Red Deer River sunset
Having hopefully fixed my furnace, I headed out into the Rocky Mountain Foothills again, this time to Ya Ha Tinda. I had been here many years ago camping, but had never really explored the area. Back then, camping was more drinking and way less exploring. This time I was on my own – I would explore as much as I could, on foot, and by motorcycle. I was curious to see what changes had happened – turns out a lot has changed in a quarter century.
Fall colors were hanging on late this year
I was finally free to do as I pleased for the rest of my time in Alberta. Now, only the weather would dictate when I left the area. My plan was to spend some time in the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta. The weather was holding in a nice dry and warm pattern for the beginning of October. I might as well take advantage of it and camp near the mountains while I still could. My first week was planned for the North Ghost area I had scouted out previously. Following that, I would make a visit to Didsbury for resupply and a friend visit, then hopefully head out to Ya Ha Tinda and explore around there a bit.
I was back in Calgary after my trip north. My dental round two and Grom order, round two awaited. My car had to be sold. But there were delays as per the norm it seems these days. I had some time to play Calgary tourist in my hometown, at least the time I had was too short to make an trip out. Adventures in my old stomp’n grounds awaited.
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Now that I have both of my new toys in hand, it was time for my first trip where I could use both of them. I was going to Lac la Biche where I could use the folding kayak on the lake, and the Grom motorcycle on the quiet country backroads. This was a perfect end of summer trip over the last long summer weekend in Canada!
The dealer I bought my Grom from actually had a motorcycle for sale in the men’s washroom.
The chores were done, the upgrades, at least what I could do, were done. My motorcycle was promised to show in a couple of days, after my three month wait. I had a little scouting trip planned with my Honda CRV – a swan song for my car that would be sold after the Honda Grom motorcycle showed up. New adventures awaited!
I had settled down to some long term mooch docking at a friend’s place. In return, I was doing a bunch of chores around the place, and one major project – putting a gate up in the back so that we could share a parking pad between my RV and their cargo trailer. I also had some electrical work planned in preparation for solar upgrades. Plus, I had a few minor tweaks to the RV interior planned to fix a few annoyances. It all ended up being hit and miss. If you’re looking for travel adventures and pictures, you’ll probably want to skip to the next post, this one is all about installs and fixes!
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Kayaking in Duckweed soup
My return to Canada started with a stop in Lethbridge to visit some old friends. I returned to Calgary with a bunch of small fixes planned. I had a list of things to do in the next few weeks to enhance my future adventures. I was getting a motorcycle, a folding kayak, and an upgraded solar setup. Those things would allow me to explore my surroundings further, and be more independent of power while I was at it. But it was not to be a quick round of take my money and give me my stuff. These post COVID times have supply chain issues up the wazoo, nothing was going to be easy.
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I needed a good spot to stay where I could get out despite the rain coming. I needed to get back to Canada soon. There was not going to be a rain delay in leaving a spot if I could help it. So I was returning to my abandoned campground, where there would be no problem leaving a gravel pad in the rain.
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Molas Pass is almost 11,000 feet
I got an early early start, knowing that I was crossing Colorado south to north through what would be some slower mountainous roads. I did not realise just how high the roads were, nor that I could end up in snow even though it was now late May here. What other surprises awaited me?
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After a week and some days spent among wonderful people it felt weird being on my own again. I actually missed people – an unusual state for me to be in. But I would not be alone for long. I had made new friends at the gathering and would be meeting up with them in the Colorado Rockies!
