2009 White Tail Antlers

Woody finally has the antlers from the deer he harvested in 2009. Last fall he shot a nice white tail deer which he searched for along with Ron, they tracked the deer to a neighbouring property but Woody was not allowed on the property to retrieve the deer, before we left last fall for AZ another hunter had reported that he had seen the deer in the slew, and then this summer someone had dropped off the antlers on Ron’s front porch. Woody has since found out that he could have called a Fish and Wildlife officer to escort him onto the property to retrieve the deer, in this area a landowner must allow a hunter to retrieve an animal that was shot on another property that he has permission to hunt. Live and learn eh! Ron called Woody immediately after finding the antlers on his door step for Woody to come over and confirm that it was his antlers, Woody had pictures of the buck so no question they were his! The antlers scored out at 160 which is nice size for a White tail shot with a bow! Needless say Woody is a happy camper that the antlers finally found their way home. Thanks Ron!

Time rolls ON!

A little cooler today but still nice for this time of year in Alberta, almost 19C (65F), we are just happy to not have snow! The first camper’s are arriving today and things are ready, Woody found trees down on the trails but has not had time to cut them up, many people frequent the trails in this park on a daily basis but most are okay with stepping over trees, but will take the time to report any fallen trees they come across which we are appreciate as whenever there is a wind you can bet there are trees that have fallen. The rule is if it crosses a trail buck it up and throw aside or gather it up for firewood, if it falls in the bush leave it there for nature to process naturally back to soil. Josie dropped in today with the summer schedule and a quick visit, Norm will be over later for a meeting with Woody regarding new guidelines for volunteers, etc, that have been set up by Alberta Parks and Recreation who oversee this park, the money donated by the person who donated the land for this park and also fund projects, etc. for this park (Onoway Fish and Game Association Manage the Park) meaning they do all the work as well as fund raise for this park but are bound by Alberta Parks and Recreation. Not sure I have made that clear but at any rate Onoway Fish and Game Association are our boss and Parks and Recreation are their bosses in a sense. Onoway Fish and Game have secured some funds to build a garage this season and that is exciting news, we will be able to store the tractors and other items here at the park which will be so much easier than always having to drive them down to the Gun Range, thank you Onoway Fish and Game. The trees that will be needed to take down are already marked and the contractors to get the area ready are all set to go! The garage will be completed by July 31st for sure as that is a requirement of the funding it is special chunk of money from another Alberta Government Department. AWESOME!

Sun is shinning, gotta love it!

Another nice day, sunny and 21C (70F) decided we would set up the Internet dish up first, had to request change back to our Northern satellite, informed it would take at least two days to process the change, we are not impressed but have no choice but to wait, we did manage to get our Shaw TV dish set up after calling Shaw for a refresh, nice to have TV available again. We continued getting things ready for weekend, Woody pressure washed toilets, mowed some grass, checked the trails, did some shopping and I caught up on email and other chores. The day passed very quickly and we noticed in just a day the trees are almost fully leafed, surprising how fast they leaf out in the warm weather. Oh yeah saw some dandelions popping up in the lawn as well as the farmer neighbour’s cows have been in the park over winter and left all kinds of deposits in the grassy field, NICE!

A Welcome Home!

