7-10 July 2010 - Cochrane/Calgary AB

Days 15 to 18

We arrived at the rally site on July 7th; we are at the Spring Hill Campground just north of Cochrane AB. There are 36 rigs here (all Titaniums but one, Bill & Margaret just downgraded to a Landmark) we already knew 15 of the couples and I am sure we will know the other 21 by the time we leave. It is beautiful here, from the campground we can see the Rockies, I just haven't got up early enough to take that perfect picture yet. Early enough would be 4:30 ish cuz it seems to be bright here from 4:30 to 11 PM.

On Thursday night we went to visit an old work colleague of mine (Bob Sowtis) ; Bob BBQed the best western dinner Sharon and I have ever had (and the beer was pretty good too).

Friday we spent the whole day at the Stampede, it was opening day, the weather was the hottest we have yet to see, the sun was out all day and the rodeo was fantastic. On the way into the grounds we all passed Elvis Stojko on the street, Sharon recognized him, we all stopped, went back and got a picture (LtoR Diane, Sharon, Carole, Lori, Elvis, Sue and Marilyn). We had great seats in the grandstand (in the shade); compared to the rodeo we went to in Holstein ON last year, this was a lot more fun, a bit classier, and 100 times bigger and that is not to take anything away from Holstein. After the main show we toured the grounds; in many respects that part is like the CNE and the Royal winter fair rolled into one; but, about 4 times bigger. We also saw an Ice skating show with Elvis Stojko and Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir.

Today we went to the Chinook Mall for the free Stampede breakfast (there is at least one somewhere in Calgary every day of the stampede). The pancakes and sausages were great. Last year, they say this event served 75,000 people, and they say the wait time never exceeded 10 minutes. Clearly there were thousands there this year and we only waited 10 minutes - you have to see it to believe it. From there we went to Heritage Park, a Historical Village set in 1910. We left 5 minutes before the rains started, and it is still raining now, thus explaining why I had the time to sit down and put this together.