Monday, June 30 - "Civilization" Calls

I’m back with tales of our successful camping/fishing trip into BC… and our annual reunion with old friends. We rendezvoused with Sherry and Sharon Barnette (they lived many years on Maui, now in Arizona) and Rick and Daphne Hammond (old friends from Kimberley) at a small lake near Cranbrook. Barnettes drove their lovely large motorhome up from the States and Hammonds have a gorgeous new Winnebago trailer – while we camped in our old, reliable and basic Class C RV. The lake Rick chose this year is much smaller than previous ones we had camped at, with only 11 campsites and we had three of them. Absolutely quiet except for some howling wolves, screeching bald eagles and the plop of rainbow trout jumping in the evening.

            Jim and I tried out our new inflatable kayak and loved it, especially the mobility aspect. Rick rowed Sharon and me across the lake the first day and left us on the far shore to fish the hours away while Jim explored the shoreline and a small island from his kayak. Sharon and I had two hits but no fish that day, using worms for bait. The next day Jim marooned me at the same spot and I spent a full six hours fishing and loving the peace and quiet – and I caught a heckuva rainbow trout, releasing him to swim another day.

Jim enjoying our new inflatable Sea Eagle

 We had one excellent day of sunny, warm weather; the other four days were cloudy and rainy. Jim managed to get in some painting while Sharon, Daphne and I Scrabbled. And we shared the evening meals, each couple preparing the evening meal for everyone on successive nights. The mosquitoes enjoyed the buffet too.

            And on the last evening, we fished! Rick rowed us out to the fishing hotspot where he set us up with fly-fishing gear and away we went. Sharon hooked the first one and kept it. Then I pulled in a lovely 14-incher, then another and another and two more after that. Sharon caught a second one but released it. We kept Sharon’s and two of mine, releasing another four back to the water. Rick was kind enough to clean and fillet them and they’re now in our freezer to be served for breakfast one of these days.

Joy, Rick and Sharon after a successful fly-fishing excursion            

We left the lake on Friday and took our time coming back to the ranch, stopping in Kimberley and Cranbrook, then at a roadside park for a quick lunch, and finally in Blairmore to pick up some fantastic Indian food for supper. Recommendation: the Highwood Indian Restaurant in Blairmore – their food is authentic Indian and their buffet is only $12.95 (Canadian!) per person. We were home around 7; the roads have dried up and the bridge is passable, although Barnettes won’t be driving their 40,000-pound motorhome over it anytime soon. The creek is running muddy so I’ll have to wait a while to fish but if we don’t get any rain for a few days it will clear up quickly.

The view southwest from Hwy 22 just south of the ranch 

Cousins Shane and Peter drove out for a visit on Saturday; the first time we’ve seen Shane since she returned from a trip to England to see her mom. We had lunch and supper, worked on a jigsaw puzzle and took a drive west on Saddle Mountain Road just before sunset to view wildlife – lots of deer, no other critters.

            And now for the sad news: We have decided to sell our RV. We spent the last two days emptying it of all our gear and scrubbing it inside and out. This afternoon we’ll drive it into Claresholm to put it on consignment at a car dealer’s. If it sells we’ll use the Jeep for the rest of the summer; if it doesn’t sell… well, we won’t mind that either. This is our 10^th year in our little RV and we have loved every moment of every trip. So why are we selling? Well, with gas at $1.44/liter in BC (about $5.08/gallon in US funds), and the RV getting 8 miles per gallon…. we’ve done the math and know that driving the Jeep, staying in motels and eating in restaurants is no more costly than traveling in the RV. In fact, in many places such as Montana and Idaho, it’s cheaper. So, the upshot is we hope it sells but won’t mind if it doesn’t.

            We’re going into town today to see Mom, do our laundry and use the internet at the library so I can get this posted, pay a few bills, and catch up on the news. It’s really wonderful living here at the ranch without television, radio, wifi, and neighbors (other than my brother and sis-in-law, of course) – but sometimes one just has to get back to civilization, if just for a day, right?

           

Let's try this again, shall we?

