Yes! another exciting day

Another warm and sunny gorgeous day, Woody took the truck in at 8:30 am, had a squeaky belt, nothing serious, replaced the belt, the belt tension mechanism did not require replacement he then continued to the city to run a few more errands. I spent time learning how to transfer VHS tapes to DVD, always a learning curve when using new equipment. When he returned, we both watched some of our old home VHS tapes, interesting to watch and surprising to realize just how much one forgets details and certain events. What a treasure it is to be able to transfer our memories on DVD to enjoy. I am sure one day the DVDs will need to be transferred to new media with technology advancing as quickly as it is, hopefully that will be our kids worries eh.We had our interview this evening for the work camp position, YES we have the job, great opportunity for us; free site with full hook ups plus wages. We will prepare to move to our new home on Friday. This position will is also for next summer and if we choose for many summers to come. For us this is huge bonus, campgrounds here are so expensive and very few available, as I have mentioned in a previous post. Returned home and shared our exciting news with our friends online. Tomorrow we will approach the owners of our present campground for a refund as we pre-paid to September 30th. Our new home at Imrie Park offers many bonuses for us, besides the obvious financial savings, more privacy, hiking trails, close to fishing, an archery and gun range for our use, no extra charge, the quiet of country living, closer to our family, shopping and the all important Laundromat, lol! We are so excited and pleased to have found this opportunity, thanks Allen!

Exciting day

Another gorgeous day here 29c 79F, I worked on the blog then spent time checking for a spring home in Alberta, thought southern Alberta might be better weather wise than our home area but doesn’t seem make much difference, I did find a nice looking campground in Magrath, AB and sent them an email for more information. Woody spent some time reading and doing a few chores. Received a phone call from Onoway Fish and Game Association regarding our potential position work camping at Imrie Park for the rest of the summer, we have an interview tomorrow evening, we are praying, would love have that position it is just what we have been searching for, we are so excited, cannot sit still. Sounds very promising, the President asked if we would be willing to move in next week, WOW we thought they were looking at next year camp hosting, oh yes we would move, no problem. The pluses are many, closer to our family in the area, shopping Laundromat and a gorgeous little park to call home, free site with full hook ups and some wages on top, we are praying! We pre-paid until Sept 30th at our present campground so will approach the owners regarding a refund if we secure the new position. We chatted online with our friends, sharing our exciting news then discussed the situation, finally going to bed at 11:30, hopeful we could sleep!

Visit with Barb and Grant

Woke up to a beautiful morning sunny and warm, the high today was 25c 77F, no rain! Woody went to town in search of a visor for the drivers side at the auto wreckers, the visor lost it tension so hangs down in Woody’s face and blocks his vision, not good! I worked on the blog until he returned with a new to us visor. He installed the new visor then repaired the drawer slides in our bedroom dresser, all the bouncing and bumping over the many miles of bad roads was just too much for the loaded drawers.
We then went to our chiropractors (Barb, Grant, and daughter Elly) for dinner and spent a fantastic evening visiting and sharing the Africa pictures with stories. We were served BBQ, buffalo steaks, fresh homemade bread, new baby potatoes, two salads prepared with fresh vegetables, side of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes topping the meal off with a cake with fresh strawberries topped with ice cream, now you just cannot ask for more than that, or can you? Oh yes you can, we brought home leftovers! Barb is a marvellous cook and Grant did an awesome job handling the barbeque. Thanks Barb and Grant for a great visit. We ended up staying later than we had thought we would, arriving home to an excited puppy that needed a late evening play after that we checked our favourite forums and turned in for the night.

Woody and Andrew met

After lunch Woody drove to Pipestone Creek Archery (just over an hour from here) meeting Andrew as planned to practice with their bows. They intended to use the outdoor 3D range but the weather did not cooperate, they moved to the indoor range and had a great time.

Andrew and Woody hanging out!










Jim, the owner of Pipestone Creek Archery and Andrew.


I worked on the blog and cleaned up our little home, except for the “man room”, that I shall leave for Woody.
Many RVs pulling in this afternoon, some pretty big rigs, surprising how many RV’s they can squeeze into this campground.
Latter part of the day this area was part of a Tornado watch, nothing happened except rain, thunder and lightening and the watch ended around 9:30 pm. We spent the evening reading.

