Week ending Apr 21, 2016 Picture Butte, Arrowwood, Three Hills

Friday was laundry day.   We phoned Arrowwood village to see if their campground was open.  They said they would turn on the water, and let us know if they couldn't.  We didn't hear back from them.

On Saturday, we moved to Arrowwood.   While we were getting set up, we talked to the town maintenance guy who said they had to fix a couple of taps to turn on the water.  A while later the campground operator dropped by to pick up our money and check to see if everything was good.   We watched the gophers and robins in the campground, and in the evening a black cat came by check out the gophers.  It didn't have any luck catching any.
  
Sunday we went in to Calgary see kids at their new (since Nov) house.  It is a big step up from the basement duplex they were living in last summer.  Then we took them to Phoenix Grill.   Afterward, we walked around the Sundance Lake neighbourhood park.   This is one of those parks that only members of the community and their guests can use.

After lunch we headed to Sue's work in Okotoks to visit with her on her lunch break.   

On Monday, we went to Calgary for teeth cleaning and optometrist.  We ordered glasses which won't be ready for a week, so we will pick them up sometime in May.    On the way back to Arrowwood, we detoured to Nature's Hideaway Campground on the south side of Calgary close to where the Highwood River flows into the Bow River.  It was badly damaged by the Highwood flood in 2013, and they are just getting it back in service, with only part of the campground open.   We found that the sites which would fit our trailer are in the trees, so we wouldn't be able to get satellite service there.

Just outside the park, there were a couple of historical markers for the Dunbow Industrial School, and the associated cemetery.   The government of Canada and the Catholic Church opened the school in 1884, away from the reserves and Metis settlements.   Father Lacombe was the first principal of the school.  About 430 Aboriginal children were trained in the school, which was closed in 1922 in favor of residential schools on the reserves. 

Tuesday, we picked up some lumber to make stablizers for the trailer.  Then  John had problems with the skilsaw.  The trigger lock was broken.   Couldn't remove the guard because one of the screws on the handled stripped.

We spent Wednesday hanging around and cut the lumber into 8 foot lengths with a hand saw so they would fit in the truck bed.

Thursday morning, on our way to Three Hills, we stopped at Strathmore to pick up some groceries and a new Skilsaw.   Once we settled in the campground in Three Hills, we got one of the stabilizer blocks built to work through the process.