A Smooth trip!

NEW TRUCK - 2003 FORD F350

Hanna, AB

Prairie Oasis Park

Site #31: $35 (x10) p/w on Monday

And here we are! Camping 2024! We are one of two units at Prairie Oasis Campground south of Hanna. A large motorhome is parked in another area not visible from our campsite. There is a little tent in the tenting area, but we haven't seen anybody around. I would not want to be tenting! Brrrr, the nights are still pretty chilly!

We were all set up and sitting by our cozy propane fire pit for cocktails by 5 pm. Barbecued burgers were on the menu. All in all it was a great first evening and I'm glad we made the decision to come! I'm shocked more campers haven't joined us for the weekend!

Saturday brought gunshots. Apparently they hired someone to shoot the gophers. There are no campers here but there are plenty of gophers! I'm thinking it will be more than a days work!

We have paid for 5 nights although we may extend our stay. I keep hoping the rain and wind in the upcoming forecast will change. Currently it is 15C and we did get plenty of walk and bike time in should we be forced in to camper time. 

Camping 2024

After our final camping attempt and another tire blow last season that resulted in major truck and trailer damage I was wondering whether we'd ever go camping again. The truck was a total write-off.

Anyway, Ron purchased a 2003 Ford F350 that was fitted with new tires and a 5th wheel hitch. Our 5th wheel had the front panel and storage doors replaced plus a new water tank and drain pipe installed and low and behold, we are loading up!

We had hoped to bring the 5th wheel home the last week of April and start our camping but the weather didn't cooperate. We did manage to do a little pre-loading in the storage compound with the help of our little red wagon! 😁

On Friday, May 3 we hitched up, brought the unit home, packed and were on our way by 2 pm!

The End?

Well our final camping trip of the season certainly didn't go as planned.

First of all, it was a very late start with both the RV and the truck in their respective fixit shops with September appointments. The earliest they could book us in. We weren't able to get our truck out of the auto body shop till 4 pm on Friday, Sept 22. They had done an awesome repair job and the old truck looked brand new! (The damage had been from the blown tire on our May trip). We then picked up the 5th Wheel from the RV Repair. (It too had damage from the tire.) They hadn't been able to replace the broken water tank yet, but we decided to go on one last camping trip for the season. We would just hook up to the campsite water tap.  Our holding tank would be installed after we were done camping.

On Saturday we loaded up and headed up  Hwy 1, then 36 north of Brooks towards Prairie Oasis campground. Coincidentally this was the Highway and camping destination where we had blown the truck tire on our last camping trip. Anyway, we were humming along and then boom... the front passenger side truck tire exploded. 

      Shit! NOT AGAIN!!??

Well this lead to our hitting the ditch, an embankment and a barbed wire fence and posts before we finally came to rest in a farmer's field. 

We were very lucky we didn't flip over. But what a mess.  The truck ended up with damage in the front wheel-well and the front bumper broke off. The trailer hitch was wrenched from the truck box, causing the trailer to smash down on the truck box and bumper. The hitch was bent and left holes in the truck box. The back tail lights were smashed and the back bumper and tail-gate were damaged. The front panelling on the RV was also damaged..... Our newly fixed truck and RV. 😭

So there we sat. After many phone calls we were able to line up a tow truck in Brooks who could come for our truck, but he said there was no one he knew locally who could pull our trailer. We phoned our RV repair guy in Medicine Hat and he found someone willing to come from Med Hat and haul the trailer home. (We were about 1 1/2 hours away.) What an awesome guy!

We had about a 2 hr wait for the tow trucks. I didn't mention the mess inside the 5th wheel. Cupboards and drawers flew open. Food, dishes and broken glass were everywhere. I spent those 2 hrs putting things in order and sweeping up glass.

Interesting fact. Once again noone stopped to see if we were ok. The farmer did eventually drop by after someone called him about the people "camped" in his field. He did show concern but we had already lined up the towing. 

Needless to say, this ended our camping for 2023. And now we are back home. Sunday was spent unpacking the 5th wheel which our awesome guy hauled to our usual storage space. Monday we drove to Brooks and emptied out the truck. 

I'll admit I shed a few tears. I'm not sure the old Dodge will ever return home? I expect it will be written off. There have been numerous phone calls and we await further instructions from our insurance people.

                         .... last look... truck back left

There are decisions to be made and we are left wondering if there will be a "Camping 2024" to follow?? 😢

On to Prairie Oasis

Hanna, AB

Prairie Oasis Park

Site #31 (x7) p/w poor cell, wifi broke 🥴

We left the Rolling Hills at 9:45 a.m. What is normally an 1.5 hr drive turned out to be 3.5 hrs. We blew a truck tire about 15 minutes from our destination. What a mess. 

