Getting out of the house into the RV in a rush had left me with unfinished business in Calgary. So, after one night north out of town visiting a friend, I was driving back in for one such task, taking care of the property surrounding my garage I was camping in. Grass must be cut. Lawn mower must be put away for the winter. After that, I’d have a few days to myself and it would be off to my first real camping in the RV!
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Finding out that my Class C motorhome actually fit in the garage was a real game changer in terms of me visiting the Calgary area. Now, I have a base of operations while I’m taking care of business in town, much better than having to drive in everyday from an expensive crappy campground on the edge of town. Now I was plugged into power and buffered from the coldest part of the night. But it is not camping – once I was done with the urgent chores, it was time to head out for a couple of nights of decompression at a real campground, then I could get back to organizing the RV properly. Off to the previously visited Water Valley!
I drove out of town to the west this time, in order to swing by the scale on the way out. My RV weight fully loaded is pretty close to the maximum – it will be interesting to see if I can fit my folding boat and a small moped/motorcycle on the back without going grossly overweight on the rear axel. For now, I grab my weight, the calculations will be figured out later.
This time, I’m visiting the north side of the campground, as some cell phone signal is to be had here compared to the south side. I take a drive through the one small loop. The river view lots are open and sunny, however there are a couple of spots taken and I just want to get as far away from people as possible. The other side of the loop is wooded spots – but still not that far away from the two campers. I see a branch road at the end of the loop that goes way back into the trees – that is where I want to be. It dead ends at the campground border, no turnaround, so I’m going to get some practice backing up.
I have a backup camera, plus my usual mirrors, how hard can it be? Well, harder than I expected with the road turning as it goes back, and not being easy to see with all the leaves on the ground. I manage the first half of backing up OK, but as the road turns I wander off and stop to re-align myself. Unfortunately, my stop is a second too late and the last half a kilometer an hour is shed with a bash of my spare tire against a tree I did not see coming on the camera. Need to practice watching the right thing out back at the right time!
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| First camping among the trees |
I manage to park in my spot without further mishap. I pay for two nights of dry camping and settle in. It turns out that for all the backing up I did, the “distant” spots are only another fifty feet away, just behind the loop spots I could have easily pulled into!
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| First cooked meal camping out |
My first cooked meal out camping is a pork steak and steamed noodles with frozen veg – certainly more than I’d get tent camping! I settle in for the night, taking a little stroll in the true darkness to check out the stars littered across the sky like grains of sand. I crawl deep into the sleeping bag to avoid the frosty night air. Sleep comes easily in the silence.
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| Red Deer river from the bridge |
The next day dawns clear and cold. A hard frost out here for sure last night. But a few minutes of furnace heat takes the chill off without draining my battery too much. After breakfast I’m ready to explore what there is to see. A little walk around the campground and across the river isn’t much of a walk, so I decide to walk up the road to the south and back into the tiny Village of Water Valley. Lunch will be in town with my timing, there is supposed to be a saloon I can have a beer at with my meal.
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| Fall colors along the road walking into Water Valley |
Walking along the road isn’t ideal, but there are no hiking trails here, everything around the campground is private land. But the sky is clear and the wind is calm, so it’s a nice day to walk, even along the road. I am still seeing a lot of fall colors, even with it being October. I did not expect to get any fall color photos at this point so I am thankful for the unexpected opportunity!
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| Metal signs telling you you are in Water Valley |
It is about a half hour of walking until I arrive at Water Valley. The village is some buildings grouped around the four way stop of two fairly busy roads. The roads are busy because acreages and campgrounds are in every direction around the village – everyone comes here for their local supplies and services.
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| The one church in Water Valley |
The little church sits on one corner of the four way stop, with most of the businesses being to the west. I wander around the church a bit, then proceed west past the cool looking little general store, past the hardware store, to the saloon.
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| The Saloon is currently closed on Monday and Tuesday due to lack of staff |
It doesn’t look to be open as I see no cars parked, but it is a little early for lunch on a Monday. Walking up the steps to the entrance, I see a sign, “Closed Mondays and Tuesdays due to lack of staff”. Well, bummer. I’d hoped for a beer with lunch. But the googles says there is another café type place on the southeast corner of the four way stop. I walk back there and check out the building. The section with the café is empty other than a few remaining restaurant type fixtures – another closure since COVID started no doubt.
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| The General Store and only place to sit down and eat, with pizza being the menu |
I’m doubtful about getting any sit down lunch service here now. I decide I’ll check out the general store on the off chance they have something. At least I can pick up a snack for the walk back if no lunch is to be had.
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| The eat in section of the General Store |
But my luck changes – there is a small sit down area in the store. Pizza from Coco Brooks is the menu – I choose a peperoni and mushroom ten inch to be cooked and brought to me, with a Coke from the fridge to wash it all down. Not the lunch I was expecting, but a pretty good pizza and some conversation with the clerk about how great Coco Brooks was for there pizza supplier.
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| School, Library and other functions building |
Hunger and conversation sated, I wander out to take in the remaining bits of the village I have not seen. Like most small towns, the school doubles duty as a library for Water Valley, and probably some other services as required.
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| Hay baling |
Having seen most of what there is to see in the village, I head back north to my campsite, noting the nice hay crop out here, where it has been a little wetter than the drought experienced in a lot of the south east part of Alberta this last crop year.
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| It may be too late to salvage this building |
The ladder and new chimney on this building suggests rebuilding is happening – is it really worth salvaging this? But in these COVID times who knows – getting anything built or supplied has been a challenge and perhaps a lot of TLC is worth it for what looks like to me something closer to a pile of random lumber rather than a building.
I have another night to stay at the campground before I leave. A friend comes out who lives nearby, so I get my first practice hosting a dinner in the RV. At least it forced me to organize a little better for guests! But the following day it is time to get back to Calgary and start the long process of figuring out what went where in my hurried pack. I need to make final decisions on what to take and what to leave behind in storage. Then we will be off south to start with, visit with some friends, and off to BC to start the real camping and travel!
