February Day Trip

It's been quite a while since I've posted much of anything on my blog... and even longer since I've had the opportunity to get out with my cameras.  On Saturday, February 13th, I headed out for a drive with my oldest daughter Hailey.  We played music on the stereo in the truck as we headed off to the northeast of the city.  I was trying to educate my daughter about the quality of some of the classic music that I like to listen to, and she was trying to convince me that some of today's pop will eventually become classic.  We agreed to disagree, but had a great time driving around through the afternoon.  

We didn't really get started until shortly before noon.  It was cloudy and dull in the late morning when we set out, but the skies broke open and became clear later in the afternoon.  The day was breezy and cool early in the morning but by afternoon once the sun broke out the temperature spiked up to about +5C.  By late afternoon the breeze died right off to nothing.

Our first stop was a large cemetery along Highway 16, between Mundare and Vegreville.  The clearing skies allowed the sun to pop out and provided some interesting shadows.  We made a brief stop in Vegreville for lunch and then continued on.  We stopped and photographed at an old schoolhouse, and then later at a few of the country churches in the area.  Late in the day we found an abandoned farm house with an interesting interior.  In fact, one of the exterior walls had collapsed, not only allowing a lot of nice light in, but making the stairway and railing visible from the road.  It was this that caught my eye as we drove by and prompted us to stop and explore.  By the time we finished up here it was getting to be late in the day.  We hit the road and made the long drive back to the city, all the way blasting more tunes and singing along with them.  As evening came upon us we spotted a herd of about 10 white tail deer out in a field.  Just a short distance further down the same road, we also spooked two young moose out of some trees along the ditch.  It was dark by the time we arrived back home.  With the temperatures so mild we decided to have a family BBQ that evening and it was great to throw some steaks on the grill again.