Home Safe and Sound

We are home safe and sound. It is because of Ken's driving skills. At one point coming down the Coquahalla we were going at the speed limit and there was a semi in front of us. A jack ass in an SUV decided to move into the space between us and then use his brakes to slow down . I could just see the mess at the bottom of the long steep hill as he ran into the semi and we ran into him. Ken was quick thinking and he was able to avoid running into the fool. Ken laid on his horn and that idiot gave him the finger. I don't think some drivers realize that those big rigs cannot be stopped on a dime.

Anyway we were lucky and we are here at home enjoying a quiet evening. It was beautiful and sunny and bright when we pulled away at 9:15. The sun on the mountains was glorious and the new snow on the peaks made it just that much more beautiful.

Later in the afternoon we got some clouds and when we arrived here in Abbotsford the heavens opened up and it just poured.

BUT we are home and the trailer is unloaded and the first 2 loads of laundry have been done.

We are back to routine already. It will be nice to sleep in our nice warm beds. The furnace is on and the house feels cozy and welcoming.

I reached 25,000 reads on the blog today.. That is quite amazing.

Right now the next travel adventure for the Abramsons is a cruise to Hawaii in January.
Come back then.

Hugs
and
Choose to be Happy
We are going this way only once!!!

Monday September 18

On The Road Again,

I could not believe it was morning already. Ken said it was time to get up and all I wanted to do was roll over. But it was seven o'clock and if we were going to beat the snow and the rain that the weather network had forecast we had to get going. During the routine stuff of getting underway Ken passed me a new garbage bag to be placed in the cab of the truck. I couldn't believe it was one which promoted the 125th birthday of Canada. The bag is 25 years old.... I wonder if it is a collectors item?? But leave it to Ken to have saved a bag for 25 years and it was new and unused.

We drove away from the campground around 8:30 which was pretty good considering my slow start.
It was a pleasant stay even though all we did was sleep there. We were busy with Ken and Carol all of our waking hours.

The day was beautiful most of the day. There was little or no smoke and the clouds hung on the mountain tops. It was simply breath taking.

On this trip and on our train trip before it we have not seen wild life. But today was our lucky day.

We stopped in the Golden area for lunch and it was fun to see that they are getting into the spirit of the season already. Have a look at these beauties.

We put in a long day because of the road construction happening. At one point we were stopped for one way traffic and the line of cars passing us because it was their turn was 166 cars long.
We made it as far as Chase and we are at the Lions Club's RV park. It is a bit pricey but the money is being raised to build a water park water park for the area children. The Lions always do such good work.

It is a nice park, it is right on the river, it has excellent WiFi and we can hear a train near by. What more could you ask for? maybe TV???

Home tomorrow.

Sunday September 17th

Not as planned.
This day was not as planned but it was very memorable.
We w ent to Ken and Carol's as planned. We arrived around 10:15 and we learned that both places we were supposed to be going were closed. BUT Their son Guy and his wife and inlaws were at a place called Sisters having a Sunday breakfast and we were invited to join them.

So we parked the truck, jumper in their car and away we went.Because we had all had breakfast we just had toast and spent the time visiting. It was so friendly and memorable.
There was a caboose outside so we had to take pictures of course.

On the way back to Ken and Carol's I spied what I thought was a crab apple tree. What I saw was not crab apples but Carol knew just the place to get them. We got 2 ice cream pales and went to the crab apple trees. The first tree we saw was just loaded with wonderful small red apples just perfect for picking. These are the kind of apples that I was accustomed to picking when I lived in Loch Lomond. I was so excited to get them. I will be making crab apple jelly on Thursday. On the ground at the base of the trees were many fallen apples

. Every grove in the sole of my runners and Ken's hiking shoes were filled with what would have to be called apple sauce. Ken was kind enough to help us wash out the bottoms of our shoes. We did not wash our shoes in the sink.tomorrow.

Ken was finally able to reach Kelly Kask after hours of trying. They will not be home so we will not be heading to Canal Flats


Later in the afternoon Carol and I went shopping... and I mean we went shopping. I bought 2 jackets and slacks and tops and I love every single piece. Such nice things and such bargains. Carol had luck finding things she liked too. It just made my vacation to find so many things that I liked.


We came back and we sat on the deck and enjoyed the views of the lake and the ducks. We had great pizza for supper .

The great day was finished with a rip roaring game of Dominoes. I won!!!

