October 23, 2011 by Rae

Weekend in the Kootenays

I just got in from a great weekend visiting with Donna and Ken who are staying at a lovely RV park just outside of Cranbrook, BC. This was my first time driving through the Crowsnest Pass area on my own and the four hour trip was much longer with just the radio for company, but still as beautiful!

The wind was terrible along the entire stretch out of the Prairies and into the foothills. I stopped in Pincher Creek for coffee and fuel and it was just as bad as the last time I was there.

Pincher Creek

I was glad to cease my white-knuckle driving by the time I hit the Crowsnest pass, and by Blairmore a few speckles of rain had replaced the wind. It was then a smooth and easy drive to Fort Steele, 10 minutes north of Cranbrook. I arrived around five and quickly made myself at home. I was impressed by how much progress Ken and Donna had made in turning their new rig into an organized and functional home!

We didn’t do much Friday evening because I was running on very little sleep and exhausted. I did walk around the park a bit

the Ark 2.0

and check out their emu neighbours!

emu

We hit the sack pretty early, but made up for it with a very full Saturday!

When I planned this weekend, I sort of thought of doing the Kootenay circuit to make up for missing the stretch from Banff to Cranbrook after my engine troubles.

Kootenay circuit–Lethbridge to Cranbrook to Radium Hot Springs to Banff to Calgary to Lethbridge

But that would have meant an eight-hour trip home, most of it through familiar territory. I instead proposed that we drive up to the village of Radium Hot Springs, gateway to Kootenay National Park, about 300km round trip from Cranbrook. Ken and Donna thought that was a great idea and Midnight was happy to come along for the ride.

One of the most interesting things we came across on the drive to Radium was Columbia Lake, which is the source of the Columbia River, along the banks of which I spent quite some time this spring. It’s very beautiful!

Columbia Lake

Radium is the typical hot springs resort town. We drove through quickly and turned around at the gate to Kootenay National Park since we wouldn’t have gotten our money’s worth out of the admission fee.

There’s a sign in the video for This is Our Home that piqued my curiosity because I had no idea where it’s located. Well, I found it in Radium!

We also saw the very strange house of the Radium woodcarver:

strange house in Radium

The Kootenays were beautiful on this crisp autumn afternoon, with snow on the higher peaks and lots of amber. It was a great drive!

vista just south of Radium village

Today’s agenda was for me to get to know the emus. Here’s a video of Donna feeding them:

Lots more pictures of my trip are in the gallery below!

I left Fort Steele around 2 and was in Lethbridge by quarter to six where I was expected for dinner! Gary made sure to send me home with leftovers of the perfectly normal variety. You know, a few roasted sweet potatoes, a couple of muffins, some fresh baked bread, a container of homemade soup, and two whole roasted chickens. You read that correctly. I adore that man! 😀

Pincher Creek

emu

emu

emu

emu

daddy emu

the Ark 2.0

Pepe in overflow

Kootenay sky

north towards Radium Hot Springs

Columbia Lake, source of the Columbia River

Columbia Lake

my favourite dog, Midnight

north towards Radium Hot Springs

strange house in Radium

entrance to Kootenay National Park

vista just south of Radium village

Donna taking a picture of the vista just south of Radium village for her blog 🙂

you’d swear my car was in the Okanagan!

heading south from Radium

emu coming for a snack

emu snacking

emu hoping for more snacks

Kootenay sky

approaching Fernie

back to the Prairies

September 12, 2011 by Rae

Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park

Jody wanted to give me something special for my three-year RVing anniversary. But what do you give an RVer that won’t end up as clutter? The answer for this RVer is obvious: give her an experience. So Jody got together with Donna and planned an adventure for the three of us that would take us deep into the southern Alberta Badlands to a place where history is literally carved into the landscape: Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park.

So early Sunday morning (September 11th), Jody and I set off eastwards to Taber to pick up Donna, then we swung south to Milk River where we veered further east into the park. The weather was perfect and hot. It was about 11:30 when we arrived and we decided that lunch was the first priority. So we headed down into the campground area to tuck into the picnic Gary had packed for us.

There was still a couple of hours before our guided tour of the rock art, so we explored the hoodoos, which really put Drumheller to shame! The Blackfoot who traveled this land felt it was sacred and the place thrummed with its immense power. I am absolutely in love with the Alberta Badlands. Both Writing-On-Stone and Drumheller feature amazing landscapes, but Writing-On-Stone’s hoodoos really do give this more remote location an edge.

