Boys, Bears and Bucks!

Boys, Bears and Bucks!

It’s hard to believe that the boys (Nick and Jake, sons of our friends, Darrin and Liz) have been with us almost two weeks now.  They are a big help to us and a great source of entertainment.  Since they’ve been here, I’ve heard more about quads, motorcycles, trucks and anything else with a motor than ever before.  I’ll soon be able to converse with motor-heads and actually know what I’m talking about!  We are having such fun with them…can’t wait till more family comes to visit and we can share Spray Lakes with them as well and enjoy getting to know them again.  Our family get-together is scheduled for the weekend of August 8/9/10 and I can’t wait to see some long lost cousins and nieces and nephews! 

As promised in my last blog, here is a picture of the fun island/party barge that we found in the dumpster a couple weeks ago.  It’s amazing what rich people will toss out.  All we had to do was patch a small hole in the bottom and it’s good as new.  They boys have been out on it a few times in the lake and seem to be enjoying themselves.  The barge has a cooler, speakers and a ramp to climb up out of the water on….pretty cool!

 Another trip to the bottle depot netted us $182 this week…seems dumpster diving and recycling is well worth it!

We went to a staff picnic down at Peter Lougheed Park on Tuesday…it was great to meet some of the other campground managers and share some time with them.  We are kind of isolated from everyone else as we’re about 35 km away from them but do get to see the guys who deliver wood when they come to Spray and a few other people when we go down there for showers.  The food/picnic was organized by a woman whose husband grew up with my cousin, Terry Daniels…small world!  As with most prairie people, she organized an abundance of very tasty food for us…it was a great picnic.

We’ve had a couple of bears through the campground lately…one was a good sized black bear who seemed to want to walk through some of the campsites.  He didn’t bother anyone but still he was too close for comfort.  We phoned conservation to report him and within half an hour an officer was on site to scare the bear away.  He arrived in our campsite after finding the bear in the campground.  He said “The bear is travelling this way and was last seen in campsite #3…oh, there he is behind you”.  I turned and true enough, there was the bear about 15 feet behind me in the bush.  He made a bit of noise and the bear turned and walked within two feet of Nick’s tent…the boys were both in their tents reading and didn’t realize how close the bear was.  Anyway, the conservation officer got his gun and some rubber bullets and shouted at the bear and then shot him with the rubber bullets.  They don’t injure the bear but give him a good sting when they hit.  He ran off into the bush but we got reports of a bear the next morning so I think he stuck around and enjoyed the berries that are now ripening on the buffalo bushes (shown in the picture).  They are tiny little berries so the bears have to eat constantly to get a full belly.  We also saw a couple of grizzly bears when we came back from the picnic the other night.  There were several cars stopped (a “bear jam” they call it) and so we got to have a look at them.  I wasn’t able to get any pictures of them though…wish we could have stuck around and done that but with so many people out of their vehicles watching the bears, which were only about 20 feet beyond the side of the road, it was too dangerous.

We’ve had a couple of nice bucks in the campground lately…they seem to have found a little mineral lick on the trail to Goat Pond.  We’ve really enjoyed watching them.

Now for the flower of the week…this is a new one that has just begun to bloom and I’ve only seen one bunch of them…they are a really pretty coral colour and stand about a foot tall.  Gonna have to get that flower book one day so I can identify them.  Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy but it was almost dark when I took this and the camera wouldn’t quite focus properly.

When we go to Boulton Creek for supplies we also need to fill a large water container so we can then connect with a hose to our fifth wheel and have water that is mostly used for washing up.  We buy bottled water to drink (and recycle of course).  Here is a picture of Tom and the boys filling the water container.  And a picture of the boys playing baseball with a stick and stone…like I said, they are good entertainment!

 So you might remember the story of Tom watching the girls skinny dip across the lake…well, the other day there was a guy over there who insisted that he sunbathe in the nude….well, except that other people kept stopping at the day use area and walking down to the beach…he’d jump up and put his swim trunks on and wait till they left then take them off again…more people would come a few minutes later and he’d have to put them on again.  The poor guy did this half a dozen times before he decided he didn’t need to tan his buttocks…sorry everyone…no pictures!

A New Baby, Company, Bass Pro Shop and Warm Weather

A New Baby, Company, Bass Pro Shop and Warm Weather

 

We are very excited to announce the arrival of our new grandson, Barrett Thomas Garner 7lbs 5 oz, 19", born July 13 at 9:02am.  He was a little bit early but is doing well.  Wyatt seems to have fallen in love with him as you can tell from the picture…we are so happy!  Can’t wait to see and hold the little guy!

We are very also happy to have had company this past week.  Darrin and Liz, friends of ours from Castlegar, brought their two teenaged sons up to visit this past weekend.  The boys will be staying with us and helping with the campground.  In their spare time (of which there is plenty) they go fishing, hiking, tossing the football around or just for a bike ride.  I think they are having a pretty good time so far.  They are good kids and have already been a big help.  

