Camping at Brewer's at Gull Lake

We headed to Brewer's campground at Gull Lake on Sunday, August 16th.  We were in A2 which was a good site - nice and level with lots of room.  Brian worked on assembling the cedar chair which had to have new supporting members created for it as they broke last year.  He also took the time to sharpen chisels and digitize some of Aunty Denise's cassette tapes of Memere Noel's journals unto an SD card.  We also went kayaking at Lakeview campground and went left where we found some rocks and got to within sight of the Sandy Point recreation area.  Having grounded myself on the rocks I got out and dragged my kayak to a place that was a little deeper and stood on a rock to get back in.  Unfortunately, I missed getting in and fell into the water instead which caused me to get wet and injured.  Not seriously, but I have a bruise on my hip and a few sore places on my knee.  All are healing very well.  

We went to Maria's 80th birthday party at the St. Albert Bowling Center and had a wonderful time.  On the way home we arrived back at the lake as the sun was going down.  I got a few good photos of the sunset.  We eat pretty well when we are out camping so I took a photo of one of our suppers while at the lake. Our last kayak outing was at Parkland Beach (public) and it was reasonable to get the kayaks to water just a long trek from the parking lot.  There was less obvious recession of the water at this beach.  We went left and found the water quite shallow quite far into the lake.  We abandoned checking out past the point as the water was shallow very far into the lake and the point looked very rocky so it may have required more time to get there than we were willing to invest.  Raymond Shores was across the lake and not impossible to kayak to.  So another successful camping trip.  Seven days was a bit long and we found that Sunday and Friday and Saturday were quite busy.  Saturday was a bit noisy in the evening with other campers playing music loud.  The nights and mornings were quiet.  Therese

 

More raspberries!!

 Picked more raspberries!!!  Into the freezer with a few fresh!  Therese

Raspberries, cucumbers and new potatoes

Picked raspberries last week - saved aside a small container for Therese - put some in the freezer and we had some in the trailer while camping.  Picked the first cucumbers which we ate at the lake and the first potatoes as well for camping.  Therese

 

More peaches!!

I canned another 13 jars of peaches yesterday and have left about a dozen for eating fresh!!!  

Therese
 

Another picking of raspberries - half an ice cream pail

I picked another half pail of raspberries after canning peaches.  They are still looking good.  Maybe two more pickings???

I froze a tray full and we ate fresh what was left.  Nice to have regularly fresh ones!!

Therese

 

Peaches ready to can - 21 jars

I canned 21 jars of peaches on Saturday after Sylvia left for home  I went really well and the peaches were perfect - easy to cut and get off the pitts.  The jars look like summer in a jar!!!!!

Therese
 

Visited Donalda on our way home

We visited Donalda on our way home.  The Coulee Tea House in Donalda has been recommended several times to us and I have traded plants with a woman who bakes for them.  We missed our turn the first time around but quickly got on 56 and headed north.  Beautiful drive!!!  We parked by the Lamp which is their landmark.  We could see the Meeting Creek Coulee which features the Willow Canyon Hiking Trail.  

The train station was open so we checked it out.  I really cool ticket window and a 3D artwork of a steam train was sitting on a window sill and we took photos of the outside where the large plaque that indicated that this was the Donalda station with a train schedule on the outside.   

We kept walking along the tracks and checked out the community garden.  It has an 8 foot fence and a very cool closing mechanism.  You had to pull a lever to let yourself in and a different one to let yourself out.  Lift both of them allowed the gate to swing both ways.  They had Evans cherries and Crimson Jewel cherries, several nanking cherry trees and some saskatoons bushes as well.  Several large raised beds with vegetables and one was growing weeds.  

We visited the museum and the art gallery.  We had to get someone from the museum/town office/library to let us into the art gallery but it was just across the street so it worked out well.  A very decent showing of art pieces for such a small town.  They had maple leaves on their cross walks!!

The Lamp Museum was very good and had a LOT of vintage and antique lamps all very well displayed.  We found a spool cabinet near the end - beautiful!!  The rose was in front of the Lamp! They had a nice little bridge as well.  Therese

We had lunch at the Coulee Tea House!!! It was excellent and the service and food was great!!  Our meal came on fancy dishes and we had maple walnut ice cream for dessert!!!  They has started up a market next door to the restaurant selling a variety of items - some handmade.   It was a great birthday trip and we think we might want to make several of these trips a year to check out the interesting places to see in Central Alberta!!  Therese

Stettler over night at the Plains Motor Inn

We had prebooked a room at the Plains Motor Inn in Stettler so we headed there after getting back from Big Valley around 5pm.  We checked out where the grocery stores were and the West Stettler Park so we could go for a walk.  We went back to our room and ate our remaining vegetables and hard boiled eggs and established that we did not need a large meal so we picked up some ice cream, fruit for breakfast and a bit of chocolate.  We ate our ice cream and then headed back to West Stettler Park for a walk.  It is a really nice place and had several options for walking along with a variety of other options - playground, fish pond, etc.  After doing the loop we realized that we could have walked from the Inn - it was closer than we thought and there was access on both sides of the Canadian Tire.  We headed back watched a bit of TV and headed for bed.  We made a good choice to take a second floor room as we were able to open the window and the room cooled off nicely over night.  We were headed to Donalda in the morning!  Therese

 

Alberta Prairie Steam Tours - train ride for our birthday!!

