Don't forget how our blog works. Oldest events are at the bottom; newest are at the top so it's best to scroll to the bottom and work your way to the top. Captions are below the pictures. Enjoy!
August 8, 2011 – The concrete was finally being poured. The whole process started May 23 but rain and a comedy (or tragedy) of errors combined to make this a 2 ½ month ordeal. It is wonderful to have a place to park the 5th wheel and not worry about getting stuck when we return in the spring. I must admit, however, pouring the driveway in Yuma was much cheaper, faster and stress free.
Hunter’s Grandma Linda, Uncle Jordan and Great-Aunt Trudy enjoyed visiting with all the family members.
August 6, 2011 – Clayton’s mom’s family had a family reunion at Police Outpost Provincial Park near Cardston and we were delighted to be included. Grandpa Rick watched over Hunter and his cousin Claire as they compared the rocks they had collected.
August 6, 2011 – Clayton’s mom’s family had a family reunion at Police Outpost Provincial Park near Cardston and we were delighted to be included. Grandpa Rick watched over Hunter and his cousin Claire as they compared the rocks they had collected.
July 30, 2011 – Jodie had never been to our house so she and Chris spent the August long weekend with us. We wanted to show her all the wonderful things to see and do in southern Alberta so, of course, our first stop was Waterton National Park and the picturesque Cameron Falls.
Melanie, Jodie and Chris sitting around the campfire.
This is Chris’ idea of a pony ride- no falling off this animal as long as you keep your feet planted firmly on the ground!! Hunter thought it was pretty neat, too.
July 23, 2011 – Time again for our annual Salken family weekend. This year we returned to Wilderness Village near Rocky Mountain House. It’s a wonderful campground with everything you need to have a great time. It even has a petting zoo with a large variety of animals – goats, horses, llamas, alpacas, ostriches, pot-bellied pigs, brama bulls and even zeeboos/zebus. Hunter really enjoyed his pony ride (as long as Dad held his hand).
Shelly, Brian and Jordan sitting around the campfire.
Dylan, Denille and Chris Y. Denille is holding one of the many cute little kittens on the farm. Hunter loved playing with the kittens and wanted to take one home. So did Mel, but we didn’t think Nellie (their cat) would appreciate the competition.
Chris and Jodie giving me “the” look.
Jordan and Murray also watched the gift opening.
Hunter’s third birthday party – what a lucky boy! Watching him open gifts are Clayton, Joyce, Melanie, Chris Y, and Denille.
Teresa and Hunter were having a heart to heart.
This year’s celebration was about milestone birthdays – Hunter’s 2nd, Chris Y’s 25th, Mel & Clayton’s 30th, Teresa’s 50th, Ted’s 60th, Joyce’s 75th and an absentee Dayna’s 21st (she was in Spain). We also had two milestone anniversaries – Brian and Shelly’s 20th and our 35th! My, how time flies!
How many men does it take to put up a tent? Well, at least four. At Ken & Joyce’s 50th anniversary in 2007, it took several men all afternoon and a lot of beer before the tent was raised. This year things went a bit smoother; practice makes perfect!
June 24, 2011 – Now isn’t that a mischievous face? Of course the beer wasn’t his; he was just looking after it for someone.
Clayton and Hunter doing a little light reading.
June 23, 2011 – We had a small family reunion at Teresa and Murray’s farm. Unfortunately, Ted got caught in the rain while setting up and had to take shelter under the 5th wheel. At least he had Shadow for company.
Now everyone will know he is two with his “My 2nd birthday” ribbon on his forehead.
June 5, 2011 – We all gathered at Chris and Jodie’s for a belated birthday party for Hunter.
June 3, 2011 - Already the beginning of June and the rains have not stopped. The lawn had been removed two weeks ago and the gravel put down, but it was much too wet to pour the concrete for the driveway.
May 17, 2011 – I spent a few days at Mel & Clayton’s babysitting. Hunter is a big help in the kitchen. He not only put the sauce on the pizza, but also the pepperoni and cheese. It was delicious!
Another of Brian’s friends was flying in the area and took an aerial shot of the farm. If you look closely you can see the water shooting out of the pipe onto the east side of the road. I don’t think Brian thought he would ever get some of his machinery out of the water and mud. Fortunately it did eventually dry up and he did get his crop in.
We then went to Joyce’s for a few days. Southern Saskatchewan experienced a very wet spring and for the first time in anyone’s memory, our farm site flooded. Water covered the entire yard on the west side of the road. One of Brian’s friends dug trenches to try to drain the water into the dugout. Another friend had pumps set up to pump the water across the road from the dugout. After two days of continuous pumping, the water finally started to subside.
We were so pleased to meet Chris’ girlfriend, Jodie. She had just moved here the weekend before from Toronto and already had a great job. She’s a wonderful girl and we’re happy for them both.
April 21, 2011 – Ted, Melanie, Hunter and I headed north to visit Chris. Melanie and Hunter were sitting on Chris’ back deck while Rusty stood guard.
So was Nana!
April 18, 2011 – Papa and Hunter were happy to see each other again.
April 15, 2011 – We got home right after a major snowstorm. Ted really chewed up the front yard trying to back in the 5th wheel. I’m sure our neighbours were really thrilled to have us home! Oh well, within a few weeks the grass will be gone and gravel and a driveway will take its place.
April 13, 2011 – Twelve hours later!! What a difference a few hundred miles makes! I don’t think we’ve ever travelled back to Alberta without running into bad weather at Beaver, Utah. After 50 miles of this, we took refuge at a truck stop at Fillmore, UT.