The only way to access the archaeological preserve that is the site of the rock art is to take a guided tour. It started from the still new visitors’ centre where you get onto a minibus that takes you to the start of the hike. The hike itself isn’t too difficult, but it does require sturdy closed-shoes because of the uneven terrain and cacti, and a wide-brimmed had and plenty of water (at least one litre) is needed on hot days. It was 45C (113) along the trail mid-afternoon Sunday!

Our guide, Bonnie, was a formidable woman whose love and respect for the area and the Blackfoot people shone through every word. She was a great storyteller and interpreter. Even though the hike only covers about three city blocks, it lasts about two hours.

After our unforgettable afternoon, we gals piled back into Jody’s van, returned to Taber to pick up Ken, and made it to Lethbridge where Gary had another delicious meal waiting for us.

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to celebrate my three years on the road but to spend it with two of the dearest friends I have encountered along the way. Thanks, gals!

Donna getting into trouble at the Milk River info center

Donna leading the charge through the Milk River info centre

it was too hot for snakes that afternoon 🙁

more of the hoodoos that make me wonder why anyone bothers going to Drumheller

a tiny part of the spread that Gary prepared for us

Jody and Donna heading down a path with the Milk River in the foreground

more of the hoodoos that make me wonder why anyone bothers going to Drumheller

I loved this badly-located sign. Yes, RV parking was thataway. No, RV parking was not accessible down this trail.

our transportation to guided hike trail

heading up to the sandstone cliffs housing the rock art

modern graffito

this petroglyph of a guy with his legs just about crossed amused me

the three amigas freshening up after an afternoon under a broiling sun

July 17, 2011 by Rae

Thunder (and Lightning and Hail) In the Valley

Yesterday (Saturday) evening Jody, Gary, and I drove out to the Crowsnest Pass to witness the annual fireworks show known as Thunder in the Valley. What makes the show so special is that the noise from the fireworks echoes in the mountains.

The fireworks are launched from the town of Blairmore, Alberta. There is always a large delay to get back to Lethbridge because of the number of cars so Jody thought it would be best for us to camp in the area. The nearest campground that would allow a single night stay was Mountain Shadows in Sparwood, BC. So we drove there (2.5 hours from Lethbridge) first so I could set up a tent (they sleep in their van) and also meet up with some of Gary’s family (the wonderful one whom we visited in Humboldt) who had gone on ahead.

Tent set up and dinner eaten, we headed back to Blairmore (45 minutes east of Sparwood) and found a spot up a dead end road. We set up chairs and within minutes I felt big, cold drops of rain hit me. Before long, the drops turned to a downpour and we ran back to the truck! The rain came down for a bit then stopped, giving us hope that the show would go on, but then it started up again. What a downpour!!! It was so violent and hail came down in loud plunks. Many people thought the show would not go on, so they left. We stuck it out and at about 11:30 the first fireworks went off.

The echoing effect was spellbounding! It was definitely worth going even if it was cold and wet!

We headed back to Sparwood after the show and I was glad to discover my tent and its contents were still dry. I did a quick toilette, crawled into my PJs, and went to bed.

The ground was hard and the noise from the highway was deafening, but I was warm and snug, so I was quite satisfied that I fell asleep immediately at 1AM and awoke at quarter to six. That’s actually a pretty decent camping night for me. We weren’t meeting up with Gary’s family for brunch until about 11AM, so I knew I had plenty of time to kill. I laid in bed and listened to an audio book for about an hour and then crawled out of my tent to use the most luxurious outhouse in the world: it has a flush toilet! There was no point crawling back into the tent so I literally wandered around the campground for three hours listening to my audio book.

This was such a pleasant morning. It was a trifle damp, but not cool, and the air felt so fresh. I took pictures of flowers and wandered up and down trails for a bit. At about 9, I headed back to our site to start dismantling my tent and packing up my gear, then sat on a dry corner of the picnic table to continue listening to my book. I decided to give Gary and Jody till 10:15, but they got up shortly before that.

We made quick work of packing, then drove out to meet up with Gary’s family. We had a nice ‘brunch’ (from the lunch menu) at the excellent restaurant attached to the hotel in Sparwood, then we headed home.

Like the first time Jody and I were in Sparwood, we stopped at Lundbreck Falls and we made a few other stops. So it was past five when we pulled in to home. My cats were happy to see me but we didn’t hang out for long since I got invited over for another Gary dinner. Yum-yum.