 Sylvia and I booked the train ride from Stettler to Big Valley as our birthday gift to each other for our birthdays this year!!!  We originally booked the adult train ride with the steam train as it is so much more nostalgic than the diesel locomotives.  Unfortunately, when the day came for our trip the steam train was in the shop for repairs - it is very old and parts had to be manufactured for it which makes for a long and unpredictable timeline.  Totally understand.  Sylvia came on August 5th for supper and we headed out on August 6th at 9am.  We arrived in Stettler at 10am or so and checked out where we had to go for the train, the hotel where we were sleeping that night and a few other haunts and decided to check out the elevator across the tracks from the train before our train ride.  The summer student was just arriving as we were checking out the buildings so she opened up and gave us a tour.  I had imagined that it was one large open space inside but after a conversation with the guide I understood that there were many "silos" inside the elevator so that different grains can be stored and distributed individually which make so much sense.  There is a spigot that swivels and allows the grain that has been dumped into the hold to be put in the proper silo.  There is a mechanism that resembles spades on a revolving chain system that then brings the grain and dumps it into the silo.  Very cool!  There were also tools for testing the humidity in the grain ( too much dampness and the grain rots - too little and it catches fire -  not good!) and for establishing how much "chaff and debris" was in the grain.  Lots of places to record grain prices and varieties and so on.  This elevator was set up for the dumping of grain from wood wagons.  

The staff was all very good  - informative, helpful and friendly!!!  We boarded the train - car 6603 - our seats had been assigned and labelled so it was an easy process.  Sylvia and I had the seats at the back of the car and we had a washroom in our car.  There were quite a few more cars - one bar car in front of us, an open air car behind us along with a snack/souvenir car and at least 3-4 more cars with passengers.  There might have been more with purposes not connected with passengers.  We left the station at 12 Noon!!  Fortunately, we were there early but our ticket did indicate that boarding would be NOON and we may have missed the train had we followed that information.  We were welcomed by a cowboy - Richard Popovich - which is also one of the entertainers on the train as well as the good guy who protected us front the "robbers" along the way.  The train slowly makes it way to Big Valley and several groups who were travelling together had their seats flipped so they could visit along they way.  There is Alberta prairie along the way.  We saw deer and large predator birds along with grain fields and harvesting!! We were almost at our destination and the train was "attacked" by "robbers" and a "shoot out" ensued!!  A robber made his way into the cars and was collecting money - which is donated to a charity!! The excitement was enjoyed by all and was very entertaining keeping people at the windows as "robbers" were "shot and ambushed" by our cowboy!!!  It was great to see people on horseback and running along the train.  The trip took 1.5 hours.  

At Big Valley we pulled into the station and disembarked.  The community center where lunch was being served was just up the street.  We stopped into the Wildrose Quilt Shop which was on the way up to see what we would have to choose from after lunch!!  The shop just moved from Stettler to Big Valley and was all set up for business!!  A very friendly owner was on hand to visit and cut any fabric people were interested in.  There was brisk traffic in the store while we were there.  We had our lunch which was excellent - ham and scalloped potatoes with corn which was served to us on our plates by some friendly locals.  We helped ourselves to fresh green salad, buns, pickles and dessert before heading to the other room to eat.  Lots of room for everyone and lots of visiting and chatting while we ate.  We went back to the Quilt Shop after eating and each bought two small piece of fabric to make ourselves "something" as a souvenir of our trip.  We were hoping for "train" fabric but apparently it is hard to find and the supply for this year had already been exhausted.   There were several other places in town we could have checked out but the ice cream shop and other souvenir venues were closed.  

We saw quite a few Canadian Flags on our trip - this one was a rustic one!!  Very nice!!  We visited the 

Tool Museum in Big Valley - every kind of tool you could think of was there!!!  Very nicely displayed with people on hand to answer questions!  Very well done!!  I took photos of wrenches, sleigh bells and I am not sure what the other ones were but they were interesting!!  After a closer look they are tools for managing cattle on a farm.  

We headed back to the train for 3:30 departure from Big Valley.  I took a few photos of the train, the station and the grounds.  We had beautiful weather all day!!   It was an adult only trip and we had a large variety of adults - old, seniors, younger, interesting, friendly, disabled, challenged, etc!!  The people sitting ahead of us (behind us on the way back) were seniors - a group of four.  One of the women asked me if I was from St. Paul.  I said I was from Mallaig and she asked my maiden name.  I indicated "Durocher" and I did the same.  She is related to Uncle Lucien Malo on her Mom's side if I remember correctly.  Small world!!!!  

On the bottom is the lift for those who were in wheel chairs and there was every accommodation for every disability!!  They were prepared for everyone!!!  The windows were able to be opened and for us it was not very necessary but on hotter days I am sure it is really nice.  We were all cautioned that "nothing" was to be put outside the window.  We passed quite close to trees in several places.  

A shot from the window on our way back to Stettler. The seats were switched over so we were now facing the other way and were at the front of the car instead of the last row.  Richard Popovich did a bit of a show on the way back - right where we were seated!!  He was very good and engaged people in a variety of ways  - a very good entertainer!!  I took a photo of the diesel engine that took us to Big Valley once we got back.  All in all it was a great trip!!!!  Well worth our time and the expense - very unique and memorable.  It celebrates Alberta in every way!!! Therese