random Jasper National Park post

I always have a difficult time trying to capture how green some of the lakes are here.

Waterton National Park, Alberta by Cpt Mo

Budget Cuts

Spotted in the R.M. of Piney in southern Manitoba.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Paisley Brook School 1916 - 1957

East of Big Beaver, Saskatchewan. Someone is maintaining it. Door is locked. This location is not all that far from the US border. There is not a lot in this part of Saskatchewan. Population is pretty sparse.

Road Tripping - Part Three (The long way home)

Vernon, British Columbia to Leduc, Alberta. A distance of five hundred miles via Highway 97A to Highway 1 to Highway 93 north at Lake Louise to Highway 11 east to Highway 2 north home.

Another hot day. Roads were fine. I stopped at Malakwa for gas and a guy getting gas who was westbound told me that two gas stations in Revelstoke were out of gas. This would not surprise me, it is a busy place in summer and a lot of traffic stops there. Revelstoke was where I has headed. The motorcycle only has a fifteen litre tank so gas stops are a little more frequent than my vehicle. When I got to Revelstoke I topped up the tank. I did not notice if any stations were out of gas.

Nice run from Revelstoke to Golden except for the smoke. There were signs saying a prescribed burn was happening. The sky was hazy with blue smoke and visibility noticeably dropped in a few spots. Signs were up saying no stopping was allowed.

Golden into the first part of the Kicking Horse Pass with a lot of road construction. The project is to make the highway from Golden through the pass all four-lane. This part of the pass the highway hugs the mountain side so the highway looks like it is being built out using supports and bridges.

Highway 93 north from Lake Louise to Jasper is one of my favourite roads. I was only going as far as Saskatchewan Crossing on this stretch before heading east. On this highway I saw a bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the road. I stopped and noticed a black rummaging around in the brush. After about twenty photos I got two decent ones when it emerged. There were some dumb tourists blocking me in their rush to get close to the bear when I tried to get off the shoulder back onto the highway. Keep a safe distance from bears, they are dangerous.

East of Nordegg I ran into light rain. Then lightning off in the distance which is not a good sign when you are on a motorcycle. Rain started falling a little more with a little more lightning.

Stopped for gas in Rocky Mountain House. I got under the canopy and before I started filling the tank a downpour hit. Then my sister called. She was with mom and asked where I was. When I answered I was asked to drive up and visit, it is only a bit over an hour. I declined. Weather to the east was clear. To go north to visit was raining and severe thunderstorm warnings. I hung out by the gas pumps while the rain subsided and made a relatively dry trip home. 

Elevators courtesy of Tim Lockhart

Road Tripping - Part Two (How BIG was that bug?)

Woke up in Creston and checked the internet. I was not connected to wifi because I lost the slip of paper that said what the password was. I usually read a few news sites every morning just to see what is happening. The dailymail.com is a favourite. About six stories on their page were warning about security flaws in the Apple iPhone and how everyone needed to update the software immediately. Where I was that was not happening. Otherwise not much going on.

Of course nothing can ever go according to plan. Not that I had a plan other than going somewhere. I usually spend part of the weekend with mom. This weekend I had the weekend free as my sister was going to visit. She was going to drive up to visit today. I received a text from her that she was not feeling well and would likely leave on Saturday. I asked her to confirm the next day. I decided to change course and loop towards home in order to visit mom if my sister could not make it. I did not want mom to be alone on the weekend.

I checked out, stopped for breakfast at our national coffee and doughnut chain that does not like to serve much in the way of doughnuts these days. For years I would throw back an extra large coffee in the morning. Now a small seems to be more than enough.

Highway 3 to Rock Creek, Highway 33 to Kelowna, Highway 97 to Vernon for the night.

I had my sunglasses on and my visor up. West of Castlegar something hit the left lens of my glasses and the side of my eye socket at sixty miles per hour. I could only see with one eye and I definitely felt that hit. I found a spot to pull over and turned the bike off, yanked off my helmet, and took a look at my glasses. My first thought was "how big was that bug?" I make a point to carry a bottle of water, not to drink but for times like this. I spent a few minutes pouring water over my glasses and cleaning the gunk off my lens.

Other than that the ride from then on was uneventful. Rock Creek to Kelowna along Highway 33 is a nice ride. Curves and hills and not a lot of traffic. A lot of the rural properties seemed to have a lot of abandoned cars and various pieces of junk on the property. A few places looked like scrapyards masquerading as a residence.

South of Beaverdell on Highway 33

At one time, a lifetime ago, I briefly lived in Kelowna attending Okanagan College. I do not think I recognized any of Kelowna now. I did not even bother trying to look up any of the spots I once knew. Everything looks so new and different.

Forgot about rush hour. I was stuck in traffic on the highway between Lake Country and Vernon. I got a hotel in Vernon paying double what I usually pay. Such are the hazards of travelling in popular places in summer. I spent a few hours downloading  iPhone updates which took forever due to spotty and slow hotel internet. So I got one thing definitely accomplished. It also took longer because I did not have enough free space so a lot of photos and files had to die.