We are feeling a little weary today after our trip, getting our heads wrapped around having some responsibility again, checking the park to see what needs to be done right away as the campground is completely booked for the weekend, some campers arriving Thursday. The Onoway Fish and Game members Ron Johnson, Norm and Josie had everything ready for us to hook up the rig, new pressure tank, water lines ready (remember it froze up last fall before we left) and of course power on, they look after us so well. We had let them know earlier that we would be arriving today and called them while on the road yesterday to advise them that we would be arriving last night so they were aware in case someone reported a camper in the park! A nice day today, sunny and around 17C (63F) with some wind, the dogs are very happy to be back, they ran and chased each other in the open grassy field until their tongues were hanging out, it was so much fun to watch them. Tired puppies are good puppies and they slept for a long time after that! Woody has to get the two tractors, they are stored at the Gun Range in a Sea Can, get the power washer going to clean up the toilets, mow grass, at least some of it needs cutting, get our Star Choice dish hooked up and our Internet Hughes dish set up and I need to clean up the Rolling Castle, travelling is a dirty business, everything is dusty and dirty, plus put out the nick knacks that we store while travelling, untie items that we keep tied down while travelling and set up my little office. I do clean up our little house along the way, but the dust gets in while on the road as well as the dogs track a lot of dirt in every day! Along about 3:30 PM or so daughter Michelle and her daughter Caitlin arrive to welcome us home, Michelle works at the school in Onoway about 5 miles from the campground, what a wonderful surprise! She had run home to pick up Oreo and told us Chris (husband) was coming later with pizza for supper if that was alright with us, we were thrilled with the plan, it was awesome to see, hug and chat with them, we could not have been more pleased! Their son Christopher arrived a little later with his new girlfriend Katie, what an awesome welcome home! What a feeling, hugging, chatting and seeing some of our kids, just cannot describe the happy warm fuzzy feelings we experienced today! Needless to say we put our work aside and enjoyed our visit. Woody had to leave a little early to attend an Onoway Fish and Game club meeting at 7:00 pm to catch up on all the news.

Daughter Michelle!

Granddaughter Caitlin

Grandson Christopher.

And last but not least his girlfriend Katie!

Good travel day!

Decided to lollygag at Milk River today, we did not want to arrive at our destination campground, Whispering Spruce, by Balzac, just north of Calgary, too early as it is not pretty, not very clean, not much gravel or grass, just not a very appealing place to be, we stop there because we can visit with our granddaughter, it is open, is on our route and have no other choice. Under Eight Flags has grass, is along side the Milk River, is clean, reasonable price and even though it is under construction (adding cable and Wi-Fi) to some sites it is much better than Whispering Spruce. I called our granddaughter and unfortunately we will not be able to meet, she will be working and cannot change her shift, but she assures us that she will visit this summer for sure! Woody heads out to fuel up the truck and pick up some bread at the bakery in Milk River, our daughter Tracy said they have yummy bread. I had everything ready to go inside when Woody returned so we grabbed a bit to eat, packed up our unit and headed out. The sun was shinning, not much wind, good travel day until we got closer to Calgary, rain showers, gusty winds and foreboding clouds hanging over Calgary. As we are driving through Calgary Woody asked if I would be okay with heading straight home instead of stopping, he did not want to stop at Whispering Spruce, it would be muddy for sure, last year we had to put the truck in 4 x4 to get our unit out of the campground (it had big soggy mud holes) I said sure, I was ready to just head home also. We stopped to fuel up the truck, walk dogs, and stretch our legs at a service station along the highway near Crossfield. The drive was good, and the best thing is we drove into sunshine, leaving the rain behind, it was cool though with a cold wind when we arrived home (Imrie Park) just after 9:00 pm. I called Michelle and Chris as we drove by the road to their acreage to let them know we were almost home. By the time we parked the rig and set up it was 10:00 pm, longest travel day we have had since 2006 but worth it, we were both happy to be home and settled! Interesting fact the trees and grass are actually further ahead in the greening process than down south, usually southern Alberta is ahead of this area, it is so nice to see! We settled down with an adult beverage, late travel sure cuts into Happy Hour! LOL. We decided that when we leave in the fall, we will drive straight through to Milk River, it is doable!

Crossed the border today!