April 13 – Our bougainvillea and palm tree were so healthy and beautiful the morning we left. Our cacti were starting to bloom.
April 10, 2011 – Daryl and Marion camped in Don and Lynn’s yard for the winter so we spent a lot of time with them. They came over to say good-bye before they headed back to Washington.
Once we reached the tanks, Bailey and Rusty took unwilling swims in the water. Bailey is trying to swim his way through the slime. He wasn’t too happy with Ted for throwing him in and neither was I because they both reeked after their swim.
April 6, 2011 – Back in Yuma, we decided to go on one last desert run before we headed home. Our destination today was the High Tanks on the Barry Goldwater Range. We started out on El Camino del Diablo, The Road of the Devil, an unpaved road that was used thousands of years ago to transport salt and shells and was travelled by thousands in 1849 in pursuit of California gold. Like many others before him, Don K. took shelter from the heat in this huge cave. Janet, Lynn and Yvonne are looking intently at something on the mountain side.
We also made a return trip to Slab City, but unlike Salvation Mountain, there were no radical changes there.
The addition was made using tree branches, logs, bales, adobe clay and lots of paint. Inside were various rooms with religious messages, trophies, pictures, paintings, etc.
We couldn’t make the trip around the Salton Sea without stopping at Salvation Mountain. We couldn’t believe the changes that had been made since the previous year. A large, colourful addition had been made to the original hillside.
The Salton Sea with a view of Mount San Jacinto in the background.
April 2, 2011 – We decided to drive around the Salton Sea as we had done the previous year, but this year we stopped at Font’s Point Lookout where we had an amazing view of the valley. The badlands below range from 250,000 to 4,000,000 years old and the various layers of sandstone, clay and volcanic ash hold many fossils of ice age animals and sea life.
Our third hike of the day was to Pena Springs, an easy walk to an artesian water source used by birds and wildlife. However, we again missed the trailhead and headed up a very steep trail towards Culp Valley. We turned back after walking about a mile in the blazing heat (another +36C day) with no sign of a spring in sight. On our descent we finally found the sign for Pena Springs (hidden behind a parked SUV) and completed the hike we intended to make. The one good thing about the Culp Valley hike was the view of the Salton Sea in the distance.
After making a short warm-up hike to Surprise Canyon, we hiked into Culp Valley Springs. The trail was very indistinct in places so we somehow wandered off the beaten track and ended up beating our way through the bushes in search of the Springs. Bruised and bleeding, we finally found a small pool of water which we assume was the Springs. Sometimes the reward does not justify the journey! PS – I was the only one bruised and bleeding!!
Fortunately we were able to cool off at the Ague Caliente Hot Pool. It felt so good after all that hiking in the heat. We were so hot the hot pool felt cool.
The view from the top might make living there worthwhile, but hiking that1 mile trip to the top in the summer would be a deal breaker for me!
After hiking back to the truck, we drove on to Ghost Mountain, the site of the Marshal South Ranch. In February, 1932, Marshal and Tanya South came to Ghost Mountain to build their home and live off the land. For 16 years they raised their children, wrote magazine articles, grew vegetables and gathered native plants. Their water system consisted of cisterns and water troughs. Supplies had to be brought in by car from Julian and then carried up the mountainside. How they brought up all their house materials, water, groceries, etc. I will never know. It was +36C and we almost died of heat stroke getting to the top. Finally in 1948 Tanya South decided she had had enough and the couple split up. My only question was “what took her so long?” Obviously she’s a better person then me. Here you can see the remains of their adobe house walls and a bed frame.
Here I am at the end of the trail. As we came through the rock walls we had no idea that there would be this huge valley on the other side.
Continuing down this trail led us to Smuggler’s Canyon. The trail ends at the edge of a dry waterfall with great views of Vallecito Valley.
Our hike on the Pictograph Trail led us to pictographs, of course. The large cap-like rock on top sheltered the ancient pictographs on the boulder below. The pictographs were made from natural pigments and are very old and fragile.
March 31, 2011 – On our first hike of the day we made the acquaintance of a rather charming lizard.
After our last hike we drove to Slot Canyon in the southeastern corner of the park.
A tree filled with desert mistletoe. The desert mistletoe is a parasitic bush that attaches itself (usually via birds eatings its berries) to bushes and trees such as ironwood, mesquite and palo verde and then proceeds to drain the host tree/shrub of its water and nutrients which may ultimately end in its death.
We hiked the Cactus Loop trail where we saw hillsides of ocotillo and cholla and the Yaqui Well nature trail leading to a desert water hole.
March 30, 2011 – We finally found the right trailhead so we headed up to Alcoholic Pass. You may think Ted just wanted to show off his hiking boots, but he’s really trying to illustrate the depth and height of the valley below. Without a 3D camera, it is virtually impossible. The path we followed can be seen in the distance.
On the way back to our trailer, we stopped at the Cactus Garden where we saw all types of desert cacti and flowers – California barrel cacti, ocotillo, Engelmann’s Hedgehog cacti, desert sunflowers and brittlebush – to name just a few.
Finally we reached our destination – the top of the pass overlooking a grove of California palms in an oasis similar to the one we hiked to last year.
March 29, 2011 – Time again for our holiday within our holiday. We enjoyed our one day at Borrego Springs so much last year that we decided to go back for a whole week this year. We bought a hiking trail book and set out to see as much as we could. Our first hike was up to Collins Pass. We thought we were hiking Alcoholic Pass but soon realized that we had missed the proper trailhead so we kept going anyway. We hiked over streams, through narrow trails in the bush and up rock-filled 4x4 tracks like this one.
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