July 27 - Swan Hills

Originally I had planned to take a day off driving; however I asked the boys and they wanted to go on. Their hope being that it would mean less travel time on the way back home. I decided that Swan Hills would be a great one to get out of the way since it was further north; this meant that we could simply start heading east the following day. If only I'd known how much road construction there would be. I used this extra waiting time to take about the changing landscapes and the many lakes in the area. To be honest, I'm not sure that the kids heard much of what I said; they were to wrapped up in their DS games.

Along Hwy 33 as you enter Swan Hills you will find a very unique scene - The Wilderness Sculpture. It is located beside the tourist information booth; which is a beautiful historic log cabin. The scene the depicts a mother goose protecting her eggs from a bear. It is hard to miss the copper and red sculptures. The unique steel sculptures, weighing approximately 2,000 pounds, were constructed in 503 hours by Kevin Oracheski of Edmonton, Alberta. Nearly 20,000 pieces of steel make up this truly unique piece of art.

After filling up with gas and buying each of us a tub of Ice Cream for lunch it was time to decide what to do next. We could either return to the campground or continue our journey further north to Slave Lake. The boys seemed happy enough to keep going. We drove around trying to find somewhere that might sell firewood. I was determined to buy it at a cheaper price. However, unlike back home firewood wasn't an easy thing to find - not even at gas stations. I went into a Home Hardware (I think) to check. The people working joked with about the irony of being surrounded by the logging industry and all this lumber and not being able to buy a simple bundle for sale. One women even joked that her husband could go chop down and tree and sell me that wood.

It was until after leaving Swan Hills that I learned of "Center of Alberta". You see, Swan Hills is the closest municipality to the Geological Center of Alberta. From the information kiosk on Highway 33 (the Grizzly Trail) it is just a three kilometers hike to the Centre of Alberta. Apparently, once you arrive at the "Center of Alberta" you can have your picture taken by the bear statue. It is supposed to a great place to enjoy a picnic and to explore the many natural trail that lead of from this spot.

Slave Lake is only 1h16min away from Swan Hills, so it seemed like a shame not to take advantage of the closeness. Not only had I heard about how beautiful of an area it is and how magnificent the shear size of the lake it, one of my lists also said there was a huge Walleye Fish Statue in Lesser Slave Lake. While the list was correct, it would have been nice to have a better sense of the region before heading up there.

The drive up to Slave Lake was incredible. At times I felt like we were simply in the middle of nowhere; everything around me seemed to calm and yet the nature was so alive. I had fun talking to the kids about how long it had been since we last saw a house, and asking them questions about the habits in the ares. How did they know we'd changed regions in Alberta? What did they think the main industry was? I mentioned how lucky we were to have so much land and what a shame it was that people took advantage of it - littering and using ATVs off-road.

We arrived in Slave Lake and stopped at the local Wal Mart; you see, I'd forgotten to pack enough clothes for the next day. Plus, I wanted to see if maybe they had any firewood. After looking at some bathing suites, which I've been trying to find a new one all summer, and trying on a few clothes I was finally ready to rescue the boys from the van to keep driving. However, once I went up to pay I realized that my wallet wasn't in my purse. Of course, instant panic. Had it fell out in Swan Hills? Did I leave it at the gas station there when I bought gas? The cashier was kind enough to put my items aside as I went to check the van; of course my wallet was there on the passenger seat.

I got back to the car and before looking for Lesser Slave Lake, I stopped at a few more gas stations looking to purchase some firewood bundles - still no luck. I was thankful that Navi knew where I wanted to go, because I sure didn't. I saw the sign saying that we'd entered Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, but the further we drove the more I questioned the direction in which we were headed. I saw a sign for a Bird Observatory (off Hwy 88) and pulled off the road. I am every glad that we did. What a beautiful spot. It is a lovely building surrounded by various walking trails. After looking around at some of the signs, I went in to ask where I could find Shaw's Point.

It turns out that I was at Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park and I wanted to be at Lesser Slave Lake Hilliard's Bay Provincial Park. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. I was on the east side of the lake and I needed to be on the north west side of the lake. I talked with them about my trip to all of Alberta's Big Things and how the boys were so done with it all today. They just wanted to get back to the campsite. Plus, we still needed to buy firewood.

It just seemed like a shame to be so close to the big Walleye and yet so far at the same time. She showed me some of the information in the centre and told me that more than 24o birds have been observed in the area. I also found out that Lesser Slave Lake is one of the, if not the largest recreation lake accessible by vehicle. The lake drains into the Athabasca River Basin and covers 1160 sq km.

The more we started to talk, the more determined I was to go see the Walleye. She kindly gave us two bundles of her firewood and wished us safe travels. I headed back towards the city of Slave Lake, slightly over 10 Kms and then over to Hilliard's Bay Provincial Park. It is about 13Kms outside of Grouard. Grouard is over 1h15m outside of Slave Lake. After that you still need to travel down some more roads to get to Shaw's Point, which is where the Walleye is located. It seems like a very family friendly campsite, although to open for my liking.

July 26 - Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park

Another hidden gem - Carson Pegasus is located on McLeod Lake, just outside of Whitecourt. While our spot was not as private or as close to the water as the one we had at Ross Lakes, it was still very calming. With two nights of previous camping experience behind us, the fire was much easier to start. This time we also remembered to bring flashlights, just in case. It wasn't until we were setting up camp that we realized we forgot city water, cleaning cloths and a few other items; perhaps next trip we'll have it all organized.

