August 11, 2011

Soooo….Oso got a haircut! He doesn’t really like it though cuz he thinks it makes him look like a poodle…and a girl poodle at that! His feelings were confirmed when Max, a big golden lab tried to hump him the other evening. Oh well…his hair will grow back and as far as his dignity goes, he’s already forgotten the incident with Max.

Had a wonderful surprise last night…Heather and Barry showed up for a quick visit along with Barry’s sister and her husband. It was wonderful to see them again though they weren’t able to stay too long. I came down to Canmore this morning and we met at the Farmer’s Market that they have here every Thursday morning…it was fun to wander and spend some time with them. They were on their way to visit Heather’s relatives in other parts of Alberta….hope they have a wonderful time!

The weather has been really nice for the last week or so. It is sunny and warm (not hot) during the day and at night it cools down quite a bit. This morning was beautiful and clear, then a few clouds came in and a few raindrops fell and pretty soon we had a dandy of a storm on our hands. Thunder, lightning, rain, hail….the works! It’s been going on for a couple hours now and it still booming out there. Our poor campers are mostly in tents and were scrambling to put up tarps and build fires to keep warm and dry when Tom went out for his last run through the campsite.

We watched a black bear across the lake last night as he made his way north along the road. He was just a little ways off the road and passing cars couldn’t see him for the brush and trees in the way. We had a good view though. He was a nice big black bear and was fun to watch turning rocks and searching for grubs. This afternoon a camper said she saw a black bear in the campsite, so perhaps it was the same one. He was heading out of the south end of the campground so we didn’t bother reporting him. Another camper said he saw a wolf…I’d be surprised if it was a wolf though…more likely a coyote since there are lots of them around here.

I had to kick some kids out of their campsite last weekend. They rolled after midnight and proceeded to set up camp in one of the double campsites. They partied and drank till 6:00 a.m. and their neighbours finally came down and complained. It was about 8:30 so they had only had about two hours sleep, but I went and woke them up, told them they had to clean up the site, pack up and leave or I was calling the Conservation Officer and he’d come and give them a big fine. They hadn’t paid for their night’s stay either and when I asked for the money, they said they didn’t have any. Their “plan” was to come camping, then go downtown to Canmore the next day to get money and supplies. I told them their plan sucked and that they still had to pay. I’d taken their license plate number and had their name and phone number and told them if they didn’t come back and pay, I’d send the info to the CO. The young fellow whose name was on the registration came back that afternoon with the money. Poor kid…the rest of them abandoned him, I guess. It shows you really need to pick and choose your friends.

Did I mention in my last posting that Tom found a tent in the trash? It seems we had a pretty impatient camper…when he had trouble putting his tent up and blew a few of the support rods apart, he got frustrated and threw the tent in the trash and though he’d paid for three nights, he left. Tom pulled the tent out and brought it home. It looked almost brand new and was one of those big two room tents…about 9’x16’. We picked up a couple new rods for it, put it back together and this past weekend we put it up on the site next to us with a “for sale” sign on it. We sold it within a couple hours for $100 bucks! And who says dumpster diving doesn’t pay!!

It’s been so stormy today that I can’t believe climbers are still on the mountain across the dam. They went up early this a.m., and all we’ve seen the rest of the day are their cars parked by the road below. I’m sure they are hunkered down taking shelter just like bear and deer and the rest of us. Glad we are cozy, warm and dry in our fifth wheel.