Seasons Greeting from the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada.
As 2005 comes to a close we remember the memorable moments of the year.
In May we bought a different trailer for camping. Our old one was
starting to fall apart, piece by piece. The "new" trailer is much
bigger - 27 feet to be exact. And, everything works! It's nice to
have hot and cold running water, furnace and air conditioning for
those few days each year when it actually gets hot in Alberta. We
made two out of the area camping trips. One to Brooks and another to
Enchant. The weather was nice and hot in Brooks, but it was during
the Mayfly hatch. Millions of little bugs swarming every evening in
their mating ritual. We brought along several movies on DVD, and the Play
station and TV for viewing. Setting it up outside on Betty's new folding
table was not such a good idea! The Mayflies were attracted to the
light and piled up in front of the TV.
The camping trip to Enchant in August brought us unusually cool weather.
One day was cool enough to have the heat running all day inside the
camper. Not swimming on that trip, and only one round of golf for Vince.
We made two trips into Montana this year. It's less than 3 hours
to Kalispell, and we had fun sightseeing and shopping. We were planning
on going across Logan's Pass on our second trip, but some summer snow and
rock slides closed the road. It is called the "road to the sun" and
starts in Waterton park in Alberta and crosses into the US at Glacier
National Park in Montana. Betty says it's a beautiful drive with outstanding
scenery. Maybe we can make the trip in 2006.
In July we made a trip to the west coast of Canada. We drove to
Vancouver, and took the car ferry across to Vancouver Island. We drove
across the island to see the Pacific Ocean and Vince was surprised to
see so many mountains on the island. The road across the island is very
narrow and winding, so it takes quite a while to make the drive. The next
day we drove to Victoria and spent the day sightseeing.
Betty's daughter Elisha and family have moved to Coleman and live
just a couple of blocks down from us. Betty's grandson Jordan went with
us on our trip to Vancouver Island and the camping trips. Elisha is working
at Movie Gallery and her husband Sean is working just east of the pass on
the oil rigs. Betty's younger daughter, Lyndsey is living on her own, and
recently quit her job at A&W and went to work in the factory at Arctic
Spas. She doesn't much like the factory work, and will be searching
for a new job soon.
Betty's son, James is currently unemployed and planning on either a job
on the oil rigs, or logging with his uncles.
This summer we tore out the carpet in the bedroom and installed laminate
hard wood flooring. Elisha and Sean like it so much, we did the same
to their living room as soon as we finished here.
On September 10th we got our first snow of the season - over a foot
of very wet heavy snow that broke off large and small branches from the
trees and bushes. Many of trees fell on power lines, and some areas of the
pass were without power for 4 days. We were fortunate to have the camper
and a generator, so we managed the time without too much inconvenience.
Our whole back yard was filled with dead branches. Our crab-apple tree
and lilac bushes were pretty well destroyed.
For Xmas this year we have rented a hall and all or most of Betty's
family should be here.
We hope this finds you in good health, and our best wishes
for a joyous holiday season!
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