Back in Alberta...Can't wait to see our offspring!!

We arrived at the Lethbridge KOA in southern Alberta on March 29th. I had never been to Lethbridge before. Really nice town; however, apparently the crime rate is quite high due a major drug problem. In fact, I had made an appointment to get my hair refreshed and had trouble finding where my stylist’s shop was. She told me that lots of folks do not put signs out because that makes them a target for break-ins. Very sad!! We only stayed there for a few days for a reset once we entered back into Canada. The KOA was great, but it was time to see my boy in Calgary and go suit shopping for his wedding in Nova Scotia on July 15! Ryan and I are identical shoppers, so it was a good day. We found a suit, but it can’t be completely revealed until the wedding day!

Calgary was wonderful! We had to drop off the RV at Bucars for repairs which made for a great opportunity to have an extended stay with Maureen and Kemis!! We had lots of lunches and dinners with great friends, and when we did arrived at our campground in Cochrane, we had a few friends that booked there as well for the weekend! Barry even went for a round of golf! It was very busy, but so great to connect with our peeps again!

Cochrane is a great RV park. Very convenient, easy and beautiful! Merlot loves the off-leash park all along the river, not to mention passing the day watching the deer peaks in the windows!

We didn’t have extra time for much hiking, however, I did get to do one of my favorite hikes with my two favorite men!! I’ve hiked to this cave many times, and Barry and I have together in the past as well. It is crazy how much this cave changes between each visit. Ryan has heard me talk about it forever, so I was so excited that he joined us. It’s about a 5km hike to the trailhead and then 2 km straight up to the cave!! The ice cave is basically sandwiched between Moose Mountain and Prairie Mountain, which we have also hiked a lot. None of these hikes are for the faint of heart, but so incredible!!

It was a tough slug to the cave. We all needed a bit of a rest and some water before heading in!!

The pictures doesn't show very well, but the trek up to the entrance (slit on the rock) also gets more sketchy every time we're here!!

We're going in!!! Ryan's already at the back...see the light?

Still lots of snow and ice instead (mid-May!). You absolutely need headlamps in the cave. You don't have to go very far before it's absolutely black.

Pic of the view from inside looking out to the right!

Ryan flew home to Nova Scotia a couple of days later for ten days, then flying back to Calgary. Melissa joined him in Calgary the day after we left, and they drove back to Nova Scotia for the final time…of course, Ryan will have to fly back out on occasion for work.

We left Calgary on May 18, heading for one of favorite and our first campgrounds in Alberta, Crimson Lake! We were there for a week and unfortunately most of that time was either raining or too smoky to go outside due to the Alberta and B.C. wildfires. We normally enjoy the 10 km walk around the lake, but we knew on a day that the smoke cleared that it would be way to muddy. However, we did make the best of it!! Barry set up our gazebo to enjoy on the days the rain kept the smoke away!! Pretty perfect if you ask me!! We also had a day where we did some trail riding. Love, love, love Crimson Lake…so does Merlot!!

I'm pretty sure this is one of Merlot's favorite places on earth!! He's been trying to get the courage for years to jump off the end. He hasn't yet, but he's been sooo close.

From there, St. Albert, to see Jenn and Graeme. It’s always quality time with those two! Biking around Elk Island was so much fun! We also met our neighbours who are now our good friends and part of our caravan for Mexico in January 2024!! We meet so many people on the road doing what we’re doing. It’s shocking really!

Barry had talked about going to the Western Development Museum in North Battleford SK many times. Turns out, it’s a harvest host, which is a camping membership we are part of, so we actually got to stay on their grounds with the RV for the night for free before heading to see Barry’s mom in Kamsack, SK. Although we enjoyed the museum, we really couldn’t stay too long with Merlot being in the RV. It was a very, very hot day, and we had no hookups, so we couldn’t run the air conditioner but still enjoyed our time!!

Kamsack served two purposes…visiting Barry’s mom and sister’s family and work on the RV. The damage that had been done driving back from the US (bent axel, etc.) actually cracked the walls around our slides, which was part of the repair list for at Bucars. Unfortunately, the work was less than satisfactory, so we ended up spending a large chuck of our time in Kamsack doing repairs and painting. Speaking of painting…has anyone dropped a quart of paint with no lid on it?? I did!!!! No pictures!!!

