Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Across Canada Day 4

We left this morning from our Hotel 6 in Brandon Manitoba before 7am. The hotel was brand new and did not yet serve their advertised continental breakfast, and so gave us 2 coupons for free breakfast sandwiches from McD’s. It was just down the street. Dad got bacon and eggs on a buttermilk biscuit, and I had a BLT bagel.

We headed down to the local safeway to pick up some bread and milk. We were both confused when we found the store locked… the sign on the door said they opened at 7am. Dad declared that I must have set the trucks clock wrong. I scratched my head and thought “the time has to go back an hour right”. I felt like there was no way I could have set it wrong, but I couldn’t figure out why else they would be closed.

We gave up, and drove to the shell station to fill up before heading for Saskatchewan. Dad picked up some milk, but they had no bread. Dad asked the girl behind the cash “what time is it”, she replied that it was 7:30, just as our truck clock proclaimed. Next Dad asked her if she knew if something was up with safe way. She said she had no idea. Dad mentioned that the sign said they opened at 7am. The girl stared at him blankly “yeah, but it’s Sunday”.
Off to Saskatchewan.

Either Dad and I were both clocked out and didn’t notice, or, there is no signage declaring that you have left Manitoba, or that you have entered Saskatchewan. We only realized we were in Saskatchewan when we entered Regina.

When we stopped for a stretch we found the air to be very fragrant with the smell of clover. Though we couldn’t pick out any clover visually, that’s what it smelled like. The smell followed us through most of the province, and Dad remarked that maybe it was the pigweed. Anyhow, it smelled great.

For some reason, I always thought that Saskatchewan was the flattest province. Not so. While Manitoba is almost totally flat, Saskatchewan enjoys a myriad of gently rolling hills, in seemingly alternating bands of green and yellow (a pattern of Wheat and Rape I believe, with a touch of what Dad figures is buckwheat).

After rolling through Lloydminster, we set our goal as being the far side of Edmonton. We stopped at a hotel in the tiny town of Onoway. The one star hotel (this fact was actually advertised in the sign) was full up as some festival was in town. We decided to push on to Whitecourt. We rolled into the Western Budget a little before 10. Dad was tired and went stright to bed, while I decided to have a beer and donair at the local saloon, and catch up on the blogging.

We will rise tomorrow morning by 6:30 and will likely see all of you before 11am. I am excited to see everyone, and am happy to have a couple of days for Visiting. Day 5 is Whitecourt to GP :)

Good Day 4

Manitoba on Day 3

A Manitoba windshield


Setting Prairie Sun

Across Canada Day 3

Our third day began at the White Fang. We got up about 6 (as per the last two days), packed, took a pic in front of the White Fang sign, and were on the road before 7.

Ontario is a beast of a province and took up the better part of 2 days to cross. Aside from the beautiful scenery of the hundreds of lakes that polka-dot the highway, a heatwave also brought the beautiful and distinct smell of Jack Pine. Any smells in nature are always multiplied in the heat, and as Dad and I took a short walk at lunch time, I found the Jack pine smell bringing me back to my last two summers in Kelowna.

In the mid-afternoon, the hills began to settle down. A large wooden sign bid us a due from Ontario, and a small metal sigh welcomed us to Manitoba. It what seemed like only a few minutes, the rocky hills tapered down, the land flattened out completely, and the trees gave way to grass.

We were in this grassland only a few moment when I felt the urge to roll down the window in order to get a fuller nose of fragrance I was beginning to detect in the truck. As the window came down and I inhaled deeply through my nose, I was suprised to recognize the scent... During my time as the assistant brewmeister at the Pump House in Moncton, I had the not so fantastic job of cleaning out the brewing tanks after they had been drained of their beer. The odor was pungent and unpleasant. Though the smell of Manitoba's flooded fields was not as strong, it was the same.

I know a lot of people say the prairies are boring, but I enjoyed seeing them thoroughly.

As the evening wore on and the sun began to sink in the sky, a cloud of millions of dragonflies descended on the province. It was incredible. I've seen huge swarms of Dragon Flies in China, but never in Canada. And though I've seen them that thick in China, they never cover the miles and miles that we found them over that evening.

The setting sun painted the gigantic sky with brush strokes of pink and purple. This, the incredibly flat prairies and the Dragon flies helped to make the evening enjoyable and memorable.

Though Ontario seemed like it took forever to cover, we managed to travel about three quarters of Manitoba that afternoon. We stopped for the night at a Motel 6 in Brandon, a town about 2 hours west of Winnipeg.

A View of Lake Superior














Good Day 3

Pro Shoot of Caleb + Mother and Sons

                                                 This is Caleb's metal he received in Soccer





Saturday, July 16, 2011

Piercen Kess Vander Standring's Photo Shoot

I am doing pro photos of all the grandchildren.....Here are the first ones:










Dad and Dan

Hey ....Thank you so much for the day to day updates.  I am so glad you are taking the time to share.

I was delighted that your Aunties (Lavina & BeBe)...feed and loved you men folk. 

Take care of each other....be loving, kind and share much joy together....you never know when you may get such a chance again.

Love....Mother/Wifeeee...xoxoxoxo

The Farm and It's Beautiful Babbling Brook.....


Over looking the bank at the Outhouse
                                                   Looking from the road to the barn
                                                 The Covert on our side of the road
                                             Across the road at the covert exit
                                              It is dry and well!!!!...all rooms were dried out well!!

                                            The sparkling brook runs through it

More flood Photos SEXSMITH





Enterance to Sexsmith....What a flood!!!

I will add these photos to Roxanns


                                                  On the left is the side of Joe's house


Looking Up Main Street at 4 am