Winter on the Ranch

I have been staying on the ranch with my sister since arriving back in Canada so have really been immersed in  the Canadian Winter experience. There is a lot of snow here still. We were nearly getting rid of the white stuff and then a bad storm hit this past weekend and gave us another huge dump of snow.  We drove to  Hanna on Saturday to watch my great niece in another dance review and ended up driving home in a terrible storm.

We  plowed through a lot of snowdrifts and experienced some total white-outs. It was a bit of a hairy journey.  Fortunately, my brother-in-law had come with us so he was doing the driving.

I took the picture on the left through the windshield.






It took a lot of snow removal work to get rid of the snow that the storm dumped at the ranch. There was so much snow piled everywhere and paths needed to be plowed in order to get to the feed  and then get the feed to the cattle.  It was a full days job and kept my sister and her husband very busy  on machinery all day.   These kinds of storms are not at all welcome, particularly this time of year as it is calving season.  Thankfully, all the animals came through the storm well and  the past few days have seen a lot of the snow start to melt away.

 My sister and her husband raise  purebred Texas Longhorns. When I first arrived here it took me a couple of visits to the pasture and corrals for me  to get past the horns.

 But I soon saw how gentle they are and  I  am totally comfortable being around  them now.

Making friends

This young  heifer is just checking me out. I think she is likely admiring my stylish attire.













They are beautiful animals and the new born calves  are such a joy to watch.

Getting a talking to from mom

I am trying to make myself useful here helping out with whatever I can. I love the ranch life and find I really miss it. It guess that it is true that you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl. This time at the ranch  is just what I needed to get myself grounded  again after the winter holiday in Texas and prepare myself for going back to the hectic pace of the big city.

Macey's Dance Review

I have been enjoying time with family since returning to Canada. Last weekend I went to Brooks with my niece Tammy  and  her daughter Macey to watch Macey  in her first Dance Review. Macey does both ballet and tap dancing.

 The Dance Review included groups of all ages and  it was  conducted in a very professional manner. The best part though was that it was clear that everyone was having a good time.

Going through the steps one last time. Concentration.

 It was fun watching all the young people go through their warm ups in the gym before going on stage.

Tammy and Macey

Of course, there is a lot of preparation before going on the stage. Hair and make up must be touched up. Macey loves this part.

Macey and friend

One last practice before the show. Is this cute or what?

As you can see from the smiles, these girls are confident that they know their steps.

Almost ready to go!

There are no pictures allowed once the dancing starts on stage but I can tell you that Macey's dance team had their steps down pat and  won not only a silver medal but were given a "Most Promising Group" award. And yes, I am a very proud great aunt!

It was a wonderful day!

The Last Day

This blog is a little late getting posted. I have been back in Canada for 3 days now but my priority has been to spend time with my family here that I have been away from for so long.

Our last day started at 5:30 am. We were both anxious to get the miles behind us and beat the bad weather that was reportedly moving in. We crossed the  border into Canada just after 7 a.m.   It was good to see those Canadian Flags. I had been out of my country for  5 months-the longest I had ever been out of my country. I had a great time in the USA but it was good to be back in Canada. I am a very proud Canadian who truly loves her country.   Anna pulled over when we got to the Welcome to Alberta sign and as I rolled down my window and felt the cold air I couldn't believe that it could be that much colder than it was at our campground in  Shelby this morning.

 As we crossed over the prairie landscape, there was no sign of green. We passed many huge flocks of geese migrating north.

 Although most of the landscape was like the picture above we did  pass through some beautiful  valleys

Approaching Milk River

We passed through Taber, best known for growing the best corn in Alberta.

As we edged farther north we started seeing a bit of snow in the ditches and fields. By the time we

 passed Brooks we were seeing A LOT of snow.

We felt lucky that at least  the snow was not falling from the sky.  We stopped at Cactus Corner

 at the intersection of Highway 9 and Highway 36 and were told that it was snowing in the Didsbury

 area which is close to where Anna lives. This was not good news.

 As we approached the town of Hanna, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the Canada Grey Goose

 on the east side of town that greets all visitors.This area is famous for being in the flight path 

of the Canada Grey. 

This goose stands on the West side of town

 at the end of Main Street.

We met up with my sister Linda and I was thrilled to see that she had my niece Tammy and her two

 wonderful children Denton and Macey with her. A BIG bonus for me. After a delicious lunch at

 Tammy's house we all went to the nursing home to spend the afternoon with  my mom. It was

 so good to see her. We had a wonderful day. It got even better when we brought the kids back

 to the ranch with us to spend the night. 

