Home *insert sad face*

Well today certainly didn't go as planned.  We hooked up and were on the road by 9:30 am. To Dinosaur Prov Park we had hoped.

One hour down the road and our dear truck slowed and then quit. Ron started walking to where he thought there might be a farm and managed to snag a ride back to the previously passed small town of Jenner. The two ladies at the local service station had no suggestions for help.

Back at the truck and many calls later we finally got a tow truck company that would make the hour trip from Medicine Hat to come and get us. (Why are towing companies so busy this time of year we wonder??)  Anyway, this rescue would involve 2 trucks. One to pull the RV and one to haul our truck.

Ron and I rode with the truck pulling our RV.  It was almost the same vintage as our truck. And with the wind picking up, it meant we drove most of the way home between 80 and 90 km/ hour.  It felt like forever!!!  Some 4 hours and a $800. tow cost later we were finally home.  And so ends this spring camping trip.  It's a little scary what the truck fix might be. New transmission possibly??  Yikes. I guess we will get that news tomorrow.

To add more drama to the trip. After the tow truck parked our RV in our usual storage spot, Ron settled the bill and said we would just take our bikes home from there. Well, I banged and cut my leg on the kickstand when mounting -- a deep cut, mega blood and I ended up at the Hospital Emerg for sutures. Which was another 2 hour wait.

And so ended this camping trip.  Let's just say that we will be very glad to have this day behind us.

We did enjoy the quiet in Blood Indian last night after all the fishing gang had left.  Only these fisherman remained behind.  That is the memory I will try to carry with me as I ready for bed!

Weekender at Blood Indian Park

Site #7 - $25 (x4), p/w, Temp 26C & windy!

Well it was a gorgeous fitting evening to end our 6 night stay at Prairie Oasis. We should have stayed there longer!

When we arrived at Blood Indian Park at 10:45 am, most of the better power sites were already taken. What the heck?? On a Thursday morning in May?? And then we get our answer. Fish Derby weekend at the Reservoir.

Plus we had MEGA winds which got worse as the day went on. And..there was that thick smelly smoke in the air. Ugh... Not so pleasant outdoors. I guess one shouldn't complain when we hear what the folks closer to the fires of High Level and Slave Lake are dealing with.

Things did improve. The wind wasn't so bad the remaining days and the smoke cleared somewhat. Still it was a very busy park. There were a lot of people with fishing rods, but we didn't hear of many fish being caught. A few brown and rainbow trout, but there appears to be an over abundance of carp. We were well entertained by both the people and the wildlife.

The Marbled Godwit and a couple friends

One hopeful fisherman ventured in to a soft spot near the lake. Two unsuccessful tow attempts by two different 4x4 trucks and finally this outfit arrived from Oyen. Freedom within minutes!

We drove the 11 km loop around the reservoir. It's always interesting to see all the RV's and fishing poles lined up along the water's edge.

Other than that, it was biking, walking, evening fires and a stop at the Blood Indian Trading Post for an ice cream cone. The smoke in the air wasn't nice, but it did make for some pretty orange sunsets.

I was ready to move on this morning, but Ron convinced me to stay one more night. The one big advantage to staying are the great wood finds! We are good for a few more fires!

The Prairie Oasis cont'd..

We are still here having paid for 3 more nights! The site is great, the price is decent with power and water, the weather is awesome and there are plenty of places to walk and bike. We also have better wifi here than we have at home!! I'd say we are pretty settled in and getting rather 'comfy'!

There is not much variation in our days. Walking, biking, evening fires.  We biked around the Sheerness Power Station holding pond one morning - a nice little 9-10 km ride.  It turns out this halfway point little lighthouse is actually an outhouse. Cute, and much appreciated.

I ventured in to the water up to my knees yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by how warm it was. That makes sense as this is the power plant cooling pond. We may have to dig our our bathing suits. Such a nice beach silently waiting for what I assume will be a busy summer.

The flowering trees are gorgeous right now and provide some pretty for our campsite.
So after 6 nights, we will probably move on tomorrow. We are thinking Blood Indian Park, not too far from here. We camped there once before in 2016.

Prairie Oasis Park (s of Hanna, AB)

Site #34 - $30, p/w/wifi (x6), Temp 16C

We ended up staying one more night in those "rolling hills". A little sunshine with no wind will have one quickly changing their mind about staying there longer! Wednesday was awesome and a reminder why we loved that place so much last year. It wasn't quite 'sit in the lake' weather for us but children down the way were certainly enjoying the water. And then came Thursday, with more wind off the lake. Crap!

Friday morning we packed up and decided to try our luck at the Prairie Oasis campground south of Hanna. Things were looking good. We set up in our favourite site and it was warm and sunny! The sweatshirts came off and the shorts came out. We enjoyed lunch in the shade of the umbrella.

And then thunder. And rain. THAT was not in the forecast. This would be Ron making a run for cover!

However, the rain was short, sweatshirts came off once again, and Ron was soon combing the sites for any forgotten treasures while I walked about getting in my daily steps! We enjoyed another lovely evening by the fire. With our wood bag!

We have settled in for the weekend. Maybe longer. We were very surprised that there hasn't been an influx of 'weekenders'??  There is just a handful of us enjoying the park this weekend.