Errands and some exciting news for us

Woody spent most of the day running errands. The truck has a squeaky belt (we think) and while getting the truck checked, he was chatting with Allen (our long time friend) who works at Country Automotive in Onoway, Allen informed him of a work camper position that will be available for next season. Wow, Woody was all ears; it is a small campground in this area, actually closer to shopping, our family, and the Laundromat. Woody called the contact regarding the position, looks promising, and upon his return and after a quick dinner, we checked the campground out. Nice small campground with walking path to Devils Lake, a nice lake in this area, small but has fish. While there we chatted with the present hosts of the campground who were very informative as to the duties, how busy the campground is, etc., sounds like a good opportunity and just what we were looking for, free parking, with water, sewer, electricity in exchange for grass cutting, and host duties, there is also a gun and archery range that we would be mowing grass and caring for, with some payment involved. We came home very excited and hopeful. The Onoway Fish and Game Association operate this campground and the contact person Woody talked to said he would present our names to the association first thing next week cannot wait to hear what the outcome of that meeting will be. We arrived home just before a major rainstorm, rained off and on until after midnight. Between rainstorms, we chatted with online friends and read. Oh yes, the day was warm 24.2 c (about 75F) and it cooled of nicely with the rain.

Next year summer home?

After completing a few chores, we decided to check out a few of the RV Parks in the area for a possible summer home next year. Wow what a surprise, the monthly rates are outrageous, and there is nothing special about these RV Parks, I know our season is short, May 1st to Sept 30th usually, some do not open until the May long weekend but I think the rates are too high. We checked two at Alberta Beach, one in town, to crowded and right next to a community centre that is rented regularly for weddings, socials, etc., did not even ask for rates. Alberta Beach is a small community right on Lac Ste Anne. The next was situated next to a golf course, informed us they preferred to rent to golfers and they were booked up for next year, rates, $750.00 per month, more than we are paying where we are right now! Next stop Spring Lake, not a bad park, the lake is nice (spring fed) they are booked four years in advance their rent is $750.00 per month, and raise that to $950.00 for July and August YIKES! We thought it would nice to stay at a different park next year staying somewhere in the area close to our family. I found one nice looking campground in the Lethbridge area that has reasonable rates and opens April 1st, $450.00 per month, emailed them and yes, they would have space and could easily accommodate our rig. Lethbridge is south about 5 ½ hours from this area, too far from the family for many visits eh! Thinking maybe, we could stop there for a couple of months on our way back next spring, need to check out the weather for April/May, not that it really matters, certainly would be not be cooler than this area. We discussed the whole issue of needing to be back in Alberta for 6 months of the year, if that was not the case we could find warmer digs in the lower mainland of British Columbia, ah well probably more expensive there but it would be warmer and we know our daughter, Deb, would be happy to have us close by, ah well will find some solution we are sure.

We spent the evening chatting with friends online and relaxing.

More Africa

Blogging is a very time consuming sport when I add pictures, takes forever to organize the pictures on the blog with the captions beside them, I just cannot figure out a way to make it work efficiently. It has taken me over 4 hours of work for 3 days of entries. The work is worth it though; Woody and I already enjoy looking back over the posts savouring the memories.

I do not have any notes entered in my journal at all for this day, I looked up the weather on the internet, it was a nice day with no rain, so hope you will enjoy some more pictures of Africa.

Giraffs are beautiful, curious animals and they are everywhere, not dangerous, they just walk away when they feel you are getting too close. They have very beautiful eyes with long curling lashes.

Giraff browsing, with Mike taking a picture.

The hippo is the most dangerous animal in Africa, they kill more people than any other animal.

Another critter that is dangerous is the Cape Buffalo, the horns you see are about 2' across.

Africa pictures

A much cooler day with some rain high barely reaching 65F, we have been thinking about daughter Tracy, Keith, and their two girls, they left on vacation this past weekend, and we are hopeful they will have good weather travelling around the Kananaski country for the next two weeks. They have a travel trailer and we know they always have a great time despite weather, but life is more fun when the sun shines.
Some more Africa pictures.






A Sable browsing.











Moon over the mountains at sunset.

Another beautiful sunset.

This is a road, most of the roads in this area are just trails. The main roads are about 1 1/2 lanes, gravel with big potholes.

A group of Sable, Sable vary in colour, the darker coloured are usually male and the lighter colour female, they both have horns.

Lazy day, Africa pictures

Today was a gorgeous day, no rain temperatures in low 70’s, with that ideal clear blue Alberta sky, nothing compares except maybe Montana’s blue sky. We passed our time leisurely doing the usual daily tasks, reading, walking, and searching more areas for our winter home. We are amassing quite the list of RV Parks and average temperatures in different areas of the southern states. There is so much to see, no matter where we look, it would take three lifetimes to see it all. Some the areas we would love to visit are not warm enough during the winter, we have been discussing ways we may be able to spend time during late spring or late summer visiting those destinations.

I have not been doing a good job of keeping my journal or the blog updated and since I have been working on the Africa Safari DVD thought I would share some pictures today and over the next few posts. There are some pictures also on the June 21st post.

