Sunday 30th April - time for another down day?!

Due to the F1 causing both of us to have a broken night’s sleep last night we opted to stay an extra night in Swift Current and today I blogged like I have never blogged before – adding about two weeks to the finished product so I am now only 10 days behind.  It feels great.

However, not able to spend a whole day inside, I was relieved when the weather improved for me to be able to go for a bike ride.  I was not expecting anything special, especially when the initial sights to behold were a sewage treatment works followed by a landfill site.  Ahhhh, beautiful Swift current. 

Harrier's circled overhead

But beyond these eyesores I saw reservoirs and stumbled upon a wetlands paradise, complete with deafeningly beautiful birdsong that I even tried recording for posterity. I could have sat there all day.  The only reason I moved was when I noticed dark clouds on the horizon starting to head my way… and the fact that the blog isn’t gonna write itself!

The lack of decent photographs can be explained by the fact that I didn't even bother taking a decent camera or binoculars with me.  Low expectations you see. So this couple of pics were taken on my iPhone.

I saw a black and white wading bird and a few yellow-headed blackbirds making a racket, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

A wetland paradise

Saturday 29th April – Into Saskatchewan

Check out time was a rather reasonable 2pm so we were able to have a lazy morning (yes, another) before finally getting around to fixing the inner tube on the rear wheel of my bike, to stop the tyre being constantly flat.   

We then went for a gentle bike ride by Elkwater lake to test out our handy work. Tyre seemingly fixed, so I pushed myself by taking on a hill, even if it did just remind me how unfit I am becoming on this trip!   

Elkwater Lake, Cypress Hills (look, but don't make your eyes strain....)

Proof that, despite their spread around the world, there are actually still some Canada Geese left in Canada

Even the magpies here are prettier than our magpies

The view from half way up the hill I tried to cycle up!

We moved the RV to eat lunch by the lake, before driving for just over two hours to Swift Current - nice name, we are trying to visit as many places with original names as possible.  We made a bee-line for Walmart – we really needed a free night’s camping but tonight’s priority was to get good Wi-Fi for Simon to enable him to watch the Formula 1 in Russia at 4am in the morning!  Having tried a couple of parking locations at our favourite retailer it was clear that we weren’t going to get the required connection, so instead we found a local RV site which had reviews that raved about the internet connectivity! Having done a brief top-up shop we rolled up at Ponderosa RV Park about 6pm and I began a blogging marathon.

Friday 28th April – To Cypress Hills (Insane in the membrane?!)

There was snow on the ground again this morning, but not quite as deep as yesterdays.  As it started to brighten we agreed that we could quite happily spend another day here, but we are being forced to move on as we’ve let our propane levels get to an all-time low.  I was impressed we had heating and enough fumes to boil the kettle this morning, so we should be thankful for that and not push it any more.  The needle is so far under the ‘Empty’ level that I can’t even see it!

We didn’t just speed off into the sunset though, there were too many viewpoints to stop at on the way out of the park and the local sheep came to see us off.  As we headed North East towards Lethbridge the snow gradually faded away and we were back to green rolling hills. 

 

Prince of Wales hotel from the opposite side - I wonder how much it costs to stay there at the height of summer?!

We stopped in Lethbridge to top up on Costco gas (our cheapest in Canada yet at CAD 1.01 per litre) and our badly needed propane, again getting a good deal.
Then a speedy lunch before programming the Satnav to Cypress Hills Provincial Park, which is just short of the border of Saskatchewan.  We will avoid crossing the border today as we would lose an hour jumping forward to central time.  Instead, we arrived at Elkwater in the Cypress Hills just after 6pm.

We were seen off by sheep this morning and greeted by deer tonight:

The skies had totally cleared. So, of course, it was time to get a fire going, grab dinner and watch the stars come out above us for what seemed like the first time in a long time.

Thursday 27th April – Snow joke

Slept so well last night, it’s really quiet here. I didn’t even hear the rain…. But that’s because it fell as SNOW!

Picture for comparison with last night's image of our camp site

And it was still falling heavily when we woke up. So much for brighter weather, maybe the bike ride will have to wait.  Instead, I had a reflection morning.  I think it’s roughly a year ago that we started thinking about changing everything, so I read ‘the book’ from cover to cover and reminisced.  Wouldn’t change a thing.

Our ground squirrel neighbours also thought it was time to brave the cold

In the afternoon the snow eased off, so we seized the opportunity to go for a walk.  Waterton Lake stretches between Canada and the USA.  Our campsite is on the North-West corner.  The water is crystal clear with different coloured stones visible through the water.

Checking out the crystal clear waters

The red chairs are back.  In fact we even think there are too many here - If the red chairs are too easy to find then the reward in reaching them is lessened, isn’t it? We wrapped up for the conditions but as the sun broke through the clouds it actually became quite warm. 

The view from the townsite marina across to the impressive Prince of Wales Hotel

I went for a stroll into town, while Simon headed back to the RV.  The town here is really in ‘closed season’ mode.  All of the summer houses on the lake edge are boarded up and the shops are shut.  But the scenery is good any time of year, so we don’t mind.  

If anyone knows what this sign is warning us of you get points - no dancing with stags?!

I thought the day may just continue to get brighter but instead it has reverted to a grey cloudy evening.  So, we’re having a movie and lasagne night and keeping warm.