August 29th, 2010:
Almost the end of August already – I'm not ready for winter yet!
It's cool and drizzly outside; seems like as good a time as any to see if I can put together another report. (Not that I need an excuse to sit in front of the computer!)
The main news is that we attended the wedding of our grandson, Aaron Crawford, to Nicole Parker, with their two-year-old son, Logan, as reluctant ring-bearer. The wedding was outdoors in the afternoon, at the home of Nicole's parents at Leacross on Saturday, August 21st. The weather co-operated nicely, the service was brief and everything went smoothly. Aaron, Nicole and Logan live in Tisdale.
Mike and Marg had arranged cocktails and supper at the yard of Elaine Ernst in Tisdale for guests from the Crawford and Letkeman side, and we had a great time there. Laurie Grimson had brought her Redneck Horseshoes game (like horseshoes but played with toilet seats, and with toilet plungers for the pins) and someone else had set up a Blongo game. We stayed reasonably sober.
There was a reception at Ridgedale Hall in the evening, followed by a lunch and dance. Then, there was the gift-opening at the Parker farm on Sunday afternoon.
We went down with our motor home on Friday and stayed at the Tisdale Campground for three nights. Doreen had booked six sites, and our family filled them all. Sandy and Blaine were there from Carstairs, AB; the whole Grimson clan including Dave and his partner, Brenna, our son, Lloyd and his daughter, Sara, and Shannon; Louise was there on Saturday; Mike and Marg stayed at the motel, Cathy came down from Prince Albert, without Freckles. There was a good representation from Marg's side, the Letkemans, who we got to know well.
We had several campfires and wiener roasts at the campground; Lloyd fried us up some walleye fillets Sunday night, and I cooked bacon and pancakes for everyone Monday morning. Really a weekend to remember.
Cathy, Sandy and Blaine, and ourselves had decided we wanted to do some more camping while we had our rigs limbered up, so on Monday, we went to Wakaw lake Regional Park for a couple of nights. It is a very nice park. We had camped there with our Sunseeker friends in May and had cool weather and high winds with rain the whole weekend. This time, the weather was more favourable and we were better able to appreciate the park.
They have just expanded camping facilities with the addition of twenty full-service sites. Some need a little levelling and landscaping but they look good. There is a lovely golf clubhouse and concession where we went for coffee; it has a dining room capable of handling fifty or more people.There is an eighteen-hole mini-golf course and Cathy, Doreen and I played a game. Doreen won, though I had the highest score.
From there, we went to Etter's Beach, on Last Mountain Lake. Sandy and Blaine had to go to Moose Jaw, so Etter's Beach was right along the way. None of us had been there before, in fact, I had never heard of it. It is a resort village, formerly run by the government. It is scattered over quite an area on the north side of a bay off the lake proper. It has a wonderful natural beach, at least two hundred yards long and quite wide. It also has a combined office, cafe and store where we went for coffee a couple of times. There are thirty seven campsites, but twenty two of them are taken up with seasonal campers. All have 30-amp power and water, but the water is from a well and is not treated for human consumption. We were camped in a horseshoe right by the beach, tucked under some manchurian elms, which was nice on the day the temperature went up to over thirty degrees. Wonderfully friendly people!
We stayed there for two nights, then decided it was time to go home and check our mail,and our friends. And, of course, to download our photos and see if we got anything worth while.
We only have one trip left his year, a mini-Samboree at Watrous Regional park. (or is that Little Manitou Regional Park?) If the weather holds after that, we might grab another little trip, though many campgrounds close after Labour Day. Then it will be time to get the motor home winterised and tucked away for the winter. |