As we were preparing to leave this morning the Manager (I can’t remember his name) dropped over and asked if Woody would like to come with him as he has many hides and he would give him one, excitedly Woody accepted his offer and off they went. A short time later he came home with beautiful fully tanned Elk and Deer hides, Deer was a gift and the Elk he purchased for a very reasonable price. We were invited to stop here again in the fall and pick up more hides; we will take him up on his offer for sure. Experiences like that are so cool and part of the fun of travelling. We left a little later than planned but knew we would still make Milk River, AB in decent time.
The drive to Great Falls via Hwy 87 is pretty, winding around hills through grassy valleys, alongside the Little Belt Mountains and Judith Mountains, there are some awesome views as we crested hills, some fairly steep climbs where the view is nothing but sky until we crest the hill (small mountain) and then drop down into a valley. There is one I really love, as we come atop the mountain we see mountains spread out before us across a long valley like a painting, the camera just cannot capture the scene the way the eye views the picture, lacks the depth and breadth. This is Ranch country; the hills and valleys are dotted with cattle, horses and antelope lazily grazing on the new green sprouts of grass we also see the odd house but mostly you just see rows of mailboxes on the roadside indicating there are more people living in this area than one expect until of course we get close to Great Falls, then we see many acreages. As we approach Great Falls the road becomes 4 lane which makes driving a bit more relaxing, even if it is busy and we connect with I 15 after driving through Great Falls, they do not have a good bypass going north, driving through the city is the easiest way to connect to I 15, we tried the so called bypass route last spring and it is terrible, through Industrial areas, along the Missouri River and actually longer, going south is not a problem but north is a little more challenging. The remainder of the trip to the border is clear sailing, the border crossing was busy but we moved along quickly, had our paper work ready and had no issues crossing back into Alberta, whew, we are always somewhat relieved once across the border. We arrived a short time later in Milk River, pulled into our favourite spot at Under Eight Flags Campground and settled down for the evening, another safe day of travel!

The campground was named Under Eight Flags and flies all eight flags beside the office as the Milk River area has been governed by different countries through history. Below is the history if you are interested.

In 1803 President Jefferson of the United States authorized the Louisiana Purchase, the land on which the town of Milk River was later to rise became American territory. But this was not the first claim to the yet unexplored region; in fact lying north of the 49th Parallel and within the area of the Mississippi-Missouri river systems, Milk River is unique in Canada. There could have flown over this land at various times no less than eight flags representing six governments and one great company.

In 1682 the French explorer La Salle claimed the whole Mississippi system and the land which it drained for King Louis XIV of France and named the area Louisiana.

In 1762 by the secret Treaty of San Ildefenso France abandoned the still largely unexplored region to the Spanish Empire.

In 1800 Spain ceded the region to Napoleon who intended to establish French rule firmly but was unable to do so.

In 1803 the territory was acquired by the United States for a payment which eventually totaled $27 million.

In 1818 a Convention signed between the United Kingdom and the United States established the boundary of British North America as far as the Rocky Mountains along the 49th Parallel, cutting of the extreme northern area of the Mississippi-Missouri system. By previously granted license the newly-acquired territory came under the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1869, following the formation of the new Dominion of Canada in 1867, jurisdiction over the western territories previously administered by the Hudson's Bay Company was transferred to the government in Ottawa.

In 1945 by Order-in-Council the Canadian government declared the Red Ensign to be the distinctive Canadian flag.

In 1965, by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Maple Leaf flag was declared the official flag of the Dominion of Canada.

Snow, Snow go away!

Weather continued to be nasty, windy, cool and wet so we stayed put no sense taking any chances especially since we would be travelling north to Lewistown where the weather is even worse at this time. We whiled our time away, walking dogs, watching TV and working on projects. Good thing we leave lots of time to travel home although we are both getting a little antsy to be settled at home. I find it a challenge to deal with these unexpected weather stops, yet I know that one cannot predict the weather and therefore any trip planning is always just a tentative plan. Ah well I am very thankful that we are in a very nice campground, warm, dry, safe and sound, life is really good and we are blessed with good health!

