August 7 - Playing in the sand...Not for the kids

We spent the day exploring the resort and enjoying the beach, but not without first going to Wal Mart in Stettler (plus, we needed to do a beer run). Thanks to my friend's husband we enjoyed some pancakes for breakfast, while making our small shopping list: coffee, water toys, bug spray, raspberries, spatula, and a few other odds and ends. While I had nothing on my list to view in Stettler is was a chance to chat and enjoy the scenery on my way to yet another small town. The drive there was a very, very slow one. We were following road-line painters. Our chance to pass them finally arrived and we were able to pick up speed.

We didn't go into the main part of Stettler, but stayed rather stayed on the Hwy - everything we needed was just on the outskirts. Unfortunately it was not a Super Wal Mart, so we were unable to buy Doodles his raspberries. I did look at a bunch of bathing suits, but decided not to try any on. We also stopped at the dollar store, a liquor store and a Tim's. As with many of the places we've stopped, I wish we'd had more time to spend. Steller is supped to have a Tornado Flare Stack, and a large xmas tree (I wonder if it is up all year).

Here is where the freshly painted lines enter the picture - because we paced the trucks, the fresh paint found its way onto the vehicles tires and tire rim - thankfully not a lot. Hopefully, with time it will fade or disappear. I'll have to remember to ask.

The sequence of the remainder of the day is a bit of a blur. I know that at some point we walked around the resort. The merry-go-round looks like it has seen better days, and the go-carts seem very expensive for the short rental time. I believe there is also a mini-golf course, but I can't recall seeing it. Perhaps it was by one of the parks. I took photos at the petting zoo, if you can call it that. I didn't say any entrance to actually get in with the animals to pet them. They have pigs, sheep, goats, roosters, horses... One of the goats tried to drink my iced chai latte, and our dog made friends with one of the pigs; the same dog who wouldn't stop barking at the statue of a horse. There was one horse who seemed very determined to eat my camera, no matter where I moved it. I love animals.

We also went to the candy store, where the boys stayed to play at the arcade. Magoo finally got to play a game of pool with Hubby. He's been fascinated with the game for a couple of years and has been asking to play with hubby ever since. I went back to read and enjoy some time alone at the camp site. To be honest, I can't recall where our friends were.

The kids also went down to the beach to partake in the sand sculpting contest. The plan was to build a beaver. The oldest boy took charge and the others seemed to quickly get bored. My boys made a mini he-she, very atomically correct; however quickly destroyed it. After that, they just sort of played around at the beach. I walked around the beach with the one of the girls looking at some of the truly amazing designs. It is unbelievable how talented some people are. Unfortunately for the kids, we found out later that the contest is only for adults. How stupid is that? Have they ever thought about having separate categories?

The four of us also went out in our paddle boat. It is definitely not made for four. It says three, but that must be three kids. Hubby did most of the paddling. I have to say it was very cramped. We had fun jumping in and out. Eventually, my poor body had enough and it was time for me to walk back to shore. I still can't believe how shallow that water was so far out. After a break, the boys went back out with the girls. It was so cute to watch my boys up front rowing with the two girls in the back.

Not having a daughter, it was then time for me to bond with the girls. We spend some more time looking at the various sculptures and then creating some of our own. My favourite and our best being the one-winged fairy. She lost one and has her arm shamefully behind her back and a look of shock on her face.

July 7 - How Lac La Biche Became Cold Lake

The next planned stop was Lac La Biche; however I decided to take a detour and drive to Cold Lake. I'd never been before and wanted to see its beauty first hand. My sister-in-law lived there at one point. Plus I’ve had either friends visit and they all had great things to say about it. Plus, it was slightly closer than Lac La Biche and the boys were ready to call it a day.

We drove into the Cold Lake Provincial Park and looked for a spot. While it was a nice campground, the spots seemed smaller than those at Ross Lake and we couldn't find any that were right on the water; although, I am sure that there must be some. Instead we drove to the Cold Lake M.D. campground. We needed to call from my cell phone for directions, but we did eventually find it. We ended up with a lovely spot close to the water. Generally we like sites that are a bit more private, but it worked well for one night.

For $5 we got a huge amount of wood; in fact we even turned some down. Looking back we should have taken it for future camping trips. Due to the rain, the wood lot was very muddy and I almost got stuck backing into the wood pile. Of course I was surrounded by men, so all I could do was joke about being a "women driver". I had a lot of help filling the back of the van, mostly with smaller piece that would require little cutting. With only two young boys to help me this was very important.

Before unloading the van back at the campsite, the boys really wanted to go for a swim. Once again we tied Buzz up to the "no dogs on beach sign" and got ready to play around in the water. I now know why it is called Cold Lake. It was freezing. I was the first one to get my hair wet and eventually did get used to the fridget temperature. The boys became fasinated by these tiny minoes swimming around near the shore, so we decided to try and catch them. I soon discovered that the trick was to disorientate them from their school and was the first one to catch one. However, the boys quickly caught on. I do have to admit that the occasional fish didn't make it through the boy's accidental pinching.

Now extremely wet and cold, it was time to light a fire. We did it in under 15 minutes and sat back to watch our camping neighbour try to start theirs. We could certainly sympathize with the frustration in not being able to start one. As the night went one, I did need one of the neighbours to chop some of the wood for us. Laughing at our small hatchet, he brought over his own axe. In return, I gave him some extra paper to see if that helped to get his fire started. I believe that all it did was create extra smoke.

With a park close by, the boys went off to play. As with many of their escapades this one didn't last long. They quickly returned asking to show me a rock. Reluctantly I followed them to three rocks that had been graffitied to say "the penis rock", which as it turned out was very fitting. Unfortunately now when people ask my boys what their favourite "big thing" has been so small they chuckle and answers, "the rock".