Alberta June 8-14, 2009Jun 14, 2009
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Snow along the Columbia Icefields Parkway
Reservoir for Rocky Mountain House
Antique bikes at Reynolds Museum
| We started out on June 8th and it was cold and cloudy that progressively got worse until we ran into snow just above Lake Louise. Most of it was on the side of the road but a few flakes were still falling. As we turned towards Rocky Mountain House the weather cleared but we were very surprised to see the big reservoir on that road down to it’s lowest level we’ve ever seen and there doesn’t seem to be much spring run-off left. The radio was reporting that this is the worst drought conditions in 50 years for central Alberta. We made it to Red Deere for our first night and stayed by the river in the Lions Club Campground. We were pleased to find a walking/bike trail just outside the gate and utilized it for a walk before we left the next morning. On to Leduc to another Lions Club Campground that was at the end of the bicycle trails for the town and we rode our bikes each of the 3 days we were there and explored the town. On Tuesday, we got settled in at the campsite, checked out the town of Leduc and cooked dinner for Dave, Ivy-Lynne’s friend from Edmonton. Wednesday, Jim went to the Reynolds Museum at Wetaskiwin and had a great visit as he found another retiree to check out the displays with. When he got back we went into Edmonton and shopped at Ikea. On Thursday we went to the West Edmonton Mall and walked and shopped for 3 hours before we headed to the casino for a rest. We didn’t have any luck so we headed home to make dinner and stay in for the night. Jim is thrilled as each place we have stopped for the night he has got our satellite for the TV aligned and we are getting good reception. We traveled to Lloydminster on Friday stopping at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village for lunch and a tour. It was very interesting as each building is staffed by people in period costumes and they stay in character of the times which was 1910 – 1930 and you had to go along like you were visiting them in their home or business at that time. We also stopped at Vegreville to get a picture of the world’s largest Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Egg) and met a group of 3 units from Ontario on their way to Alaska. On Saturday we marked out all the garage sales in Lloydminster on a map and found most of them plus a few more. Their town is laid out with street and avenue numbers so we didn’t get lost. We then visited the farmers market and in the afternoon, Jim visited the local museum which is right beside the City park where we are staying. We stayed an extra night as we read in their tourist guide that there was a community garage sale at Dewbury on Sunday. We phoned the number listed to make sure it was on but got no answer or return call after leaving a message. We decided to drive the 40 miles anyway as the tourist information people in Lloydminster said if it was listed in the guide it was sure to be there. Well you guessed it….after a lovely drive there was nothing like a garage sale in Dewbury only chuck wagon races after church. We took another route back and enjoyed looking over the countryside. Back in Lloydminster, we checked out their pool but it was closed due to water problems (we’re not having much luck) and an Art in the Park sale. The weather has turned really warm 25 – 27 C for the last 3 or 4 days. We are off to Saskatchewan tomorrow |
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