Snow Day

Woke up to about 6 inches of snow on the ground, with blowing snow coming down, not that we were surprised that is what the weatherman said would happen. We just hoped the prediction would be wrong!!! The dogs love the snow, romping, jumping and eating it as we took them on their morning walk. We were not as enthusiastic as the dogs, with temps below the freezing point and a brisk wind from the west, the walk was shorter than usual. We do enjoy watching the dogs play, but we were not dressed for a dawdling, playful, investigative walk, the snow was wet and stuck to the dogs so they were covered with little snowballs when we got back inside. We towelled them off as best we could which of course they don’t appreciate and I got a Sham Wow to put on my lap, covered it with a large towel, knowing the first thing they want to do is sit on my lap and the snowballs would melt! Oh yeah, I got wet anyway, and it took about 4 hours for the dogs to totally dry off, ah just in time for another outing, you just have to love their excitement over playing in the snow! We dug out warmer jackets and gloves for our walk this time, have not had to wear them since leaving Alberta last fall! Peter, the owner of the park came (just after lunch) to inform us that he would have to turn the water off for a couple of days as the predicted lows were to be in the 20’s F (-7c) and the water pipes in the park would freeze, so Woody had the pleasant job of filling our water tank, we always carry some water but not enough for 2 or more days, at least the fill valve is on the lee side of the fifth, but he came in looking like a snowman, the wet snow sticking to his clothes and beard! I am just happy he does these chores without grumbling, to him it just one of the things that goes along with the RV lifestyle. We spent time working on our projects, Woody working with leather, me working on the computer trying to figure out why it refuses to perform back ups and has lost all the restore points, I ended up after doing all the checks and running all the clean up tools getting out the recovery discs, finally got the back ups working again. In the meantime, Woody needed more leather so I checked the Yellow Pages online and found a leather shop, such luck; Sheridan has a leather shop that sells leather supplies. After cleaning the snow off the truck with a broom, we don’t carry a snow brush anymore, off he went, returning a while later with a nice chunk of leather and another pattern to practice, that will keep busy for awhile. He also picked up some groceries and a black tank valve; he is going to install a second valve as every time he connects or disconnects the sewer hose it runs a little sewer onto the ground that is nasty! Hopeful the weather is a little better tomorrow!

Wow finally a travel day

May 4th-Did not sleep too well last night, the wind was really blowing, the Rolling Castle was creaking and rocking, the dogs would even bark at the noise the wind created whistling around the bedroom slide, we have never experienced such wild winds, the winds died down early morning then started again late morning and blew hard until around 8:00 pm. The day was not cold but sure started to cool off during the evening as was predicted. We are so happy that we did not choose to travel today, the winds blew harder than first predicted, we would have to get off the road, cannot pull the Rolling Castle safely in high wind.

May 5th- Well finally we can travel safely today, a beautiful sunny day with little wind, rain showers predicted toward Sheridan but we can deal with that. Woody talked to a person while filling up the truck this morning, he had driven up from the south yesterday via car and saw five vehicles in the ditch, 1 Motorhome on it’s roof, 4 fifth wheels smashed to smithereens and a semi trailer truck, we cannot believe people choose to travel in wild gusty winds, life is too precious to take chances, better be late than take a chance ending up in a accident. I am sure the trucker thought he was okay; they are so heavy, and more stable in the wind than RV’s. Praying no one was killed.Travelling from Wheatland to Sheridan was a beautiful drive through hills along side the Big Horn Mountains with landscape changes along the way, crossing the Powder River and Crazy Women rivers several times, dropping into valleys and viewing valleys from atop the hills. We saw many Antelope along with horses and cattle grazing the green hills and valleys. There is water in most creeks and the rivers are running full, this is the greenest we have seen this area, usually it is just brown but then they have had more snow and rain than usual, in fact there is snow still hanging around on some of the hills, and lots of snow left on the mountain tops. Once we travel past Casper, WY there is little traffic, just wide open space, dotted with ranch homes and some small communities but then Wyoming is the least populated State at around 522,000 people and the two largest cities Cheyenne and Casper have a population of approximately 55,000 and 53,000; ranks 9th in land area, 97,100 square miles equalling 5.3 persons per square mile. In comparison to Alberta, population 3,290,350 land area 248,000 square miles which equals 13.2 persons per square mile. The two largest cities, Calgary and Edmonton, population just around the 1 million mark each comprise almost one third of the entire population. Alberta ranks 6th in land area of the 10 provinces, 4th in population. Okay enough statistics, we enjoyed our drive today and happy to arrive in Sheridan, settle at Peter D’s RV Park and relax for the evening, the park is a nice clean, easy off/easy on of I25, we stayed here previously in 2006 and the owner remembered us, he loves dogs so had treats for the dogs in his pockets and gave them more treats when I was walking the dogs while Woody was getting the 5th wheel set up, this park has everything one needs while travelling, full hook-ups, excellent Wi-Fi, clean laundry, showers (not that we use them), cable TV, all pull thru sites, reasonable cost and just on the edge of town, PERFECT! We checked in for 3 nights, knowing we could not leave until at least Saturday due to weather and will see what the weather has is store for us over the next few days.

