Days 45-49 - 25-29 July 2011 - Point Farms Prov Park

Days 45-49 - 25-29 July 2011

A different type of camping for this week. We are with our old camping group at Point Farms, a park we have not been to for a few years. It is still as nice as ever. Taylor's, Hildebrandt's, Curtis's, Hamilton's and us are enjoying a very lovely week.

Saw sunset on Tuesday night and for the second time in my life I saw the green flash at the instant that the sun went below the horizon - sorry no picture but if you try to get the picture you never see the green flash - you'll have to try to experience it yourself. It is rare to see in Ontario, more common to see in the Caribbean - Sharon saw it once in Jamaca.

Day 36 to 44 - at home

Day 36 to 44 - at home

Day 35 - 15 July - Barrie ON

Day 35 - 15 July - Last Day of First Leg of 2011 vacation

We arrived at Michael's place.

A heat wave has started!

It was nice to see Spencer and Tegan

Day 34 - 14 July 2011 - Sault Ste. Marie

Day 34 - 14 July 2011 - Sault Ste. Marie

After a long drive we stopped for the night at Mike and Diane's house, had a great dinner but a short visit but we will be back for a full week in 4 weeks for the Titanium Rally at the KOA in SSM.

Day 32-33 - 12-13 July 2011 - Kakabeka Falls

Day 32-33 - 12-13 July 2011

We finally stopped for a restfull two days - sorry it took so long to get this updated after we got home.

They changed our site 22 - favourite site - but they made it better - I t now has 12 more tress and the parking area is lined with 6x6 and filed with screenings.

Lots of sunshine both days.

Day 31 - Monday 11 July 2011 - Winnipeg

Day 31 - Monday 11 July 2011

Bit shorter day - so left later and arrived by 4 pm at same campground in Winnipeg that we used last year. And we lost an hour as we went to Central Daylight Time.
Today we had a head wind - so no great mileage like yesterday - today it was 11.98 mpg in the am and 13.68 mpg in the pm - the afternoon wind was more on the side than head-on and the numbers reflect that.
As we drove east today we crossed both the Assinaboine and the Red Rivers - both are still very high. We also crossed what I think was the flood bypass canal - it was full and only the levees were holding all the water in. I sure am glad we live in Ontario and don't get floods like they do here.
Much like last year we have noticed for the last couple days that in all of AB SK and MB, the crops in the fields seem to be fewer, many fields still have water in them and some fields are half crop half water.

Day 30 - Sunday 10 July 2011 - Regina

Day 30 - Sunday 10 July 2011

Drove all day so no pictures (unless I get the one Sharon took of the tallest TeePee in the World at Medicine Hat).

We left Calgary with a little bit of rain and drove into sunshine and a nice driving day. With the wind behind us we were actually pushed across the praries and made remarkable time. We left at 7:11 am and were in Regina by 4:26. When I check my mileage I'll come back and post if it made any difference. Wow what a diference - normally I get between 20 - 21 mpg without the trailer and 14 - 15 mpg when towing the trailer - today I got 15.79 mpg in the morning and 16.66 mpg in the PM (the wind must have been heavier in the PM).

Day 29 - Saturday 9 July 2011 - Chuck Wagon Day

Day 29 - Saturday 9 July 2011

We and the Cook's went to the pancake breakfast at Sirroco Rd and 17 Ave SW - it was only 11 minutes away. Last year we went to the grand-daddy of all pancakes breakfast at the Chinnook Mall - it was 35 minutes away so we picked the closer one this time. Lots of entertainment (all good) and lots of people - a fun time; Winston even got a hand-out at this one....and oh yes - the breakfast was good.

Came back and relaxed for awhile, got a chance to catch up on this blog, had a good lunch, took Winston for a long walk, then headed back to the Stampede to browse some more and take in the night show.

The Chuck Wagon Races (one more bucket list entry checked off) were very exciting; 10x better than watching it on TV; one of the many pictures I took shows the photo finish of the first race. The 7th race was even closer but my photo was not as good.

The Grandstand show truely was "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" (their motto). It was almost 4 hours of non-stop action, The fireworks through-out and at the end were better than Disney (and before this I thought Disney was the best). The acrobats and gymnists (the picture shows 4 on a tampoline making it appear they were walking on the walls etc) rivalled Cirque du soliel; and the rest of the show was top quality from start to finish.

Day 28 - Friday 8 July 2011 - Calgary Stampede

Day 28 - Friday 8 July 2011

We started the day off by watching most of the Parade on TV - a much better way to see most things - but we had to do it that way cuz we could not leave Winston inside the camper all day and eve. Went off to the rodeo by 10 home by 7 - it was an awesome day. Picture shows start of rodeo with all the cowboys in a semi-cirlce. The other picture is two famous chuck wagon drivers - Kirk and Kelly Sutherland; we also met Jason Glass and Jerry Bremner. If you watch the CBC Stampede summary each night at 11 PM EDT I am sure you will hear all those names.

