The end of another August

I never quite manage to cram in all of the summer activities that I want to do.

Just wait until next year will work until there are no more next years. Hopefully there are lots of good years to go to do the things I want to do. One thing I neglected is I have a motorcycle that I recently purchased that has sat unused. I got busy and did not make the time and I have made the mistake of listening to someone who said they had no one to ride with. I gave them my number and told them to phone me. I have yet to hear from them. The mistake was that if you want to do something or make something happen you usually have to do it yourself. 

Where I am it is an overcast day with rain pounding down with rumbling thunder earlier this morning. It will clear. The weekend weather will be good and I will fit in some mindless exploring in the dying days of summer. I intend to take what advantage of the warm days that remain.

I have ran across some great ranch signs . . .

. . . and this is not one of them. This is a cow with the names Celine, Michelle, Henry, Reg, Desiree also known as The Gerbers according to the sign. This is unique.

The old truck post

Spotted this a little west of High River, Alberta. Some things are too good to pass up. I had to take photos of this one. Totally clueless as to what year or model it might be.

Late night lone tree

Got my moose

About eight last night spotted a moose in a farmer’s field in Wetaskiwin County. Almost at the extreme range of the telephoto lens.

Random barn by Dale Redekopp

Quick Cpt Mo post

 

Minutiae

Life is sometimes a highway.

I had last Thursday and Friday off. Last Thursday mom's condo was sold. I handed over the keys and as of noon on that day it is no longer my problem. I spent the rest of the day doing some associated banking and some errands.

Friday and Saturday I basically did nothing. I have been wanting to make another mad dash into British Columbia to mark at least one place off my list. Unfortunately there are wildfires in the area and there was a highway closure along the way I wanted to travel. I shelved those plans and did very little for two days other than visit mom.

For the last five years I usually make the loop from where I live - just a bit outside of Edmonton, Alberta - to Jasper then south down Highway 97 then east to Rocky Mountain House then home. I have not managed to do it so far this year until I decided to get motivated to do it yesterday. It took about eleven hours. I do it because I like the parks and the scenery. This time however there was a noticeable amount of haze in the air caused by smoke from wildfires in British Columbia. Otherwise the weather was fine. That is off my list.

If anyone is curious, the photo is the Highway 93A, the old highway, south of Jasper that is only open during the summer season. If you have time, take the scenic route.

Quick critter post, Highway 11 west of Nordegg, Alberta August 20, 2023

The hanging boots

At the entrance to the Great Sandhills in Saskatchewan, Canada near Sceptre. These old hanging boots are a memorial to John Booth who was a local rancher and lived in the area his entire life.

                                                - Dale Redekopp

Wednesday Cpt Mo post

 

Random Alberta bale post

Another one off the list

I had Thursday and Friday of this last week off. Thursday morning was spent at the lawyer's office signing documents for mom's condo sale that closes next week. After that I had a few errands to run. Then I had a package to deliver to mom so I drove out to see mom. Usually the trip takes a little over an hour. This time it took a lot longer as halfway there I got stuck behind a convoy of a few pilot cars and a semi with a very big low bed trailer transporting a sizable piece of oilfield equipment that almost took up both lanes. It was not possible to pass so I was reduced to travelling at thirty miles an hour. I got to see the route at a much slower pass than usual.

After visiting mom it was a little after five. I had Friday off and nothing planned. I got in my car and drove to Surrey, British Columbia. It had been some time since I got a ferry off my list. I have three ferries left in British Columbia. Now I have two. I drove to Rocky Mountain House, to Golden, Revelstove, Kamloops, Highway 5 to Hope, then Highway 1 to Surrey. I drove all though the night and got there before 7:00am Alberta time. Once I got to the ferry I drove back. I made it home before midnight on Friday.