We did manage to spend some good quality time with Barry’s mom and sister’s family. Can’t wait to see them again next year! It wasn’t until we were leaving Kamsack on June 7 that it felt like our second year had begun! It was time to start heading East to Nova Scotia! Did I mention rain followed us everywhere!!!! We visited the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed. I feel visiting this museum should be mandatory for every human being!!! It reflects on various human rights themes and stories of many diverse groups and individuals. The museum itself has 8 levels, the first of which includes temporary and travelling exhibitions. I really wanted to see the “Witness Blanket”, which unfortunately was travelling when we were there. The witness blanket is a powerful art installation created to recognize the atrocities of the residential school era, honour the children and symbolize ongoing reconciliation. It is made of hundreds of items from residential schools, survivors, churches, governments and other cultural sites across Canada. So hard to believe so many terrible things have happened to human beings and continue to happen in the name of someone’s God. The museum also includes galleries about the Holocaust and various other genocides; however, it also talks about action being taken on human rights at schools and in communities today, as well as a whole gallery on inspiring change. Like I said, it’s a must see for all ages.

We stayed one night in Wabigoon, Ontario and on to Thunder Bay to stay at the Fort William Historical Park. The Park contains a reconstruction of the Fort William fur trade post as it existed in 1816, which was the world’s largest fur trading post, and is one of the largest living historical sites in North America. There are 57 heritage and modern buildings that are utilized to immerse visitors in the history along with era actors, who guided us through what fur trade life was like, from culture to crafts, medicine to business, domestic life to heritage farming. Oh, and I had no idea there were so many different kinds of chickens….and so beautiful!!!

I was lucky enough to have a quick lesson in carving a wooden paddle for the hand-carved canoes.

For the record, Barry should have told me I wasn’t holding the gun correctly!!! LOL!!

Next stop, Niagara Falls!!! After almost 40 years, Barry and Cousin Gord were reunited!!! Such a fun couple of days meeting Gord and his wife Brenda and hearing all the stories about Gord’s dad and Barry’s dad (brothers), and hearing about all the family connections. It was a very special time! We will definitely have to meet again before too much time passes again.

So, like most things in life, there are pros and cons and Niagara Falls is no exception. Cons first? Total chaos! The crowds would be an obvious con for us, but I have to say Niagara tourism is not very well organized for being such a huge tourist area. We booked to schedule events at certain times, but when we got there it appeared our booked times didn’t matter…then why pay to book times you say?? Great question! We did the journey behind the falls, the power station plus tunnel, the whirlpool aero car, and the white water walk. All were lots of fun and interesting but the Niagara City Cruise??!! So much fun! Barry said it was on the top of his “best things we’ve done” list. Such a great time!

We also went to Pellar Estates for wine-tasting! Pellar Estates is not our favorite wine by far, but the experience of wine-tasting in a beautiful space with tasty appetizers and great company is always so much fun. Can’t believe I’m saying this.., “It’s not always about the wine!”.

Kingston, Ontario is on our “must go back” list! It is such a beautiful city! I didn’t know it was Canada’s first capital city in 1841! Lots of grand 19th century buildings, Fort Henry, which was built in the 1800s, and the Kingston Penitentiary (I love touring old penitentiaries…is that weird?). Unfortunately, we spent most of our time in Kingston continuing to work on the RV. All part of the adventure….

Before arriving in Hopewell Cape NB, we had a quick 4 day stop in Grand Falls, NB. Very small town with a big waterfall! Hopewell Cape, we have to say, was a little disappointing. Driving along the this area along the Bay of Fundy the small towns seemed very desolate and dirty. My thought driving through is someone should set up some ghost tours of these tiny towns/hamlets. There seemed to be as many abandoned properties as there were occupied! Our RV Park kind of sold us by advertising walking trails to the Hopewell rocks. The trail actually popped out at the entrance to the provincial park gate. However, the trail was great. Merlot had a blast!!

Next day, we drove back without Merlot. The walk down to Hopewell rocks was very beautiful! The fact that you can walk on the ocean floor amongst sea stacks caused by tidal erosion and then several hours later the water is 12 to 16 meters high! Worth the trip but done and done!!

Last stop before seeing my boy was Grand Pré, just outside of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Absolutely gorgeous!! So much Acadian history. Grand Pré is the iconic place of remembrance of the Acadian diaspora, the result of the Expulsion (Le Grand Dérangement) in the second half of the 18th century. Grand Pré was a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755 and the deportation of the Acadians, which began in 1755 and continued until 1762.

Wolfville, of course, is the home to Acadia University and is such a beautiful town, and hey, we got to drink local stout and IPA in a Church!!!

And they have a wine library!! Another “need to come back” area for sure.

We finally arrived at Ryan and Melissa’s!!! It is great that their driveway is long enough to fit us. It was such a perfect visit. We have 6 days to visit before we head to our next RV park, which is beside the wedding venue. Now, time to relax and just enjoy each being together!! We did also visit the Five Islands Beach, had the best fried clams ever, took in the Masstown Market, Merlot got groomed, walked through Victoria Park and had some great food and fun in the backyard!!!

Now time to move on the final campground before the wedding!!! If you want to see to more pics of our journey from Calgary to NS click here!