The big day has arrived. The last blocks have lined up and we can
start our retirement/travels.
But before we leave I have one last chore to accomplish with André,
Put the picnic table back in the backyard.
A very big, heartfelt thank you to André and Nathalie.
WOW! We are very lucky to have you as friends.
Next
come the time to attach the car to the motorhome, this is the first
time we
"really" do it.
Hummm!
I am missing a wire for the supplemental braking system for the car
(more info
on this component later). I
guess no brakes for
the car. Here is a view of the tow bar.
Here we go!
A last goodbye.
Yes!
I am very happy to get going on our adventure.
I
know there will be lots of pictures in this first day of our travel,
but
hey!
For us it is important. Arriving
in ColdLake
from the east.
On
the way out of town, the famous sails.
Of
course, a picture of the motorhome with the sails.
A
very bright yellow bridge that crosses the North
Saskatchewan River.
Some
parts of Alberta
are very flat.
This is close to Lloydminster.
Lloydminster is one of
those rare
city that is on 2 provinces at the same time, Alberta
and Saskatchewan.
The big orange poles that you see actually mark the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Our
Garmin NÜVI GPS is a little confused! It cannot tell me the time
we will
arrive or sends me on other roads!
A few days later I found that the GPS was on the pedestrian mode.
Arriving
in North Battleford on a bright
Sunday
afternoon.
Very
nice temperatures for traveling, + 24 and very little wind.
When
we got to North Battleford, we went
to the
Walmart and left the motorhome there. We took the car and went
visiting
the 2 campgrounds that are within the city limits. What a good
idea!
The first campground we went to was the David Liars Campground and it
was full
and some of the sites were flooded. Next campground is the Eileig
Kreamer
Campground. Much better and they have a site with power and water
for 3 nights
that works for us. They were telling us that the problem is most
of the
campground are filled by workers and very little tourists. Good
for business,
but not good for tourism!
Back to Walmart and pick up the motorhome, Michèle
is following with the car since it is only a few kilometers away.
The campground offers WIFI internet for $5 for your stay, what a deal!
We
have a good view of the south east sky so we got good TV with the
satellite.
A very good
first
day!
Monday June 28, 2010
This
morning we started with a visit of the National Historic Site of Fort
Battleford.
This
morning, we decided to go and visit because the temperature was just
starting
to warm up. The site is only a few minutes away from the
campground. Today being a Monday, there is hardly anybody at the
site.
Great for us. On top of that, we get the guide for ourselves.
For
more information on this Fort, click
here. Here
is how far we had to walk to get to the FortBattleford.
Not
all the buildings are inside the Fort. The Fort was burnt a few
times.
The building we are visiting are the only original building left.
From the left, the Commandant's house, in the center, the Officer's
quarter and
to the right, the stable for the sick horses.
The
Fort was actually a military Fort (Some Fort were the property of the
Hudson
Bay Co.). In the early years, there were no walls around the
buildings.
But with the unrest of the 1880's, the military and the locals
population were
getting nervous and scared. So they build the walls to protect
themselves from
the Métis and the Indians. The "attack" never came. But
some
Indians burnt the abandoned home and farms in search for food.
They were
starving. They were starving because the Canadian Government did
not hold their
part of the treaty which stipulate they would provide food in time of
drought.
The
Officer's quarters. A nice little house.
I
took this picture because I love this chair. It is built with bison's
horns.
Neat!
The
Officer's quarters also included the working area.
Of
course, the house also includes the living quarters. Notice the box on
the
table?
It was a writing box that was used during travel.
The ancestor of the laptop?
Being
Military, your bedroom has to be ready for inspection.
This
picture is for our friend Natalie. A nice clothesline!
The
stable was for the sick horses. Two reasons for me to include the
next 2
pictures; one is a neat historical information and the other...
The
technology...
In
the veterinarian's office, there is this hoof with numbers on it,
nothing
special here. Well, the number was matched to a soldier. If
the
horse died, the soldier had to bring back the numbered hoof to get a
replacement horse. The purpose of this system was to make sure
the
soldiers did not sell horses to make a little extra cash on the Queen's
horses.
Talk about trust in your soldiers!
The
next picture is to show you that in each building there were those
bottles with
some kind of blue liquid in them.
Here is the question, what was the use of these bottle?
Answer below the picture.
Well!
Let me tell you!
Each bottles contained a chemical that would suck up the oxygen from
the
surrounding area. So in a fire situation, you threw the bottle at the
fire and
it was suppose to put out the fire.
My question is, what about the person who threw the bottle?
