Armstrong

Early Friday morning, Barb & Kim headed home, while I lazed about. Later in the morning I took the fairly short ( 3 hour) drive to Armstrong. I got there early enough to grab three caches before settling in for dinner. On Saturday, I spent the whole day caching in Armstrong, Spallumcheen and Enderby, picking up a further 17.

To get one of the caches I had to hold onto a stump at the top of a cliff while I stood on what little footing there was behind it rooting around underneath it.

That's the stump in the lower right foreground. Who says caching is boring?

Along the river walk in Enderby I found an interesting sign.

I wonder how many Fidos can read it?

My last cache of the day featured a colourful guardian (cache was inside it).

Sorry, Barb, it isn't brass, but it's a lizard...

Golden Day

The weather was perfect for our final day as a group. Sunny and warm but not too hot. In the morning we all (including DeeOhGee) went for a long walk up to a forestry camp, where resided a cache. Along the way we crossed a bridge over the Waitabit Creek.

We found the final rusting place of one of Henry Ford's finest...

When we returned to the campground, we were greeted by several bears.

After lunch, Barb & I headed into Golden to see the sights and do some caching. We had a look around the Old Town, which featured this fine bridge. It's the longest freestanding timber frame bridge in Canada.

One of the caches we found was in Golden's "last outhouse". It, and the main house, are the only buildings in Golden protected by a bylaw.

Tomorrow, the merry band of travellers depart in different directions. Barb and Kim return home to Williams  Lake, and I head to Armstrong en route to Oliver.

Donald

We had a real time getting to Donald, our final camp as a group. We decided to stop in Banff for gas/diesel and that was a mistake. The GPS sent us on a wild goose chase for a non-existent Husky, then the easily accessible Shell was closed because their computer was down. He directed us to another down the street and we ran into a 10 minute roadblock while a garbage truck took its time. The station was a terror getting the fifth wheel wedged into, and then tempers flared because cars were all over the place and some guy coming in the wrong way got short tempered with Barb. We finally got out and decided that the best way to see Banff was in our rear view mirrors.

We stopped in Golden for provisions and Barb had a few anxious minutes when she thought she'd left her credit cards back in Banff. She finally found them, then we found out that the Sobey's didn't have bulk water (one of the main reasons for stopping).

We got to the campsite, and after I dropped the landing gear and hooked up, I discovered that the electrical connection had a hot neutral so I had to disconnect, raise the landing gear, hook up the truck and move sites. Grrrr... oh well, lesson earned... check electrical before dropping anchor.

We finally got settled for a very late (but very welcome) Miller and dinner. And as a consolation prize for a rough day, here's one of the views we enjoy from our site.

Tomorrow we plan on doing a little walkabout in Golden.

Walking the Hat

We had a great couple of days in Medicine Hat. We stayed at the city run well maintained campground just out of town and far enough from the highway to be quiet, nestled among the trees.

I discovered a nine hole "cache 'n' putt" right next door to our campground, named Jackalope Flats.

As well as the nine "holes" they had an irrigation system (a hose nozzle under a bush) and a clubhouse. The full circuit was probably a couple of miles A fun time.

Barb & I went on a walking tour of downtown Medicine Hat, which featured a number of historical buildings, and a lot of interesting background.

We went inside the courthouse to have a look around, and had to go through security like at an airport, and admonished not to take any pictures. I think we made the guard's day, they can't get many lookie loos. He was quite friendly, and eager to share some history of the building and the area.

We found this now politically incorrect advert on the side of one of the buildings.

As we bid adieu to Medicine Hat, we set our sights on Donald, just out of Golden.

Caches & Tunnels

No brilliant sunshine today, mostly overcast, but it was very warm and no sign of rain. The attraction we really wanted to see, the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, didn't open until noon on Sundays so Barb and I played tourist at the visitor centre. We saw Mac the Moose (at 32 feet tall and weighing in at 10 tons he's touted as the world's largest moose) and the trolley that tours the city, which wasn't running on a Sunday this early in the season.  :-(

Since the trolley wasn't running, we went and did some caches instead.  :-)

After lunch, we went to the much anticipated Tunnels of Moose Jaw. There were two tours, the Chicago Connection (to do with Al Capone and the bootleggers) and Passage of Fortune (about the Chinese immigrants). We opted for the former. It was interesting, but a bit disappointing, in that we were expecting more history and less campy theatrics. We really only went through one tunnel under Main Street, and spent most of the time in cellars that had been outfitted with obviously later addition false doors and bootlegging paraphernalia. No cameras allowed, so here's a shot gleaned from the internet.

Tomorrow we pull up stakes and head for Medicine Hat.

Moose Jaw

After the rain of the last couple of days, it was beautiful travelling weather today. The sun streamed down as the miles melted away behind us and we found ourselves in Moose Jaw in early aftenoon.

