Friday, August 12, 2022

Sunday Day Trip

Margarit and I headed out to Nordegg together on Friday August 5th.  All three of the girls decided to stay home in the city, so it was a nice couples weekend.
We had a bunch of errands to run on our way out to the cottage.  We stopped at the Clearwater County offices in Rocky Mountain House to pick up 75 Lodgepole Pine seedlings that we previously ordered.  Then we picked up some groceries.  At this time of year, when the weather is warm, it is easiest to just pick up supplies on the way out, rather than deal with coolers and such.  Then we ran a couple of errands and picked up a few things for friends and neighbors out at Nordegg, to save them a drive.  Finally we stopped in at the Antique Store and browsed around for a bit.  We finally made it out to the cottage by early evening.
On Saturday we didn't do a lot.  Mostly we just relaxed and took it easy.  We did manage to plant most of the pine seedlings that first day.  Later in the evening I made us an appetizer of hot wings, and then later a dinner of Shrimp in Cream Sauce.
On Sunday we decided to head out for a day trip.  We took my old truck and went for a spin up the David Thompson Highway.  It was fairly breezy at Nordegg, and the further west we got, the stronger the wind became.  It was REALLY windy at Abraham Lake near Windy Point... imagine that...!  We continued on up the valley and eventually got to Whirlpool Point.  We wandered down to the river and explored for a little while, and I took a few photographs of the Limber Pines and of the River with my view camera.  The water levels have come down a bit since all the heavy rain and snow melt in June, but the river is still running pretty fast.  It wasn't as windy here as it was back by Abraham Lake, but the it was still fairly brisk.  
We decided to take a spin up to Blackstone River.  This was probably my fifth time up to Blackstone this year, and I never really get tired of it.  Margarit wants to try casting a bunch of pebbles in Epoxy Resin to make a tabletop, so we collected a bunch of rocks so she can experiment with that.  I also noticed that there were a bunch of stone fly skins on the rocks down right at the water's edge.  The nymphs crawl out of the river and then hatch into an adult fly, leaving the skin behind.  They are really cool and kind of prehistoric looking.  I suppose if a person was to go fishing at this time of year, a lure that mimics a stone fly nymph would be ideal.  The cutthroat trout in the Blackstone have diminished numbers and only catch and release fishing is allowed.  I didn't try this time around.
The avens were still in seed like they were a week ago when Hailey and I visited.  This time around Margarit and I dug out one plant and transported it back to the cottage.  When we got back we planted it into a sloped, gravelly, south facing spot behind the cottage.  We also planted the last 15 pine seedlings that we hadn't finished the day before.  Later that evening I made us a dinner of Chicken Enchiladas. 
I haven't done a thing over in the guest cottage yet, and may not get around to it by the time we leave.  But is sure has been a relaxing time and Margarit and I really enjoyed the days together.











No comments: