Stage Two: Adventures in Canada

The desert was nice but this is wonderland

It has felt strange not gathering my thoughts and memories each day and transcribing them into some order of entertaining ramble.  Keeping a journal is time consuming but also fun.

We have been back in Canada for just over two weeks and thousands of miles.  We have done a loop from the border South of Lethbridge, AB. to Moose Jaw, SK, Winnipeg, MB, back to Moose Jaw, North to Lloydminster via Saskatoon, SK, then Cold Lake, AB, Edmonton and now Jasper National Park.

Don’t like the price of fuel, price of camping, price of admission to anything, or the horrid condition of our roads. However, there is just something calming and majestic about our land that makes the added costs fade away and the bumps and jars tolerable.

On day one we dropped the trailer in front of Grant and Dani’s house in Moose Jaw and on the morning of day two raced to Winnipeg.  Met with Mo and Brenda at the #4 Legion for the Sat afternoon meat draw and discussed next winter’s travel plans. We are extending an open invitation to you all to come and see us during July thru Sept (fishing and camping season), we will entertain anyone.

Mother’s Day was spent with our daughter and her beau Justin.  Enjoyed a family dinner with his parents and siblings plus caught up on the local gossip.  En route back to Moose Jaw we stopped into the farm at Elie and visited with Leonie and John (Dani’s Mom and Dad).  We did our best to convince them to come and visit us.  They need to stroke some items off their Bucket List.  We also stuffed a very large Martin Bird House into the back of the truck.  Dave and Kaye’s Dodge Mega Cab Hauling Service is alive and well.

During a restful two days in Moose Jaw we acted like tourists and let Dani escort us to the No#1 tourist trap in town; the Moose Jaw Tunnels.  It truly is worth seeing.  There are two tours; first is the underground businesses that were really slave labour for the Chinese immigrants that worked and lived underground, then the second was the prohibition years and the stories of Al Capone.  The tours are guided by young actors who transition in and out of character.  It was fun. 

Next stop was Lloydminster.  We just camped overnight and did lots of shopping in the tax free haven of AB.  A short drive the next day and we were at our son’s home in Cold Lake.  Brian and Jen had the chores list planned out and the weather cooperated for the first two days as well.  We rebuilt one side of their back yard fence, did a brake job on their new/used Durango, plus an oil change on our White Beast, and then prepped our old boat for its first new season on Cold Lake.  I wanted to have a spin on the lake myself but the weather turned poor so we skipped that and decided to head to Edmonton.

Two nights in Edmonton found us at Barney and Darlene’s.  We were their matchmakers 35 years ago.  Wow, how time flies.  They have cats.   One mustered up the courage to come and check out Kyle from afar but when he lifted his head; disappear.  During a walk at the park, Kyle chased a Jack Rabbit for ‘we don’t know how far’ because once he left the park, crossed a busy street and headed into a residential district we gave up on him.  He always comes back, just exhausted and sheepish, knowing how much trouble he was in.  The good news is; we think we have them convinced to come and visit. 

The Sun God said it would come out on Fri afternoon, so we packed and headed out for Jasper.  Sun God was right on.  Frost overnight, had to use the heater in the morning but today has been spectacular.  Kaye and I stopped in Jasper for one night when we were first married in 1976.  We were travelling to Victoria for our ‘Honeymoon’.   We could only afford to rent a spare room in a lady’s house.  We arrived late in the evening and she told us that she locks the door at 10pm and does not give out keys.  We still wanted to find somewhere we could eat and relax as we had worked all that day and then driven the four hours to Jasper.  Kaye remembers me muttering; “if the door is locked it won’t have any hinges”.  It was open when we got back.

Jasper is not like Banff at all, except for the prices of crap made in China.  It is so much smaller and seems to attract the true campers and outdoor explorers.  Hundreds of klms of groomed hiking trails.  We chose to drive to the farthest lake on the NW side of Jasper heading towards Pyramid Mountain.   Kyle swam everywhere we stopped and we hiked a lovely trail between Pyramid and Patricia lakes.  Being still ‘Off Season’ there were no parking issues and we felt at times like we had the whole park to ourselves.  Jot this down, visit Jasper before school gets out!

 

Kyle found his voice today.   We stopped to watch a lone female Elk (I think) grazing at the side of the road.  She did not care that we were there.  I rolled the window down in the back of the truck and Kyle started to sniff loudly and then out of nowhere he started to bark.  And he barked loud and consistently.  The Elk lifted its head, tweaked its ears to listen for a second and then continued eating.  I rolled up the window.

Link to complete photo album.

Next stop will be the Columbia Ice Fields on Hyw 93 and a stay in Lake Louise or Banff.