Off To The Farm(Barker's Retreat)!

After we left Kananaskis, we parked our unit in the Casino parking lot and stayed the night there.  In the morning we went for breakfast in the Casino, then off to Cochrane to meet Leon & Cindy.  We met in the old Canadian Tire parking lot.  I went into safeway and picked up the groceries we needed, and then we were all on our way.  We stopped in Red Deer to meet Gordy & Gertrude for lunch at the Windmill Cafe.  It was real nice to see them, and we had a very nice visit.  We stopped in Wetaskiwin at Kamparoo because Leon wanted to check them out.  We were then on our way to the farm. Herman texted us and asked approximately what time we would arrive.  I told him about 5:30pm.  When we got there we set up our units, and then went to sit around the fire for the evening.  We had a nice visit with Herman.  He had to leave on Friday as he was going to a Forestry Reunion, but he would be back on Sunday with Annette for a couple of days.  They couldn't stay longer because the were leaving for holidays to Halifax.  Doug & Leon helped Herman put up a shelter for his motorhome.  It took 2 days to put up.  Doug & Leon also repaired some fencing for Herman.  We had a fantastic 10 days at the farm.  The weather was gorgeous and fun was had by all.

Winding Down

Well, here we are at the end of our job at Mt. Sarrail in Kananaskis.  I cannot believe how fast the summer has gone!  We have enjoyed our job here.  We are coming back next summer, but we were offered different positions.  Doug will be working Maintenance, and I will be working at the Boulton Creek Trading Post.  The season is longer and we will be making more money.  We also get a spot with full hookups, bonus!!  Hopefully the weather will be better next year!  We had a summer with a lot of rain, and thunder storms!
September 26th we will be heading to BC, to Salmon Arm.  We are going to stay a few days to catch up with people we worked with at Scotch Creek.  Then we are off to Kelowna for the month of October.  November and December we will be staying at NK'MIP Rv Park.  We are going to fly back for Christmas to spend the holiday with family.  December 28th we will be driving back to Osoyoos with friends.  We will ring in the New Year at the RV Park, apparently they have a great New Years Eve Bash!  January 2nd we will head south for the winter!  Baja here we come!!!!
Here are a few pictures of our Summer in Kananaskis!

Crazy Month!!

Well, here is an update on what went on the past month.  As stated in my last post we had to take our unit into Woody's to get the solar system put on.  March 6th we packed everything up, and pulled out. In the park Doug took a corner to sharp and hit a metal pole!  The fifth wheel was badly damaged!  I was not a happy camper.  When we got to Woody's we asked if they could fix the damage, also replace our fresh water tank that got a crack(luckily we bought extended warranty).  They said they would be able to do that.  We ended up staying in a hotel for 4 days(not cheap!!!)  I called the insurance company right away, and they got the claim going.  I called Woody's back and told them what the insurance co. said.  The claims adjuster was suppose to check out the damage, then the parts could be ordered.  After day 3 I called the insurance co. back as the adjuster had not been to inspect the damage yet, I told them we needed to get the parts ordered.  They said go ahead and order them.  I called Woody's back and gave the go ahead to order the parts.  The bad thing was it would take 4 to six weeks for the parts to come in.  We were thinking we couldn't stay in hotel that long, we would go broke!!  We have some awesome friends!!!!  They gave us their Motor Home to stay in while the repairs were being done!!  Well,  it took less time than they thought, the parts came in and our unit was repaired.  We picked up our unit April 6th, and we were both so happy to have it back.  The only thing is the inverter for the solar system had not come in yet, so we will have to bring our unit back to Woody's when that comes in.  The good thing is it will be a quick install because everything else was installed.  It is supposed to come in at the end of this month.  Doug now is very careful when he takes corners!!

Exciting Summer in store!

Well here is the latest update.  We went to the RV Show in Calgary at the end of January with our friends, and I must say it was a successful trip.  We purchased a Solar System and backup generator.  We also purchased a case of toilet paper:) and a few other neccessities.  Our solar system is going to be installed at Woody's RV March 6th!  We are quite excited about this.  We really like the idea of solar power!!  It was fun going through all the new RV's and getting updated information on Campgrounds and other stuff.

We also are getting a summer position in Kananaskis as a campground manager for Mt. Sarrail campground.  We are so excited about this!  It is going to be great spending the summer in Kananaskis.  We haven't camped there in years.  We get a free spot, free propane, and a wage!!  Gotta love that!

On March 22nd we will be taking our fifth wheel to Bucar's to get the fresh water tank fixed.  This will be covered by warranty thank goodness!!  We will be booking NK' IMP RV Park for the months of November and December, then we will head south for the winter.  I am really looking forward to that!

Winter Fun!!

Snow Shoeing Lake Louise

Sledding Lake Louise       

Great Picture opportunity, Lake Louise

                                           

Very Slippery to sit on, and cold!

                                                   

Cross Coutry Skiing Kananaskis

Snow Shoeing Kananaskis

Of course we need a selfie!

Update

Well here is the update.  We are back at Springhill RV Park because they have full hookups.  We will be bringing our RV to Bucars in March to fix the fresh water tank.  We are looking at a different RV campground that is cheaper than Bow Rivers Edge by $200.00, to stay for the summer.  It is always good to save some money.  We will be going to the RV Show at the end of this month.  We have been getting quotes on a solar system, and will be getting one in the spring.  We want to be totally self sufficient!
We are discussing with our friends about going to the Baja next winter.  All depends on the dollar. Nothing is written in stone and plans can change.  We are talking about staying at Quartszite on BLM land.  Well it is fun talking and planning our winter stay!!  If the dollar is still crappy we will probably stay in Oyoyoos for next winter.

Trouble comes in three's

Boy has it ever been a sucky few weeks!!  First we had a problem with our black tank backing up.We got that fixed, it cost over $300.00.  Next we had a power surge at the park we are in, we lost power and it would not come back on.  There were a few other people in the park that had the same problem.  Doug talked to a guy across from us and he said he had a mobile RV guy coming out to fix his unit.  We got the guys number and called him, he said he would stop by and fix our problem when he was done. We had to spend the night in a motel, another unnecessary cost!   It ended up being a fairly easy fix and cost us $168.00.  While this problem was being fixed the guy that delivers water was filling our tank and he heard a pop, the tank cracked!!  Wow, could anything else go wrong.   We decided to get a spot at Springhill RV Park for the winter because they are fully winterized and we can hook up our hose to get water instead of filling our water tank.  I was worried about that to begin with and also thought it would be hard on the pump working it for 5 months.  So, December 1st we will be moving to Springhill RV Park.  It is a bit of a hassle because we have to take our skirting off!  Oh well, once we are settled it will be OK.  We went to Bucars RV and talked to the service department about getting the tank fixed.  We booked our unit in for March 22nd, hopefully our extended warranty will cover this fix!  The guy that fixed our electrical problem is coming back to hard wire a surge protector to our unit so we won't have that problem again.  We are also getting a quote from him for installing a solar system, so we can do a lot of boondocking.  We will probably get that installed in May.  One good thing is that we are here only for this winter, then next winter we will be heading to warmer climates!!!!