I spent June 1-6 preparing for the Alaska trip, cleaning out extra “stuff” from the coach and depositing it at Mom’s house in Hurley, SD. Then I reorganized what was left—hope I can find everything when I need it! Weather continued to be very unsettled with thunderstorms and tornado watches the norm all week. There is certainly a lot of water standing in the fields. My brothers will not be able to plant a lot of the land they farm and much of their bean and corn acreage is being flooded out.
I departed Hurley Saturday June 7th, headed north. I’d hoped to get north during a brief break in the weather and drove as far as Jamestown, ND—a 340 mile drive. The following day was a 447 mile drive to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan through lots of flat farm land interspersed with rolling hills. I saw a lot of waterfowl both days, including quite a few white pelicans which reminded me of winter in Fulton, TX. I wondered if they came from down there. The border crossing at Portal, ND was uneventful and swift. Soon
after crossing I drove through a large area of surface coal mines near Estevan, SK. From the road, it didn't appear that they were digging very deep to mine. Weather was unsettled this day and I drove through rain. A tornado watch was in effect for the area of SK I traveled through and one touched down near Weyburn after I’d driven through there. I still haven’t escaped the bad weather! June 9th I drove 490 miles on back roads to Edmonton. It was a long day through flat farmland and rolling hills. Fields of grain were large and farms looked well cared for all along the way—no rundown buildings, etc. After driving through about 150 miles of rain, I finally arrived in Edmonton—after snaking my way through the confusing highway system on the south side of town. No kidding, using 4 maps plus the GPS, I still ended up in a residential area. Some new roads weren’t on the maps; others didn’t have route numbers on the
m, etc. All--Coal Mining--
in all, the most confusing highway/street system of any town I’ve been in. I decided that the easiest way to get to this campground on the west side of town is to take the Yellowhead Highway—at least that is noted on all the maps!
I spent June 10-14 in Edmonton. It was quiet in the park and I was able to have the needed uninterrupted time to work on the coach and prepare for the caravan, in addition to doing some limited sightseeing. The first full day was supposed to be decent weather-wise, so I drove about 45 miles south to the Reynolds-Alberta Museum and the Canada Aviation Hall of Fame at 
Wetaskiwin. I spent most of the time there in the aviation museum and enjoyed seeing the display describing a sister Ninety-Nine, Rosella Bjornson’s career. She has had a very interesting career as a ground breaker in Canadian aviation and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Our early years were very similar in that our families were both involved in the Flying Farmers organization and we both soloed in a Cessna 170. (Rosella and her husband, Bill, came to the RV park a couple of days later and we had a nice visit.) By the time I finished the aviation museum, the weather was looking very threatening. I did a quick walk through of the other museum and headed back to the coach. The Reynolds-Alberta Museum really deserves a return visit. I heard on the drive back that tornado and thunderstorm watches had been issued for this whole area of Alberta and the weather really did look threatening. We had some heavy rain at the park and a tornado touched down about 20 miles west of here. I’m still not out of the severe weather!!!
Wetaskiwin. I spent most of the time there in the aviation museum and enjoyed seeing the display describing a sister Ninety-Nine, Rosella Bjornson’s career. She has had a very interesting career as a ground breaker in Canadian aviation and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Our early years were very similar in that our families were both involved in the Flying Farmers organization and we both soloed in a Cessna 170. (Rosella and her husband, Bill, came to the RV park a couple of days later and we had a nice visit.) By the time I finished the aviation museum, the weather was looking very threatening. I did a quick walk through of the other museum and headed back to the coach. The Reynolds-Alberta Museum really deserves a return visit. I heard on the drive back that tornado and thunderstorm watches had been issued for this whole area of Alberta and the weather really did look threatening. We had some heavy rain at the park and a tornado touched down about 20 miles west of here. I’m still not out of the severe weather!!! The Tailenders for the caravan, Bob and Marilyn Beardsall from Ontario, arrived during the week and we spent some time making plans for the upcoming caravan. I also visited the West Edmonton Mall which is one of the largest malls in the world containing over 800 stores, over 100 eating establishments, and 9 major theme attractions. Since I’m not a shopper (Where are you going to put “stuff” in your permanent house on wheels?), I didn’t spend a great deal of time there. Many of the shops are the same that you see in the States, but the other attractions in the mall are something else.
