Cruise Week End

This week end was the annual Cruise Days in Three Hills, Alberta.  We had a day of respite from the rain, and it was a comfortable day weather-wise.

The attendance was down somewhat due to the cloudy skies.  Main street was lined with cars on both sides of the street and down the center.  There was every kind of car and truck you can imagine.

I am not into cars, but one can't help but appreciate all the work that went into restoring these vehicles.  

George knows a lot about vehicles, so it was a pleasure for him to attend.  My brother, Bob, came down from Calgary and my girls and their spouses came down for the event.

 

It was an enjoyable day and well attended.  There are supposed to be drag races today at the local airport, but it is evenly overcast so don't know if that event will take place.

Until next time.......

George Has Arrived

He's here!

George arrived on May 27th. George is a friend from the Dolphin RV park who has a permanent home in Iowa.  He had gone through quite a bit of inclement weather and had to spend a few nights in a motel, but arrived on a sunny day.

He said that quite a few people on his route took photos of his trike.  Ummmm........I wonder why?  I was just happy that he made it safely this far. 

Alberta is having spring weather and it has been either cloudy or raining heavily.  Today it is pouring.

I want to show George parts of Alberta.  He will be crossing the Rockies on his way to Alaska so scratched Banff off my list of places to see.



Yesterday we went to Strathmore, Alberta as I had to pick up some mail from my daughter's house.  I decided that since it was kind of on the way home, we would go to Drumheller and see the badlands.  We took the Bleriot Ferry across the Red Deer River.  George makes a friend wherever he goes and here he is visiting with the Ferryman.  The Ferryman is a Snowbird who goes to Arizona every winter.  He said he arrived home in March and was worried that he would arrive late for the season.  Instead he discovered that the river was frozen over and it would be awhile before he could run the ferry. 

George - talking?

I always enjoy the ferry crossing.  It only takes about 10 minutes to cross, but it is pretty there and the ferry ride is free.

Drumheller is a pretty little place.  It is famous for the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum and the hoodoos.

Hoodoos

We ran into wet pavement on our trip, but luckily it was warm and sunny when we arrived at the hoodoos.

This week end is Cruise Nite in Three Hills.  The attendance will depend on the weather, but we are hoping there will be a good turn out.  In a good year there are over 3000 vehicles arriving in this little town of 3500. If it is raining the attendance will be poor as the owners of the vehicles are afraid of hail since they have spent many hours and dollars on their vehicles.  It is a case of "wait and see". 

Prairie Life

The weather has improved on the prairies of Alberta.  I just returned from a walk and other than the wind, it was gorgeous. 

Creek

I was expecting the creek water to be higher after all the snow this area had over the winter.  It is surprising how quickly the wind carries the moisture away. 

The frogs are alive and croaking loudly.  As soon as they heard me all became quiet.  The ducks also flew away once they became aware of my presence. 

All around me the ground is various shades of brown.  The grass is turning green on the acreage.

Follow the road

And here I am

Being that the snow has melted I moved The Old Girl off the drive way. 

I have been busy helping one of my girls prepare to paint her basement.  This week we will buy the paint and next week begin painting.  I had a wonderful night with my oldest daughter in Strathmore and got to sleep in the peaceful Seaside Room. 

Until next time.......

Slowly Warming

I've been home for a couple of weeks now.  The weather has been exceptionally cold for this time of year.  On Saturday we had a blizzard in the morning.  One could not see a few feet ahead, but it cleared in a couple of hours.  According to the forecast it is supposed to steadily climb in temperature this week.  Everyone I speak to is tired of the cold!

We gathered for Doug's birthday on Saturday and Des and I took photos of the clouds and landscape.

I thought this was a neat photo.  It looks like the cloud has sunshades on and is smiling.  As you can see the prairie is losing its snow.  The ditches still have big snow banks.

This should be called Big Sky Country. 

It has been a challenge to keep warm and I am using a lot of propane.  Getting up in the morning is the difficult part.  When the sun shines into The Old Girl it warms up quickly.

I have been busy visiting friends and family.  It has been good to see everyone again.

I miss my American friends.  It was a wonderful winter!  Hopefully it won't be too long before I can see them again. 

Canada

Yesterday we left Shelby, Montana early in the morning as we heard snowy weather was supposed to move in and we wanted to beat that.  Shelby is only 32 miles from the Canadian border.

Canadian border crossing

We did not have any problems at the border.  The border guard was very pleasant.  There was no line up as it was so early in the morning.