We said our good byes and away we went. We will be heading back to Abbotsford tomorrow. The forecast is for snow in the mountains so we hope to out run it.

Royal Tyrrell Museum

Saturday September 16^th.

It was cold last night and the truck had a good coating of frost in the morning.

We put the furnace and the electric heater on and before long the rig was nice and cozy. Ken and Carol arrived a few minutes before ten and soon we were on our way. The drive was about an hour long we were at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

This is an amazing place and Ken and I really enjoyed seeing the exhibits. I took 61 pictures and I will post just a few of them.

We spent 3 hours there and then we gathered at the coffee shop…. The same one where we had lunch. We had a coffee and as is usual the ladies went to the washroom.

In this one there was a sign like none I have ever seen in the ladies room.

What do you think was the reason or the story behind this???

Next  we drove out into the country side to see a campground and a golf course and some of the badlands.

Then we  headed into the town of Drumheller. Carol wanted me to visit a very nice ladies shop. We did. I bought 3 new tops. Then we went to the doll museum. It was very interesting but I forgot to take some pictures of the dolls.

We drove to Humphreys in Strathmore and then back to Ken and Carols to watch the football game and relax before heading back to the camp ground.  There is no TV there and no WiFi  so we are finishing the blog and doing our e-mail here. Tomorrow we are still in Strathmore and Carol has something special planned.

Friday to Strathmore

Friday September 15,      

We woke early and got up early because we wanted to get a good start.

IT WAS FREEZING!!!

Temperatures had dropped during the night and the trailer was not comfortable. We were not long getting dressed and getting out to the truck. We took our coffee with us. Much to our shock and dismay

There was frost on the windshield and the temperature read one degree Celsius

.

We bade Canyon Hot Springs a fond farewell and headed down the road with the heater working well and hard. It was 8:45 when we pulled away which was not too bad considering that we aimed at leaving at nine.

The day was sunny and bright in the morning. I am always blown away by the sheer beauty of the mountains in this area of the world.

We ran into heavy smoke after we left the Rogers Pass area. It was heavy but it did not last too long.

There was quite a bit of construction happening and that slowed us down. One thing we noticed was the fact that they were building crossings for the animals to use. We saw several that were obviously older because they had full grown trees and grasses on them. These structures are really quite amazing.

We stumbled through Calgary using 16^th avenue. We hit so many red lights that we lost count. Ken was not pleased to put it mildly. Next time we will use 201…..now that we know it exhists.

Ken and Carol met us at Strathmore and showed us the way to this camp ground. Once we were set up we followed them to their home.

It is a lovely place and it just suits them. Carol has it decorated like a little doll house.

Carol had made a wonderful beef stew and Saskatoon pie. It was delicious and we enjoyed every morsel of that feast. What is better than good homemade beef stew??

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on their little lake. We spent a couple of hours visiting and then Ken and I returned here.

Ken and Carol will pick us up around tenish tomorrow and we are going out to Drumheller. It should be a fun day. The last time I was there it was 1966. I expect to find that a LOT has changed.

Had WiFi

September 14

We said we wanted to be ready to go at ten and it was 10:02 when we pulled away. I figure that was pretty good. It was cool this morning so we were glad that we had our jackets.

The drive was so very nice. The sun was shining and there was no smoke.The traffic was light as well. Going through the Kelowna area we met 12 red lights and 17 green lights. So Ken had to admit that it wasn’t too bad.

We stopped in the Peachland area and picked up peaches and plums and grapes. The grapes were so sweet that I am certain that would be illegal on a diabetic diet.

I could not believe the number of wineries in this part of the world. A person could get sloshed in a hurry just sampling the local wines in the various tasting rooms.

We drove to Sicamous and that is where we stopped for lunch. The day was still warm and very clear. We have stopped at this small recreation area before. It is perfect because it is so easy to turn around a big rig. I made sandwiches and we relaxed for a little while.

Then we were off again.

It wasn’t long before we began to see the mountains and got our first glimpse of snow. These mountains are magnificent. Soon the mountain tops will be a brilliant white with the new snow which will arrive soon.

We arrived at Canyon Hot Springs around four. We will be here for only one night and we paid for just one session in the Hot Pools. We were given site #159 and last time we had site #162. There are only some places where you can park a 35 foot rig.

 We will leave in the morning. Google says we are about 5 hours from Strathmore so that means it will be at least 7 hours if not more. We plan to be underway by nine.