Mim's Missives

Spring Changes?

Mim — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:41:43 +0000

Well, it seems to be time for us to make another change in our lifestyle. Five years ago in January we sold our 30′ sailboat, Kalei, and purchased 46′ ferro-cement Gwynfyd. She’s been a great home for us and we enjoy living in Eliason Harbor. But, we’ve finally faced the reality that we are both burned out on working on/maintaining boats. So she has a for sale sign on her. It could take years to sell or it could happen faster than that - she’s a great live-a-board. You can see some pictures of her at one of my websites: www.boatsalesalaska.com. Just click on the link above her photo to see lots of photos.

We’re still discussing what to do next. If the boat sells soon, we may buy a condo that’s for sale. It comes with a garage, which could provide a workshop for Mike, something he’s been interested in. Or we may just rent. In any case, we plan to stay in Sitka, just not floating on the ocean.

Canadian RV Trip: Wildflowers

Mim — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:27:11 +0000

These are wildflowers and such from the drive across Canada. Most I was able to identify. Click on any one of these and it will open a wonderful viewer so you can scroll through the images easily.

Canadian RV Trip: Old Farm Equipment

Mim — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:07:44 +0000

This Canadian farm equipment dates back seven decades.

Canadian RV Trip: Mango and Pearl

Mim — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:41:58 +0000

The dogs. I never thought I would be writing about dogs. But these two Jack Russel terriers were my constant companions in the back seat of the truck for two and a half weeks. These are just a few shots from that vantage point.

Pearl…

Mango…

They spotted a groundsquirrel…

Canadian RV Trip: Assiniboine River - St. Francois Xavier

Mim — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:24:00 +0000

July 16th we drove to St. Francois Xavier in Manitobe by the Assiniboine River and stayed at a nice campground called Welcomestop. Well, it was sort of nice. I believe this is where I picked up the Lyme infested tick that was found on me in Maine a few days later. But that’s another story…

The mosquitoes were the worst I’ve ever seen. We parked near a river and apparently it’s excellent breading for insects. Karen and I took the dogs out and we actually got chased back in. Karen must have had at least 2o of them hovering around her. Awful! I hunted them down in the room before bed that night.

Assiniboine River in St. Francois Xavier, Manitoba.

Karen and the dogs…

The riverside Welcomestop Esso sign…

A cool hippie bus!

Canadian RV Trip: 12-Moosomin-Saskatchewan and Fieldstone

Mim — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:33:30 +0000

July 15, 2007 we drove to Moosomin, Saskatchewan, about 30 minutes away from Manitoba and Central Time. As always, the sound of trains was in the distance.

Fieldstone is a very nice campground. It’s quiet, lots of trees (aspen and evergreen of some kind) in the midst of yellow flowering plants (either mustard or canola). Other fields we saw in bloom during the drive were flax with blue or purple flowers. Scenery gradually became brushier. This night we did laundry, went for a walk with our cameras and another after dinner with the dogs.

Lots of salt.

A pond…

Cattle…

Flax and Canola.

Farm next to campground…

Canadian RV Trip: Saskatchewan and Swift Current

Mim — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:43:49 +0000

We left MacLeod, Alberta on July 14th and drove out of that province and into Saskatchewan, spending the night in Swift Current at the Ponderosa Trailer Park and Campground.

We almost hit a large buck - Bill honked at it and it turned around and returned to the other side of the road. Lots of vast empty spaces.

Canadian RV Trip: Golden to Fort MacLeod

Mim — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:41:50 +0000

On July 13th, 2007, we drove from Golden, BC to Fort MacLeod, Alberta, on the Oldman River. We tried two other places but one was full and the other we couldn’t wedge the RV into. Branches scratched the sides. It was very frustrating and we were hot and tired. We’d gone from the Continental Divide to the Plains in a day, just north of Montana. What a difference. We drove along the Columbia River to its headwaters (Columbia Lake) and then along the Kootenay River in Kootenay National Park. Lots of beautiful and pastoral scenery.

Farm buildings somewhere south of Golden.

South of Golden and following along the Columbia River.

The Brisco United Church meets the 2nd Sunday of every month, according to the sign.

Just a farm I liked…

More scenery from the Columbia River area.

As we drove south the scenery became less green. This image feels very western US to me. You could tell we were leaving the Columbia River area.

Somewhere on the trail we drove around a bend and saw these amazing cliffs. It was almost lunch time so we stopped by the river that ran past them, fixed lunch in the RV, took some quick photos while walking the dogs, got back in the truck and drove off. What a view, eh?

This is a not very clear picture of Columbia Lake, or the headwaters of the great Columbia River. It was taken through the window of the truck at a high rate of speed.

This is another view of the grasslands we were seeing more of as we left the Rocky Mountains.

Kootenay River.

Well now you can see that we’ve totally left the Rockies and are on Alberta’s prairies. Felt weird.

We saw plenty of trains, as usual, and the occasional grain elevator.

This was a fairly typical scene now.

RV Park on Oldman River in Fort MacLeod, Alberta. Our rig’s on the left.

Canadian RV Trip: Lake Louise

Mim — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:12:11 +0000

After paragliding in the morning, we drove from Golden, BC to Lake Louise, Alberta, for dinner at the famous Fairmont Hotel, or Chateau Lake Louise. Our Great-Aunt Anna Kneedler told stories of dining there a very, very long time ago, and our mother has fond memories of the place so we had to go check it out. The meal was heavenly, as was the service. And the views were spectacular.

Lake Louise and flower pots

Lake Louise

Fun with poppies…

Karen posing at the Chateau…

The Fairmont.

Dining room at the Fairmont with view of Lake Louise.

Karen, Bill and Mim dining at the Fairmont in one of their dining rooms. This was the expensive one. And it was very hot in there. Fans were used for cooling.

It was a full day with flying in the morning and driving to Lake Louise and back but lots of fun.

Canadian RV Trip: Banff National Park

Mim — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:33:15 +0000

On July 11, 2007, we decided to go take a look at Banff in Alberta. We didn’t think much of Banff - it was way too commercial and major construction was going on in the downtown area. It was also very expensive. But the surrounding countryside was awesome.

The Bow River was a beautiful color.

Now and then the highway was spanned by what we assumed were bridges for wildlife so they could safely cross the road. Great idea!

Just one of the many mountain peaks…

And another one…

This was the Sundance Range, I believe…

The mountains were huge and you really noticed it when they were towering overhead.