My iPhone is up to date however Apple decided to change how a lot of things are displayed. I do not mind updating for security fixes but quit changing things just for the sake of changing them.

At four the next morning I woke up needing something packed in the bike. Checked my pockets, no key. Could not find it in the room. Maybe I left it in the ignition . . . ? Threw on my clothes and out to the parking lot to find no key. Found a person at the front desk and asked if anyone turned in a key otherwise I was not going anywhere. I had left it at the front desk when I checked in. Got my key and went back to bed.

More from Cpt Mo

Road Tripping - Part One (On the road)

The motorcycle has not seen a lot of use lately and I was thinking of selling it. One of the reasons is I have not had a lot of time to devote to it. Another is that I have not found anyone to go on a ride with. I have owned it for about seven years and likely would not get much for it as it is a 2006 with over 60,000km on it. In the time that I have had it I definitely feel that I have got my money's worth out of it.

I had last Thursday and Friday off so put some stuff in a bag and headed out on a ride. Day one was from Leduc, Alberta to Creston, British Columbia via Highway 2 to Nanton, then Highway 533 west to Highway 22 south to Highway 3 then west to Creston.

As soon as I started out I had to run into grooved pavement right in my own town. Not fun on a motorcycle. Once I hit the highwas about a few hours in I began to realize that I missed this. The highway is different on a motorcycle. It was good to just get out and do nothing but ride. 

Once I crossed into British Columbia it was getting hot. The temperature was over 30C. It got to be a problem at Jaffray when I was parked for half an hour due to highway construction. When the flagman allowed the line of cars to go I saw that the road was being repaved and I had to drive a short distance through a heavily oiled chunk of road. I drove very slowly over that. Further down the road I pulled over and broke one of my rules. I shed the motorcycle jacket and gloves for the rest of the day. It was too damn hot.

I obeyed the speed limits for the most part. A number of drivers passed me over solid lines with oncoming traffic in the opposing lane. I was cut off a few times. No highway patrol when you want it. Over seven hundred kilometres later in Creston I decided to pack it in for the day. I did not think I would have a problem getting a hotel room on a Thursday. I was wrong (I really should start planning stuff). The guy at the Ramada irritated me when he laughed when I asked if they had a room. I thought it was a reasonable question when I saw the parking lot was less than half full. They were booked solid.

I found a room in a motel that had seen better days. Thankfully the air-conditioning worked. The tv had handwritten instructions taped to the cable box. I did not bother with it. I grabbed some beer and dinner at a pub, the beer felt damn good going down after riding in the heat. Unfortunately the air-conditioning in the room kept loudly kicking-in and out interrupting my sleep. 

Bingham Baptist Church, Droxford, Saskatchewan

I would guess that Droxford was not much more than a name on a map. There is a church here and nothing else. Across the road is an abandoned house. You can find this on Google Maps. The church was unlocked and looks to still be in use. This is south of Chaplin, Saskatchewan.

Abandoned Saskatchewan

Long abandoned house southeast of Big Beaver, Saskatchewan along Highway 18.

Sara the Camel

You can see Sara the Camel in Glenboro, Manitoba.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Moreland, Saskatchewan

All that is left is an abandoned elevator. Kind of an interesting sight seeing an abandoned elevator in the middle of nowhere and nothing else nearby.

I have the day off so have a bale post

I always thought this was a really ugly design

Spotted in Parkbeg, Saskatchewan

Long abandoned St. Michael's Church west of Bashaw, Alberta by Cpt Mo

Built in 1910 but had reconstruction after the steeple was damaged. It was an unexpected find in 2015 for me. It still had stain glass windows and pews in it. All which have been removed as it is slated for demolition. No date as to when.

Random summer photo

Lone wild sunflower found along a fence line. You rarely see these in my part of Alberta.

Wildlife post

Quick day trip to Jasper National Park.

Sometimes you have to make the time

I visit mom every Friday night after work and stay overnight. That does not leave me a lot of time on weekends to do much.

Last Friday night it was damn hot at her place. At two in the morning it was still hot. Saturday was the same. I stayed for dinner and made sure that mom was stocked with groceries, her bills were paid, did her dishes, and cleaned up a bit. I would have taken mom out however she does not like to venture out in the heat. On the drive home I kept thinking about some cooler temperatures.

Sunday I woke up early and decided to drive to Jasper, Alberta. Here (53.090761, -118.015003) the Athabasca River is wide and shallow and you can walk out into it a fair distance. The water is not that cold and the mountain breeze was perfect. Sometimes you just have to make the effort and go somewhere.

St’s. Peter & Paul Romanian Orthodox Church 1908

Kayville, Saskatchewan. It was locked. Not sure if it is still used. Along one wall it looks a bit unsafe. It could use some tlc.