Canada – Page 2 – OldPlaidCamper

August already?! The cat and dog days of summer…

Slow down, summer, you move too fast – but it’s been mostly colourful and groovy, at least when it hasn’t been raining!

July has been a relatively wet one for Calgary, one of the five wettest since counting the previous four wettest or something. Definitely damp, I’ll say that.

We have enjoyed a couple of mighty thunderstorms in between the drier days, that’s for sure. Scout doesn’t much like the thunder, tough as she looks. On calmer days she’s been catching up on old p-mail haunts and meeting old friends.

Cat and dog days – two old friends meeting up (photo: Mrs. PC)

“Yeah I’m tough, a top dog! And, erm, you won’t mention the thunder thing, will you?” No, Scout, not one word… (photo: Mrs. PC)

I’ve been slowly (oh so slowly) tottering about our immediate neighbourhood, getting reacquainted with familiar streets and some new scenes. Life is good in Calgary, and often colourful, but I did not know about the beach!

Just beachy! Vibrant sunny yellow! With bonus childhood summer holiday weather!

Here’s some bubbly colour I’ll be enjoying this evening – a first new-to-me Calgary beer since returning home, the beer style a predictably unsurprising choice, and the can design recalling those lovely ski jackets from the late ‘80s. If summer is racing by, it can only mean winter is fast approaching! I don’t need a new ski jacket, but if I did, these colours would look great on me. And grate on everyone else nearby. Sold!

Just my style! Oh, have I been looking forward to this!

I’ll zoom off now, to get ready for a top down long weekend – we’ve never spent August in Calgary before, so we’re excited about what it might bring.

Will it be a top down weekend? Go on, risk it! (It wouldn’t be my first choice colour, but if I had to have a vibrant sunny yellow car…)

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Another cat – I don’t think this one likes rain?

We couldn’t resist…

…the pull of the west!

Yup, we’ve relocated, and you’ll never guess where!

The call of the mountains and wide open spaces was impossible to resist, so we didn’t. Calgary will be our home for the foreseeable future.

You can see our new home from here (it’s near that tree – no no, the other tree)

Irritatingly, I’ve been somewhat unwell the past couple of weeks, so haven’t had much chance to explore and reconnect with favourite people and places. The upsides are we’ve much to look forward to, the healthcare was excellent, the prognosis is all positive (once I get my strength back – I’m as weak as a kitten, or, or, an off colour early middle aged OldPlaidCamper) and I’ve had more time than I would have wanted to go through old photos and (re)use them here!

We’ll be properly out and about again by September. Meanwhile, I’m adding 5 minutes more each day to my walking time (I won’t even say how low the current total is, other than it would be a very short and flat trail), trying to keep up with Mrs. PC and Scout, and lining up a few new AB beers for when the time is right!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

No, OPC, not yet! Such an impatient patient…

Out west

Out west, Irricana style.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how much we enjoyed our stay in Irricana, AB, and that I’d include a bit more, so here it is. I’ll let the pictures do most of the heavy lifting, due to laziness or maybe being too relaxed to scribble very much.

I will say the Irricana campground is a great place to stop a few days. It has a rodeo arena (is that the right term? I’m no cowboy…) and there are a couple of baseball diamonds. Little league baseball on a Thursday night is a big draw locally, and there are often horse boxes turning up with young riders making turns in the arena. One quiet afternoon – no horses – I clambered up above the chutes and snapped a few photos. It’s the closest I’ll get to bronco riding…

Back to the campground. Clean and tidy, it’s run by Norm, former Stampeder and all round good guy. Zipping about on his ATV in sunglasses and Stetson, he couldn’t have been more friendly or attentive. I saw him help out so many campers, be it assisting with parking a large trailer, lending an axe for firewood, or rooting out a water hose if someone had forgotten it. What a guy!

“Hey, Adam, wanna beer?” “Maybe later, Norm – we just had breakfast!” OK, not strictly true, and I jest time wise (it was always after lunch), but an indication of Norm as a great host!

If you’re ever out that way and looking for a quiet (outside of Monster Truck weekend) place to stay, then Irricana might just be for you!

Monster, oops, I mean our modest truck, Irricana, AB

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

No trucks, no monsters, just larks and gophers – a lovely prairie trail to hike or bike

Not just for cowboys – and how hard can it be?! Sadly for them, I can think of one or two who struggle with this…

Rainbows and unicorns?

It should be said it’s not all rainbows and unicorns on a road trip – except, sometimes, when it is!

There wasn’t any explanation, but who needs it? It’s a unicorn!

When it hasn’t been rainbows and unicorns, we’ve enjoyed an old favourite or two, in the form of cafes and parks.

Lina’s Italian Market, Centre St, Calgary – they stock culinary happiness in all shapes and sizes. Go in looking for one item, and leave with a grocery bag full of (all of a sudden) essentials – wonderful!

We had a picnic in Riley Park made up of some of those essential items!

Rainbows and unicorns and coffee and flower beds and, and, and…

I think I’d best stop now, as it appears I’m a little over-caffeinated. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Prairie sky highs

We’re absolutely loving being out west, traveling under (mostly) big blue skies. We spent a week in Irricana, AB, a tiny town northeast of Calgary, and a sparkling prairie gem. I’ll write more about Irricana another time.

Very spotty internet and an unwillingness to hammer my phone plan have combined to keep this very brief. So here are a few photographs that might give you a prairie high – and it’s legal and chemical-free (assuming ranchers and farmers are doing the right thing…)

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend! And Happy July 4th to our southern neighbours!

Rockyview County?! (Not in this photo, but on a clear day, you can see the Rockies in the very far distance)

“Can we go to the mountains, cool off?!” Soon, Scout, soon!

This will get you to the mountains – eventually – no rush!