Hunters Hill Safari is located in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, June and July are the coldest months, freezing temps overnight but usually it warmed up nicely during the days, although many days a brisk cold wind blew.


A Photo safari truck, the Hunters Hill offer daily photo safaris as well as hunting safaris.







The lodge grounds were very nicely landscaped and behind the fence is a heated swimming pool.

Rhino's are everywhere and walk through the lodge grounds after dark, when leaving the main
lodge and walking to the cottage Woody was accompanied by a guide with a gun after dark.

The owner of Hunters Hill breeds and raises endangered species, among other animals he has a 24 acre enclosure for white lions. This baby boy is curious!


Simba is one of 3 white lions known in the world. He is about 600 lbs.





The staff at the lodge are fantastic, always smiling and happy to look after everyone.


Hope you enjoyed the little glimpse of Africa.

An awesome day, time well spent

The highlight of this day was a BBQ at Michelle and Chris’s attended by neighbours and friends of theirs. A fantastic day playing with the kids, visiting and all enjoyed the fantastic meal at this special occasion.

Caitin is a real little mother, she looked after the younger children all afternoon.

Okay I am waiting, please someone play ball with me!







The girls in this picture are twins and enjoying a game of badminton against Woody, oh yeah they all the kids kept him busy!









Now let's see whose point was that?

Lisa with her puppy!

Teasing Woody so he would chase them, they nearly wore him out!

Woody and Bryce playing badminton, not sure who won the match!

Chris was a hit with the little girls, always wanting more play time!

Continued quest for a winter home

We both spent the morning in our continued quest to find a winter home. Woody looking at the map, me checking out average temperatures and searching for RV parks/campgrounds on the internet in the given area. There are many RV parks but difficult it seems to find one that suits us, are we that hard to please, we do not think so just want a space that is not a paved parking lot or gravel area with cement pads with very little space between the sites. We have still not had an answer from Canyon Falls RV Park at Canyon Lake, Texas, that makes us both uneasy, if they do not answer emails what is the level of their service we wonder.

We decided to run into town and update our address at the banks we deal with as well as other businesses, I have spent time doing as much as I can online but find not all business or banks make address changes available online. Returning home we took Oreo for a walk/play, continued our search for a winter home and chatting with our online friends.

A rather frustrating day

I spent time uploading videos to Photobucket for my website. The host I was using for the video clips is closing, a real bummer as I had paid for the year on May 8th. I sent the company an email requesting a prorated refund, received a reply, not happening. After uploading the first clip to Photobucket, I proceed to try and view it, message received that I need Flash player, I have the latest version of Flash player, check help, spend mega time following all the steps, no change, now I am frustrated, shut down Photobucket. Go to Woody’s computer to view (he is out running errands), no problem but I am not impressed, and the quality suffers greatly from compression after upload. I had forgotten that was one of the reasons I did not use them in the first place, plus the not so nice page for viewing clips. I spent more time trying to find a fix, no luck and I am thinking no way I can use this site for video clips so spend time searching for a new host, what an aggravating experience that turned out to be, most sites have to much material that I find disgusting and do not want to be associated with those sites in any way. Guess I will use Photobucket until I can find another good host. I close everything and take Oreo for a play; she is such fun to play with or just fun to watch play with her toys by herself. After a play and walk with Oreo I decide to leave the whole situation ride until another day, maybe I will be able to come with a solution. We spent a quiet evening chatting online with friends and reading. Yeah we both enjoy reading books!

More rain and severe storm warnings

Today Woody and Chris had planned to install the finishing inside and out around the new patio door but the weather did not cooperate and Chris did not have his circular saw, he had loaned it to Keith and they are away on vacation. We spent the day checking for a winter home that is when the dish was working in between we read and played with Oreo. We had warnings of severe thundershowers with possible tornado, which thankfully did not happen, we had some good thunderstorms but nothing serious. When the sun came out later I sat and watched the insects (bees and flies mostly) drinking the water off the leaves just outside the window in front of my desk, I so enjoy having the time to watch God Creature’s doing what comes natural to them. After the rain, the leaves glisten in the sun, tiny droplets of water dripping off the tips. Watching the droplets reminded me of a storybook that was one of our daughter Michelle’s favourites. I cannot remember the name of the story but the gist of the story was how unhappy the small animals were due to the rain and cold. A squirrel started counting the drops that were falling off the leaves, other animals joined in, they made a game of it, forgot how miserable they felt and then they realized they were having fun. I know if I asked Michelle she would remember the story, I ended up hiding the book I got so tired of reading it to her! Michelle was about 3 years old, I think. Interesting how certain memories pop back into your mind when certain circumstances present themselves or particular aromas, or at least I think so.
No major storms occurred, later turned quit nice, we walked Oreo, Woody read, and I worked on the blog and chatted with friends.

