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!