Open road? Road trip? Stop at a drive through for coffee?

All are possible this weekend. 

This is a wildlife overpass in Banff National Park. The highway through the park is lined with fences to keep wildlife off the road. There are several overpasses and underpasses for wildlife to get to the other side.

Grain elevator, Cactus Lake, Saskatchewan

I really need to post more grain elevators. Taken June 17, 2017.

A few quick notes

I have had a few people leave comments on current and old posts requesting additional information. I am more than willing to answer what I can. If you are going to comment on something I posted months ago and have a question it would greatly help if you would provide an email address or if you emailed me. 

I would love to try and answer the queries I do get. It may not be right away but I do try to get to them. It is really difficult if I do not have any way of contacting you. 

Abandoned church at Cosine, Saskatchewan

I really need to go back here and spend some more time. Saskatchewan has some great and interesting place names. I zipped by on June 17, 2017. Nothing much remains of Cosine. This church is in someone's yard and there is a cemetery close by. I was there in the early evening and managed one good photo. I would love to see the inside of this church.

What once was

A bit east of High River, Alberta June 16, 2017. There used to be a church. Now there is empty space.

Stuff I read

I read a variety of things and multiple points of view on subjects. I cannot remember how I found this blog. I like reading it and thought a few of you might enjoy it.

regiehammblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/kool-aid-and-cookies

Kicking Horse River Natural Bridge June 25, 2017

Sunday was bright, twenty-six degrees Celsius, and warm and the perfect day to take the motorcycle out. Of course I cannot be a rational person and take a short ride. I went to Field, British Columbia which is about two and a half hours via motorcycle. Just a few kilometres from Field is a natural bridge over the Kicking Horse River. There is a footbridge where you can get photos of this.

This is the view on the other side of the footbridge.

Rural art?

The ugliest horse I have seen. Spotted in Longview, Alberta June 16, 2017.

It's time to hate . . .

Rock stackers!

These people are a menace and need to be stopped. Wherever wilderness spot I have visited these people have usually struck. Who knows what they will vandalize next? This stuff is a blight on the landscape.

Abandoned bridge and rail line at Sharples, Alberta

The night of June 23, 2017 I met up with Jenn of westofthefifthmeridian.blogspot.ca fame in Carbon, Alberta. We did a quick run for possible photo opportunities to Sharples and Hesketh, Alberta which are not that far from Carbon. Quick fun visit. I might have to quit meeting fellow bloggers. They seem to have much better cameras than me. To boost my ego I might have to beat her to a few places that she wants to visit just because I can. 

Party central

My nephew is in high school and he is a special needs kid. He attends a class with other kids like him. His birthday is coming up in July so my sister set up a party last Saturday where he and his friends could get together at her house to celebrate the beginning of summer and his upcoming birthday. It was easier to get everyone together now before they started their summer break with their families. 

I offered to help out. I did a few grocery runs and helped set it up. There were about ten kids that attended. I only met one of them before. A few of them were shy and a few were definitely not. I talked to all of them at various times. I had some in-depth conversations with a few of them. It turns out some of them have some very ambitious goals. I hope they set the world on fire. Video games were played. The karaoke machine made an appearance while my brother-in-law barbecued burgers and hot dogs. One of the girls turned out to be a surprisingly good singer. 

After the food everyone headed outside. My sister bought a couple of water balloon kits for them to use. The kids were filling bowls with water balloons. It should have clicked that stockpiling water balloons was an ominous sign. The adults were starting to get targeted. My sister has about ten super soakers in her garage so the fight was on. I stayed out of it until a couple of them ganged up on me with water balloons. I grabbed a fearsome water cannon and got them back. Then I hunted for a kid with no weapon and handed mine over so they could blast someone, the party is for the kids after all. They should be the ones having the most fun. 

I got reminded of a few things. Do not underestimate people, especially the special kids, and I am in lousy physical shape. If the water war went on for a few hours I would have been toast. They all had a great time and so did I. I think I made some new friends. 

St. Donatus Church, Saskatchewan June 17, 2017

Located south of Cosine, Saskatchewan and west of Cactus Lake, Saskatchewan, both of which are severely population challenged. This place is beautiful and once again one of those spots in the middle of nowhere. The church is over one hundred years old.

A look inside the windows shows that everything is there. It looks like services might still be held. I was unable to find much information online.

After seeing this on the back wall I wonder how long the church will last.

Beautiful cemetery.

I liked this simple unique grave marker.

Merid, Saskatchewan 8:30pm June 17, 2017

I believe this is an old schoolhouse. This might be one of my favourite photos.

Promo time!

This is great stuff. 

highcountryblog.com/2017/06/16/before/

I have read a few posts and intend on reading a lot more. Please visit this blog.

Prairie Circle Cemetery June 17, 2017

Northwest of Hemaruka, Alberta (which is very population challenged) in a quiet rural spot. I do not know if anyone looks after this place. There appears to be twenty-eight burials from 1917 to 1940. Some of the burials note that people were living in Zetland and Fenner, Alberta in addition to Hemaruka. I had never heard of Zetland or Fenner. I was able to find them on a map and nothing exists of them anymore. Both places were in the vicinity of Hemaruka.

There is a bench hidden back there in the growth. I took a short walk around the perimeter. It was hard to see anything in the grass and I did not want to step somewhere and damage something.  

Highway 317, Saskatchewan south of Fusilier 7:30pm June 17, 2017

Road trip? I will likely take out the motorcycle and stick to pavement this weekend.

Some highways are paved. Some are gravel. This one is dirt. It had rained in the prior few days. It was bad enough driving on it when it was dry with ruts and a washboard surface. There is no way I would want to drive on this in the rain.

