Back on the Road - Again

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your positive comments about our blog. It's a fun way for us to keep track of our adventures and we hope you enjoy it, too.

April, 2008 - Back at Bridgeview Campground in Lethbridge watching a train go over the High Level Bridge. It was great to be "home" again! We had a busy April and May visiting family and friends. In Lethbridge we enjoyed seeing our friends and former neighbours, Gary & Lavina and Dale & Linda, former co-workers Jenn & Tim, Jackie, Brian and Dale and good friends Steve and Diane. While at Bridgeview, Kim & Elvin from Yorkton, Don & Cathy from Yuma/Pigeon Lake and Joyce & Ken (Cabri) and Elaine (Medicine Hat) stopped in for visits. While in Calgary we visited Ted's mom who is doing great and had lunch with Bruce and Paul. We spent a wonderful Mother's Day at Mel & Clayton's in Carstairs with Chris, Carla, Mom and Clayton's parents, Rick & Lynda. We stayed at the farm at Vulcan on two different occasions and had visits with Ted's brother, David and friends Eric & Grace, Randy & Rachel and Byron & Lynda. Ted's brother, Don & his wife, Nancy, from Scarborough paid us a visit in May and we made supper for them at Melanie's. It was a treat to cook in a real kitchen again. We made two trips to Wetaskiwin to see Chris and Carla and caught up with Rod & Judy, Rolly & Jo and Marge and made a trip to Edmonton where we had supper with Uncle Rube, Aunt Anne and cousins Rick, Leslie, Ken, Brenda and David. We also had lunch with Sandy in Edmonton and Dave & Lynn in Leduc and spent a day with Don & Cathy at Pigeon Lake. The first weekend in June we went to a CP Rail campout at Hillside near Millet where we spent a great weekend with Dale & Audrey, Nick & Connie, Wayne & Rita, Bruce & Rhonda, Mike & Angie, Terry & Jeannie and Dwayne. All in all it was an extremely busy and fun couple of months and we ate way too much food!! The low points we endured back in Alberta were the three snowstorms and lots of rainy days we had. I know, I know - the farmers need the moisture!!! The best part of being home was seeing our kids again. We all spent a relaxing weekend at the farm at Vulcan at the end of April. We had a great time visiting with Chris & Carla while they enjoyed a break from their busy lives in Wetaskiwin. Clayton loved driving the Kabota while Pilot (their Bernese Mountain dog) enjoyed having lots of space to run. Mel just liked being back in the country. One of the highlights was the high school graduation of my great-niece, Dayna. She was valedictorian and has been accepted into the School of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan (my alma mater!!!) Way to go, Dayna! Here she is with her proud parents Teresa & Murray, grandparents Ken & Joyce and sister Denille who is starting her final year in Commerce at the U of S. While in Cabri we also celebrated the birthday of my great-nephew, Dylan, with his dad & mom, Brian and Shelly and sisters Marisa and Jordan. Since we were already in Saskatchewan, we drove to Saskatoon to see Jan and Regina to see Kathy. At the same time we were to be in Alaska, they were taking a trip to the Maritimes. Lucky girls!!! On our way to Calgary one day we saw a moose about a mile down the road from the farm at Vulcan. We started thinking maybe we didn't have to go all the way to the north country to see moose; we could just sit in our backyard! While we were at the farm I kept busy mowing the grass while . . . . . . Ted had fun tearing down down the old pig pen with his toy tractor. On June 10th, we started out from Chris and Carla's on our trip to Alaska. We're going to resume the old format now . . . oldest pictures at the bottom, most recent at the top so you'll need to scroll down to the bottom to start at the beginning of our trip. A few miles down the road we saw two black bears in the ditch.

June 12 - We walked across the road from our campsite and had a dip in Liard Hot Springs. There are two hot spring pools with water temperatures ranging from 42 to 52 C. This is the Alpha pool; a little further down the path is the Beta Pool which is larger and deeper. It was an incredible way to start the morning!

Our campsite for the night - a turnout across the road from Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park - Historic Mile 496. In reality it is Mile 477; almost 20 miles of road disappeared when they straightened out 32 curves in the road. Of course, in Canada the mileposts were replaced in 1975 by kilometreposts - somehow it loses something in the translation. The Lower Liard River bridge - the only remaining suspension bridge on the Alaska Highway. The skies cleared and what did our eyes behold but a bison. Another rain shower approaches as the highway parallels the Liard River. The highway runs alongside the beautiful Toad River as it approaches Folded Mountain. Toad River Lodge is known for its collection of hats which line the walls and ceilings of the restaurant and lodge. As of June 11th at approximately 5 p.m. there were 7,464 hats. It was a cloudy, overcast day with a few showers as we drove along the highway. We thought this was a neat picture of the sun trying to break through the clouds. June 11 - We read in the Milepost that the store at Tetsa River was the Cinnamon Bun Center of the Galactic Cluster so we decided we couldn't miss out on that and stopped for coffee and a cinnamon bun. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that Jake, one of the campers staying at the RV park, was a farmer from Vulcan who only lived a few miles from our farm. Another one of those weird coincidences. PS - the cinnamon buns were to die for!! On the bridge crossing the Peace River just south of Taylor, BC. Now we really feel like we're on our way - Mile 0 on the Alaska Highway! Of course I had to get the elevator in the background. If you look closely, you'll see our truck and trailer, too! We couldn't pass through Beaverlodge without taking a picture of the 15 foot/4.6 metre high beaver perched on a 19 foot/6 m long log. It vies with a sculpture in Dauphin, MB as Canada's biggest beaver monument title. My vote goes to Beaverlodge. June 10 - Our latest adventure begins. We drove Hwy 43 east of Edmonton until we reached Dawson Creek. Halfway between Sangudo and Mayerthorpe the second longest wooden railway trestle in the world crossed the highway and Paddle River.