Summer 2014

What do you call someone who celebrates her 65^th birthday sick as a dog with just days to pack and leave on an annual RV/Fishing/Wilderness jaunt?

What do you call someone who is pulled aside at the Maui airport and detained for well over an hour by TSA agents?

What do you call someone who is thrilled to pieces to be looking out the living room window at the ranch right now, with a view of nothing but pine trees, meadows, cattle and – oh yes – heavy storm clouds and a smattering of rain?

The answer to all three questions: That would be ME!

            Somehow or other I managed to come down with the mother of all colds on Sunday night, June 1, less than four days before we were to fly off to Alberta for four months. Two days later I turned 65 in a state of oblivion (I’ve been told that’s the best way to become eligible for Medicare); two days after that I heaved myself out of bed and turned into a whirlwind – cleaning, packing, sorting, storing. It felt good to get to the airport.

            It was a fleeting happiness. We checked in, got our boarding passes, and had just reached the line for security – note, we weren’t actually AT security – when I was singled out and told I had set off “an alarm.” Huh? What alarm? Where? A TSA agent escorted me off line, through the metal detector, swiped every morsel of every item in my carryon. No alerts there. So, it was into The Room and a full-on body pat-down and check of clothing, hands, feet, neck, you-name-it. The agent was wearing gloves, of course, and those went into the scanner and that’s when it hit the fan. Code Blonde went off. I was declared a suspicious figure I guess because I was put at the TSA desk, guarded by no less than two agents at any given time for the next hour or so. One more pat-down in The Room, another search of my carryon, my passport held.

            Now here I want to be clear about something: The TSA agents were terrific, polite, sympathetic, courteous and very professional. As their calls to “headquarters” went unanswered, and their confusion about my status increased, they (and by this time there were at least 6 or 8 of them involved in the caper) began apologizing for the delay and inconvenience. I found the whole thing interesting and not a bit stressful except for the part when Jim said, “I’m going to the restaurant and have dinner; see you at the gate.”

            With 10 minutes before boarding, the team told me I could go. There was no explanation about where, when, how and what set off “an alarm” but, at that point, I felt it was prudent to thank them for their service and head to the gate. Twenty minutes later we were on the plane. Hmmm, rather an auspicious start to our holiday, wouldn’t you say?

            We spent the first week in High River with Cousins Shane and Peter, visiting Mom (she’s doing so well!), shopping for ranch supplies, planning our various summer trips, and touring the town which is only now recovering from the devastation of last year’s historic floods. I fought jet lag and my cold in my spare time.

Sunday, June 15

            We arrived at the ranch yesterday, unpacked food and clothes, and spent a peaceful full-moon night, waking to thick fog and 45ºF temperatures. And now it’s raining. Fortunately, Jim has a fully equipped art studio in the attic and I have a fully equipped sewing room so we’re happy to be indoors. The creek is running high and muddy with the June rains and snow melt, so I won’t be fishing anytime soon. On Friday we’ll take the RV into Claresholm and camp for a couple of days so we can spend time with Mom. A week from today we’re heading to B.C. to meet our friends Rick & Daphne and Sherry & Sharon to camp at a lake for a week. Let the fishing begin!

            My access to Internet will be hit-and-miss all summer long so please don’t be offended if I don’t get right back to you. And if you’re one of my Words With Friends friends, well… take advantage of the extra time between plays. 

 Storm clouds on the prairie east of the ranch

 The storm has passed, the Rockies in view

Saturday, June 21

The 1^st day of Summer, we’re camped in Claresholm and have had a couple of sunny days after more flooding. Remember the rain I mentioned? It turned into five days of constant downpours, the creek rose, flooded the banks and hit the bridge, taking out the south approach. Good thing both vehicles were on the other side, eh? Fortunately, High River was spared this year but Claresholm was hard-hit; more than 40 homes had to be evacuated – flooded basements and roads like rivers.  Our campsite is in the dry half of the community campground. And all this took place on the one-year anniversary of the huge Flood of 2013.

            I’ll get this posted and try to get back here in a week or 10 days to give you the fishing report from BC. In the meantime, enjoy your summer and a big Aloha from both of us.