Sunday, January 16, 2011

Molly the Moose

















In 2010, we added a new member to our family.



Meet Molly. She's a purebred Border Collie. She's about 5" taller than Annie and full of energy. We are currently in the process of training her for Flyball. We hope to race her in 2011 and travel with her and Annie in our new Monaco motorhome.

New motorhome




Well, we finally did it. We've always wanted a diesel and that's exactly what we bought. In August of 2010, we picked up a 2000 Monaco 36' Turbo Cummins Diesel Pusher. It's built on a freightliner chassis. It has leather interior, carpet and ceramic tile flooring, full size fiberglass shower, full size queen bed in rear bedroom, and 1 huge pullout. We've taken it to Saskatoon, Souris Manitoba, Calgary Alberta, Minot N.D.

The plan is to go on some long road trips with hopes of hitting Vegas, California, B.C., Alaska, Ontario and Northern Saskatchewan. Being a full size Diesel pusher, it gets "relatively" good fuel economy. It's a great rig to travel in. VERY comfortable and rides like a dream.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Plane Crash site near Coleman, AB



This plane crash site from the 40's is located South of the town of Coleman. N49°34.446' W114°34.246'. It's best to get there by horse, quad or dirt bike, but a hike from the Coleman staging area would get you there and back in a day. Very intersting site with wreckage strewn about from the crash.

Ram Creek Hot Springs, BC


Awesome, awesome. A natural hot springs (and at times "natural") located on an ugly logging road near Premiere Lake, BC. Clean, warm and relatively quiet. Although it's located in a "nature preserve", we stayed at the springs in the '72 Brave for 2 weekends on 2 consecutive years. The beauty of being completely self contained!

Allison Creek/Chinook Lake, AB



N49°40.021' W114°35.259'. Allison Creek is located in the forestry. Random camping but far from quiet. In the peak of summer and on long weekends, it's very, very busy. This is a popular spot for quads and dirt bikes so it does get noisy. The trails seem to be never ending. Use a gps or have a good map. It's easy to get turned around and lose you're bearings (not ball). Chinook Lake is nearby with good early fishing and Government camping. Not free but plentiful, relatively inexpensive, no services, but well laid out. Nice quiet camping only a few miles from highway 3.

3rd (and final???) upgrade


This is our 3rd motorhome. Sadly, it's isn't a Winnebago. It's a 1988 32' Triple E. We've been looking for a rear bed and found one. Unfortunately it was attached to 32' of motorhome with a larger price tag $$$. It's definately bigger than we need but the price was awesome (thanks to Brian @ Skyline Travel for treating us well) and it's in great shape.

Spoiled and pampered! We've only been many times since we bought it in November. I'm afraid that the size will definately limit our accessability that we enjoyed with the 19'. But.......who's complaining. Looking forward to years of enjoyment.

Second RV

This was our first upgrade. This is our '83 - 26' Winnebago Brave (see the trend). More room, more camp "stuff" to take along. Large and comfortable with solar power, generator, air, bunks, huge awning, etc. Although this is a great machine and in wonderful shape, it doesn't have the "funky 70's character" that the '72 had. In 2005, we made 12 camping trips in Alberta and Montana. We had rain on EVERY trip. She's proven to be watertight.


First RV


First motorhome. 1972 19' Winnebago Brave. Awesome little machine. This little baby treated me very well and never let me down. It would go places you'd never expect. Had her for about 12 years before the need for size and comfort got the better of me. Sold it to a co-worker that enjoys owning and using it. Their family camps along with us. My wife cried when we sold it and had to un-pack the gear to move to the next RV. Lots of fond memories.

Annie



Nothing like the companionship and love of a GOOD dog. Annie (Schmoopie) is my baby. Smart, smart, smart.

Campfires


Campfires..........nothing beats enjoying a little outdoor cooking, heat, drinks, and companionship around the fire.

Westcastle, AB

N49°17.855' W114°24.024'
Ahhhhhh....our second home. Westcastle near Middle Kootenay Pass. Spent many days, weekends, weeks camping, hiking, fishing, quading, and picking huckleberries here. The drive in is one of the roughest road you could ever drive (35 minutes for 4 km) but it's very quiet.