After the rodeo we went to the Ice Show, Jamie Sale and David Pelltier were good but were only on for 5 minutes- the rest of the show was amateurish.

Back to the C-train to get back to Crowfoot station, then drove to campsite from there.

Day 27 Thursday 7 July 2011 - Calgary AB

Day 27 Thursday 7 July 2011

When Will & Kate heard that we were going to be in Calgary for the opeining of the Stampede, they just had to show up here. We did not get to see them personally but they are everywhere in the news and we saw a lot of them on TV.

Got here early, met Rosemarie and Cookie, who got in yesterday and also ran into Richard & Maddy. Rosemarie's brother and wife from Maple Ridge are also visiting here.

We went off to Okotoks to visit the same meadery that we visited last year and got some samples. Talked to the beekeeper there again - he had a 60% winter loss this year - ouch.

Right next door to the campground is the Canada Olympic Park. The picture shows the ski jumps, but of course they are closed for lack of snow. We saw the bobsled run (closed also) but the park was alive and active with mountain bikers everywhere.

Back in time for a pot luck dinner at Cooks.

Day 26 - 6 July 2011 - Banff AB

Day 26 - 6 July 2011

Sunny all day high of about 28 C (low was about 11 C). Fantastic drive today, the Canadian Rockies are the best of all the mountains we have driven through. The scenery is breathtaking at every turn.

We lost an hour and are now on mountain time; we got to Banff National Park (see picture of front gate) at about 4 PM.

We set-up, had a beer, took off the mirrors and headed to town. Went to Banff Springs Hotel, Bow River Falls, Sulphur Mtn and Sulphur Hot Springs and Gondola car. Then picked up diner at Boston Pizza got back to camp site at about 7:30 tired and hungry. We have been here many times before but got to see a few different things this time.

Many of you know how paranoid Sharon is of meeting a bear, well this park has had two cougar sightings - even I am paranoid of running into a cougar - needless to say we only walked with Winston within the campgrounds and kept looking over our shoulders.

Off to the Stampede for the next few days - not sure when the next post will come.....

Day 25 - Tuesday 5 July 2011 - Kamloops BC

Day 25 - Tuesday 5 July 2011

We now have hit the hot weather - but so has the rest of the country. Today we drove with not a cloud in the sky all day. (Picture is at one of our rest stops but shows how blue the sky was). We hit a high of 32 C (with no humidity) so it was kinda nice - it sure makes the beer more enjoyable! Our drive today was an elapsed time or 5 3/4 hours (with an hour worth of stops) so we got to Kamloops well before 3 PM and had time for a walk with Winston to enjoy the area.

Days 22 23 24 - 2-4 July 2011 - Maple Ridge

Days 22 23 24 - 2-4 July 2011

After dropping J & C & H and Jaws at the airport, we got organized again, went and picked up the 5th at the horse farm; did some grocery shippng and were off to visit our friends Norm and Linda in Maple Ridge - a subburb of Vancouver just east of Burnaby.

We did a lot of neat things like: drank beer; went to the Bloedel Observatory (that is where the two pictures are taken from - one shows the new roof being added to BC Place and the other is Sharon Linda and three people they picked up at the Observatory), drank beer, went to the Greek festival for dinner, drank beer, fixed a few things on the 5th wheel, drank beer, toured different parts of Vancouver and saw Empire stadium, Roger Bannister Statue, and the old Canucks Arena (sorry forget its name), drank beer, and went to Abbortsford, Aggassiz, Chilliwack, and Lake Harrison Hot Springs. And if I didn't mention it - Norm and I had a few beers each day while Sharon and Linda drank wine.

We had a great time in Maple Ridge.

Days 19 20 21 - 29 30 June 1 July - Vancouver

Days 19 20 21 - 29 30 June 1 July

Back to Vancouver for three more days of rest and relaxation with Jamie Cassie and Hadley. We have had a great time with our grand-daughter.

Terry got his chipped tooth fixed at Jamie's dentist.

Jamie bought a new car (see picture) so we spent some time cleaning up the old Volvo so he can pawn it off (sorry - sell it). Moving the roof racks and generally setting up the new SUV.

Sharon took Winston for a walk and found $40.00 - the next day we all offered to take Winston for his walk and found $0.00

We went to Wreck beach; for those that don't know it is on the UBC campus and is a nude beach - yes we can confirm that the beach was nude (temp of 18 C might have had something to do with that).

We went on a hike up to Cypress Creek - had to be the best hike ever because on the way down the mountain we went over to the creek and low and behold there were three beers chilling in the water. Jamie said someone sure was going to miss them but later fessed up that he had put them there - still it was great to have a cold beer on a hot hike.

Had dinner at the Wolfe and Hound and all called it an early night since we had to drive them all to the airport early Saturday morning