Week ending May 28, 2015 George Lake

 Thursday was moving day.   We arrived at George Lake early in the day, as it was less than an hours drive from Spirit River. We set up in a beautiful site, with the back window of our trailer looking out onto the lake; in fact 5 steps and we would be standing in water. 

John was able to get a satellite signal through the trees, so we are happy. After lunch we walked around the campground, which is small and we are the only people here at the moment.  There is a short walk here to a wildlife viewing area, which we will complete later in our stay. Summer truly is here, it is beautifully hot during the day, and warm at night and the butterflies and mosquitoes are both out in abundance. As the sun was setting we noticed a beaver swimming along the shoreline, one of the advantages of looking out over the lake.

Friday morning, we noticed some large moths on the wall of the wash building.  

 

Later in the morning, we finally blew up our little inflatable boat for the first time in 2 years. We headed to the dock and off we went. As we were leaving the dock some fellows doing some maintenance came by and repositioned the dock. When we came back in we had to use the boat launch and then walk back to the trailer carrying the boat because they had not yet completed the job.  Of course 1/2 hour later the dock was back in operation. This is an interesting campground, electric only at the sites and nice bathrooms with showers. It was developed and is being maintained by "friends of Lake George" on a volunteer basis. They do a nice job. A few other campers arrived and three motorboats arrived on the lake. We were under the impression this was a motor free lake, but we were wrong, so our little boat will remain off the lake until the weekend is over.

Saturday we watched our neighbourhood beaver swim across the lake, He must have decided to beat the boaters.  We then went for a drive to check out the neighbourhood.  Our first point of  interest was Figure Eight Provincial Recreation Area.  The Lake is small, well stocked with trout, so lots of fishermen. No motorboats, so fishermen in dinghies or casting off the pier. The campground was almost full, which we find perplexing, 27.00 a night, no services, pit toilets.  George Lake were we are is 20.00 a night, larger sites, 30 amp power and nice bathrooms with showers and flush toilets. We are quite happy that all these campers prefer to pay a premium for nothing, save the good places for us. We then checked at Brownvale North Peace Agri Museum, not yet open for the season, but the bull rider was guarding the gate. 

Brownvale Bull Rider

Our next stop was Elk Island Park on the Peace River. It has the same facilities as Figure Eight Lake but it is free. We discovered that the road down to the park has some 24% grade on it and this may cause us some difficulty pulling the trailer out.  As the road was dirt, if it rained we may be in the river valley for some time.  On the road into the park we came across three deer, having mid-morning snack; they stopped eating to pose for us and then wandered into the bush. Our final stop was Fairview to pick up some groceries at Freson Bros.  We arrived back to the campground in time to watch a party boat leave the dock on George Lake.

Sunday was car race day, Indy 500 and the Charlotte 600.  Between the 2 races we walked the interpretive loop. It was longer than we anticipated, but a nice walk. We discovered where our beaver lives.

 

Monday morning a lot of the boats are still here, We decided we should go golfing. The Hines Creek golf club is only a few kms away. It opens at 11:00 A.M., so we golfed and paid at the end of our game. We knew the seniors rate was 12.00 a round, but to our surprise Mon thru Friday before 2:00 the rate is 1.00 a hole. After our golf we had lunch at the golf club. We then went back to the trailer to watch the boats race around the lake. About mid-afternoon a storm blew in. We had a viscous wind, white caps on our calm little lake and a bit of rain. The storm lasted less than an hour. Once the storm blew over the boats came back out.

Tuesday morning the lake was very calm. As the motor boat people never get mobile much before 3:00 P.M., so we decided it was safe to take our little boat out. Our little trip took about 2 hours. Mid afternoon one of the young fellows in a trailer a few sites over came by with his older brother wondering if we had booster cables. Why do teenagers need booster cables? Well as any parent knows, kids tend to sit in the car and listen to music and forget to turn it off when they are done. Once again our booster cables have saved the day.

Wednesday the weather forecast was for afternoon showers, so we headed to the golf course mid morning. Surprise the weatherman was not accurate.  We only completed 7 rounds before it started to rain. We then went into Fairview, had a quick lunch before stopping at the library to update our computers and look up a few things. We got a few groceries for groceries and back to the trailer. By now it is a sunny warm afternoon.  Guess we should have golfed in the afternoon.


Thursday we went into Hines Creek to take care of some business at the Registry office. After that we checked Home Hardware for some new paddles for our little boat. We then headed out to Carter's Camp, a campground on the Peace River about 28 kms Hines Creek. As with all the other campgrounds we have investigated on the Peace River, the road in is rough, and very steep, 18 to 20% grade in some places.

 

On our way back to Hines Creek we wanted to see if the hamlet of Peace Grove still existed. As in the case of may small towns, it has disappeared. The campground host had told us that there was a trailer dump station in Hines Creek which the lady at the Town office confirmed, explaining it was right next to the building we were in.  Sure enough there it was.  Some people have trouble reading signs!!!! Today is a cool day, not conducive to paddling on the lake, so we will wait for warmer weather.

