Friday morning we walked over to the campground office to check email and post the blog. We wanted to send a happy birthday text to Karen. We find it very inconvenient not having cell phone service or internet access at the trailer. We chatted with the campground manager, who is also the cook and discovered that there is a brunch Sunday morning. After lunch we drove into Wainwright to the visitor information, fill up with diesel and picked up a few groceries. We can now figure out how to spend our time while we are here. In the evening we received a text from Karen. That seemed odd to us as our phone indicates we don't have service here at the trailer.
Saturday morning was cool and cloudy, a perfect day to do chores. While having breakfast Joan wondered that since we can receive texts on our phone will it act as a wi-fi hot spot? John turned it on and sure enough we can use it as a hot spot. Great, no phone service, but at least we can use the internet in the trailer. After lunch we walked through some of the campground and down to the lake. This is a large area and the walk took us over an hour.
How nice it is to have a restaurant on site with a Sunday brunch. We took advantage of that. After brunch we came back to the trailer watched the end of the French open men's final and then the Nascar race. After the car race we walked through the rest of the campground, and took a look at the golf course.
Monday morning was windy, drizzly and dull. When we set up our steps, one of the nuts from it was laying on the ground. John realized we needed some lock washers, as well as larger bolts for the back legs, and a larger outdoor mat for the bottom of our stairs. This seemed like a good day to go for a drive. Our first stop was the railway trestle over the Battle River near Fabyan. It is the second largest trestle bridge in Alberta (the largest is at Lethbridge) and one of the first with concrete footings.
We then drove into Wainwright and got a picture of Alberta's largest Buffalo. There are many references in business names, etc., in the area to 'buffalo' or 'bison. We read the historic sign about Buffalo National Park. We hadn't realized (or at least it was buried too far in our memories) it had been here. It was created in 1908. The first two trainloads were sent to Elk Island Park until Buffalo Park was ready for them, and some of the animals which couldn't be captured and shipped formed the basis of the herd that is still at Elk Island. Over several years, they moved so many buffalo from Montana to the area that it was overgrazed, which resulted in disease so bad that the herd had to be killed off in 1939 and the park closed. It now forms part of the Camp Wainwright, an armed forces training area. There are still about 20 animals in a small area.
We then picked up some bits and pieces at Home Hardware. At Wal-mart we got a new outdoor mat as well as a few groceries. Lets hope we don't leave this mat behind when we move. On our way back to the trailer we stopped for a picnic lunch at Schuster Lake, just a few km from our campground. The lake supposed to be good for fishing, so maybe it would be good for our little boat. A bit of a disappointment, no beach area, no boat ramps and the road in narrowed down to one lane, with very little parking space at the end. Fortunately, we were the only traffic on the road.
Tuesday, our first scheduled golf day dawned windy, cloudy with the prediction of rain. As we are fair weather golfers we decided we needed something else to do. After lunch we drove east to Chauvin, to visit the largest softball in the World, and a group of fans on a bleacher.
Then we headed for Dillberry Provincial Park. The lake appears to be fairly high, with a bench sitting a few feet into the lake. The campground is fairly nice and there are numerous hiking trails in the park. On the way back to the trailer we saw a hay bale on the side of the road - this is how farmers spend their spare time.
We stopped in Edgerton to pick up a lottery ticket and came across the Ribstone Creek Brewery. There were some folks around, so we walked up to the front door only to find a sign saying tasting is on Saturdays between 11 and 3. It is close to the campground, so we decided to come back on Saturday to check it out. As we were sitting in the truck making notes, one of the owners came out and invited us in since they had just finished a tour for a seniors group. We got a private tasting. An interesting little brewery with quite tasty beer (a lager, pale ale and IPA). The only way they sell the product in the brewery is in a growler, a jug that holds about 6 cans of beer. When we found that the beer only stays good for about 24 hours after being opened, we decided that we wouldn't want to drink that much in a day. They don't sell cans because that would compete with the local liquor store, so we went there to pick up some. One of their decorations was a buffalo head made from layers of cardboard, a craft that John's dad has enjoyed for many years.
We are enjoying the interesting little towns in this area of the province.
Finally a warm sunny day that is perfect for golf. We started at hole seven because it is closest to the trailer, and we stopped at hole one to pay our fees. We rarely see people on these inexpensive courses, so they are pretty flexible. Joan is getting a bit better and can actually hit the ball in the air some of the time now, but she has a long way to go. By the time we had completed our 9 holes we where reminded of why John was never happy in this part of Alberta in the spring. His allergies kicked in. Of course we had been warned that this was going to be a particularly bad allergy season, since spring was late. Hopefully it will be the short season that has been predicted.
Thursday John is in recovery mode and Joan spent the day doing housework. Mind you John did find the golf ball he lost one hole one yesterday. It was another bad slice, and went across the fairway of the 9th hole, and into the rough toward the flag for the 8th hole. Joan never losses balls because she never hits them far enough to lose sight of them.
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