Evening at Dry Island Provincial Park

On a whim I decided to drive out here after work on June 22, 2017. The prairie can be an interesting place that seems to hide features. You can have flat areas extending for miles suddenly interrupted by a valley. This is a buffalo jump, now a park, where natives many years ago used to kill buffalo by stampeding them off a cliff. There are a few sites like this in Alberta.

This is east of Huxley and the Red Deer River is in the valley below. The road goes down a steep hill and ends on the valley floor. I did not drive down. There are warning signs that the road cannot be driven when wet and that due to the grade vehicles may have difficultly pulling trailers up it when road conditions are good. The road was in fine shape. The only thing that really stopped me was I was the only one there at the time and I was driving a car.

Standing right on the edge of the jump. It is hard to tell but there is a steep drop off to the bottom. You can see the road continuing down at the bottom where it ends. 

Evening at Elbow Falls June 20, 2017

This is not that far from Bragg Creek, Alberta. Sometimes you have to get on the motorcycle and take it for an evening ride. Elbow Falls is not very big. It is a nice spot.

In search of . . .

A live voice when I call a business. If you are like me you loathe getting an automated phone menu. As soon as I get a recording I start mashing "zero" until I get a live person. I do not believe recordings and menu options make your company more efficient. People like to talk to actual people when they phone a business. Companies do not seem to get this simple fact.

I phoned the Apple Store in Calgary. I immediately got a recording and I started hitting "zero" to get a live person. I like Apple and I like their products even if I do find them overpriced. I find their customer service has always been great. The problem is that they want you to make an appointment if you have a problem. So I tried to phone for one.

I eventually got a live person who was pleasant. When I told her I wanted to make an appointment to get my phone fixed I found out she was in some kind of call centre. Even though I called the store I got bumped somewhere else. She did transfer me to the store and I got my appointment. All this after twenty minutes. I honestly think nonsense like this costs businesses money.

Range Road 50 along Sounding Lake, Alberta

I was looking for a cemetery on a county map along this road on June 17, 2017. I did not find what I was looking for so I decided to park and spend a few minutes with some horses. The little ones are cute. One mare eventually came up to the fence for a scratch behind the ears. That lasted until the stud noticed what was going on and decided that had to end.

Tuesday evening bike ride

Highway 66 west of Bragg Creek, Alberta. 

Neutral Hills School June 17, 2017

A lot of times you will find a marker with a bit of information about the school. There is nothing marking this site. This former school is a little northwest of the junction of Highway 599 and Highway 41 in Alberta and is pretty rural. From what I could find online it operated from 1913 to 1943.

So I got to meet an author . . .

Doing this blog is fun. I have never found it a chore to write a post. I fully admit having to occasionally scramble for material to come up with a post a day.

Part of the fun is also meeting people. A lady commented on a post of mine a few months ago and I responded to her email address. We have been irregularly corresponding since. I found out that she writes magazine articles and is the author of at least four books that I found online. She and her husband founded a magazine back in 1971. I found out she was going to be in Longview, Alberta. I asked if she would mind meeting. She was up for it so I met her for dinner at the Twin Cities Hotel in Longview, Alberta after work on June 16, 2017.

For privacy reasons I will not mention her name. She is older, a widow, and reminded me of my grandmother. She is an adventurous type who thinks nothing about driving for hours by herself along remote rural roads. She lives in British Columbia and for all of her travels in southern Alberta, which are extensive, she missed a few spots that I had visited. It was a fun visit having dinner with a few drinks and listening to live music in the hotel. With luck I might get to meet up with her again sometime. I will be on the lookout for her upcoming book about her travels in southern Alberta.

Flat in the Hat

Saturday June 17, 2017 I stayed overnight in Medicine Hat, Alberta. I did not mean to stay overnight there, I thought I would be able to make back home. I got kind of sidetracked driving down back roads. I got in Medicine Hat after eleven and it would have been another three hours home. Best to grab a room for the night. The odd thing is that when I do go out to explore southern Saskatchewan and Alberta I frequently end up in Medicine Hat for some reason.

Sunday morning after getting coffee and filling up with gas I was ready to hit the highway. As I was leaving the gas station a driver in the parking lot shouted out that I had a flat tire. I found a spot where I could pull over without blocking anyone and sure enough I had a flat.

It had been years since I had to change a tire. Then I started wondering if I even had a spare and a jack. I bought the 2003 Impala used a couple of years ago and I bought it in a hurry because I needed quick transportation as my prior vehicle needed to be scrapped. I never bothered to check if I had the items to change a tire or if I even had a spare. The good news was all the stuff was there.

There is no denying that cell phones in this day and age are handy. They can inform you via a quick search that any place to get a tire fixed is closed on Sunday. I could have called someone but there are some things you should be able to take care of on your own. Anyone I do know there I do not know well enough to impose on them anyway. A quick look at the emergency spare told me it needed air. In the past I have had to change tires in the rain and in the snow. In the space of one month years ago I had three flat tires. At least the day was warm and sunny. The tire came off with a bit of persuasion and the spare went on easily.

Of course these days you they want to charge you for using an air hose. I did not have any choice in the matter so I had to get change to activate the air hose to pump up the spare. Then I drove three hundred fifteen kilometres back at a much slower speed than I am used to driving. There were a few stops to get out and make sure the lug nuts were tight. At least it was a four lane highway all the way so I was not impeding anyone. I got to listen to a lot of talk radio on the way home.

St. Stephen's Church June 3, 2017

I posted this place before and some places deserve to be seen again. The last time I was here is was sort of winter and so windy you could hardly stand. This time there was no wind and it would be hard to get a better day for taking some photos.

This church is just a little south of Cardston, Alberta almost at the intersection of Township Road 20A and Range Road 262. It has been built three times. The first two times it was destroyed by wind. The last time it was built in 1907 it managed to survive until present day.