Canada!

It’s Canada Day next week (Tuesday) and, as always (perhaps more so given the recent distressing nonsense from near and far) I’m so happy this is my home. It’s 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 all are welcome to climb in)…

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!

Far out places

It’s good to know there is a small town in northern Ontario called Moonbeam. You’ve probably heard of it – it’s known throughout the entire galaxy:

I’d read there was a UFO monument in Moonbeam (we were camping a few kilometres away) and didn’t tell Mrs PC about it, not wanting to spoil the surprise. I think it was probably more than she could ever dream of?

After all that excitement, we had to stop for refreshments.

Oh yeah, and we’ve camped in some lovely spots – this might be my favourite, so far:

Somewhere near Val-d’Or, QC, Canada, the world, the solar system, the galaxy, the universe

It’s big out here! Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Not a mechanic…

…as anyone who has seen me change a tyre can testify. I can do it, and have had to, but I won’t be finding employment in a Formula One pit lane anytime soon.

Anyway, rather than tinker myself, I took the truck in for a service the other day. We haven’t put many miles on it in recent months due to being mostly city bound, but now we’re making plans for a lengthy trip. Turns out if you don’t drive your car out and about often enough, there are consequences:

Oh, ok, not mine. To be fair, I wouldn’t mind a run out in the vehicle above, once a little work has been done. Just a few updates: engine, tyres, windows, all the running gear, the interior… Hmm. Maybe we’ll stick to the Tacoma for now!

No worries – tried, tested, and trusted!

Keeping it brief as we’ve a bit more to do before setting off. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Still by the river…(part one was last week, and it has the sunnier stuff – this is part two, and less sunny)

…and we wouldn’t mind if we were still down by the river, but we came home after the third day of rain, and five nights out overall. It wasn’t the rain, it was the cold – it barely hit 10C for the afternoon high. Ok if you’re hiking, less so for sitting around enjoying the fire in between rain showers…

“Mountain” sector tent site – light that fire!

One afternoon we decided to revisit the microbrewery just outside the nearby village of Frampton. It wasn’t too busy, most likely due to the unseasonably chilly temperatures, but we received the usual warm and friendly welcome from the brewer on for the afternoon. We tasted a light lager, pretending it was late May, not mid-March, and it was pretty good, one for properly warm days ahead. For those, we stocked up on the raspberry sour we’d enjoyed so much last summer. It’s not a style I usually like, but this one is really good.

Last summer – raspberry sour on the left – yum!

I couldn’t resist a new NEIPA and bought a couple to savour later – slightly too strong but very tasty if you like a big hoppy beer. The last one we tried was only currently available on tap, so we’ll hope to return and buy a bottle/can or two – a new nut brown that was, for me, a perfect autumnal sipper. Goodness, I only had one sip but it was absolutely spot on!

We weren’t only tasting beers or sitting by the fire or snoozing or in between snoozes – we also wandered up and down a couple of nearby trails. The vibrant fresh greens and bright new spruce tips were very welcome sights.

The rain and mist cleared from time to time so we were able to see longish views across the valley. The trail winds past a second section of the campground, a few walk in tent sites in the “mountain” sector. These are lovely secluded spots if you’re happy to hike up a steepish short way with all your gear.

One afternoon, mind and body suitably rested from the hiking, the scenery and the all round pleasantness of the Etchemin valley, I fell asleep and had the strangest dream. There was beer, spruce tipped and resinous, growing on trees. Oh, if only…

Time to wake up! Well, this has been less sunny but not miserable, like a rested OldPlaidCamper during the second and rainier half of a camping trip. Apologies for the ridiculously long post heading this week, no idea how that happened. Sleepy brain?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

By the river

Thunder? Heavy rain showers? Heat? Humidity? One or two bugs? Check, check, check, check and check!

But… almost constant birdsong, a musical river, freshly unfurled spring greenery, a distant farm dog barking, spells of warm sunshine and a remote campsite in the trees above a river? Yup! On balance, let’s just say “when can we go again?”

We had a splendid few days down by (or just above) the Etchemin. Two decent sized bug bites on my ankle (how? I was wearing boots!) had me temporarily renaming it the Itchyman River, but I got over it, and barely mentioned it at all out loud. I didn’t provide any insects a free lunch once I’d applied the bug repellent. Use it, OPC. Happens every start of camping season – when will you ever learn…?

Itchyman – are those clouds bubbling up? Maybe…

The trailer and bug screen performed as hoped for, the wood-store was well stocked and dry – one match got our fire lit every time, maintaining a pretty good run (he says, modestly) – and is there a better outdoor aroma than woodsmoke and coffee? Perhaps my hiking boots left outside and under the trailer? With that aroma, why do the bugs even approach my ankles?

We saw and heard geese, and I startled a pair of ducks as I leant over to snap a shot upriver, at which point a kingfisher scolded me, Scout shook her head, and Mrs. PC seemed happy enough I didn’t fall in.

Several mornings a hummingbird buzzed me as I was making coffee, darting to the side I wasn’t looking as I tried to spot her. I caught a blur of small brown bird as she buzzed into the trees, perhaps disappointed we don’t take nectar with our coffee.

The Etchemin flows through a lovely little valley of low wooded hills and patches of cleared farmland. Not much more than an hour south of Quebec City, it is a delightful spot to find a change of pace. Breathe in, breathe out, stretch, relax, repeat, and it’ll soon be beer o’ clock.

It’s beer o’clock already? Well alrighty…

A very welcome break from the noise and nonsense that can be hard to avoid in the wider world. Spring this year hasn’t been all that it could have been, but a few more trips like this as we edge towards summer and maybe all will be well, with equilibrium maintained…

More about this trip next week – the river, the rain (yup!), the microbrewery and hiking trails nearby.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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