There’s nothing like a sleepless night away from home to recharge my batteries! 🙂

canola (rapeseed) fields

this cloud formation looks like an angry gorilla stomping around!

I love the big open skies of southern Alberta

beautiful valley (between Lethbridge and Fort McLeod)

into the Crowsnest Pass

Blairmore

my ‘one night only’ tent

I saw almost a half-dozen Royal Classics in the last day! This is a 1980s model.

to find our site I had to turn right at the outhouse with the flush toilet 🙂

path leading up behind our site

the strange tree/snare setup in the middle of our site

I bet that’s their bathroom window 🙂

petrified tree

two roads diverged in a yellow wood…

mushroom

antique truck and trailer combo

re-entering Alberta

Lundbreck Falls

bathers at Lundbreck Falls

Lundbreck Falls

wind mill at Lundbreck Falls

Lundbreck Falls

I liked the combination of the class A coming down the highway with the bus conversion in the foreground

crazy guy jumping into Lundbreck Falls!!!

striking image of canola fields!

near Cottonwood campground

May 25, 2011 by Rae

A Saskatchewan Education, Or Not So Humble Humboldt

This past weekend, I joined Gary and Jody on a road trip to visit some members of Gary’s family who live near the small town of Humboldt, SK, which is a little under two hours north-eastish of Saskatoon.

Gary and Jody have done this trip many times and know the Saskatchewan road quality, or lack thereof, very well. So, they decided that the less bumpy way to get there would be going through Swift Current, Moose Jaw, and skirting Regina, and we would come home by way of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw.

Mid-afternoon Friday I loaded my stuff into my car and headed to Jody’s workplace. There, I moved my gear to her car and we took off for Gary’s workplace. There, we loaded up their rig, a 20′ travel trailer and truck, and headed east. We were on the road towards Medicine Hat by about 6PM.

The drive to the Saskatchwan border was pretty uneventful. I looked forward to doing the bit between Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw on the TransCanada since that was the only section of it I haven’t done, except for whatever’s in Newfoundland. I have to say that south-east Alberta looks a lot like southwest Saskatchewan. 🙂

Back to Saskatchewan!

Jody ran the deli Friday night and I was so hungry by that point that I didn’t think to photograph my dinner until I was halfway through:

the remains of my Friday dinner

It was coming onto 9PM when we hit Swift Current, and Gary was beat, so we pulled into the Walmart for the night.

Jody made up for the previous night’s late dinner with this breakfast:

breakfast Saturday!

Complemented by oranges, coffee, and yoghurt. I have been well fed since landing in Lethbridge! 😀

Gary and Jody’s rig; much shorter than mine!

We pushed on eastward through Moose Jaw, the Qu’Appelle valley, and then we skirted around Regina before heading north. The roads were so bad I thought we would be launched into orbit!

I was put on deli duty and discovered that is not easy to make a sandwich in a moving vehicle. Notice how smooshed my lunch is:

lunch Saturday (made by me!)

We passed through the town of Engelfeld, which hosts an annual pig roast to raise money for charity.

the Englefeld pig

I really enjoyed this drive; there is just something about the Prairies that awes me.

We arrived in Humboldt in late afternoon where I was introduced to my hosts and was settled into a guest bedroom. We were served a very yummy dinner and then my hosts took us out to see the sights. I think that might actually have been more for my benefit. I’m very thankful!

The first thing we saw were pelicans! I had no idea you could find pelicans this far north! Unfortunately, they were super off in the distance and even my trusty zoom wasn’t able to get a good shot of one.

pelicans!

We then went to Waldsea Lake. Saskatchewan has been very wet the last few years and there has been a lot of problems with flooding and rising waters. So, this lake, which used to have a nice day use area and lots of cottages around it, was allowed to spill out from its berm. The cottages were all moved to a temporary holding area and will be relocated. The road to the lake just… ends.

Waldsea Lake

cottages pulled from the shores of Waldsea Lake

We then drove around Humboldt a bit so I could get a feel for the layout, seeing some of the major stores, the schools, hospitals, etc. The town is almost full-service and has a population of 6,000.

Before heading back, our hosts pulled into the drive-thru at McDonalds to treat everyone to shakes. This drive-thru has to be unique since it has an alley cutting right through it!

We ended the evening with a dice game that was very quick to learn. Beginner’s luck was not with me!

