Red Rock Coulee Natural Area

We planned to leave home on Friday, right after work.  I had been frantically preparing for the Long Weekend, getting the trailer home, starting the fridge, buying groceries, filling with water, re-packing our camping gear, etc.....

By Friday I was worn out, so despite the fact that the girls had the day off from school, my fatigue, and the fact that the weather was kind of crappy, convinced me to stay home and catch up on some sleep, and prepare to leave on Saturday morning.

We hit the road on Saturday morning at a reasonable hour, but living in a house with four girls I have come to understand that nothing happens all that quickly, particularly when morning and departure are included in the same sentence.  Eventually we got going, and after a quick stop for fuel we were on the road, heading south.

We arrived in Drumheller by about 2:30PM, and I stopped to top up the fuel tanks.  I knew that we were heading off into southeastern Alberta, where there are limited services, and it is always good to start with a full tank.  We stopped for lunch in Drumheller, and then rolled on down the valley.  The skies were overcast and it was cool and windy, and raining off and on.  Rather than drive into the late evening, we decided to stop at Dorothy and continue on the next morning.

The girls played a little in the playground at Dorothy but it was a very cold and blustery evening.  No one was in a particularly good mood and we all turned in early, hoping that Sunday would be better. When we awoke on Sunday morning it was in fact a little better,  The rain had stopped and the sky was a little lighter.  But it was still cool and breezy.  After breakfast we headed off to the south east.

After yet another fuel stop in Medicine Hat, we continued on into Forty Mile County and eventually arrived at our destination, the Red Rock Coulee Natural Area.  By this time it was early afternoon.  We found a moderately level spot to park the trailer and got things set up.  The jacks went down, the slide went out, and the power cord got strung out to our generator.  There are no facilities here, and we were dry camping, completely self contained.

A short time later our friends Chris and Connie arrived from Calgary.  They write a blog called "Off the Beaten Track" and in recent weeks we have been corresponding and sharing information.  They had never been out to Red Rock Coulee before and decided to meet up with us.  We spent the afternoon out in the badlands photographing and exploring.

By evening we retired to the trailer and put together a big pot luck supper.  It was a rather unusual mix that included Rib Eye steaks, Barbecued Halibut, Deviled Eggs, Steamed Asparagus, Baked Potato Wedges, Salad, and Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert.  After dinner Chris and Connie packed up and headed back to the northwest to Bow Island.  They had a room rented there for the night, and were planning to meet up with a guy the next day that had a running 1911 car.

We stayed at Red Rock Coulee and settled down for the night.  It remained breezy, and got quite cold overnight.  The next morning, after breakfast we headed back down into the badlands.  Although it was fairly windy, the skies were spectacular and I spent a good part of the day making photographs.  By late afternoon when I returned to the trailer and met up with the girls, I discovered that they had captured a baby cottontail.  The little guy spent the night with us in the trailer, while we put together another meal of Steak, baked potatoes, salad and corn on the cob.  Look for a separate blog post detailing our escapades with the little bunny....

The next morning the girls were devastated when they had to release the little guy back into the wild.  After that we packed up the trailer and made the long drive back home.  By this time it was Tuesday, and for most people the long weekend had come to an end the day before.  This was one of my scheduled days off from work and we enjoyed the fact that we not only had an extra day, but that the roads were not very busy as we made the long drive back home.  We made a couple of brief stops for fuel, for snacks and for ice cream, and eventually rolled up in front of the house by about 7:00PM.  We were all worn out and tired but it had turned out to be a pretty good weekend, despite the marginal weather conditions and the late start.