Sunday, May 12, 2013

The Place Where I Grew Up

This past Wednesday the girls, Hannah and Molly had dental done and Molly also had a nasty lump from her ear removed.  Both girls did fine and now poor Molly has to wear the Cone of Shame until her stitches come out, which I will be removing next week.  She sure doesn't mind it so I believe she thinks it's her tiara...such a princess.
 
Sporting the Cone of Shame

Her ear is healing good
 
After we picked them up from Birchwood Animal Hospital we were off again to another animal clinic, this time Dakota for Blitz to donate blood for the Canadian Animal Blood Bank.  It's his 4th donation a far cry from Hannah's 25 donations but he is doing his best.  After his donation we headed on the road again, this time to Carman, the place where I grew up.
 
Carman is a small town of about 3000 people and it's at the junction of highways 3 and 13 in the Pembina Valley.  Both of my parents were born and raised there and so were my 2 brothers and I.  It's probably best known for a great golf course, the Carman Fair and the home of Eddie the Eagle Belfour, whom I went to school with.  My mom still lives in the house where we moved to when I was in grade 6.  I took a trip down memory lane with Craig and took some pictures of some of my favorite places.
 
Big difference one week makes - this is what my mom's back yard looks like now.  Water has gone down and is just about back to normal.

Next 3 pics are of some of the historic houses in Carman but this one is probably my favorite.



The library and town clock

The town's offices

There are two of these cannons on either side of the town hall

The water tower

A park where the Ryall Hotel used to stand, it burnt down years ago

The old train station, now a place for art

An old church turned into a bed and breakfast

This is the restaurant that I had my first job, it was called the Fireside Inn then

Syl's Drive In: best place for burgers, fries and ice cream

The Elementary School where I started my education

Carman Collegiate - grades 7 - 12

The church where I went as a kid and where Craig and I were married.  It's under renovations
 
I just had to stop and take some pics of these trains with graffiti


 
 
On Thursday we headed over to my friend Angie's house for coffee and to discuss her and John's upcoming visit to Cambridge Bay at the end of June.  Angie and I have been friends for 30+ years and when we get together we laugh and remember the days when we were younger.  I can't wait for her visit so that we can make some more laughs and great memories. 
 
Angie and Me
 
Craig, the dogs and myself started the trek back to the north country early this morning with a 13 hour drive to Edmonton.  I drove to the Battlefords where Craig took over the steering wheel but just before that we hit some flooding.  As you can see from the pictures below the highway was fully engulfed by water.
 
Doesn't look good

Check out the car in the other lane

Thankfully there were balloons to hold back some of the water

Oh boy here we go!
 
We would of arrived in Edmonton sooner but we decided to take a bit of a detour and head into Elk Island National Park hoping to get a glimpse of an elk.  We have been there once before and did not see any so we were hoping that this time we would but unfortunately we did not.  The park is the home of not only elk but also moose, plain bison, wood bison & deer.  We seen plenty of bison and caught a sighting of a coyote and many birds. 
 
Heading into the park

A lonely bison having a bite to eat

Better slow down for this guy

Something caught this coyote's eye

He didn't even bat an eye when our dogs started to bark, just went along with his business

Beautiful and peaceful swamp area

Love the reflections in the water

Good night from Edmonton
 
We made it to our hotel late tonight and everyone has settled in and I am ready to hit the hay as it was a long day of driving.  Early Tuesday morning we fly out of Edmonton to Cambridge Bay,  just in time for the annual Frolics.  Until then...
 
Talk soon! 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lovely Day in the Neighbourhood

Yesterday was a really enjoyable day here in Lac du Bonnet with Craig's parents.  Took the dogs out to the field across the street so that they could hunt, play and run.  They sure found a good spot in some tall grasses, I have no idea what had been there.


From there we all took a hike up the 'mountain' to take some pictures.  It's a tradition here at L'Auberge Bleu that whenever you visit you must take a hike up the hill.  It is so beautiful up there any time of year and you also have a good view of the lake from there.  I would love to have a little cottage up there and wake up to that view every morning.  The dogs had a blast, Hannah has slowed down and we have to watch that she doesn't fall but Molly can still maneuver over and around the rocks like she is still 2 years old.  Blitz always follows Molly but he is not as agile as her.

Going up?

The moss is starting to green up

Hannah Banana

I only had seconds to get this picture before Blitz and Molly were off again

Thank you to Craig's dad for taking our family portrait, notice the inuksuk in the background

Place where I could love to put up a little cabin

Craig and his mommy

Dad scoping the scenery

Blitz taking a bit of a rest

Dad and Mom

What a view!

Craig, Dad and Hannah

We heading back down the hill and sat our butts on the deck for the remaining of the afternoon soaking up some rays while the dogs ran and swam in the ice cold water.  We had to drag Hannah out of the water as she was trying to break the ice and we were afraid that she would get to a place of no return...damn water dogs.  lol   Needless to say I think at the end of the day we were all pretty exhausted from all the fresh air we got.  After dinner we had another tradition we needed to take care of; scrabble and a round of rummy with Mom.

More ice melted yesterday so Molly had more room for her leisurely swim

Hannah and Craig soaking up some good ole Manitoba rays

I like to call this bunk beds GSP style.  Lucky for Molly she is tiny and could fit on the ottoman

Today we say our good-byes to Craig's parents as we head back into Winnipeg as Craig needs his day 7 shot from our exposure to rabies.  Tomorrow the ladies go into the vet for a dental each an Molly will also get some small lumps checked and one larger one taken off. 

It was a short stay but one we will cherish as we both really love coming to this neck of the woods.

Talk soon!