And so my adventure of being a Winter Texan ends. It will take me awhile to get back in the groove

 as I am still flooded with memories of my trip. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity 

to spend a winter "practicing" retirement.  I am so glad that Anna kept calling and emailing me

 all those months last winter and spring to persuade me to come with her on the trip.  Sometimes 

in life one just needs to chuck it all and head off on an adventure. I am grateful for the support

 of great friends in Vancouver who didn't tell me I was crazy for getting rid of most of my 

earthly belongings to make this trip and to my friends Gordie and Janette for letting me store some
 things at their places. 

Thank you  so much.

To all my Winter Texan friends  let me say it was indeed a great pleasure to get to know you.

 You are special beyond words. 

And so this journey ends.  I will stay here  in Alberta for about a month before I return to Vancouver.

Perhaps I will share some Alberta adventures from time to time while I am here.

What will be next?  Stay tuned. 

Quote for the Day

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do 
than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
 Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

~ Mark Twain

Last night in the USA

This is our last night in the USA. We left Lewistown around 9 am this morning. We could have left sooner but the water hose froze up and we wanted to fill the tank up before we left. We went out for breakfast while the sun warmed the hose and sure enough when we returned the sun had done its job.

We headed down Highway 87, drove through Great Falls and took  the I -15 up to Shelby.

It was a nice sunny day but the drive seemed long today. Possibly because the landscape didn't vary too much for the most part.  Most of the land was ranch land but we did see some farm land here and there as we did yesterday. 

We travelled up  some fairly large hills but "the ole girl" as we call the MH made it up without a problem.

I think it must get pretty windy  here as a lot of the ranchers have their house built in little places like this where they are sheltered by the hills. 

We got to Shelby and after asking a few questions we found a campground outside of town. We unhooked the car and went into town for a late lunch at Ringside Ribs. It was an interesting place.

I saw my first Easter Bunny Tree. It had Easter Egg lights and as you can see, an Easter bunny at the top and all around. Someone at the restaurant has a great sense of humor.

Behind the tree was a group of pictures of some famous boxers and their stories. Below is the one of Jack Dempsey.

We returned to the campsite and hooked up the car for the last time on this trip. Tonight I pack up all my gear. Tomorrow  we will be driving to Hanna, Alberta where my sister will pick me up and Anna will continue down the road to Three Hills where she will stay for the summer. I will stay in Alberta for a month and then return to Vancouver, BC.

We have had a wonderful trip. I have met so many wonderful people, had such great times,  and seen so many amazing things. My memory card is more than full.  

One more day on the road.

Keep warm.

Quote for the day:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change, and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." —Helen Keller

Montana

We had another early start this morning. Had to dump our tanks and fill up with water and then we were on our way shortly after 7:30 am.  We took Highway 90 up across the border into Montana and  up and across through Billings and then we took  the 87 to Lewistown. We were originally only going to go as far as Roundup but we got to Roundup around noon and could not see the point of quitting then so we carried on.

We saw some spectacular country today. Had to stop once to take some pictures but most I just took while we were driving.

As you can see we still had some mountains in view  today.

There were some bits of snow lying around throughout the day.

This is my "almost perfect" shot of the day.  Due to the bright sunlight I could not see in my monitor so was just guessing . Unfortunately, I missed most of the mountains. But on the bright side I did get the moon and the beautiful sky.













The landscape changed a lot throughout the day. We saw everything from flat land like in the picture below

to beautiful rolling landscape with mountains in the background like this one below.

 Several miles east of  Lewistown on Highway 87

It was an amazing day.














We drove into Lewistown and discovered  a pretty town with beautiful scenery all around us. We decided it would be a perfect place to end the day.  After getting set up  we walked to the 4 Aces for a lovely lunch of taco salad and just relaxed there for awhile.

The room off the restaurant was a Casino so we decided to try our luck again. My luck stayed true to form. I lost about $6.00 on a nickel machine. Anna was playing the only penny machine in the place and won $100.00. This woman is some kind of lucky.

We took a walk about the town and took some pictures of some beautiful old buildings.

Downtown Lewistown 

Can you believe this building was built in 1904?













 We stopped at an Art Gallery that had some very nice  paintings, mostly from Montana artists. I would loved to have brought a couple of them home with me.

We returned to the MH and decided to just veg out for the evening so we can get an early start tomorrow. We are planning to go to Shelby tomorrow and then home the next day. Not long now.

Keep warm.

Quote for the day:

Smiles are rays of sunshine from the soul. Spread the rays.

Brenda Zeimer (that would be me)