Great Falls and Beyond...........................

HILL SPRINGS ...This is where we are at ..........this is great fun guys...
or gals......... whatever....right?
We stayed at a lovely though amenity free campground in Hill Spring, Alberta, and had a chock full day of activities. The name of the campground was:  Great Canadian Barn Dance and Family Campground......(An explanation to follow, folks....trust me....if you can....)

We started the day at the Remington Carriage Center and we viewed a ton of carriages and wagons and what have you from the good old days. We finished that event with an awesome carriage ride. Did they just trot us around a little loop?.....NO....we did the loop which led to the hill which led to the gravel path.........over hill......over dale.....it was very entertaining.

Following that awesome event, we traveled on to the HEAD SMASHED IN...BUFFALO JUMP.....this involved a tour thru a museum depicting the BLACK FOOT Indian tribe and their hunting techniques, one on which involved this elaborate process of the eventual herding of a massive herd of buffalo over a cliff.....to be quite honest, it was quite disturbing......eloquent in its execution, but brutal in its culmination......I think you can gather the jest of things by the title......basically stated.....the Indians tricked, scared and maneuvered the buffalo done a pre-created 'trough' that led to a cliff where the buffalo fell to their death. Now, granted, we hunt animals and hang their heads on our walls......and that is about the extent of our hunting expeditions.....on the flip side, the Indians used every part of the buffalo after its capture and demise...........from skin to bones to brain to horns....everything was used.........that did not help me, however, in keeping my eyes open during the reenactment of the buffalo plunging over the cliff to their deaths.
The old peepers were squeezed tight, and I even had a hard time observing the cliff at the end of the tour.
Am I digressing once again? Forgive me if you can.
Pictures to follow......

The evening was AWESOME!!!! We went to the the GREAT CANADIAN STAGE SHOW...aptly named after the campground...........this was an awesome evening of entertainment from a family run performers............they even made me....the two left footed 'overweight-ed' gal, want to hop up on the table and do some two steppin', even though I don't know how!!!
Uncle,Dad, Mom, 17 yo fiddler, who sounds like Frank' Blue Eyes' Sinatra, and the 25 yo multi-instrument prodigy.
GREAT FUN.

On the way to CALGARY we stopped at the FORT MACLEOD Center......(I must say, for the record, not my cup o tea, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it...........barring maybe one or two............there were a few things that I found interesting, and I snapped a few pics, but I have to admit.....museums and forts make me yawn.
Fossils interest me, however, and there were a sampling of these to hold my interest...mostly arrowheads.......
There was a CASTRATION tool,that made the one male visitor (Bob) in our group a tish timid! What a wienie, right?
It's just a tool............(I kinda have to admit that the sight of it made my privates tense up a bit........I'm just sayin.......
There was also an ancient radiology machine that looked like something from a "B" rated movie, but incredibly interesting.....

We stayed in Calgary West Campground beginning the 20th and we are checking out the 22nd.
We spent today at Heritage Park....a 127 acre replica with original historical buildings and establishments from the turn of the century....A 'First Nations' (Indian) encampment to a rustic settlement....businesses were open, penny candy was for sale, the blacksmith shop was open and operational.......the print shop also was functional.
Our guide was incredible with his wealth of historical tidbits.
I didn't take any pics to speak of............

Gourmet eats!!! YUMMY!

Linda the Tailgunner!

 Cyndi our illustrious leader!!!!

So folks...........it has been a GREAT week with another awesome week ahead.
No WIFI for a week or so, so sent this one out a bit early!!!!
Ta ta for now.

Getting there is half the fun!

Hello, hello, hello!
Did I mention that getting there is half of the fun????
Why, I think I did.
Despite the various faux  paux's along the way, I have had a super duper time.
I have had the most relaxing week here in Great Falls Montana.
Great Falls offers an interesting array of attractions including (but not limited to.....) Montana Power Dam and Falls, Giant Springs Fish Hatchery, CM Russell Museum and Studio, and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
Many of the gals on our caravan attended the latter two, and enjoyed it very much.
I chose to way lay those attractions and  drove my ever enlargin carcass to the mountains and snapped a few pics which I shall share with you....

While traveling thru the mountains, I could not find a bathroom to save my life, so this is my makeshift toilet............

Yup, I opened both doors and sat on the running board between the two doors......
Hey, a gal has got to do what a gal has got to do!
If I had not left my WHIZ at 'home' I would have used that instead!

This is a MUST HAVE for all of you hikers out there. No more dropping your drawers in the mosquito ridden swamp lands, or freezing your 'tush' in the winter months!!!


The campground where we are 'gathering' is simple, with limited amenites, but still a lovely campground,compared to some of the places where I have rolled out my awning.......

and as of yesterday all of the 'travelers' have arrived and all of our RV's have been checked for safety by the illustrious 'TEDDY'.

 Ted and Linda...our TAILGUNNERS, working on a rig. He definitely earns his keep!

He, and his sweetheart of a wife, Linda are our TAILGUNNERS, (but for whatever reason, when speaking of them, I call them the GUNRUNNERS........not in a joking fashion, mind you, but just cause I can't get it straight.)

They have cautioned me to make a huge attempt to get it right when we go thru the borders.
I will, of course, do my best...
The Tailgunners keep us all safe. Ted can fix just about anything and does not give up on any job.....large or small.
Cindy and Wendy are both very grateful to him for getting their rig repaired in time for our departure.

Our Wagon Masters are Cyndi and Wil. Both are kind, funny, compassionate and a tiny bit crazy.

We have had happy hours nightly as a way of meeting and getting to know our traveling companions. We are a wonderful group of like minded souls on an incredible adventure! Oh  and by the way....the group I am traveling with is ADVENTURE CARAVANS.....this particular trip is with the RV'ing WOMEN group, and since they did not have enough gals, they allowed it to be open for others....hence, myself and another couple.

I have done nothing this week except read, chat, and go to thrift stores. I got a GREAT buy on a London Fog lined jacket for 2$.

Also, bought some great boots for 4$.

Lotso bargains here and I am now, all set for any kind of weather that we might encounter.
The weather here has, actually,  been interesting.
One day it is in the 60's and today, we are enjoying 80 degree temps with a nice breeze.
My direct neighbors and hang out buddies have been the couple next door to me. (Kay loved the thrift stores as well)
Kay and Bob have been very kind to me, and travel with me from place to place.......I think they are somewhat fearful that I will get lost and end up back in Nevada or something. I keep trying to tell them that I made it from Florida on my own.....but will they listen??????
JEESH!
Bob loves Lilly far more than he loves me. He sneaks her steak from restaurants and little (kinda chunky like her mom) Lilly now prefers that cuisine to her boring dog food.
The challenges.........I'm just sayin' !

Bob is being a little bit naughty!!!

 There are so many more pics I want to share with you, but the WIFI really stinks and it takes about 10 minutes to upload a group of 3 shots..........so, I will share more with my next post!!!
Hugs to all...........until next time!!!