. . . actually I haven’t a clue. There’s wifi at this campground but the owner is away and the person in charge doesn’t know the password. So I can’t check what or when I last wrote though I think it might have been my first night in Edmonton?
Left Edmonton yesterday morning without regret though I never did meet up with my lost love. Perhaps that was for the best. There were promises to visit that I don’t expect fulfilled. I can close that chapter, I expect. In reality it and a few others have been closed for years, really.
Didn’t really take to Edmonton though to be fair, I didn’t see much of it and that mostly road construction and traffic.
Last night we were in Bowden, south of Edmonton, in a strange little roadside “rest stop” that offered full services (but not internet). Ate meatloaf and salads from Sobey’s deli with South American red wine for dinner. Slept well and breakfasted at a Smittys’ in Olds, a town down the road.
Headed into Calgary which I immediately liked better than Edmonton for no logical reason though I also found it prettier. We went to the Heritage Park Village, the largest such display in Canada, similar to Greenfield Village and with an attached automotive museum, “Gasoline Alley”.
Pets not being allowed, I played my little old lady schtick and managed to have Barney babysat by the Manager and a half dozen or so enrapt minions. They admitted he had not been in his cage and was out for a walk when we arrived to claim him. He’s really going to be impossible to live with! He’d already figured out he could pick up chicks, hanging out at laundromats with Ed while I do the washing.
We had a good if fairly quick look at the village and a thorough tour of the museum where I snapped my favourite vehicles:
I found a quilt store, reputed to be the largest in . . . a long way, but I didn’t buy anything and I was tired and hungry so didn’t pursue yarn shops. Apparently missed the best of those earlier in the day when we sailed by Lacombe.
We’ll head for Medicine Hat tomorrow with a detour to drive through Dinosaur Provincial Park in Canada’s “badlands”.
Ed’s auditioning Saskatchewan as I write and has found a couple of shops for me in Regina. We don’t seem to do most of the typical tourist things. At least neither of us is addicted to sports halls of fame or posh galleries so we mostly manage to get along at least as well as at home. The quiet evenings I the camper or – weather permitting – outside are pleasantly relaxing. When we first pulled in here, there was a horsefly that tried to carry Barney off until I beat him off with the end of the leash but it seems otherwise as close to bug free as we’ve seen, a great relief.
Tonight’s dinner was A&W a la carte again and the remaining third of a bottle of Johnny Walker Red is calling me to . . . er . . . knit. I’ll post this with an update next chance I get.
********************************
So, now it’s Thursday evening, August 4, and we’re in a motel in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Last night’s campground proved a trifle odd and I kept expecting parades of Schmoos. With the exception of ourselves and one other gentleman, the residents all appeared to be long term and would be termed “homeless” in the sense of no secure residence. In a province of tailer parks and manufactured homes, these were the forgotten. The all had dogs who ran loose, proving they were accustomed to calling the place home. While we had elctricity, the on site water hook ups didn’t and, as I said, the wifi was inaccessible. Ed said he was glad he’d showered the last morning in Edmonton and passed on the facility. When Ed disses the decor you’ve got to wonder if there are walls and, indeed, he said there were “sort of”. I settled for my emergency wet wipes and voted for the motel tonight.
Today redeemed Alberta with a visit to Dinosaur Provincial park and magnificent vistas of the Canadian Badlands I can only poorly suggest.
We lunched late this side of Medicine Hat at a Husky, calling it supper, and continued as far as Swift River, planning to go into Regina tomorrow and probably camp just the other side of there tomorrow night. I hope to have a leisurely start tomorrow as I slept poorly last night. It wasn’t the fault of the campground but my own ailments including the black fly bites that have begun acting up again for no apparent reason after most of them appeared to have healed.
I’m going to go and stand under a hot shower until further notice.