Rollin' along... Rolling Hills Park, AB

Rolling Hills Reservoir
Site #A-19, $40, p only, Temp 8C

When we visited this Reservoir campground for the first time a year ago, we said we would be back. Sitting on the beach under an umbrella in 30C weather and being serenaded by all the song birds won us over. We ended up staying here for 2 weeks last year.

We were not so lucky with the weather this year. Windy, cool and a little rain for the first two days. Also, the $5/night fee increase didn't impress us much.

However, we did get out for bike rides and walks. The kid in me was excited to find some hidden painted rocks in various places in the trees and along the beach. I had remembered seeing a "Medicine Hat Rocks" Facebook page some time ago. People were painting rocks and hiding them in parks around the Hat and sharing these pics on the FB page. So I did a search. Low and behold I found a post saying that a family had hidden some rocks at Rolling Hills campground and they had shared a photo of the nine painted rocks they had hidden. I had found four of these rocks! Of course I had to go looking again! So far, I've only found one more. But oh such fun! Lol... 

Note: I did leave the rocks for others to find.
On Wednesday the sun came out, the temps went up and it was easy to recall why we had loved this place so much.

We have only paid for one more night, but we will see what tomorrow brings. Should we stay or go..?  One more discovery. Mice..ugh... They have been busy scurrying across our campsite. We have never had a problem with these critters getting in, but we will keep our eyes and ears open now! It's funny but when I mentioned this place to a condo neighbour she said they loved it here except for the mouse problem! Yup, now we know! We never saw them last year.

A Home Break

We were looking at some chilly, wet and windy weekend weather. Plus the May long weekend, where most campgrounds - including Writing on Stone are booked solid.  It was an easy decision to head home for a few days.  So our evening fires looked like this:

(did you see the deer??) It was a nice 'warm' break. We were able to catch up on internet time, do some shopping and after 2 weeks in the RV, there was this:

So that took care of our May long weekend. Tomorrow, Monday morning, we will be back on the road with our next stop at Rolling Hills Reservoir campground near Ranier, AB. That should be about a 1 1/2 hour road trip!!

Our Writing on Stone ventures

Writing on Stone Prov Pk
Site #21/22 - $25 (x5), Temp 2C

It was great seeing this park through someone's eyes who hasn't visited before. Writing on Stone didn't disappoint. Those hoodoos are impressive! There were a lot of visitors picnicking in the day use area when we arrived, but only a few campers were in the park so we had our choice of sites. We set up camp, checked out the beach area, enjoyed a salmon dinner and sat around the campfire.

We had a good visit with the Park host. He is a retired army vet who lives in Victoria. He had been stationed between SK, AB and BC and is an avid fisherman and hunter. He and Richard had much in common. He had applied to host at campgrounds in all three provinces and was 'awarded' this park. He had only been here 5 days, but has been busy touring around and hopes to visit more AB parks on day's off.

Monday after breakfast we headed for the self guided hoodo hike. Again I was very proud and happy with my ability to keep up. I was up and down the hills like a pro. It was a most enjoyable 6 km, 2 hour walk. We took many pictures but I'll only share a few here. You can check out the photo website link on the RV Times website for more pretty! 

We came across a BIG rattlesnake sunning on the side of the path. He moved undercover so quickly it was difficult to get a good photo -- and not get too close!! Also, it was surprising on how many geese were nesting up there. One has to wonder if their eggs will survive those rattlesnakes and if they survive the hatch, how will they get off those high perches!? 

We did another hike on Tues. It seemed we spent a LONG time wandering in circles trying to find that 'short cut' to the campground that Ron insisted was there! The sun was hot (27C) and a cold beer was much appreciated when we finally got back to the RVs.

We had hoped to do the tour through the 'restricted area', but unfortunately they are only doing these tours on weekends right now. We went for a drive thinking we might find some access in to that area, but no such luck! It is very well fenced. We did come across this poor guy who picked the wrong time to cross the road.  Yup, he's quite dead--

Back at the trailer we had a game of dominoes and another fine evening around the fire. We said our goodbyes, and Richard & Janice were gone by 8 am Wednesday. 

Ron and I decided to spend a couple more nights in the park. We moved to their site next door which was a little more private and protected. Because, BIG winds on Wed. We did not envy R & J driving up to Drayton Valley in that!

As for Ron and I, a couple more walkabouts, quiet times reading and going through photos, some "Sequence" games and a couple more campfires. A little more time indoors because brrrrr... Thurs was frickin' cold and windy (8C). It was also noted that we were the only ones left in the campground this morning (besides the host). We were going to head to Rolling Hills Reservoir next, but decided with the weather and a potentially busy long weekend, we would head home for a few days. Back to camping on Monday hopefully!

Happy Mother's Day from Cardston!

Lee Creek Campground
Site #43 - $30, full service, Temp 21C

Short and sweet was our stay at Cardston.  The best part was having wifi!!  It is always good to get caught up on all things internet!

The three enjoyed the Remington Carriage Museum, we all went for a short a walk, we enjoyed a Tiger Shrimp dinner a la exterieur and then we sat sipping wine around the fire. A lovely evening indeed!  Ron and I had a chuckle at these two 'stealing wood' from the neighbouring yard. Thieves!!

We had a rather lazy morning. Enjoyed a pancake breakfast, R and J did a load of laundry and rode their bikes up to see the Mormon Temple. We've had our lunch, will load up and continue on our way. Have a happy mom's day all.  We will lose cell service at Writing on Stone unless we drive to the top of the hill.