Week ending May 21 Spirit River

Friday was the day to explore the area.  First we went to check for dispersed camping in the Dunvegan Wildland Provincial Park. It is a  park that goes for miles along the Peace River. We followed our backroads maps to no avail. After numerous gravel roads we gave up.  It doesn't look like there is road access into the park, so one would need to boat the Peace, which is running pretty fast at this time of year.  We then stopped at Blueberry Mountain store for a treat. Our next stop was Moonshine Lake Provincial Park.

Moonshine Lake

We completed a 3 km walk around the lake. The park has a fairly large campground, a number of sites have electricity only. Surprisingly the campground was almost empty, since this is the Friday before the May long weekend. I guess the gov'ts decision to raise the campground prices is effecting campground use. After a picnic lunch at the park we stopped at Jack Bird Pond, a wildlife viewing area.  Eventually we got back to the trailer in time to complete our 8840 forms. We have to fill out these forms proving we have closer ties to Canada than the US and that we did not make any of our revenue in the US, therefor do not have to pay US taxes.

Saturday we went back to the library to use the wi-fi, then back to spend the late afternoon watching Nascar.

Sunday was a day for exploration. Our first point of interest was Historic Fort Dunvegan. 

Dunvegan Mission

We walked through the site, reading all the interpretive signs.  Dunvegan was one of the first HBC trading posts in Alberta. The fort is located at the site of the Dunvegan bridge, built in 1960, over the Peace River, the longest suspension bridge in Canada when it opened.

Dunvegan Bridge

We also discovered that the Peace River got its name because it was the site of the signing of the peace treaty between the Cree and Beaver e tribes.  Our next stop was Pratt's Landing district park. We had found it on the internet and it looked interesting.  It was a neat little park, no services, but free wood, washrooms and tables, all for free. There were large sites from which we could get satellite signal. We sat and had lunch at the boat landing. While there we watched a boat pull up and a truck come down to the landing to fill the boat up with gasoline. We  had never seen a truck drive into the river and pull up beside a boat, with the boat between the truck and the shore.

 

When we left the park we realized the road out was very steep and had an abundance of gravel on it, which would make pulling the trailer up out of the campground very difficult, Maybe we will pass on this site for now. Our next stop was Highland Park, as it turned out no stop as the only thing remaining of this little community was a community hall. We then stopped at Hines creek for a treat and to check out P.J.'s RV park. We couldn't find it, so have assumed it has closed. Our next stop was Lake George, an interesting little lake that does not allow motor boats on it with a lovely campground. Perfect. We have found our next stop. We then checked out Hines Creek Golf Course and RV park. RV park is not to our liking. but at 12.00 a round, golf is a possibility, and it is about 10 kms from George Lake campground.On the way back to Spirit River we decided to check on Broncho Creek, but like many little places marked on the map, it no longer exists. We followed the road it was on until it ended with a view down the Peace. We then turned around.  After a few kms we spotted a moose enjoying its lunch in the ditch. It ignored us and continued eating as we stopped and took pictures.

Monday  we took the day off and wandered around the town of Spirit River. Because it was the end of the first long weekend of the summer we were glad we were off the roads.  The road past the campground was very busy, as was the RV dump station here at the park.

Tuesday off to do some more exploring. We headed for Hilltop Lake County Park. It has a small campground and is a small lake that would be perfect for our small inflatable boat. Maybe a place for later in the summer. We chatted with a retired couple who had come to the lake to see if the swans were still there.  They live just a few miles from the lake. They gave us information about other lakes in the area. On  our way back to the trailer we stopped at Chinook Valley Golf Course and RV park, another possibility for later in the season. We then stopped at the ghost town of  Silverwood.

 

Wednesday we decided to stay one more day in Spirit River to be sure we could watch the season finale of Survivor. The weather was great, so John finished the roof caulking and Joan finished spring cleaning. 

Thursday morning, we are packing up to head for Lake George.

Week ending May 14, 2015 Grande Prairie and area

Friday we took advantage of our location and went for a walk along the city pathways around the pond. 

After a bit of laundry and lunch we walked over to the visitor information to get some guides that will be helpful in planning our next few stops.  We have found that many of the small campgrounds don't have web sites, so we have trouble finding good info about them. We came back to the trailer and put the booklets to good use and found a campground for the May long weekend. As we have noted in past blogs, May, July and September long weekends seem to be the most difficult times to find campgrounds.  We have discovered that going to small centres, where they don't take reservations has always been our best bet. We called the Spirit River municipal park and, although they don't take reservations, the nice lady is saving a site because it is one of the only ones that we will fit in and we can get satellite TV from.

Saturday was exploration day. One of the booklets we gathered up had driving tours in it, so off we went. After a stop to get bread at the farmers market in Grande Prairie we went to Kleskun Hills, a park and historic site on the Edson to Grande Prairie Trail.  Our short walk went to an Indian burial site from the early 1820's, then through an area that has been rich in dinosaur finds which looks very much like the area around Drumheller but on a much smaller scale. We decided that spring has arrived in the Peace country because the fields were abundant with crocus. The area has a small replica historic village and in the summer the houses are manned with people putting on various demonstrations. 