Besides a ruined Tire there was a missing running board, flaps and some truck trim.... ugh.  Also, it is quite the undertaking for 2 old peeps to change a tire on an unlevel small pull off on the side of a narrow shouldered Highway. So yes, it took us over 2 hours to put the jacks down on the trailer, get the spare out from under the truck and remove and replace the old rubber. On top of that the spare only had about 20 lb of pressure. Our inverter wasn't strong enough to run the electric air pump. Have you ever tried to pump up a truck tire with a small bicycle pump?? ugh... it's almost impossible.

There was a small highways compound a short distance away, so Ron walked over to see if he could find an electrical outlet. There was no one around, but lucky for us a side door was open and electricity was available. We limped over with the truck and 5th wheel and managed to get some more air into the tire. We were wondering whether someone was watching us on security cameras? However, no arrests and we finally pulled into the Prairie Oasis campground.

Our first choice sites were already taken, so we tried a new site. And wouldn't you know it, the one we usually camp in ended up being vacated about 30 minutes after we had set up! Anyway we weren't unhappy with our new choice. It was a different view and it was good for both shade or sun. It may be our new fav! Sometimes bad luck becomes good luck and we were due!

It felt good to belly up to an early fire with our cocktails. Roasted wieners were an easy supper after a long and difficult day!

We were surrounded by Mourning Dove and Robin's nests and there were lots of Baltimore Orioles serenading us.

The remainder of our stay (7 nights) was pretty uneventful. Other than the weekend which was busy, it was pretty quiet. 

Lots of painted rocks went out and plenty of bike rides and walks were taken. We debated staying for the weekend but the rain forecast made the decision for us.

So back in the Hat and we are not sure when our next outing will take place. The 5th wheel has an appointment for water leak repairs and added to that is now some truck repairs and probably 4 new tires. 🤮

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Update: When crawling under the 5th wheel our RV repairman discovered damage from the blown tire. A larger hole was blown in the water tank plus the housing on the slide motor is cracked.  Plus a new water heater will be required. Fix won't happen until July, so Spring camping comes to a ride end. 😭

The Week slips by

It was a great 8 night stay in the Rolling Hills. Well except for one little mishap. My bike won this round.  

I wiped out on some loose gravel when rounding a corner. Besides this colorful eye, I ended up with a bruised shoulder and knee. Thankfully my knee replacements and my bones survived.  The only thing broken were my glasses and my pride. 

We enjoyed a quiet week, but as predicted it was a busy weekend. We did enjoy the kids and their activities. They were busy collecting crayfish. Also with the Reservoir under repair and the water level extremely low, there was a muddy shoreline. Aka, there were kids rolling in muck. So fun!


We always enjoy the bird life. Killdeer, Snipes, Grebes, plus Brown Thrashers. We had a house finch wanting to build a nest in our furnace exhaust pipe. I had to tape the outlets.  A pair of grebes were working to build a nest just off the beach. 


We were quite interested in their progress and so apparently was this loon! How cool is that? However, I'm afraid these Grebes will be in for quite a shock when the weekend crowd shows up! I'll be surprised if this nest survives.

We had some problems with a leaking hot water heater and drove into Brooks for a new anode. Unfortunately that didn't fix the problem. It will have to be dealt with along with our leaking water tank when we get home.

We decided to head to Prairie Oasis and packed up Thursday morning.

Round 2 at Rolling Hills

Ranier, AB

Rolling Hills Reservoir Campground 

Site #A15: $40 (x8) p and wifi Temp 30C

We packed up camp on Sunday and I dropped Ron off at the hospital for his cataract surgery on Monday May 8th at 8am. It appeared to go well, but his eyesight remained blurry Monday and Tuesday. It had not cleared in a couple of hours like many had reported would happen. 

Thankfully he had a doctor's appointment late Tuesday and the ophthalmologist assured him that all was well but there was a bit of swelling. This is unfortunate but normal. Everyone is different. Ron felt much better and by the next day the blur had cleared and he could see extremely well! At his appointment a week later he got the go ahead to resume all normal activity. Including driving and camping. That was Tuesday. 

On Wednesday morning we brought the trailer home, packed, and by 1 pm we were set up and eating lunch at Rolling Hills!

At first we were disappointed that our usual favorite spots weren't available, but we were much happier in our assigned site. We realized later that all our first choice sites had the dividing hedges majorly trimmed and they are open and not private anymore.

It felt good to be camping once again and we did our usual walk, bike ride and enjoyed an evening campfire. It was like we were the only campers.

Hooray for Dollar Store readers!

