Buck Lake, Alberta

We have set up camp at Buck Lake campground for 3 nights. Richard is hoping to get a little fishing done with brothers Charlie and Ron who are also camped out there. It has no water or electric so we are really roughing it now. Our meals certainly don't reflect it though with chicken first night, pork loin second and baby back ribs the third. The Kesslar's know how to do it right. 

🎶Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime🎶 These two are always the best equipped and that includes the bottle of homemade hooch on the table. 

Carolyn sporting her new do to celebrate school year end. Yippee!

Working on my latest "junk to masterpiece" project

Oldest Ron, youngest Charlie and middle child Richard. 

We thought brother Jim had brought a new honey with him....vavavoom!

Out for a tour on Buck Lake in Ken Holgrum's pontoon party boat. 

Last night around the fire at Buck Lake. 

Prince George, BC

The drive from Buck Lake to Prince George has been entertaining with all the wildlife we have seen along the way.  Besides what you see in pictures, we encountered black bears twice, a moose and a bunch of goats. We had to come all the way back to beautiful British Columbia for all of this!!

Mount Robson with a clear view which doesn't happen a lot. 

Here's a mama grizzly with her 1 year old twins. A little too close for comfort. 

An elk in full velvet. Could have almost petted him!

We spent part do the week at sister Judy's getting her fire pit landscaped. It was a very busy week with a couple of birthday parties and a dance recital thrown in for good measure. 

Our first hike

Sonia turned 40 and the cake you see was designed and made by my talented sister with a little help from me😄

And then Cooper turned 11. 

Miss Annie's dance recital. She absolutely loves flowers!

Before

In progress

And after!!

We managed to fit in a few beautiful hikes and then took a drive up to Ft. St. James to visit the historic fort. We have some pretty spectacular spots in our own province that we have yet to see. 

Charlie pushed his luck just once to many. 

We'd have made awesome pioneer women. 

Richard was astounded by the many furs on display at the fort. 

Happy together on a buckboard. 

Meota

We pull in to Meota Regional Park around 6:30 on Monday, June 10, 2014; we will stay here until June 16.  Ron and Shanon will arrive tomorrow and then Jim and Jan and Charlie and Carolyn will arrive on June 12, the day of Larry's 70th birthday.  We will be having a bit of a family reunion with all of the brothers gathering. As you get older you appreciate these times more and more. 

The boys at work. 

Another beautiful sunset. 

Having a treat. 

The girls having a deep conversation. 

And here's the whole gang. 

Our good OLD (70) host Larry......

And his chef extraordinaire wife Phyllis who worked tirelessly to keep all the Polacks and wives fed. 

Regina

I wasn't that pleased with this first campsite but it was certainly quiet and we slept like babies until the sun came up and blazed into the windows. We won't be staying at this campground for the time we are here as it's pretty unkempt. What a change from the nice spots we were able to find in the states. For the size of Regina, I'm amazed at the lack of campgrounds available. 

We manage to secure a spot at Sherwood Forest Country Club over in the northwest about 15 km from Regina. It's a gravel road all the way but the spot is beautiful with a "swimming pool" that is a small pond with a sandy beach all around with the water dyed an aqua colour. It looks quite tropical actually. 

Sheena will be tenting out here with us. There is so much for the little girls to do. We have brought their bikes and some crafts and bubbles. They are having a ball. The true test will be if she can get the girls to sleep as this apparently is a party spot. It's so noisy that it feels like everyone is getting drunk by our fire. 

Day 2 at the campground starts beautifully with clear blue skies. The 3 girls slept great. I think camping is agreeing with them. 

Blowing bubbles

Smelling the lilacs

Running and playing

We spend the day swimming and playing and exploring. Tonight we will be having company for dinner. My brother Terry and his companion Laurie. Ribs, pork loin, corn on the cob, salads and fruit. And then the fire; Laurie seems to be almost professional at building fires and looks like she's in her element. The little ones are loving it too and learning from the adults. 

Laurie, always with the brightest smile

Brother Terry 

This will be night 2 in the tent and there's no problem at all getting the gals to sleep. 

Throwing rocks from the bridge; how much fun is that??

On Monday Sheena and the girls head back to town for a much needed bath. We are all going to Montana's for dinner. 

We bid adieu to Sheena, Alexia and Olivia on Tuesday after lunch. Both girls stood in front of the door and said "you can't leave yet". I will miss them so much. 

Back to Canada our home and native land

Well to start with, I need to tell everyone that our mouse is dead😥. We killed him last night. I have mixed feelings; I'm relieved but I hate killing any of God's creatures. He just thought he was moving to a new state. Little did he know that this was his last move. 

We raced through Grand Teton National Park and then through Yellowstone. We were in Yellowstone last year but now that we are doing lots of hiking we really need to come back to this amazing area when we have lots of time. 

The beautiful Tetons

Snow still on the ground in Yellowstone

Of course, the buffalo

I loved this saying on their motor home.

We have now become experts of McDonalds southwest salad; Kanab, Utah had the smallest and Livingston, Montana, the biggest. The drive must be starting to bore us if we are resorting to judging the food along the way. 

We finally find a place to camp in Grass Range, Montana. Full hookups for a whopping $13. She told me that they keep the rate low to keep the hunters coming in. I'm ok with that. We walked around town and I have decided that I really don't want to live in a town this small, although they do have a high school football team; they all do, these little towns. We met a couple that were camped in a little tent behind us. They are riding those sit down bicycles from Wichita, Kansas to Medicine Hat, Alberta and back. They tell us that they've done this twice to Alaska already. They are approximately our age. I'm jealous!! Maybe next year. 

Some very hardy individuals

The bald prairies

And then a beautiful rainbow

The weather has turned grey and cold.  We must be getting close to home. I am so looking forward to seeing my beautiful granddaughter Sheena and those sweet little girls Alexia and Olivia. 

We stopped in Assiniboia to have a quick visit with my second cousin Loretta Blackwell who does an amazing job of genealogy for our mothers side of the family. First time we have met. 

After 4 attempts we finally find a spot to camp for the night in Regina. This seems to be the hardest place there is to find a camping spot.