Next to the park there was a large herd of buffalo. Joan wondered if it was part of the herd that belongs to the lady that she used to buy buffalo meat from at the farmers market in Calgary who had a farm in Peace River country.  

Our next stop was Bezanson, for lunch at Lefty's. It was supposed to be a coffee and pie break, but we spent too long walking in the historic site and it was lunch time. Lunch did not really live up to its billing, but we must have been missing something because the place was really busy for a town of 121. We then stopped at the historic Bad Heart Straw Church.

Our final stop was Sexsmith to walk down its main street which has been restored to 1920's splendor.  

Then it was time to go back to the trailer and watch the Saturday evening Nascar race.

Sunday was another sunny warm day.  After taking care of a few chores we went for a walk.

Monday was the day to install the new batteries that we purchased when we first arrived here. Prior to installation we cleaned out the storage, sorted out a bunch of stuff to go to recycling.  How can we accumulate so much junk? We eventually got the new batteries installed and they seem to be working just fine, Our next step is to see how the new batteries work when we are off the grid and using our solar panels as our source if electricity.

Tuesday after taking our old batteries to the RV dealer for recycling we stopped by Rona to buy John a new ladder, a lot longer and more stable than our old one. We then got rid of a lot of junk we had cleaned out of our storage by making a trip to the recycling centre.  In preparation for our move tomorrow, John swept the tree tips off the slideouts. We are parked under a tree that has continually been dropping bits on our roof. The new ladder is great, solid and tall enough that John doesn't have to climb onto the roof to sweep off debris.

Moving day on Wednesday. After we were all packed up and almost ready to go, John swept more tree branches off our slideouts, and then we retracted them.  Our destination was Spirit River , an hours drive away. The campground host had called us to let us know we would be in site 6 and she would not be there when we arrived, so just set up and she would collect when she got back. Before setting up we made a stop at the truck wash across the street and finally we have a clean trailer, removing the dirt we picked up driving through the snow storm north of Prince George. After paying our fees for the week we explored the town of Spirit River. Surprisingly there are 2 grocery stores here, and of course this is Alberta so at least 4 liquor stores. We found the library, which is only open 3 days a week.

Thursday morning was spent spring cleaning inside the trailer. The afternoon we went to the library to use the wi-fi to check out campgrounds and golfing, and to post the blog.

Week ending May 7, 2015 Quesnel to Grande Prairie

 Friday morning  was sunny but cool. We decided that we should do our walk early, to take advantage of the sunshine. By 9 :00 A.M we were off to complete the 4 km loop along the Fraser  River on the opposite side from the previous walk we did. There was a side walk to the top of Sugarloaf Hill, the highest point in Quesnel. It was another interesting walk with information plaques explaining the history of the area.

Fraser River from Sugarloaf

By the time we got back to the truck a storm had blown in and it started to rain. By the time we got back to the trailer it was raining off and on. Later there were periods of hail, as promised by the weather forecast.

Saturday morning was cold. The RV park owner had turned off the water and even unhooked everyone's water hoses to prevent freezing. That was a first. Usually the RV parks just let people take care of their own hoses. We were quite impressed with this consideration. Quesnel held the first farmers market of the season, so off we went. We picked up some spicy garlic sauce made by a local company. This early in the season farmers markets don't have large selections.   In the afternoon, we headed to Pinnacles Provincial Park a few kilometers west of Quesnel.   It has a short walk above a canyon that has some interesting hoodoos.   They were formed when glaciation and water erosion wore away basalt layers from volcanic eruptions revealing layers of ash that are more resistant to erosion. 

Later in the day, back at the trailer, we were surprised to see a woodpecker land on the water post next to us to get a drink of water from the dripping tap.

Sunday, after a walk around the RV park, we watched the NASCAR race.  Needing a walk after sitting a watching NASCAR for hours we headed downtown to do the do the "little People" walk.  Artists had painted all of the fire hydrants in the downtown area.  Are we bored?

Monday morning we drove to Prince George to visit with John's Aunt Trudy. After a nice visit ad fixing her Skype that we had set up 3 years ago we took her out to lunch. When we got back to Quesnel we packed up a few things in preparation for our departure Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning was moving day. Remember our plan is to never be close enough to snow to touch it. We really blew that. Our trip to Chetwynd included following a working snow plow. Overall, the roads were mainly wet with the occasional slushy area and not slippery and even dry in a few places. We arrived mid afternoon at the RV park in Chetwynd and got the satellite set up, because we wanted to watch the Alberta election results.  Chetwynd is noted for its chain saw carvings. Interesting carvings line the highway through town. There are some very talented people in the area.

We watched the election results and although the result was what the pollsters predicted, we were still quite surprised at the NDP's majority win.

Wednesday morning, we headed for Grande Prairie. Early afternoon we arrived at the Rotary RV Park. This park is well situated, it is next to the Grande Prairie walking paths.  Our plan  is to be here for the next week, while we make our summer plans.

Thursday morning we did some shopping. We had rather a long list as we had delayed some purchases until we arrived in Alberta.