Our Travel Blog

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Driving Miss Donna - what does this mean? Whenever I want to go somewhere, if Don is home he will usually drive. He always says he is driving miss Donna! This blog is for our travels, usually with our truck and fifth wheel trailer, but sometimes in our other wheels. When we are not vacationing check in for updates, although less frequent, about our life at home and our wonderful family:)

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Here Comes Fall

Fall was a unique time for us. Along with all the fantastic things in our life like kids, grandkids, friends etc., we went on a car trip and stayed in a yurt!

September was filled with anticipation as we looked forward to our trip to Las Vegas to see Jimmy Buffet! One more concert off our bucket list, and a chance for a road trip. We decided to take the long way to Vegas by travelling through the Oregon coast. LOL Not your normal route. We booked a few hotels and a few Yurts, hoping that would have us closer to the ocean for walks.

Most of this plan went well, except that Jimmy Buffet concert was CANCELLED!! We seem to offer the worst karma to any performers over the age of 60. We have had a broken hip that caused a cancellation, we were at Meatloaf when he took sick in Edmonton, and a few other incidents.

Thankfully we found out in time to readjust things, and the new plan was a trip to the Oregon coast! So other than the day spent getting there and home, we stayed in Yurts. Thank goodness Don planned properly and we had a few amenities with us to ease the transition from a 35' completely self contained fifth wheel to a one room hard walled tent! 

Thrown in throughout the fall were the regular Saskatoon Co-op trips, a fantastic Thanksgiving with the whole family in the house, a first since Covid, and many many hockey and ringette games, with a game of basketball thrown in to confuse me.

My work is just busy enough I don't get restless, and I must say I am looking forward to going south, although I don't stop working, the scenery is much nicer and we do relax a lot more.

This September was kind of odd for us. We usually go on a vacation within Canada but not close to home. This year I guess because of my “co-op life”  we couldn’t find a time that fit in. Also we have been meeting in the summer with our friend Larry to camp, and that didn’t work this past summer. So long story short we planned a camping trip with Larry in Saskatchewan that aligned with my Saskatoon work.

So off to Waskesiu Lake at Prince Albert National Park for a week! It was kind of funny when we realized we don’t have to go in the summer, as we have no kids and school to schedule around! The campground was really nice, the sites large, and an easy walking distance to the little downtown.

We spent our days exploring the area, catching up with Larry, and even made a trip into Prince Albert and had lunch with Don’s sister Kathy.

Waskesiu Lake is as beautiful as everyone says. There are so many campgrounds along the lake, and many many spots to put a boat in, etc., but it may be a bit far for regular visits!

After our stay there, we went to Langham for 2 nights. Don stayed in the trailer and I went to Saskatoon for my meetings.

Thanksgiving with all the kids home was just fantastic. Some day we will quit referring to the pandemic – but this was the first time since that we were all back together for a holiday dinner.

As I said we decided to take a road trip even though the concert was cancelled. What a great decision. We stayed in a hotel one night on the way there, and then booked yurts for the ocean stays. The Durango was PACKED! We weren’t really sure how this roughing it would go for us RV people, but it was pretty great. I won’t say the beds were comfortable, and we missed indoor plumbing, but overall it was a good experience, and being on the ocean was worth it. Lots of beach walks, exploring and relaxing.

Our first yurt stay was near Astoria at Fort Stevens State Park. This has always been a favorite stop of ours, the beaches are amazing for walking and the park is close to town for everything, but most importantly our favorite restaurant – Mo’s Diner. Only the best clam chowder ever. So good that we brought back frozen starter packs for ourselves and Lindsay.

The photos will show the yurt. There was a bunk bed with a double on the bottom and single on top, a table and 2 chairs and a futon. Also thankfully electric heat. What there wasn’t was a fridge, but we brought an electric cooler with us and that worked just fine. We ate our bigger meal when we were out through the day, and cereal for breakfast and snack stuff for dinner. We also brought a coffee pot and electric kettle, so that made mornings nice not having to search for coffee.

The yurts were more booked up than we expected so we did spend one hotel night in Portland. Then it was back down the coast a bit to Nehalem Bay State Park and another yurt. Also a great state park and beach!

Although the yurts were “interesting” it was a great trip – the chance to walk our favorite beaches and smell the ocean were worth the odd sleeping arrangements. Not the same as in our fifth wheel, but a great holiday none the less!

