Ok, so I have some catching up to do in regard to the blog.

This is a photo of downtown Athabasca.  The park area is directly across from the main street and is a very nice place to stop and have a break from your drive.  I spent the morning today at the Athabasca Golf Course.

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This is a beautiful course, and I am glad to have taken the time to enjoy the course.  My game could always improve but the scenery here takes your mind off of those shots that went off into the rough.

Next up my stops were along Lesser Slave Lake including the Town of Slave Lake and the Villages that are along the south short of the lake.  Here you will find many resorts happy to make room for you whether you want to park a camper or a boat.   A sampling of the resorts in the area are Big Fish Bay Resort in Slave Lake,  Spruce Point Park on the south side of the lake, Bay Shore Resort at Faust and also Shaw’s Point which is around on the northwest corner of the lake and is a large resort including boat rentals, a restaurant and lots of camping spots.

I landed for the night at High Prairie.  There are two campgrounds in High Prairie, one just on the edge of town as you come in from the east and one by the rodeo ground on the north side of town.

Sojourned from Cold Lake to Lac la Biche then the Mission onto Athabasca. The crops look really good on this section of Highway.

Went to the golf course outside Lac la Biche everything looks lush & green. It would be nice to have some time to sample some of these courses again.

Missed getting into the Lac la Biche Mission second year in a row. This is a heritage site dating pre 1900.

I didn’t travel too far today. I decided to play a round of golf on the attractive and well maintained Northern Meadows Golf Course. The course was in great condition and I got out early and then enjoyed a super Sunday brunch served in the restaurant. Then moved on to Cold Lake via Pierceland. Went down to the lake to gather some picture of the beach. Lots of people enjoying the water and the spray park at the beach.

Roads are definitely better than the dust bowl gravel roads from the mid-80s. This was an enjoyable drive with stops in Poplar Cove, Green Lake, Meadow Lake, Meadow Lake Provincial Park, and Goodsoil. Watched the pelicans cherry pick fish at the spillway of Cowan Dam at the north end of the lake.

Missed a heavy thunder shower at Meadow Lake and ventured through Meadow Lake Provincial Park. Many people enjoying the wonderful weekend weather. Stopped a Waterhen Lake on the east side then drove the gravel roads through the park.

Stopped at Big Island Cove and Northern Cross Resort on the westside before spending the night at Northern Meadows Golf Course. Water was stirred up by the wind. Not a good day to be on the water.

Hot Day in Northern Saskatchewan – plus 30

Love has been upgrading their campground over the past year. New laser cut fire pits that add to the enjoyment of sitting around a fire. They also added toilet facilities and site markers. All for $20 a night 30 amp powered site. Great deal.

Found the site of the Love Gospel Jamboree two miles north of the community. They have lots of camping space for the secluded site that has hosted musician from Canada and the US for 29 years the weekend after the July 1 weekend.

Got treated to an enjoyable 9 holes of golf at the beautiful Canwood Regional Park with the Friday nights Men’s Night. Many warm and friendly people.

Awoke to sunshine.

Hudson Bay has a large metal moose and a large Heritage Park. I was told that there is great back country canoeing and kayaking in the same rivers that wreaked havoc in the excessive rain.

Nipawin – people enjoying the outdoor waterpark as the temperature climbs.

Rainy Days

Awoke to heavy rain at Overflowing River drove to The Pas in the rain drove back to Hudson Bay in the rain. Some one said 4.5 inches of rain in 48 hours. There were washouts on Hwy 55 and Hwy 9 and a washout that derailed a Via passenger train in the middle of the night. Not much fun for anyone but ducks.

Day 3 – Winnipegosis to Overflowing River

Both stays on the same lake only several hundred km apart. Gray and rainy most of the day. Meet with the owners of all three resorts Childs Lake Lodge, Blue Lakes Resort, and Wellman Lake Lodge.

Die hard fishermen sitting in the light rain and fog in middle of the day.

Talked with a very knowledgeable and passionate lady at the Swan River Tourist Information Booth. Great wealth of information about places and activities in the Swan Valley. Had to give the motorhome a bath after venturing through Duck Mountain Provincial Park. Swan River Co-op Gas Bar has a great outside car wash that can handle any size rig and towed unit. 

Day Two – Lundar to Winnipegosis

Stopped an talked with volunteer s working on freshening up the Museum displays with new paint and staging of the artifacts

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Theme of the day – line-ups of RVs and boats. And some say tourism is not important to the small local businesses. Tell that to the gas station and restaurant employees & owners in your community.

9 a.m. Lundar, MB after this there was 5 trucks with boats behind them, gassing up and eating.

11:00 a.m. Eriksdale there was six more RVs parked along the south side of the property.

1:30 p.m. The Narrows had vehicles parking on the highway as well as 4 a crossed behind the trees.

3:00 p.m. Ste Rose du Lac at the restaurant.

This was the long weekend Monday with people heading south back to the city. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a steady stream of traffic (maybe not as heavy) Monday to Thursday and not just on weekends.

Tis that time of year again . . . Roadtrip

Day 1 2018 Grosse Isle

July 1 – Canada in Grose Isle

Starting again on the east side near Winnipeg, I was able to catch the Prairie Dog Express in Grosse Isle for the 2nd year in a round. There were hundreds of people on the steam train from Inkster Junction in northern Winnipeg. They to the 30 minute train ride, and enjoyed the farmers market, the museum, and the De Boomstam.

De Boomstam is a wonderful antique type music maker from 1911. It uses a deck of folded music sheets to activate pipes and drums when hand cranked by the operator. Sounds a lot like a larger calliope.

Then came the rain in late afternoon.