A rainy day

Rained all day, Woody spent the day reading, while I worked on the blog, worked on creating a DVD of Woody’s Africa Safari and read, in between rain showers we took Oreo out for playtime. I always find it surprising how fast the day passes even when pretty much confined to our little home.

Some pictures of Oreo after a hard day!

She puts herself to bed between 10:00 and 10:30 then gives us that sleepy eyed look when we disturb her when we go to bed.

Another visit with Michelle and family

We continued our search for a winter home for the morning then spent the afternoon at Chris and Michelle’s (Chris took the week off to complete some projects around the place); Woody installed a new storm door for them while we were there with assistance from Chris of course. We ended staying for dinner returning home around 9:30 pm. Another very pleasurable day spent with family, we know Oreo had a great day playing and receiving mega attention from Chris and Caitlin.

Some pictures Woody took at Chris and Michelle's place. Tiny spiders nesting on the underside of a plant, when the leaf is touched the spinders come tumbling down clinging to their webs.

If you look closely you can see the spiders hanging from the stringy webs. The spiders are not larger than the head of a stick pin. After touching the leaf and they tumble down they immediately climb back up the webs and settle.

I just love Tiger Lilies. These are the basic orange variety.

Chris also has some very pretty red coloured and yellow Tiger Lilies planted. The yellow are not in bloom as yet.

Sunset Pictures

Rainy and cooler (high of 68F), we ended up reading most of the day a perfect way to spend a rainy day. Thought I might do some baking but could not put the book down! During the evening, it quit raining, while chatting online with some friends we were watching the sunset from the window directly in front of my desk, too capture the pictures Woody climbed up on the roof of our fifth wheel and captured some awesome sunset pictures.

God paints spectacular scenes!
















Just a few minutes later. Notice the position of the sun peaking through the trees.







The scene changes so fast, these pictures were captured in minutes.

Discovered Salters Lake

Woody spent the afternoon with friend Scott today practicing with bow, a few miles south of here, around 2:30 pm a hailstorm hit here, no damage other a few small limbs to pick up after, the worst storm we have had here this summer, luckily Woody and Scott were far enough away, did not get the full brunt of the storm just the edge of it. After Woody returned home we took Oreo and checked a little lake close to here that is excellent for fishing, it is not advertised and only known to the locals, our friend Allen told Woody about it. Very small, aerated the year around and stocked each year with trout, a cutline runs east from the lake, great place for Oreo to run, we want to teach Oreo to sit in the boat with us so running off some energy before getting in the boat should help her to sit quietly for a couple of hours, well that is our plan anyway! Cooled off somewhat today (77F) with some rain.

July 2nd to 4th

Spent most our time reading, shopping and searching the internet for a winter home, south Texas is looking good. The weather here was in the 80’s until the 4th, no rain except the very odd light shower. Dean from Stony Plain AV and Appliances came out and set up the DVD/VCR player for us, now I can start the time consuming job of transferring VHS tapes to DVD a project I want to complete prior to heading south of the border for the winter.

Canada Day

Celebrated Canada Day with Michelle and Chris, enjoying the beautiful warm day, visiting, sharing a meal and Woody gave Chris a hand figuring out what material would be required for finishing trim work around their newly installed patio door. Oreo had a great day playing with Chris although Caitlin was away camping with Tracy, Keith and family and I know Oreo missed Caitlin’s undivided attention. Oreo loves all people but has four favourite people, Woody, Chris, Caitlin, and our friend Dave that is very clear. The rest of us just fill in until one of her favourites steps into the picture.

Oreo getting spoiled by Chris!

Oreo weighs 76 lbs, just a bit large for a lap dog but she doesn't think so!

Dave, your not the only one who spoils Oreo eh!

We arrived home after dinner expecting the evening to be a bit noisy at the campground but all was quiet, later we heard some fireworks (at the beach on the lake), not much of a show though we could see them from our fifth wheel and didn’t last long enough to walk over and get a closer view.

Canada Day

Celebrated Canada Day with Michelle and Chris, enjoying the beautiful warm day, visiting, sharing a meal and Woody gave Chris a hand figuring out what material would be required for finishing trim work around their newly installed patio door.  Oreo had a great day playing with Chris although Caitlin was away camping with Tracy, Keith and family and I know Oreo missed Caitlin’s undivided attention.  Oreo loves all people but has four favourite people, Woody, Chris, Caitlin, and our friend Dave that is very clear.  The rest of us just fill in until one of her favourites steps into the picture. 

We arrived home after dinner expecting the evening to be a bit noisy at the campground but all was quiet, later we heard some fireworks (at the beach on the lake), not much of a show though we could see them from our fifth wheel and didn’t last long enough to walk over and get a closer view.