As Ian Tyson sings: Alberta bound, Alberta bound. It’s good to be Alberta bound. And so it was for us as we said our goodbyes to Piper and family, and headed for Wild Rose Country, or as the right-wing nut-bars now say, the land of Strong and Free. The drive was pleasantly uneventful, although it’s always a bit sad to pass from Shield country into the great flatlands of the Prairies.
We arrived in Cow Town to warm greetings from Donna & Sam, and moved into ‘our room’ in their beautiful home on the hill. Although we try and stay connected via phone and Facetime, it’s always better to have actual face time with family and friends. So it was great being back. And even better, we soon received a visit from the newest member of the western clan: Oliver
Thanks to niece Cailan, we’ve been meeting with Oli via Facetime over the first year of his life. So he seemed to take to us fairly quickly. Who wouldn’t with (Great) Aunty-Ann working her magic:
A couple of days later we got another wave of super-cuteness with the visit of (Great) nieces Olivia and her little sister Zoe. These two little bundles of energy spend a lot of time with Baba & Granddad. We were happy to share in the fun.
And speaking of fun, we got invited to little Oli’s first birthday. It was a big event held down at the lake, with friends and family from both Cailan and Stew’s clans all getting together. It was great to reconnect with so many, and to get to know new folks that are all somehow interconnected.
A big part of the western journey this year involved getting our motorcycles road-ready. The plan is/was to drive one bike and car back to Newfoundland this year. Then, rinse and repeat next year. My bike was to be this year’s effort, so we rushed off to the Crook farm where are bikes have been stored, and where we were going to farm-sit for Kevin & Barb (more on this later). The plan was to get it back to Calgary, and then turn it over to The Old Motorcycle Shop for a thorough going-over.
We drove down and checked in with Barb & Kevin. Then we went to the barn, got greeted by Jasper the Donkey, and pulled the very dusty cover off my bike. The battery was a bit low, but after a quick charge, my trusty Majesty fired up almost immediately. Other than the tires being low, it seemed perfect. So, we got it back to Donna & Sam’s cabin, which is at nearby Beauvais Lake. Waited out a day of rain, then I drove it back to Calgary — NO PROBLEMS!
We spent a couple more days hanging out in Calgary, including getting a dinner and tour of Monique & Phil’s new house, then we drove back down to Pincher Creek area, to officially begin our farm-sit with Kevin, Barb, and their menagerie of critters: Rozi & Bronco the dogs, Jasper the donkey, and Kitty the kitty.
Kevin & Barb live on the farm where Ann’s mother grew up. June’s youngest brother Bill took over the farm, and lived there with his wife Edna. Kevin is one of three kids. He and his wife Barb finally retired back to the farm, but built their own amazing place on a plateau above the original family house. It is a stunning house and an incredible view of the rolling prairies, with the mountains on the not-so-distant horizon.
We spent a few days with Kevin & Barb, learning all we needed to know to manage the space, and the critters. Then they headed off on their west coast adventure, and we were left in charge of it all. The two dogs are the sweetest pups ever. And oh-so sensitive. Rozi in particular is so connected that we feared she would have a hard time. But after a day she seemed to accept us. And of course, Bronco was a gentle sweetheart the whole time.
One of the joys of farm life is the routine demanded by the critters. It was pretty relaxed in this case, with simple morning dog treats (and medications), followed by a walk down to the barn to deliver treats and meds to the two four-legged folks who lived there. Best of all, nearly every morning we were greeted by Kitty, and most especially Jasper:
One great joy of our time on this farm was the mornings, where we would sit outside on the side porch, and watch all the swallows and wrens, and other various birds. We’d drink our coffee, with the dogs lying close by 
, and listen to all the singing birds. It was delightful.
Other than all the flity tweety birds, there were plenty of hawky-things, a great horned owl, a fox, a skunk (on camera), and even a grizzly bear which ran past the house about 100 metres away from where we were sitting — inside, thankfully. I also got to play with the fancy tractor/lawn mower. I’m a workin’ man!
One of the special treats of our stay on the farm was connecting with Aunt Edna. She and Uncle Bill lived on the farm most of their lives. Edna is just about to turn 100, so has recently moved into a care home in Pincher Creek. Her body may be failing, but she’s still sharp as whip. Ann spent a lot of time visiting, and I dropped in a few times. It was really nice reconnecting with her.
In addition to our normal daily farm duties of checking in on Jasper, and keeping the dogs happy, we also were charged with monitoring the water systems on two separate small groups of cows. In one area there were ten, which became 11, big bulls from a neighbour’s herd. In addition, there were three cows in a different field. We would drive the Ranger, which is like a big ATV, down to do our checks. It was fun, and the dogs always ran along with us.
One day Peggy and Phil decided to make a day-trip of coming to visit. We spent time walking, hanging with the dogs, and visiting Jasper and Kitty. But first we went off to Waterton National Park, and wondered around the townsite. Really fun…
Barb & Kevin returned home, and we had to say our goodbyes to all the special four-legged friends. We had a really wonderful time on the farm, and look forward to returning again next year when we do this all again, and pick up Ann’s motorcycle from the barn. Maybe we can convince K&B to take another vacation 😉.
We made our way back to Calgary, to spend the last few days visiting almost all the western family. We got to have more Oli, and Liv & Zoe-Zoe time. And we got to see Cailan & Stew’s new (to us) home. One of the last days was spent at Peggy’s place, where we had more Oli time, and Marc made us gourmet pizzas for lunch. Very yummy…
We were in Alberta for just over a month, and the entire time the weather was mostly warm and dry. But on the very day we planned to begin our trek east, a prolonged spring rain storm hit the province. We had to delay our departure by two days. This gave us more family time, which was nice, but I was itching to get going. We have many km to drive, many friends to see, and mom’s health has taken a bit of dip, so I’m wanting to get back to Ottawa sooner, rather than later.
Despite this, I’m looking forward to being back on the motorcycle, and doing the nearly 7,000 km drive all the way home to Ramea. We’ll take our time, and I might let Ann drive my bike a little bit — if she proves herself worthy 😉.