The Barnston Ferry crosses part of the Fraser River across Parsons Channel to Barnston Island. The free on demand ferry - my ferry criteria for taking all the ferries in a province is that they must be free and not a private ferry - operates year round. From the bank you drive down the ramp onto a barge that holds five vehicles. The barge is moved to the island by a small tugboat. This is the only ferry I have ever taken where when you get to the other side you have to back up off the ferry and reverse up the ramp. To return you back down the ramp onto the ferry,.

I was not expecting to reverse onto a ferry. I injured my neck when I as t-boned in a car accident years ago and I do not have complete full motion in my neck. I managed to reverse down a narrow ramp onto a ferry beside another vehicle without any problems.

This is the terminal at Barnston Island. Kind of difficult to get a shot of the terminal at the other side as it is in an industrial area.

There really is nothing of note on the island. There are farms on the island and part of it is Katzie First Nation land. There is no public parking on the island. As a ferry experience goes this ranks at the bottom. There is nothing for a visitor on the other side and the captain and the ferryman were unfriendly.

Crossing Parsons Channel.

The ferry approaching the dock on other side as viewed from Barnston Island.

You can get some interesting views of this ferry by searching Google for "highway camera barnston island"

Late night black and white revisit

I recently posted a lone tree in black and white. The original is below.

There are a lot of stark trees in Waterton National Park from a forest fire a few years ago. I tried a few shots but I could not get the look I wanted, except for this one. Not able to sleep one night I played around with the image. At times I like to see how minimal a photo can get and how much you can say with so little.

This blog used to feature bales

Sometimes it still does.

Late night black and white

County of Smoky Lake, Alberta

Rural barn, by Dale Redekopp

Cpt Mo summer

 

Random Alberta

Waterton National Park August 6, 2023.

Late night black and white

Need versus doing something because I felt like it

I did not need another motorcycle but I bought one anyway.

I wanted one. I got tired of thinking about it.

I bought a 2018 Kawasaki Versys 300X. I wanted something to take on some extended gravel roads and a few trails. I bought it earlier this week and finally got around to taking it for a ride last night. I would have taken it for a ride earlier however like I have said previously, I have been busy.

First impressions: I like it. It is light, and easy to maneuver. If I happen to lay it down on a trail it is easy enough to lift up. For only being 296cc it will still do about eighty miles an hour on the highway, not that I have had it flat out on the highway yet. It has plenty of zip. I like the ride position. It will take me a few rides to get used to its quirks.

I will certainly feel better riding this into off road places instead of using my car.

Blink and half the summer is gone

Where does the time go?

Work is busy. You would think most of the clients would be on vacation since it is summer and things would be a little quiet. So far that is not happening. I have been here two years and I am also fixing dumb mistakes from years ago committed by my predecessors.

I have had some issues regarding mom's condo sale. That is a post for another day only because those issues have not been resolved yet. I meet my lawyer next week to sign the usual documents. I have had to sacrifice some of my holiday time to do this.

I have some holidays in September and October. I am looking forward to the time off.

Floodway Haybales

 

A pair of haybales along Winnipeg's Floodway, with the CP Emerson subdivision bridge in the background.

Steve Boyko
Traingeekblog

Spotted in Caroline, Alberta

Random abandoned Alberta

Near Strome, Alberta. From Dale Redekopp.

Boule Creek School 1914 - 1963

This is south of Cadillac, Saskatchewan. I tried to get here this spring with a friend of mine Michael Truman.

As an aside you should really visit and read his blog at: michaeltruman.blogspot.com

We did not get there, the road was a bit soft. Even if we had ventured down the township road and then turned north up the range road it was on we likely would not have made it. This school is on a hill. With a soft road and a bit of a steep hill it could have been a problem. I visited it earlier this month on a hot day and a bone dry road.

No idea how either of us missed this one. Both of us had traveled the backroads of the Cadillac area many times and somehow managed to miss this school. My trip here was a solo trip. The inside is a mess, someone has used it for storage. Glad I got to see it before it disappears.