Tuesday, July 19, 2022

HOME AGAIN AFTER 5 ½ WEEKS

We made it home yesterday July 18, 2022.  We left home June 9 and spent three nights above Summerland, BC where we joined other members of the Summerland ATV Club for a weekend of fun.  Leaving there on Sunday June 12, we dropped the ATV at home then hooked on to the car and away we went.  We found a quiet spot just off the highway halfway between Greenwood and Grand Forks to spend the night.  When we went for our evening walk up the logging road, the mosquitoes were voracious.

Next morning we woke to pouring rain and we mostly drove with the windshield wipers on for the next two days.  Proceeding into Kootenay National Park from Radium it was very foggy in addition to the rain so no views to be had.  The campground at Lake Louise was full so we had to backtrack a bit to an overflow camping area.

Next day we continued our drive up the Icefields Highway to Jasper, Alberta where we spent six nights at Snaring Campground.  We day tripped from there to all sections of Jasper National Park and were fortunate to see quite a bit of wildlife and some beautiful lakes.

Carrying on we spent a night in Whitecourt, AB in an RV Park then drove on to Donnelly, AB the next day where we parked in my Cousin Judith’s driveway.  She was still working full time at the school so we saw her in the evenings.  We toured around and did some geocaching during the days.

We left Donnelly on July 5 and stayed the night in Lawrence Lake Campground just before Athabasca, AB which we had to ourselves all night.  We carried on the next day to Crow Lake Campground a little over halfway to Fort McMurray where we stayed two nights.  On Friday July 8 we moved up to Fort McMurray and parked in our daughter’s back yard for four nights.  We had a great time there visiting her and her roommate Richard.   We enjoyed a fish fry feast one night and steaks a couple others.  They have a butcher shop close by that has superb meat.  I bought a couple extra ribeyes which we enjoyed the next two nights on the road.

We took the old road, 881, south and it was nice and quiet.  We spent that night in Bellis Lake Park then next day moved down to the Carbon East Campground in Carbon, AB which was reservation only, no onsite registration.  We spent three nights in this nice little park and our reasons were twofold.  On Thursday July 14, we drove to Drumheller and visited our friends Bud and Jackie.  We met them in Arizona when we first went to Caliente back in 2008 and have been friends since.  We enjoyed supper with them then they took us for a great tour around their area.

The next day, Friday, Aileen’s friend from all through high school Donna and her husband Steve drove out to Carbon from Airdrie to visit us.  Aileen hadn’t seen her for about 52 years and I hadn’t seen her in almost 55 years although we have maintained some contact over the years.  Donna is also my first cousin twice removed.  Her dad and mine were cousins.

From there it was time to head home after a wonderful trip.  We stayed in Cranbrook Saturday night at an RV park then Sunday we managed to discover a hidden little spot not far from the highway at 4,100 feet elevation where we were able to go for long walks on logging roads with no one else about. We were parked on pavement and only two vehicles and two cyclists went by while we were there. It was only 7C yesterday morning which made for great sleeping.   

I haven’t counted how many thousands of images my four cameras recorded but there seems to be a lot.  We logged 3,970 kms which would be about 2,481 miles.  We poured about $2,500 worth of gas into the motorhome and $357 into the car during our travels.  We saw lots of wildlife along the way, beautiful scenery and the prairie grain fields were fantastic.


I looked out the motorhome window at breakfast time at Crow Lake and spotted these Pelicans preening in the sun.  This is a very long shot as they were on the far side of the lake.  I was using my Canon SX60 with the lens racked out to 1365 mm and the digital zoom at 1.6 so I think the equivalent would be 2233 mm.  This was the only shot I managed to get as the others were out of focus. 

Driving up divided Hwy 63 on the way to Fort McMurray, Alberta.

There were lots of Harebells at Crow Lake but the wind made for difficult photos.





The next few photos were taken northeast of Carbon, AB.  Wheat and Canola.

Canola

Wheat and Canola

Wheat and Canola

Flax, Wheat and Canola

Wheat and Canola

Beaver behind the campground at Carbon


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