The last of the fall colour, with a few leaves just about hanging in there – farewell, the leafy portion of fall!
Shrubbery leaf colour, hanging on…
Now we (I!) will wait, somewhat impatiently, for the arrival of real winter, hopefully a proper one, with decent snow and many opportunities for xc skiing and heading out on snowshoes…
Stop! (the mild winter projections!)
Unfortunately, the early forecasts and predictions are for a mild winter, but I won’t stop hoping! And I’ll be properly provisioned and prepared:
A decent IPA – one to be enjoyed post snowshoeing!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Nothing scary here, I promise! In fact, it’s all pretty good, like this beer from a brewery named after Scout:
The SK spelling is a play on the provincial abbreviation for Saskatchewan. The beer is very good, just like a certain pooch…
Oh, ok, not actually named for Scout, but we were pleased to find it. We drove through Moosomin, SK, a couple of years ago, camping just outside the town and looking forward to visiting the brewery because the name caught our attention. And because it was a brewery. Unfortunately, we hadn’t checked the opening times and the place wasn’t due to open until after we moved on. You can’t blame them…
I’ll leave it this week with a photograph of my favourite spooky display found in our neighborhood:
Yikes!
Thanks for reading – enjoy Hallowe’en if that’s something you celebrate – and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Here are a few seasonal sippers we’ve enjoyed, home and away, since the leaves started to turn and darker beers appeared on the shelves.
Delicious in any season, a great campfire sipper!
When I find a particularly good beer, I often think I’ll go back and get one or two more, set them aside for when things turn really cold and we’re indoors on long winter evenings. Then I’ll read about or see another new one to try and completely forget about stocking the nonexistent cellar. Easily distracted.
More than a hint of berry, not my usual, but just right in early autumn
What was I saying? Oh yes, a few fall favourites, and they’re all pretty good, no need to have a top choice, but because that’s a fun game (in my head only) I’ll reveal the sort of winner at the end.
Shared this before – really good, but more suitable for winter?
I did try a splendid triple strength Belgian style beer from Quebec, but it must have been so strong that I didn’t remember to snap a photo. Maybe I’ll get one or two more in for later in the season. I’m always thinking I’ll do that. (Did I say that already? Forgetful, and easily distracted…)
Autumnal through and through! Quite light, could probably still drive a tractor after a small glass…
And the winner is – it would have been that Quebec beer, but no photo, so not this time. Where were we? Oh yes, and the winner is – oh, hi Scout! You like the dark ones best? Cool!
“Beer? Yum!”
And the winner is:
Born Ready Brown Ale from Manual Labour Beer Company. Fall in a glass – dark, but not too dark, malty, with just enough hops for a bit of zing to cut through the caramel – delicious!
What a wonderful beer that brown ale is. They were all decent beers, but the Manual Labour brew was the best suited to fall for me! I might buy one or two more…
Should I do this again for the winter beers? I’ll probably forget, or get distracted… Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thanksgiving is here this coming Monday, and, once again, considering all the madness in the wider world, we realize we’ve so much to be thankful for.
Autumnal Western Canada
For us, Thanksgiving happens to (almost) mark the anniversary of when we first moved to Canada, and, as always, we’re increasingly thankful with each year that passes to live where we do.
Particularly happy this year because Junior is able to celebrate with us – she’s in town and, no doubt, really, really hoping there’ll be pumpkin pie.
Early fall happiness
Ok, scratch that last part – Junior knows good food, so no pumpkin pie here! Yup, I’ll say it again, at the risk of an angry mob (pumpkin farmers?) armed with pitchforks running us out of Canada – we’re not having pumpkin pie this year (or ever!) Nope, not since our first Thanksgiving taught us that lesson, one we will never forget, that pumpkins are for soup or carving, but not pie! If you’re wondering, it will be apple pie at PlaidCamper Towers…
Pairs well with fall, winter, pie, PlaidCampers…
Thanks for reading, Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I’ll keep this brief as we’ve only patchy wifi, but our time in Wood Buffalo was amazing, from the moment we got to Fort Smith – the NWT gateway to the park, as signposted!
What a welcome! (Photo: Mrs. PC)
Within minutes of passing a sign stating bison were in the area, we encountered several small family groupings. They are incredible to see up close (but not too close) and they are large, so very large.