Many units were parked to "save the site" but noone was around. I expect there will be a little more activity for the upcoming May long weekend.

2023 Spring Trippin to Golden Sheaf

Seven Persons, AB

Golden Sheaf Park

Site #22: $38 (x7) p/w not potable

Temp 25C

As the last week of April approaches and we see forecasts in the 20C's, we think about camping. I start loading food and clothing into baskets. Enough for a May/June campout. We planned to leave on Sunday, April 30.

On Friday 28th, just before we brought the RV home, Ron got a call for his cataract surgery. His first eye would be done May 8. Hmmmm... Well we decided to go ahead with camping for the week but that meant downsizing the food and clothes I had gathered as we were not sure when Ron will be driving and therefore when we would be camping again.

The RV was brought home Sat and by noon Sunday we were cooking bacon and eggs at Golden Sheaf Park 25 minutes from the Hat.

Our home for the week was all set. Unfortunately they are modifying the power loop sites where we camp. They didn't inform us of this when we registered. The machinery noise and dust was a bit annoying. Also we were worried we would be asked to move as they got closer to our campsite. 

Work crews are fun to watch, the noise not so fun! It was a big relief when the crew parked the machines at noon on Wed and we got word that the remaining sites would be finished next week! We were able to stay put!

The Seasonal campers were busy raking and prepping their sites, although many of them don't have their units in place yet. Apparently they still had a few feet of snow laying around mid April, so the campground opening had been delayed.

We enjoyed the 28-30C summer temps along with daily walks, biking and of course the campfires. The first couple of days were windy but our Sport Brella provided a good protection. 

Tues and Wed were perfect but Thurs and Friday brought more wind once again. Unfortunately there are fires all around which is rather scary with these winds. We got word Friday am that Drayton Valley had to be evacuated due to the fires and wind. Charlie and Carolyn got the notice at 11 pm, loaded their motorhome and made the 30 km trip to Tomahawk Town Hall which took 3.5 hrs with all the traffic. A LONG night for them! We hope things remain safe at their home although the power outage means fridge and freezer issues. 😥

The wind kept us from having our Fri night campfire. We found a little protection in a back corner but had to hold on to that brella! Sat was spent mainly indoors with some rain "blowing down" (!) on us mid afternoon. 

Reading and more rock painting took place indoors. I was quite pleased to see that this little fellow who was camped behind us found one of my rocks and mom posted the find to the Facebook site.

With the weather as it was, we were quite happy to pack up and head home on Sunday morning.  The bonus was that I got to watch the two Grand Slam curling finals back home on TV! 

So we got the call and Ron goes for his eye surgery at 8am tomorrow. Hope to be back on the road soon!

Note: The stickies were horrible under the Cottonwoods. We need to park on the other side of the loop in Spring!

Home

Camping 2022 has come to an end. This is always a bit of a sad time for us. We did enjoy our week at the Oasis. We were down to 2 units in the park! Our last eve was perfect. A quiet warm evening with no wind, barbecued ribs, wine and a late fire. 

We seem to attract the birds! These Doves not only joined us when we were at the beach, but they hung around our campsite. They were quite entertaining as they marched back and forth through our campsite and gleaned Spruce cone seeds.

We will miss the Fall beauty and the beach.

We pulled out of the park at 10:15 this morning. We will NOT miss those flies. Ugh! They are the absolute worst part of Fall camping! I think we brought home half the park population with us!

We are now home. Yay! The truck behaved and my concerns were unfounded. I am not sure why there were "slipping" issues between the last 2 places? Ornery old beast!... That transmission remains a little worrisome.

Anyway... Things are mostly unpacked and the 5th wheel is back in the compound. Thoughts turn to laundry and grocery shopping. We are looking forward to a Thanksgiving visit from Jeff and kids. 

more from the Oasis

Wow! What a day! The temp at 30C and no wind! It's definitely beach weather!

We had a chuckle though. During the day we we are looking for shade and are dipping our feet in water to cool off. The evenings require campfires, wool socks and the electric heater overnight. Such is Fall camping.

We shared the beach with a couple of day use families. And their big fancy boats. One realizes just how big this Reservoir is when they put those boats on full speed and disappear into the horizon. Other beach companions included this pair of Mourning Doves and of course the gulls.

I think there are only 4 or 5 units in the campground. Tomorrow we will head to Hanna for a few groceries and will pay for another 4 nights of camping. Here's hoping the warm weather continues! 

*lifts wine* 

Thursday: We made our run to Hanna so Ron has his cereal and oranges to get him through another 4 days. 🤣

A few more units arriving for the weekend. However, back to our regular activities. A bike stop to take this path photo plus a selfie at the selfie booth.