from Brooks coming for picnics in the day use areas. The weather was awesome and we enjoyed steak, wine and a late evening around the fire. Happy mom's day indeed.

It's COLD at this Oasis!

There are days -- when the temp is 4C -- that one wonders, "Why the hell are we doing this again??" I am NOT a cold weather camper! So, yes, two days of this ugly weather. Enough already I say!

Poor weather also generally means we are doing things that aren't so much fun. Yesterday we vacuumed, washed the floor and cleaned. Today's agenda included laundry, baking bread and driving to town -- the BIG town of Hanna to do some shopping. (I need more flannelette sheets!) 

Thank goodness for our trusty little heater and for the internet.

Here's hoping for better days ahead!

Oh yes, also yesterday. There was a National Emergency Alert test sent to cell phones that many would have received.  Ron didn't get it, but mine came headed with "Presidential alert".  I thought this was rather odd and I later found out other people's alerts were headed up with "Emergency alert"???  So what the...???  Weird!

Prairie Oasis Pk (near Hanna)

Prairie Oasis Pk
Site #34 - $30 (x6) p/w, wifi & cell

We arrived at this "prairie oasis" along with a wind so it was nice to get settled in our somewhat protected campsite in the trees. It looks like an invasion of caterpillars hanging in the trees and all over the ground!

We are happy to have decent cell service once again and also a working wifi connection. We are all for modern day camping, thank you very much!

We had an early campfire and roasted wieners for dinner. So a little old style camping mixed in with the new! 

Tues. we awoke to some rain, but it was clear and sunny by lunch so most of our day was outdoors. Today is breezy and cooler.  We may be huddled indoors with the electric heater. Ron is busy doing some of his family tree updates as I post.