Next,
we have the Guard House.
There
were always 3 soldiers on duty. One that slept fully dressed,
ready for
action. One that was guarding the Fort main entrance and the last
one was
doing patrols.
The
tour guide was fantastic! She knew all about the Fort and the
general
history of the area.
Right after, we got to watch the firing of the 9 pound canon.
Insert
the powder and the load.
And
you pull on the string and you hear this big loud BOOOMMM!
Very well done.
With
our two soldiers!
This
picture actually shows how the walls were built, it was a surprise for
me!
Very
interesting visit. The Fort played an important role during the
Rebellion of
1885. The Métis, led by Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont with the
somewhat
support of the Indians, rebelled against the Canadian Government for
their
rights.
A very important and sad part of our history.
A
little shopping in the afternoon.
Back to the campground. I re-arrange
the basement of the motorhome.
Some pictures of the campground and site.
A
well maintained campground.
Our
site, number 24.
Right
at the end of our campground, we have this beautiful view of the
North-Saskatchewan
river.
Quiet
evening in the motorhome.
A
Great Day!
Tuesday June 29, 2010
The
SaskatchewanWesternDevelopmentMuseum
is part of 4 museums located in 4 different cities, North- Battleford, Saskatoon, Yorkton
et Moose Jaw.
Each museum
has a different themes. We were pretty lucky and found a 2 for 1
coupon for the
museum.
Some
bushel of wheat. This really represent Saskatchewan.
Lots
of quilt were on display, this was a very nice one.
Michèle
playing a question game.
When you turned the steering wheel you changed the question and by
pulling the
lever you got the answers.
If
I remember right, this is a Honda from the 1980's.
This little truck was not from Canada,
it had the steering wheel on the right hand side.
You could change the rear wheels for the tracks.
No,
this is not a train, but a steam tractor.
This tractor was used to pull a "train" of wood from the forest.
The driver must have been some cold!
The
indoor part of the museum is really well done up.
Of
course there is an outside part of the museum. Lots of houses and
business from the turn of the century.
I did not put all the pictures we took. Only the few I found
interesting.
The CO-OP
store was
the way for the farmers to stop being at the mercy of the railroad
stores.
The CO-OP was the main store in each villages.
I
really liked the inside of the CO-OP.
The
CO-OP sold everything, from tools to clothing to food. Everything
you need in
one place!
At
the garage, there was this rack to put empty pop bottles.
The worst part of this is that I remember having seen one when I was
young.
The
barber shop?
You will see inside why.
This
is cutting-edge technology, an electric hair curler.
I
have never seen so many different stove, different form, different
size, some
pretty and some plain simple.
OK,
I have a question for you, what is the purpose of the stove top that
looks like
a bicycle wheel?
Let me know!
A
closer view.
I got an answer from my aunt and she tells me it was used as a simmer
just like a crook pot we have today.
Thanks Candide!
Just
a nice house.
Must have been the rich merchant's house!
This
stove was located in a school's classroom.
As you can see, the stove is surrounded by sheet of metal and it was to
protect
the kids from burning themselves.
Some
view of the campground.
We
were very lucky today because it was supposed to rain and the rain did
not come
until we were done with the museum.
A great day!
Wednesday June 30, 2010
Last
night we made reservation at the Saskatoon 16 West RV Park in Saskatoon, this
way no surprises!
Moving
day, we leave North-Battleford for Saskatoon.
Nothing special about the drive, only that we missed a phone call???
Michèle is following our route with the laptop and the program Streets
&
Trips.
As
we approached Saskatoon,
we notice that the ditches are full of water, hummmm!!!
We
have heard that Saskatoon
has had some bad weather but...
Saskatoon
Shines! Well it better shine now to dry up that rain...
After
taking the exit for our campground, this is what we see...
The
owner told us he tried to call us, but we did not answer (humm! that
call).
All he could tell us was that he could not help us and 75 others,for
the next
few days.
The worst part was that the whole area had received lots of rain and
most
campgrounds were flooded.
Lots of people sleeping at Walmart tonight!
We
phoned another campground in town and we were in luck, he could fit us
in the
overflow. Lets go!
Our GPS was still in the pedestrian mode so the direction to the
campground was
pretty bad and on top of that, I got lost and combine this with road
construction... So after going around the city dump, luck was
with us and
we ended up close to the campground.
A "special" house...
We
arrived at the Gordon Howe campground, yes named after the famous
hockey player
Gordy Howe, the owner found us a power site for 2 nights. WOW!
More
pictures of the campground in the next few days.
A day full of surprises!