Wind, Wind, go away

The wind is howling, sustained winds in the 30’s mph (50's kph) with gusts to 44 mph (72 kph), and predicted to blow until tomorrow night with gusts to 64 mph (104 kph) overnight. We are rocking for sure, the winds are from the west which hits the full living room side of the fifth, and saving grace is we have a camper on truck and a trailer beside us which breaks the wind for us a bit. It is not cold but supposes to cool off big time on Wednesday, like down to 46F (8c0 as a high but that we can deal with that as long as the wind slows down so we can get on the road. There is nothing much of interest to see around Wheatland, checked the tourism site, museum not open until mid May and the only other thing that was listed was a reservoir so we drove around town, some nice old buildings, stopped at a "Antique/Used/Consignment store" lots of stuff, some nice stuff, but nothing that we wanted, have no room anyway, only bought a couple of Louis L'Amour books to add the collection. Well that is about all, Woody is watching hunting on the Outdoor Channel and I knit while half watching, take care all and hope you had a great day!

No Travelling today

Well still in Wheatland, weather going north is bad, problem with NW winds, brings everything towards us, so bad up north then bad down here, BAH!!!! I really have to remind myself that bad weather is not a huge thing in the big picture of life, especially when one can be safe in a decent campground with the ability to keep a look out ahead, and we do not have to go out when we don't want to, well except to walk the dogs, eh! Sure would be worse to be driving in snow and wind, etc. Watched a TV show today about a young adult who was born blind, no legs and has done marvellous things with his life, makes me feel ashamed that I am depressed, frustrated and feeling put upon because the weather is not working in our favour, Woody and I looked at each other and said, "so what are we complaining about"!!!!! We will get home at some point, just have to be patient and enjoy each day. We drove around Wheatland today, nice little town, well kept homes, some neat old buildings and a city park, population 3500, did some shopping, staff in stores very helpful and friendly, not much open being Sunday except Safeway, the hardware store, dollar store, etc. Woody is busy creating his new cell phone case, I did some knitting and tried to figure out why my computer takes 5 minutes to completely start up, cannot figure it out, oh well maybe someone that knows more than I do can figure it out. I shut down everything I could without messing up the computer totally.

Travel Day

We made it to Wheatland, WY today, trip was good until northern Colorado, then NW gusty winds to Wheatland, wide open hilly land, looks pretty similar to southern Alberta. Sure sucked up the fuel once we were pushing wind! Not sure if we are leaving tomorrow or not, weather ahead not looking good, snow showers and wind, but will check in the morning. At least we have cable TV and Wi-Fi here. The campground is full, we got the last spot, good thing I always call ahead. This campground is more than full, workers here doing maintenance on the power plant, there are many sites with 2 campers crammed in but a decent campground, we have stayed here previously so knew it was okay, right on the edge of Wheatland. Sure am glad we don't have to deal with all the tornados further east in the States, wind, rain and snow is not as bad. Anyway we are hopeful the weather will change for the better! We are good as are the puppies.