Home

A short distance later was the sign welcoming us home. So far, no snow.  Brenda had packed up last evening so she was ready to move out.  Her sister, Linda, met us in Hanna and things were transferred from The Old Girl to Linda's vehicle.  The last miles of my journey I had to do alone.  It seemed really strange without Brenda beside me.

When I reached Three Hills there was a lot of snow everywhere.

The Acreage (Doug's)

I will have to remain parked in the drive way for a week or two as there is no other place I can get into until the snow melts.  And it is cold.  Right now at 9:50 a.m. it is only 1C.  To make matters worse a cold front is moving in and there will be more snow and freezing rain.  In a couple of days the temp. is to drop down to -13C, which is about 7F.  The 14 day forecast is for cold and snow. This has been a long, cold winter for Alberta.  That is why I was in Southern Texas for the winter!

Doug gave me some files that show what the area looked like in March, 2013. 
                                                                            

March 23, 2013

March 23, 2013

As you can see they had a ton of snow.  Not only was there snow, but the temperatures were very cold all winter long.  Here we are into April and more snow is forecast.  How can anyone winter here?  It is no wonder that so many Albertans suffer from S.A.D.  (seasonal affective disorder).  The days are short and the cold gets depressing by about January. 

My daughter, Desiree, is coming to the acreage to visit today.  I am glad she is coming here as she lives about an hour away and I am not up to driving yet.  My neck and back are stiff and sore.  Hopefully, Gabrielle will drive out here to see me as well.  She is only 9 miles away.  On Saturday I will drive into Red Deer and see Caitlan.  I promised to kiss her face off when I see her, and have been instructing her to put glue on her face in anticipation.  She is very excited!

Until next post.........

Shelby, Montana

Mountain Acres RV Park

Today we left Lewistown and made our way to Shelby, Montana.  It is the 2nd last leg of our journey. 

Tomorrow we enter Alberta.  I will take Brenda home to Hanna first and then take myself to Three Hills.  It has been a long, long drive.  We are happy to be almost there.

Fortunately we have not had any problems along the way.  The Old Girl (motorhome) has given us a pleasurable trip!  Let's hope the remainder of the journey is just as good. 

I heard it is supposed to snow in Alberta tomorrow.  One never knows what to expect with Alberta springs.  According to the internet a couple of colder days and then it will begin to warm up once again.

I am very excited to see my family!  I miss them terribly.  Soon...........

Lewistown, Montana

Today we drove farther than we thought we would.  We had to quit early yesterday due to high winds, so today we made up for lost time.  We are presently in Lewistown, Montana.  We are parked at Mountain Acres R.V. Park and have full hook-ups......first time since we left Texas.  One can go quite a while without hook-ups as long as one can dump and add water.  Having said that, it is nice to use water a little bit more liberally.

Lewistown is a pretty town in the foothills of Montana.  Brenda and I went to Acers Restaurant and Casino for supper.  This town is only about 2000 people and yet we saw four casinos.  After a delicious salad we both decided to try the penny slots once again.  I put in $5 and won $106 and some cents.  I cashed out.  Now we have a couple of more tanks of gas that won't come out of our pockets.  Hooray!

Lewistown is very clean and has many old buildings.  I love old buildings.  The building adjoining the theatre was built in 1904.  Some of the buildings were built in the late 1800's. 

There were also a few art galleries.  Brenda and I went into one.  The art work was mostly of a western theme.  I noticed a couple of stores that sold western wear.  Guess it is a cowboy community.

I took a photo of the next building because my friend, Jim, is a cowboy poet.  He has books of wonderful poetry that he has written.

The sign on the side of the building reads:  Cowboy Poetry Country.

I wonder if Jim has ever read his poetry here.  He is very, very shy.  He told me once he was in the U.S. to read his poetry, but I don't recall where he said he was.

After tonight we will have only one more American sleep.  Tomorrow will be a short day of travel for us.  Once we enter Alberta there will not be any open R.V. parks so we will have to head straight home.  It will take most of the day to take Brenda to Hanna and then about another hour for me to get home, so we will do that last stretch in one day.

We are thankful to our American friends whom I text everyday to inform as to our whereabouts.  It is good to know that people care and follow our journey to make sure we are safe.  At least, (God forbid), if we should disappear, there are those who know where we were heading and when we should have arrived. 

Hopefully tomorrow evening we will have wi-fi and can connect once again.  Talk with you then!