Family time in Kamloops was good but short as we could only spend the one night due to a big PowWow over the whole long weekend. I did get some Keaton snuggles so that made me happy. On Saturday morning as we left Kamloops the air was fairly clear but heading east you could see the haze starting from the Adams Lake fires. By the time we got to Chase it was like driving in fog. Very little of the Shuswap Lake could be seen. The smell inside the truck was like sitting around a roaring campfire. It was so bad that I put on a face mask and didn’t take it off until we were past Revelstoke. Even then, it was not great. Our night in Golden was not the best as it was very hot and still smokey. I had booked us into the Golden community campground, and at the time I had booked, there was only 3 available sites. Unfortunately the site we had was unserviced. So no air-conditioning which meant that we needed to keep the windows open all night to get some relief from the heat. But of course the smokey smell then was in the trailer. Terrible night! To get some relief we had spotted the local Legion which is at the entrance to the campground. Legions are always a great place to stop for a cold beverage as most often the folks love to talk to someone new and you can get a feel of what the community is like. Unfortunately this Legion was closing in 45 mins and only had a couple of guys more interested in Keno. But we did enjoy a quick cold one and then left for the campground. We were very happy to be leaving BC the next morning.
Fort Macleod Alberta
Driving through the National Parks was not as breathtaking as it usually is because it was still very smokey giving only a suggestion of the magnifcent rocky mountains. Keeping with our four hours a day drive, and wanting to avoid Calgary traffic, we headed south once we got to the outskirts. My plan had been to stay in Claresholm for the night, but as we got closer Ray asked what the next town was. MacLeod was next and as we have stayed there a few years ago, I thought he may want to stay somewhere else. Anywho, we spent the night in Rivers Edge RV park. Full hook ups (Yay!!). The campground is on banks of Old Man River
We met a nice father and son from Denmark, travelling through Canada and the western USA. The son didn’t say much but the Dad couldn’t say enough how much he liked Canada. The were only travelling in wester Canada but had visited Vancouver Island and loved it!
We did a quick drive through the town, I say quick as it is fairly small with the population of just over 3000 people, most of which are farmers. The Legion was closed as pretty much the whole town was on Sundays. We did find a tiny little “lounge” called Cesars, that was open. There is room for about 20 people, but there were only about 6, most of whom were perched on stools playing video gambling. We sat at the bar and had a great chat with the bar tender, who told us that she was born and raised here but had moved away for a few years and had since returned. I wanted to ask “why”? But didn’t want to insult the town. Not much to do from what I could see. And not much to return for. But that is just me, I am a city girl at heart. She said that her and her husband were leaving in a couple of weeks to go to BC to hike both the Juan de Fuca and West Coast trails. Impressive! While there, I had decided to try a local craft beer and had one from Lethbridge. It was a “chocolate coconut porter”. It was full coconut flavour. And I initially really like it, but by the time I was half way through it, I was tired of it. But being the trooper you can bet I drank the whole dang thing!
If you ever find yourself in Fort MacLeod “Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump” is a must to visit. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and home of the Blackfoot cultural museum. The site tells the story of how the hunters disguised themselves as bison and wolves to lure the stampeding buffalo over the cliffs to their death. The story is also about one particular young hunter who hid under the cliffs to see the herd jumping, but tragically the poor young boy did not survive. The site of the museum overlooks the valley below and is so peaceful. You can hear the wind softly blowing through the prairie grasses. A great place to sit and reflect on,,,,everything.
Swift Current Saskatchewan
I am not a football fan of any sort, but apparently the Saskatchewan
Rough Riders have a mascot that is a "Prairie Dog" or also called a "Gopher". Their gopher mascot's name is "Gainer" and Gainer is apparently from a small berg called Parkbeg. As you pass Parkbeg on the highway there is a huge sign saying that it was the home of Gainer. So of course I had to google Parkbeg to find out who gainer was. This is what it says...."Gainer was one of 38 children border to Dwayne and Agnes Gopher, owners of a small trenching and excavation company in Parkbeg Saskatchewan. Although his parents always knew Gainer was different from his siblings, they never in their wildest dreams ever expected one of their own to become a true Saskatchewan icon." The things you learn while driving down the highway in Canada. Just past the sign, wouldn't you know that a very large gopher ran across the highway in front of us. I think it was Gainer telling us to have a safe drive!
Our next stop was on Monday the Stat holiday, where we chose the Ponderosa Campground to spend the night. We had some appies and a cold beer ( Sleemans, no craft beers available) at Original Joes as absolutely nothing was open. Some fun facts about Swift Current:
* Nickname is Speedy Creek
* It was first referred to as “kisiskaciwan” which means “it flows swiftly”
*The longest running business is the Imperial Hotel, which is also knows as “the Big Eye” due to the big eye painted on the side of the building.
Swift Current has the 3rd most sunshine and 5th clearest skies in Canada
Virden Manitoba
Great drive (even with the carnage of thousands of white butterflies hitting the windshield) , although longer then our 4 hours, today landed us in Virden. I originally had us staying in Weymouth Sask, but Ray didn’t want to go off of Highway 1 ( say what?????). I think he was thinking that the highway would be gravel, which I assured him it was an actual highway. But he is the driver and I am only the navigator. So by the time we got to Virden, he was done for the day. The Virden Lions Club campground is where we hung our hats. It was a beautifully treed, (elm trees) with large sites and full hook ups. Yup glamping at its best! But you do appreciate the air conditioner when it is hot.
After we we settled in the site, the very nice camp host lady, came by to give us our receipt and to see if we liked the site. Then she looked at me and said, “you know we have a great shoe store in town”. What?? Did she know me??? She even told me how to get there! So of course we did go to the tiny main street and sure enough, there was the shoe store. We went in to take a peek. Lots and lots of shoes, but the prices were unreal. Vancouver prices for little Virden. I am sorry I don’t need shoes that bad. Instead we asked a young boy who was the only pedestrian we saw, where the hotel was (for appies) because the only restaurants were fast food places. He didn’t really know, but said it was “up the street”. Of course we found the hotel that looked like it was about 150 years old, went in and ordered a beer. No food served. No craft beers here either. Rickers Red this time. The bar tender was nice, but not too chatty. We left there and right across the street was a non descript building with a flashing sign which said “food”. So we walked into a really nice bar/casino/restaurant. We sat at the bar (because that is where you can learn more about the area). We ended up staying for about an hour talking to the bartender, who brought out her phone to show us photos of her dog and cats. Only in a small town. She also filled us in on the lack of staff (she was working 18 hour day,,,,,not really legal) and how expensive it was to rent a place there. One bedrooms start at $1200 a month. Another night I didn’t have to cook as we had wings there.
Virden is known as the “Oil Capital of Manitoba” Oil was first discovered here in 1951
Our beautiful site in Virden.
Cheers!!!
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