I was the first one up Sunday morning and I took the time to get some work done. I had internet through my USB modem, but it was a very sloooow connection. It seems like Dawson City has better cell coverage than does rural Saskatchewan!

Once we were all up we had a HUGE brunch. I didn’t even want to think about food until early evening!

The afternoon was a bit lazy and I caught up on my reading.

Late afternoon, friends and family showed up for a bonfire and wiener roast. What a perfect day for that; we’d hit the mid 20s, with sunshine!

Before dinner, I was taught how to play a gruesome Saskatchewanese game of Russian origin called Bunnock, or Bones. Originally played with horse hooves, this cross between bowling and curling is now often played with plastic bone replicas. I was quite good!

After that, a little boy wanted me to go with him to check out the barn cat’s hideout. There, he discovered tiny kittens no more than a couple of weeks old. They were so cute; no bigger than a mouse, with eyes still shut.

For dinner, I learned how to roast hot dogs over an open fire. Or, rather, how not to. The first one was a tad burnt. 😀 I also enjoyed some burnt marshmallows, but that was on purpose. Marshmallows just aren’t worth eating if they haven’t been set on fire first.

We ended the night chatting around a campfire. One person showed up with a mini marshmallow thrower and I got to learn how to use that. I was a natural, hitting my target (Gary) with my one and only attempt.

The evening wound up around 11. Everyone seemed intent on sleeping in Monday, so I stayed up late to finish a book. Of course, everyone else changed their mind and I was the last one up!

Our hosts live on remote lake-side acreage that is partially flooded right now. Access to the house is through a narrow causeway. When Gary awoke to rain, he was worried we’d get flooded out, so that propelled the early start to the day.

my hosts’ causeway

We were fed another ginormous brunch and then it was time to hit the road, sometime in mid-morning. We drove straight through to Gary’s workplace, stopping only to get fuel and use the bathroom. We were all stuffed from breakfast and only lightly snacked all day.

This was an awesome weekend. Thank you!

LOTS more pictures below!

driving over the edge of the world?

Yup, the earth is definitely flat!

Back to Saskatchewan!

the remains of my Friday dinner

Saskatchewan sunset

breakfast Saturday!

Gary and Jody’s rig; much shorter than mine!

weird 5er seen in Swift Current

Jody made me believe that’s snow. It’s actually salt!

more salt

entering Moose Jaw

the Moose Jaw moose

lunch Saturday (made by me!)

Qu’Appelle valley

the Englefeld pig

Englefeld

driving over a causeway; there wasn’t always water on both sides

pelicans!

pelicans! (just squint)

dramatic sky

Waldsea Lake

cottages pulled from the shores of Waldsea Lake

caboose in Humboldt

Humboldt cemetery

Humboldt Elementary School (looks like an insane asylum)

dramatic sky

home of the local plumber, who apparently charges $10,000 for a toilet 🙂

dramatic sky

my hosts’ causeway

geese on the road

fog over water

driving into the mist

in the mist

still in the mist

Saskatoon

Toon Town Tavern

approaching Swift Current

May 16, 2011 by Rae

Around the Lake

Hard to believe that I’ve been in Lethbridge about six weeks and have yet to post about the city! It’s a city that has been very slow to make an impression. Between all the travel around southern Alberta and the desperate search for income, there hasn’t been energy left to discover this city with a most peculiar layout. But there is one thing I can say about Lethbridge is that when it shakes me out of my complacency it’s to stun me with a beautiful view.

Such as that of Nicholas Sheran lake, just a couple of blocks from home. I love going for a stroll around it. The lake’s placement in the middle of suburbia is just so surreal that I’m always surprised that it’s so close by.

Tonight I actually thought to bring my camera!

pathway to Nicholas Sheran lake

Nicholas Sheran lake

pathway around Nicholas Sheran lake

Nicholas Sheran lake

bridge over troubled waters

duck enjoying a swim even though…

cheeky little fellow, no?

lovely bridge

bridge to an island

the house on the far right of the picture is the last on one of my flier routes

The colours – two shades of blue, a red, myriad greens – were particularly stunning tonight with the sun low in the sky. It was very windy, but not too cold, so I was happy to do a full lap around the lake.

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Parks/Gardens

Weekend in the Kootenays

Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park

Thunder (and Lightning and Hail) In the Valley

A Saskatchewan Education, Or Not So Humble Humboldt

Around the Lake