This time we decided to bring our bigger tent; bigger and much harder to set-up. A lot of frustration built caused some very tense moments. We had the tent up, but realized there was only a shell and no floor. This was after playing with the poles and turning the canvas around in various shapes, sizes and directions. We soon discovered the floor piece, which was also attached to the main tent; apparently we had simply built the fly. We pegged that down, figured out what the next tent piece was for and were done; well., with one extra piece to spare. Thankfully, I knew that this piece was meant to be a room divider. What I'd like to know is how small the people are who claim the tents can fit 6 or more people?

The site that we were assigned had no grill over the fire pit. Problem - we were going to be cooking pizza for dinner. We tried building a tinfoil tray over top of the pit - not heavy enough; we tried cooking it on the small ledge and roatating it - the pizza started to drup since it wasn't big enough; we tried putting it in a pan on the ledge - not hot enough. Eventually we just sort of mushed it all up and ate a very gross looking, burnt pizza mush dish. I think even prisoners get better meals. It was a good think we had hot dogs for a back up mean.

I don't recall if it was before or after dinner that we drove around the campgrounds trying to find the beach. Apparently my map reading skills left me when Girl Guides ended years ago. We were on the opposite site of the lake. We found a very nice walking path and took a quick stroll. The kids asking what we'd do if we came across a bear. Being the nervous person that I am, it was time for us to turn around, hop back in the van, and return to the site.

While I read by the fire, the boys had fun playing with their knifes and with the fire. We also met our camping neighbours - a wonderful family from the Grande Prairies area. You see, I had only bought two bundles of fire wood, even though I was told that I would likely need three. At $7 a bundle, I was determined to make two last. Opps, apparently we need a little over two. I did what anyone travelling with two boys out on an adventure would do in this situation; I asked out campgroung neighbours if they had any extra wood that I could buy off them now or simple replace tomorrow night. Okay, so maybe not anyone would do this, but I have learnt that it never hurts to ask in life. Plus, all my years of camping have shown me that most other campers are very friendly people. Plus, their four year old son was so excited to have boys in the site next to theirs. Darkness cam quicker than we realized.

July 6 - Time to Stop for the Day

Dewberry to Elk Point - That was the plan. However, as you've likely guessed, this quickly changed. Along the Hwy 41, I saw signs for Whitney Provincial Park Campgrounds. The boys and I agreed to check it out. The signs led us to Ross Lake Campground, which is within the provincial park. We drove around a few of the loops and all agreed that it would be a great place to spend the night. We were all ready for the rest. You see, I used to be so afraid of driving that I'd barely leave the city, I eventually did some short highway driving and then a few longer trips, but nothing as long as this. Crazy since I've had my licence for over 16 years.

We chose spot A9, given the easy access to the water. We set up our tent - with only a bit of bickering, and decided we should start a fire. So, off we went to buy some firewood. Another fork in the road - firewood was not for sale at this site on Tuesdays. We went back to the tent, the wind started to blow, the rain started to pour and we were stuck with no firewood, no candles and no flashlights. This was my moment to panic. I did what I think everyone expected of me all along, I called my husband crying.

"I can't do it. I don't know what I was thinking. It's raining and cold. We have no firewood and we can't buy any. You told me everything we needed was in the camping tool box, but there are no candles and no flashlights. The tent is blowing in the hard wind and getting wet. I'm taking the boys back to Lloyd to stay in a hotel."

"Ok," was all he replied.

I hung up my cell, looked at the boys, and shock myself off. Ok, 'I am not a girly-girly, I can do this.' So, I told the boys that we were staying. There response, "Dad said no to the hotel didn't he." Not even my boys believed that we could do this. Here we were at this beautiful campsite and we were going to make the most of it.

We drove back to where they sold the firewood; perhaps we were hopeful that we'd read the sign wrong, but of course we hadn't. We drove down towards group camping to see if we'd missed anything on our first drive-thru of the park. On our way back towards our campsite I decided to stop by and visit the campground hosts, perhaps they could help me?

Was I ever correct. Not only did they give us enough firewood to get us through the night, they gave us a fire-starter candle, some maps of the area, a few activity ideas and offered my boys the use of their paddle boat and life-jackets. Maybe it was their kind spirit that help to part the skies and let in the sun, because shortly after our visit things started to somewhat improve.

It took us almost an hour to get our first fire started (keep in mind some of the wood was wet), but we did it. Once we got it going the boys decided they wanted to go to the beach. This meant putting out the fire that we'd tried so hard to start; I was a bit annoyed but realized this was to be as much their vacation as mine. We got back into he van and drove towards the lovely sanded public beach. We tied Buzz leash onto the 'no dog's allowed on beach' sign and went down to the water. It was chilly, but you quickly got used to it. After a brief bit of water fun, it was time to go back and attempt to start another camp fire. Surrounded by ants, we laughed about how we might get rid of them, pocking them with hot sticks, dumping boiling water on them or a few other possible options. Eventually we gave up, and after a few bites to my feet I barely noticed they were there.

This time we managed to get one up and going in almost half-an-hour; pretty awesome if I do say so myself. We roasted marshmellows, talked and giggled. I read a chapter of our book and then we went to bed; another big day ahead of us tomorrow.