Along the way, we stopped at a tiny little town called Moseley because of a sign on the highway pointing to a swinging bridge. It took the place of the one we were thwarted by in Souris yesterday.Here are Barb and DeeOhGee getting their sea legs.

Because we got to Moose Jaw so early (we gained an hour crossing the time zone, too) we were able to visit the Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre, where we snapped this little fellow.

He was one of the owls that had been imprinted to humans, so wasn't worried by our presence. All the others were in much larger pens and too far away to catch a shot on a cell camera.

An Ill Wind

It was windy... very windy... and rainy most of the day today, so we were going for two indoor attractions. The morning was good, but the afternoon was a disaster.

Despite the gales and downpours, we had a nice visit at the Daly house museum. It was the home of Brandon's first mayor, Thomas Daly II, and has been done up with all period furnishings and appointments, many from the original home.

After lunch, we headed to Souris, about a half hour away, to see Canada's longest swinging bridge, and another museum, a castle-like structure built in 1904. And Souris is where the wheels fell off.

When I asked directions to the bridge, the City Hall lady looked blankly at me and said "It's down". "Down where?" I asked. Turns out they cut it down during the flood of 2011 for fear that the surging river would tear out its moorings and the wall that protected the town. Then it turned out that the museum wasn't open until July. But I have pictures of the attractions that weren't... here's what the bridge (or its present state of reconstruction) looks like now...

...and here's the outside of the museum that we would have toured...

But we had two more disappointments yet. Barb tried to get some money from a Credit Union, but they claimed that they didn't recognize her card and directed her to a Royal Bank ATM (Hm... whatever happened to "ding free"?).

And then when I tried to find a cache outside the castle on a display train, I came up empty. It didn't help that I couldn't tell which end was the back (where the magnetic key holder was supposed to be). I searched both ends anyway in the (by now) drizzle, but no go... small consolation that several logs commented on the difficulty of the hide.

...so we came away from Souris with me cacheless and Barb cashless. Oh well, we treated ourselves to apple cinnamon tea and a treat at the local tea house so the afternoon wasn't a complete write off.

Tomorrow we're off to Moosejaw and the weather report is looking much better.

Brandon

Our westward return trek has begun. We followed the same route that we'd already travelled from Sioux Narrows to Winnipeg, but then took a more southerly branch and are spending a couple of nights in Brandon. The prairie wind that we experienced on the way out is with us again, but accompanied this time by fairly consistent rain. It rained all day for the drive, and is still coming down steadily. The rain must have been following us, because when we pulled into the park, it was barely drizzling, but now between Barb's spot and mine are several lakes to traverse.

I was happy to find that there is a cache in the park here, not 150 feet from where my lot is, so I was able to get it logged without me getting waterlogged. A nice sized one, too, and I was able to exchange travellers.

We stopped for lunch at a convenient side road along the way, and realized as we pulled away back onto the highway that we'd just happened to lunch at the longitudinal centre of Canada!

Tomorrow's activities will be dictated by the weather (more rain is forecast). We have both indoor and outdoor activities from which to choose.

Sioux Narrows

We had a nice quiet day today. Poked around the Trading Post this morning in town, and a couple of gift stores. Here's a selection of images that'll give you the flavour of the town...

Yes, Tourist Central. Everybody is very friendly, it isn't quite the start of the tourist season yet, so they're bracing for the onslaught.

After a relaxed lunch, Barb and I went in search of a cache at Nestor Falls, about 1/2 hour south, while Kim just kicked back and chilled. The "falls" is more like a spillway, as you can see...

I found the cache pretty quickly, exchanged some trackables, and we headed back. The country here is very reminiscient of some parts of northern B.C. and we had a most enjoyable afternoon drive.

As the sun slid below the horizon, we toasted our turning around with the last bottle in existence of the Bearsted Manor 2011 vintage Shiraz/Zinfandel blend. Tomorrow we set our sights westward toward Brandon. 

Turning Point

We've reached our furthest point East, after which we'll be turning around and heading Westward again. But before we do, we have a full day to spend in the peaceful tranquility of Sioux Narrows, Ontario.

We made a couple of stops along our way here, both for caches. The first was an Earthcache (caches that demonstrate geoscience features) at the Keewatin Rockholes, which reminded me of the Sooke Potholes, but these ones are much deeper (up to 7 feet).

They were formed by meltwater streams and stones swirling around under the glacier that covered the continent some 18,000 years ago. And that's granite, not sandstone!

A few miles out of town, there was a rest stop at a place called Bunny Lake, so in honour of Barb's cat Bunny, we just had to make a pit stop there. There was a cache there, too.  :-)

The resort here is quite secluded, and extremely quiet, tucked well away from any traffic right beside Lake of the Woods. It's too bad we only have one day here.

