Friday, July 30, 2010

We were on the road this morning at 8:40 a.m. We had not had our morning coffee yet so we stopped at Rogers Pass and I ran into Glacier Park Lodge for a couple of “to go” cups. When I came out Steve was being entertained by a family of gophers (at least I think that’s what they were).

There was a lot of traffic on the highway today plus a lot of road construction...but it was a lovely drive with a very light high cloud covering. We stopped just outside of Field along the river for lunch—very picturesque.

Well, our GPS got us to the right place...yay! We arrived at Cochrane Lake at about 3:30 p.m. Ken and Charlene own another house (that he is fixing up and selling) just down the street from their place and it has a nice big, long driveway. We managed to get backed in no problem.

Just as we were finished getting all set up, Ken arrived home from work...excellent timing! He took us on a tour of the house that he was fixing up...very unassuming from the outside but huge and very nice inside. Ken does a great job and really has great imagination when it comes to house renovations.

We walked the short distance to their place and were greeted by 3 huge dogs...Little Bear, a German Sheppard; Katie, a rescue dog that looks like she has some Golden retriever in her; and Rocky, who has light blue eyes—very unique and very eerie when you first look at him.

Charlene had just gotten out of the hospital last Monday after 16 days and major surgery...trust Ken not to have mentioned anything to us. But she was looking good and is recovering well.

As the evening progressed, so did the storm clouds that we had been watching. As the wind really started to whip up, we decided we had better go back to the trailer and close the slides. Those were really mean looking clouds out there! After some high wind, rain and some light hail, the storm passed but later that night, watching the late news, we heard that some areas received some major hail (looked like a snow storm). I think we dodged the bullet there. That is one of Steve’s biggest concerns being here in Alberta—all of the hail storms they seem to be having this year.

After a late dinner, we said our goodnights and returned home. It had been a long drive...it was time for bed. It’s good to see Ken and Charlene and we’re looking forward to spending the weekend with them.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

We had a very quiet day today. After breakfast, we sat out in the sunshine for a bit...then I supervised Steve as he climbed up on the roof to clean the solar panels. At about noon, I decided to walk up to the office so I packed up my laptop and make the trek up the hill. I checked email, facebook and even managed to have a text conversation with Chris...I love being able to do that! I was frustrated to find that the internet signal was too weak to allow me to download pictures to the blog. Oh well, I at least got the last few days posted....so will add the pictures later when we are in an area with better service. Interesting...there is Telus service here but no Rogers...and I am using a Rogers Rocket Stick for my laptop.

After about an hour, I ventured back down the hill...oh, oh...my knees definitely do not like going downhill. The odd thing is that it is my “good” knee...the one I had arthroscopic surgery on a number of years back...that is causing me grief. The other knee is the one that had been giving me problems more recently. Hopefully, if I refrain from walking downhill and give it a little TLC, it will be fine.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in our chairs outside...I was trying to read but I ended up snoozing more than reading. Steve decided to clean the truck windows and ended up cleaning the cab interior as well. He has also been monitoring the battery power for the trailer...which is low this afternoon. Even though we are in the trees, this site gets quite a bit of sunshine but I guess perhaps not as much direct full-on sun needed to keep the batteries charged up. So we are having to watch our power consumption...which means no lights (good thing we have a battery operated Coleman lantern with us), no water pump and of course no TV. Steve filled the blue water jug tonight so we will use it to wash, brush teeth and make mocha with in the morning. Steve went to get our Coleman Coffee Maker out but could not find it...another thing we forgot back home! The list is getting longer...so far we forgot the axes, our water shoes and now the propane coffee maker.

We have really enjoyed our stay here but it is time to move on. We will be leaving early tomorrow morning and having a good drive ahead of us. Our destination is Cochrane, Alberta where we will be visiting our friends, Ken and Charlene.