Amazing!
On our drive out of the park at the end of our stay, scanning the road ahead for buffalo and bears – both seemed to pop up almost anywhere, and even though they are not small creatures, harder to spot in the shadows and undergrowth than you might think – we approached a large rock or boulder. We both commented it looked a bit like a buffalo but wasn’t quite the right shape. Slowing down and passing the “rock” we saw it was in fact a buffalo, sat down with head up, and it was absolutely huge. Huge! The head and shoulders appeared larger than the front of our truck. We rolled past, slowly and carefully, and the buffalo tracked us with the smallest right to left turn of the head. Happily, it stayed where it was, and on we travelled, astonished at the size of him, even though we’d seen several large ones on other days.
Wood Buffalo ragged pines
Amazing, and barely scratching the surface of the wonders found in Wood Buffalo. More to follow when we’ve a better connection and had time to really stop and think about it all!
Best sit and think on things…
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Lesser? There’s a bigger one?! Yup – maybe we’ll get there in a few weeks…
Lesser, but not
Lesser Slave Lake is about 100km long east to west, and the widest point is about 15km across, north to south. We’ve had a mix of wildfire smoky days and clear blue sky days. On even the clear days, we were unable to see the far shore, so it feels more like being at the sea rather than on a lake.
Shady trails, lake views
Perhaps due to the fairly remote mid Alberta location, the lake and surrounding area is quiet in terms of visitors. The sandy beaches are pleasant, quiet, and the perfect place to sit and spot bird life. I’m not good at identifying birds, but the bald eagle was easy, along with the loons. We’ve seen other ducks – mergansers? – and a hawk or two, as well as terns, crows and those small birds that refuse to slow down so we can identify them! If you’re into bird life, then this is the place!
Beach time! And time to dip in a paw?
Mixed boreal forest kept us well shaded on the hot days, and the mosquitoes knew where to find us. Bug bite count? It’s gone up from two…
Keeping cool
If you’re ever looking for quiet camping in a rugged location, and you don’t mind a bug or two, then Lesser Slave Lake might be perfect for you. We love it here!
North! (photo: Mrs. PC)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Stampede is almost over – so much fun and yahoo! Time now for a change. We’ll be off the grid and on the road for the rest of July, all of August and most of September. We’re heading north, then a bit more north, as well as slightly east, all in our little teardrop. All being well, we’ll be visiting new (to us) places, and taking our time as we go. To all the hungry mosquitoes waiting out there, just pretend you never saw us, ok?
At home on the road
I’ll post something about somewhere as and when it is possible, but we’ve (deliberately) chosen stops that promise to be off the grid, particularly in relation to wifi and internet. But that doesn’t mean there are no coffee shops and breweries along the way, so perhaps a photo or two of beer, mosquito bites and careless sun burns will turn up, and I’ll be able to read and catch up with your blogs!
On the road and off the grid? Saddle up!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful next couple of months!
It’s Canada Day next week (Wednesday) and, as always, I’m so happy this is my home. I’ve said it before, and that won’t stop me from saying it again: Canada is not perfect, but my sense is, as a nation, we are mostly trying to paddle in the right direction (it would need a large canoe, but that’s ok and all are welcome to climb in)…
January February
The photos chosen this week are one for each month of 2026 so far, in an attempt to share something of the flavour of western Canada. (If you add maple syrup from the eastern side, the flavour improves even more! Maybe throw in a TimBit or two…)
MarchApril
So, if you’re Canadian and choose to celebrate, have visited Canada, maybe would like to visit one day, or simply like maple syrup and the big outdoors, Happy Canada Day!
MayJune
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Sneak preview for July – Stampede starts next Friday!
We’re back on the road for the next little while, in fact we have been the past week. We trundled through the prairies for a few days, before heading into Kananaskis at the end of the long weekend. As we ventured in, we saw quite a number of campers leaving early. We wondered why?
Was it the weather? Maybe!
It grew distinctly cool as the weekend progressed – more snow anyone? Yup, that happened. Thank goodness we didn’t have to worry about keeping our evening beer chilled. Who needs ice or a cooler?!
Alberta cooler
By the time this is posted we should be somewhere in BC, searching for some warmth and a little less snow…
“Snow? Behind me? I don’t believe you!”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