Here are Barb and Kim chillin' at one of the lakeside settin' spots.

Somebody with a sense of humour turned a stump into an art work...

... and it looks like there are other bears in the area...

Those signs are on the same RV (park model), one at the front and the other at the back.

Lower Fort Garry

After a bit of shopping in the morning, we spent a delightful afternoon trooping around the Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site. There was a five stage puzzle cache inside the fort, so naturally I (and Barb) had to indulge. A bit of shortcutting was required. One stage was confusing and another stage was illegible (we had to read a carving in a stone wall). However, we managed to piece it all together, and locate and log the final.

Along the way, we saw many interesting sights. This one had us "talking like pirates"... and no doubt amusing the passersby...

There are numerous park staff in all the buildings on site dressed in period costume and acting assigned roles, ala Barkerville. We had some nice chats with some of them, and learned that they were mostly university students who were lucky enough to find work that complemented their career paths.

This part of Canada, and most of the West, was purchased from the Hudson Bay Company, who had first claimed it all.

The very first aboriginal treaty (Treaty #1 - now controversial) was enacted here in 1871. Here's a shot of a teepee in the background of the blacksmith shop.

Later, we visited an Earthcache for my collection, this one was in Oak Hammock Marsh, and taught us all about artesian wells.

Tonight we're treating ourselves to dinner out at THE (only) local Île-des-Chênes eatery, and  tomorrow we head to our turning-around spot, Sioux Narrows ON. It'll be a short driving day (3.25 hrs), so we'll have a chance to see some sights (and caches <hehheh>) along the way.

BTW, there's an interesting background on how Île-des-Chênes was named... Google it...

Friendly Manitoba

Another Provincial border (and another time zone) crossed. The good news is that the internet here is very good, but the bad news is that it wasn't a very eventful day to report on, as it was mostly "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road ahead". We rolled into our camp site with enough time to spare for me to dash out and get my daily cache before hunkering down for Miller time and dinner.

I realize that I forgot to relate the end of the tire saga, though. When I took it into the tire shop for repair, they declared that the tire was no good, and pointed out a sidewall bulge that indicated belt damage. I had to buy a whole new tire.  :-(  But that isn't the end of the story just yet... during today's travel I had to refill it, so it may be losing air again, I'll have to take it into a shop here in the morning for them to look at once more. It might even be the tire pressure monitoring valve on it I suppose... what a drag. Oh well, that's what adventures are all about, eh?

Ticks seem to be an epidemic, though. With all the bushwhacking I do in B.C., I've never seen one of the little parasites. Among the three of us (and DeeOhGee), we've managed to pick up about a dozen since crossing into Saskatchewan. The campground manager here says he thinks this is the worst year yet for them, and global warming may be playing a part in their migration from the East.

Tomorrow we have a full day's outing planned if the weather cooperates (it's quite warm and muggy now, with possible thundershowers in the outlook). There are a couple of interesting parks and possibly the Mint...

Prairie Schooner

We have internet now, but only by sitting outside the campground office. Here's where we've been over the past few days:

Here's a shot of some mini houses I saw beside the Glowing Embers campground in Acheson (I forgot to add it fofr the Acheson post). There was no sign to indicate what they were for, perhaps they're going to add wheels and market them as economy RVs?  :-)

We arrived at the Saskatoon campground on Wednesday to quite a stiff breeze. Because of this, and the resultant swaying of all the trees, the wifi was pretty much unusable (seems to be the common denominator on this trip). Throughout our stay, the wind only let up late at night.

We're into our "drive every other day" schedule now. We decided to spend the day here wandering the trails of the Meewasin River, and caught some caches while we were there (of course). Here's a shot of one of the typical trails we enjoyed.

Barbara was quite interested in all the pelicans that were in the river, and roosting on an island in the middle. We got several pix, but of course they were on the camera, not the phone (camera has 20x zoom), so I can't upload them yet. Here's a pic of the spillway, though, which gives a sense of the width of the river.

A little way upstream we came across a paddlewheeler.

We would have gone for a trip, but its sailings were going to be too late for us. Next time. It reminded me of the paddlewheeler in New Orleans that I didn't go on, either.  :-)

One of the caches we found was in the middle (literally) of a stone sculpture at the foot of a bridge. Yes, it was actually =in= the sculpture, not under it! It took us a few minutes to find this one, the camouflage was so good. And the whole time we had to pretend to be admiring the work rather than searching for something (in it for the art, not the cache) so as not to attract muggles (non game players who sometimes vandalize caches).

On Friday morning, we pushed off for Yorkton SK. It was the shortest drive so far, only 3.5 hours, but we stopped for picnic along the way. It's a city run campground, and as I said at the top, we have to sit outside the tiny office to get wifi (and then it is S-L-O-W). We're spoiled at home with our high speed I think.