October has one family birthday - Don! Rink schedules didn't allow for a family dinner, as well as the fact that we were in Saskatoon for co-op meetings, but that meant we were able to meet Ken and Brenda for his birthday supper which was nice.


 
















Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Summer and a Photo Dump

Yup that's all you get. Lol
Lots of photos, 


Summer was fabulous. I didn't take many photos even. But to recap we had a great week with Jim and Janice in Cranbrook, many many visits with all the family and a short camping week with the Camerons. 

September came fast!

Welcome Home

 Well here we are settled at home and everything is happening! Meaning we are back doing one of our favorite things - chasing the grandchildren around their activities.

Connor and Mason are in spring hockey. This is something for Mason as he is still in the age group that is half ice in regular season. Mason will also be playing baseball, Connor decided not to as he is in Cubs and it continues until the end of the school year.

Blake is in several hockey camps, but also playing Lacrosse again.

And the girls are playing 3 on 3 ringette!

Our other big focus in May is the long weekend camping trip! It has now become customary for the family to all go to Lindsay and Jeremy's cabin/land. We have lots of quads and a side by side and you can always count on lots of miles. Sunshine, laughing, great food and drink, and all of us in one place FINALLY!

Don and I took a few short road trips as well to our favorite places - highway 11 drive, and of course a lunch in Jasper one day. 

May sees 2 family birthdays. Blake turned 15 on May 5 and Lindsay celebrated her birthday May 27. When are your children old enough you don't state their age? LOL

We fit in a dinner with Blake on his actual birthday, between his sports. And we caught LIndsay for supper and dessert! 


To some families these may seem like small achievements, but we are all so busy it is awesome when we make this happen!

May ends with our anniversary. 42 Years !!

June really was more of the same... another camping trip - this one the annual fish off with Bruce and Kerri at Calling Lake. The weather, fish and beverages did not let us down again. A fabulous time for all and truly one of my favorite weeks of the year.


The girls and I finally fit in Lindsay's birthday date at the spa, the Cameron kids spent a weekend with us, and I had my usual share of meetings and work.

A very momentous event happened at the end of the month as DWS Aggregates Consulting closed it's books. It was a great run and we all are so very proud of Don and that unique piece of his life!

Blake graduated to high school and Reese graduated to Junior High! Time stops for no one, even us.



Saturday, October 29, 2022

April Showers

Ha ha, not really.

The weather continues to be HOT! We moved back to Lake Havasu for another Craggy Wash visit, and as often happens we met up again with Ernie and Deb. We shared more food and drink and visiting! The mountain photo is Finger Butte, a popular mountain named for it's similarity to "the finger".

The heat was really getting to us and as much as we don't entirely enjoy campgrounds, we felt it was necessary for our sanity to escape from the +40 weather and run the air conditioning. There are a few places we like with services and one of those is the Big Bend of the Colorado State Park at Laughlin. Huge sites, full services and access to familiar places made this the right choice. The air conditioner never stopped! Thank goodness we made that stop. The heat can be exhausting. We spent our days sightseeing through the windshield and our evenings with a refreshing beverage and Netflix! One of our favorite stops was the Road Kill Café in Seligman - You Kill it We Grill It. LOL

April was destined to be a short month, as I had to fly back to Saskatoon twice. The first one was unplanned when we originally left, but the company CEO retired and I had to attend interviews.

After leaving Laughlin we searched for a new site in a cooler climate and settled in the Lovell Canyon Dispersed Camping area, west of Las Vegas. NEW LOCATION #5! You wouldn't believe how much cooler it was there. This was where Don stayed while I was jetting around. He can attest to the cooler temps by the frost observed and signs of SNOW! Meanwhile down the hill in Vegas it was still scalding hot.

When I returned to Vegas, Don had moved to Government Wash. This is definitely our favorite place to visit Las Vegas, Many many areas to chose for camping, and again, close to our favorite city! We spent a lot of time touring Henderson, found a new beer and eats place, saw the arena where the Silver Knights (AHL hockey) play, and walked the Railroad Tunnel Trail to Hoover Dam.

Sadly this busy spring time came to an end. Something different for us his year were all my trips back for work, but overall it has worked out all right. While I am on my final April trip to Saskatoon Don will be driving home on his own, and we will meet again in Alberta.

Stay tuned as we share our Alberta adventures with you!