 

We did recycling on Monday and ended up taking home $382 worth.   The truck was piled high with all the bags of tins and bottles and though it was a lot of work sorting it, it was definitely worth while.  The boys got a portion of it for their help and were quite happy about that. 

The next day I took the boys to Bass Pro Shop in Airdrie.  The boys were pretty blown away.  If you’ve been to Cabella’s and see the taxidermy animals and big aquarium with trout, etc., and have been impressed, think about 20 times more than that.  They have an incredible selection of outdoor stuff for sale…boats, quads, hunting stuff, fishing stuff, clothes, and just about anything else you can think of.  There’s a whole department just on outdoor cooking, a candy shop, a fly fishing store, several big mountains within the store with taxidermy animals on them, hikers, mountain climbers, fishermen, hunters in tree stands…it’s pretty amazing.  Almost like going to a museum.  These pictures don’t do justice to the place but it will give you an idea of what it’s like.   We managed to spend a little bit of money there on some new lures and the boys each got a souvineer.  They sure had fun wandering the store!

The weather has been hot and there are fires up north of us.  The fire danger has been moved to “extreme” in the area and so we have to be really careful with our campers and campfires.  Sometimes they want to build a fire on the beach and that’s sure not going to be acceptable at this time.  

We’ve been swimming a few times…the boys and I pulled a four-seater fun-island out of the dumpster. It has a place for your feet in the middle, a cooler, speakers, etc….very cool.   It had a small hole in it which we patched and it’s now ready for the lake…we’re going to try it out this afternoon.  It’s amazing what people will throw away…we found a tent that was in perfect condition except for a small hole in the floor (like a cigarette burn) numerous tarps in good condition, camp chairs, and the list goes on.  I guess people don’t want to haul stuff home or maybe don’t have a place to store it…who knows.  At any rate, their loss is our gain and we’ll certainly use and enjoy the fun island.   Will send pictures when we get some!

 

 Here’s a picture of Tom swimming on top of the water!  He’s so amazing!  Actually he’s resting on a big rock that is covered with water now!

And here’s a picture of me in case you forgot what I look like!  Hmmm…do I look like my Mom???  Oh yeah!

And we can’t forget Oso, who got a haircut and looks like quite a pretty boy now…I think with his hair shorter the horse flies are bothering him but he has fun trying to catch them in his mouth…silly dog!...but such a cutie!

 And we can’t forget Oso, who got a haircut and looks like quite a pretty boy now…I think with his hair shorter the horse flies are bothering him but he has fun trying to catch them in his mouth…silly

Wonderful People, Wild Flowers, and Quiet Nights

Wonderful People, Wild Flowers, and Quiet Nights

We have met so many wonderful and interesting people while up here.  A few weeks ago, Nikki and Katie, (Tom calls them “our daughters”) came to stay at the campsite.  They are two girls from Wisconson who were traveling around the Rockies.  We got to be quite good friends with them and would often stop and trade camp-cooking secrets or talk about the hikes they had been on that day.  They were wonderful young women and we really enjoyed their time at the campsite. 

Another group that moved into campsite 49, the penthouse suite of the campground, called that because of its perfect location and view, were Jack, Donna, Barry and Beans, the dog.  They were folks about our age who were fun to visit with and compare fishing stories and a glass of wine.  They are from Calgary and will likely be back out at the campground this summer at some point.

There is a woman from Canmore who homeschools her two daughters and she brings them up every once in a while for a camping night.  Again, Tom has adopted these girls as our “grand-daughters” and loves to play tag with them…one of the little girls phoned her dad who was working away from home and apparently all she could talk about was Tom.

This past week another couple about our age stopped in for a few days.  He was a grader driver on the Spray Lakes road for a few years and we remembered him from when we were here last time.  We had a nice visit with them and helped her celebrate her birthday…wine, lakes and mountains…wonderful way to celebrate a birthday!

As well, the people from all over the world who are passing through or camping in the campground are amazing.  We have had people from Germany, Holland, Czech, Slovakia Denmark, Belgium, England, Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, and India as well as all over Canada and the USA and many other places.  Many of European people are hiking or passing through on the Great Divide Trail, and many people have rented a camper and are touring the Rockies.  One fellow was biking from Banff to Mexico and was from Florida.  He was telling us stories about Florida and how he skin dives and swims with sharks.  He was also nervous about bears…ha!  I’ll take bears over sharks any day! It’s so interesting to talk with our campers and share this area with them.

 

The summer mountain flowers are in full swing now…so many pretty little plants growing all over the meadows and through the forest.  I love searching out new ones and taking pictures of them!  