Today (Saturday), we had a nice long walk around the lake that we're camped beside, and picked up a cache on a spit of land that sticks out into the lake. After lunch, we toured a local museum that was very interesting. Kim especially enjoyed the farm machinery scattered around the grounds.

I thought that second one, the combine, looked like a giant insect.

Tomorrow we head off to a suburb of Winnipeg, Ile Des Chenes.

Incommunicado

Sorry, the internet has been the pits the last couple of days. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have a better connection and can post some catch up.

Rocky Mountain High

We were late getting away from Williams Lake yesterday, so got into Valemount late. Just time for Miller, dinner, and a few caches. Valemount is a pretty little town whose motto is "let the mountains move you". I still don't have a card reader for the camera, so a nice shot of the mountain from the campsite will have to come later.

Along the way, though, my tire pressure monitoring system alerted me that I had a slow leak in one of the trailer tires. Luckily, the automatic leveling system can be used manually to lift the wheels into the air so I could change it for the spare this morning. Of course, that meant we were late getting away today, too, and got into Acheson AB late (we lost an hour along the way with the time zone change). Same routine... just time for Miller, dinner and a few caches.  :-)

On the drive though, we were treated to some spectacular Rocky Mountain scenery. We came around one bend and Mount Robson was taking up the entire field of vision. Enough to make you drive off the road.

We stopped for lunch in Hinton, where I spotted this fine fellow welcoming (?) shoppers to the IGA store.

This IGA is very RV friendly, advertising free overnight parking (with big rig pull through parking spots) and wifi even.

Tonight is the last of our one night stands. From here on in, we spend two nights at each location. Tomorrow I'll try to get the tire in to a tire shop for repair.

YeeHaa

Williams Lake... cowboy country... home to one of the oldest, and the second largest stampede in Canada, behind Calgary. Also the home town of Rick Hansen, the Man in Motion, and the Montreal Canadiens' starting goalie Carey Price.

On January 2nd 1938, two local merchants, Alistair MacKenzie and Syd Western, decided to close their stores, which were deserted and had seen no customers that day, and went to coffee at the Lakeview Hotel. After consulting with other local merchants who had also seen no business, downtown Williams Lake closed and the merchants jokingly called it Wrestling Day, a new holiday. (If the day after Christmas was Boxing Day then the day after New Years should be called Wrestling Day). Ever since it has been generally accepted that the day after New Years many local businesses are closed. From 1943 to 1986 it was declared an official municipal holiday.

I actually got here on Sunday, but the internet at the campground is terrible, it keeps dropping out, so sustaining a connection long enough for a post has been challenging.

I managed to wrestle the washer/dryer out of its tight little nook in the bedroom closet, and with Barb's help as "spotter", confirmed that the connections in the wall are secure. Yay... I was able to turn on the water again without being flooded out. You don't know how dependent you are on water availability until it's gone. I've already got a bit of caching in, and looking forward to many more in the area during the week I'll be here.

It was hot and sunny until yesterday, when a storm blew in complete with thunder and lightning. Rainy today, so I'm glad I brought my wet coast cacher togs.

Inauspicious Beginnings

The day started out well enough.The usual last minute stuff, of course, so it wasn't exactly leap out of bed and out the door. However, at 7:15 I was pulling out of the storage yard compound, and at 8:23 pulling into the ferry terminal. There was lots of room, and I made the 9:00 sailing.

Got to Hope without incident, went and found a fabulous cache at a scenic waterfall, got some groceries and headed home for Miller. So far so good, except that I can't upload a photo of the falls because the laptop won't read the camera's XD card and I don't have its USB cable with me. If I can find a cable in Williams Lake I'll upload the pix then.

Edit... here is the waterfall...

After the gin had a chance to settle the dust, I decided to hook up the water for the first time after the winterization. I made sure the hot water tank was still bypassed (don't want antifreeze in there), turned off all the taps that had been left open, and connected the water. Hm... hardly any pressure in the taps, what's wrong? On my way out to the hydrant, I see a waterfall coming from the elevated front end, and realize in an instant that I'd forgotten the washer/dryer taps. The hoses were disconnected, and the taps were left on for draining. The bedroom closet was swimming.

Oops.

Three hours later, after mopping and wringing out a =lot= of water, and setting a heater on it, it finally stopped draining out of the front end. I turned the water back on, checked all the hose connections, and all seemed fine. However, after a half hour there's water once more dripping from the front end. I think what happened is that in my eagerness to shut off the taps, I may have twisted a connection loose in the wall behind the washer. Great, not only no water, but a nice repair bill in Williams Lake coming up.

So, apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you enjoy the play?

Hopefully, today's episode will be in stark contrast to the rest of the trip. Stay tuned.