Wednesday, July 6 2016
We were all packed up and waited for ED to get away from work . At 2 pm we headed west. The weather was beautiful and a little boy was very excited. To keep him amused, I had packed three simple books in his back seat hanging pockets. He chose one, and with a little help [ meaning 'cues' , phonics] , YGS read his first book, souonding out the words. He was so excited, ' I read a book by myself ? I read my first book ! Did I really read a book ? By myself ? " " I can Read !!!"
Then ED 'made up' a game. She would say a word and he was to say a word that started with the final consonant of the word she said. This game went on for 5 days ! At first he sounded out every letter and then the final consonant. By the end he'd say the word and boom ! repeat the final consonant. This is grade two - three level, but he 'got' it and loved the game, often asking to play it.
We arrived at our campsite in William Switzer Provincial Park. We just had electrical, but were very near the water tap and near the bathrooms. WE wet up ED's tent for her and her two dogs, and then the kitchen tent which she had dubbed the Kids' Palace at her Canada Day party. We had rotisserie chicken, veggies and salad for supper, with fruit for dessert. YGS went to bed without a sound.
Thursday, July 7 2016
After a leisurely breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, hot chocolate, coffee and tea, we set off for Jasper National Park. Just after the entrance we stopped to see a mouontain goat with her baby high on the cliff. In all my years of visiting the park, I had never seen one! There were plenty of mountain sheep on the road in different spots and a couple of youong female elk.
We made our way to Athabasca Falls and did the whole falls and going down by the river so YGS could build an Inuchuk. Dexter, the puppy went crazy digging in the wet sand. When we finished there, we made our way to Edith Cavell and Angel Glacier. Angel Glacier is shrinking ! The three, with the two dogs set off on a hike up and I peopled watched as it would have been too hard for me with my knees and hip. Besides, I had walked the Falls. The road up to Edith Cavell is very windy with many switchbacks. Poor youngest pup got carsick - but fortunately just into grandson's hat !! It was pure sand !
The next stop was Jasper itself. For some reason, YGS was so excited to be in Jasper- thouoght it was such an awesome town, the houses were so cute [ ? ] and it was so clean ! We walked a bit and everyone got an ice cream cone ! A delicious steak supper with baked potatoes with onion, salad , olives and beer for some, water for others. We sat around the fire for a bit and then off to bed for the youong one.
Friday, July 8 2016
Another day with beautiful weather. WE decided on a simple breakfast of toast as we had a busy day planned. Without telling YGS where we were going, we headed to Whistlers. He was confused about climbing a mountain and hiking. We tried to say that when you 'climbed' a mountain, you were just 'hiking' up - not literally climbing up a wall face. I had saved money so we treated him to a SkyTram trip up. His face seeing the trams going up and down the mountain were priceless. So up we went with ED and I holding the pups. At first he was a little nervous of the heights, slight swaying and jerkiness at the tower. Up at the tram house, the three of them headed off to the summit. I people watched again. They made it up the 1.6km hike. ED had to carry the young 5 month old pup up as he refused to walk any more. And of course he had to be carried down. There was no way he was hiking any more ! YGS said to me, " I was on top of the world ! "
By the time we came down off the mountain, it was after 3 so we went into Jasper and picked up some KFC. So much for our healthy diet ! We stopped at a picnic spot and enjoyed sitting , eating surrounded by mountains. YGS had 3 pieces !
Next stop was the Miette Hot Springs. I dogsat and they spent an hour and a half in the pools getting a good hot shower afterwards. We returned late to the campsite, threw together a supper of leftovers and then sat around the fire. When I told the boy I would be getting his pj's out soon, he said " As soon as I get them on, I'll go to bed because I am tired. " He was in bed by 9:30 and didn't wake up til 8:30 the next morning.
Saturday July 9 2016
This was to be our lazy day, away from the crowds . We had boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. Park rangers came round to warn us of a mother bear with two cubs seen by the registration office. Hubby took the boy to the lake and playground. We read and managed to hotspot to keep an eye on the weather. Storms were predicted all day so we battened down the hatches but the weather was beautiful. ED found a geoache site so with the gps, she and YGS set off to find it. She only took Marley who is a little spitfire and loves to ' go' The puppy stayed with us. Shortly after they set off, they were back. ED had a look on her face !! Looking at the gps, she had missed a sign right near our campsite. Walking along, YGS with a pencil for the cache, she glanced up and on a ridge above them, she caught a glance at the stomach and flank of a cougar ! Then she say a warning sign, " Cougar in area " Needless to say, she grabbed his hand, and they hustled back to the campsite. Then we noticed the bright yellow sign 30 feet from our campsite. a truck had blocked the sign that was now visible as he pulled out ! She and Hubby went to the office to report the siting. It had been seen at 9:30 am at the trail head about 50 yards from our site. Needless to say, we kept the boy close even going with him to the bathroom.
We had a good fire going and were just going to have a simple supper of hot dogs roasted over the campfire. The dogs were just done. when the storm hit ! And what a storm it was ! After the boy went to bed, we brought a light into the kitchen tent and we all read for a while before we went to bed. It rained all night .
Sunday, July 10 2016
We woke to the sound of rain, lots of rain ! We had a fairly leisurely breakfast in our dry kitchen tent and decided how we were going to pack up. We loaded the trailer, emptying the kitchen tent. Then ED was able to bring her tent right into the kitchen tent after we hauled out the big picnic table. So that was pretty well packed up dry except for the outer 'tarp' . YGS and the dogs sat in the car for over an hour as we packed up. I told YGS I would pay him for dogsitting ! They were nice and dry ! We were soaked ! We left the campground and the mountains at 11 am. The drive home was good with a top in Edson for gas and lunch. And then it was over. We parked the trailer with some difficulty as the ground was soft and the gravel to the entrance of the trailer pad had sunk. We unloaded what we could and ED and YGS set off for home........and returned shortly ! Her garage door opener would not work and she had left her keys inside the house. [ we are hoping it just needs a new battery ! ] So back they came and waited til my sons came back from their baseball tournament. So by 7, they were off home !
My sons had a wonderful time at their tournament, although games were delayed and cancelled because of the storms. They were quite wet and muddy . Some of their unpacking was done and they headed into the hot tub. I watched Outlander and then hit the hay.
It isi amazing how much plants grow in the space of 5 days. I have peas !! The mallow has blossomed [ ihad pulled several of the plants because I didn't know what they were ! ] The cherries are ripening, the potatoes have flowered and the beans are climbing.
Today laundry will be done and the trailer cleaned out. Now to ret after a very exciting 5 days.
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