Tom and I went fishing again yesterday but we had no luck…it was a beautiful day though and we enjoyed the sunshine, the lake and the amazing views around us.  This is how we fish at  Spray Lake! 

Darrin and Liz, friends from my days at the College, are bringing their twin boys up to stay with us for a few weeks.  They boys are 14 years old and avid outdoorsmen so will love the campsite, fishing and hiking in the area.  I hope they have a great time…maybe they’ll have a good story to write when they get back to school and are asked the inevitable question…”what did you do on your summer vacation?” 

I was cleaning a campsite the other day while Tom was off doing something else.  A doe mule deer stepped out of the forest and stood and watched me for a while.  She was so tame that she came up and licked my fingers when I stretched my hand out to her.  This is a wonderful thing and kind of a sad thing too.  I was an awesome experience for me, but it means that people have been feeding her and that is not a good thing.  They don’t tend to offer deer the food that is natural to them and often give them bananas or other things that may not be good for them.  It also means the deer are coming into the campsites and likely picking up things out of the firepits that are unhealthy for them.  Anyway, it was a lovely and touching experience for me.

Oso is getting a haircut today.  The weather has warmed quite nicely now and today is expected to be around 29C/80F so he’s been kind of warm with his shaggy coat.  While I’m in town I’ll do some laundry and get groceries as well…will be a nice day to sit at an outdoor café and have coffee or lunch while I wait for him too.

The lake is almost full now.  We heard that Trans Alta, the electric company here, had to sign a contract with the Province of Alberta stating that they won’t fill Spray Lake to capacity until the end of July due to the possibility of runoff and flooding.  I don't think there’s a danger of that any longer with this lovely weather, but after last year’s floods here, I don’t blame them for taking precautions.

  We have a lot of campers this week escaping the Calgary Stampede crowds in Calgary…I  hope they enjoy the peace and quiet of this beautiful mountain campsite!

Bears, Shaggy Sheep and Bad Campers

Bears, Shaggy Sheep and Bad Campers

Another week has passed at Spray Lake and as usual there is a lot to tell.  It was an unusual July 1^st long weekend because Monday landed in the middle of it and not everyone was able to get away from work that day.  We were full on Friday night and Saturday but many campers left on Sunday and new ones arrived on Monday.  That kept us hopping.  Of all our 50 sites, 48 of them were wonderful campers…the other two were kids partying and they of course were disrespectful to their neighbours, loud, messy and drunk most of the day.  We had to have them evicted from the campsite so they would not continue to disturb the other people camping.  This is the one part of the job that is difficult because you want everyone including those kids to have a good time but if they can’t listen to the warnings given, then they have to leave.  We called the conservation officer and she came and booted them out.  We actually had one site next door stand up and clap as the kids were leaving…at least the rest of the weekend was nice and quiet for people.

We had a black bear come into camp on Saturday night…he strolled across the dam, then up the road munching on grass and dandelions.  He criss-crossed the road a couple times and finally found a nice little meadow near the end of the campsite and spent the rest of the day there eating whatever flowers and clover he could find.  He had an audience of about 20 people watching him but he didn’t seem to care.  He was a nice looking guy about as tall as a picnic table.  We kept an eye on him till dark when he wandered off into the bush.  The next morning he was back and actually ended up walking right through a campsite.  The people there had an air horn and gave it a good honk and the bear disappeared into the bush not to be seen again.

 

There are always sheep on the road and they are really shaggy this time of year.  We came across a nice bunch with a few big rams the other day and got a couple good pictures.  One baby in the bunch…they are so cute!  I’m not sure what they were eating on the road but it must have been some sort of salty tasting rock.

The wild flowers are really starting to look pretty.  The meadows are now dotted with red and white and blue mountain flowers.  The Indian Paintbrush is so pretty and bright…I’m still looking for a good Rocky Mountain plant identification book…There are so many flowers and I know the names of so few of them.  These are so pretty but not sure what they are called.

 

Tom made a quick trip to Castlegar to get some paperwork for his residency and get that all sent off.  He got his drivers’ license renewed as well so he’s good for 90 days…hopefully his residency card will arrive in that time and he can then get his permanent drivers’ license.  It’s amazing how much red tape and paperwork is needed just to live on one side or the other of that imaginary line they call the border.  Anyway, it’s a lot easier on this side than on the US side and we’ll still get to spend 6 months or more in the states as we want to.

Here is the big lake trout I told you about in the last blog…27” long and 17lb…this guy was pretty proud of it.

 

Oso is doing well and looking forward to his haircut on Wednesday…he’s shaggy as these sheep and since it’s starting to warm up here, needs a good grooming so he can stay cool and comfortable.  He’s bounced back from his surgery pretty well…still has trouble jumping up on the couch but has no trouble biting at Tom’s shoes and untying the laces when we go for a walk.yes, smartest dog in the world…and he does love his bed!!!