Trade Show Browsing, Rodeo Action & a Late Night in Edmonton

After showers and getting ready, we headed downstairs to meet up with some of the crew before setting off for breakfast. Luckily, we ended up at a restaraunt right next to the LRT, so we hopped on and made our way to the trade show, where we met up with more friends. Brittany was manning things at the Moore’s booth with Cheyanne. We took some time to browse the show ourselves and catch some of the high school saddle bronc competition while we were there.

Thanks to Matt for his loaner stetson!!

We waited for a shuttle afterward, but it never showed, so back onto the LRT we went and headed downtown. Supper was at the casino, where we had a table for 20 — where everyone was fed before the evening’s main event.

Then it was off to the rodeo, where we met up with Brittany as we managed to get her a ticket beside us. It sounds like she and Cheyanne may have tickets for a couple more nights, much to B’s dismay, as she would much rather relax at the hotel with her book! LOL.

Once the rodeo wrapped up, we all met back at the casino for a cold drink. That seems to be the theme of this event! Christie (daughter of the late Winston Bruce) and Jim then invited us to their nearby Vrbo loft, where we enjoyed delicious food and more drinks while the rain started coming down outside.

It was around 12:30 when we finally called an Uber and headed back to the hotel. Naturally, our room key decided not to work, so we had to head back downstairs to get that sorted out before we could settle in.

We watched a little more of our TV show with the lights off, finally calling it a night after 1:30 a.m. Another late one, but that's CFR weekend for you — lots of rodeo, friends, food and visiting, with just enough sleep squeezed in around it all!

CFR Bound, a Hotel Surprise & a Night of Rodeo Celebrations

The usual start to the day, but this morning included some last-minute packing as we prepared to head north to Edmonton for the CFR. S took his truckload of trash and shop odds and ends to the dump before returning home to shower and finish packing. I let the two chubbies out, knowing Shaina would be coming around noon to work with Mac before leaving on her two-week mystery vacation. She would put them back in for me.

We loaded Harley’s kennel, bedding and food, and S had left the ramp out on the trailer. When he took suitcases out, he saw Harley had loaded herself right up, not wanting to be left behind! The plug-in cooler was filled with beverages, I had snacks packed, and soon we were heading out of the yard with a full truck.

We arrived at Stouts to drop Harley off by 11. She was excited to be there, although I’m not sure she was quite as happy once we left her behind.

A stop at Tim’s in Airdrie provided brunch, which we ate in the truck while S navigated the Indy 500 north. With a few recalculations and some missed turns along the way, we eventually arrived at the Chateau Lacombe before 3.

Old Hotel Macdonald in the distance where we had our grade 9 field trip stay!

Imagine our surprise when we discovered we had no reservation! Yikes! Thankfully, they managed to find us a king room. It’s an older hotel, and our room certainly showed its age and smelled of smoke. We even had to sign a waiver and leave a damage deposit, although I’m pretty sure we weren’t going to be the ones causing any damage. LOL.

Our plans to meet friends at 4 at the Westin changed, so we settled into our room with a cold drink before Donnie Jo joined us. After 5, we met up with the rest of the Strathmore crew downstairs and made our way over to the Westin, where the CFR banquet was being held.

It was a lovely evening of rodeo celebrations, good food and catching up with everyone. A delicious meal was served throughout the presentations, and Darrell, the ag member receiving the award, was completely blindsided. That certainly added to the fun of the evening!

my secret video of Darrell getting his award

After the banquet, we all headed back to our hotel, only to discover the lounge was closed. No problem — we had a cooler full of drinks upstairs! Everyone piled into our room, and it quickly turned into a packed gathering full of chatter, stories and laughs.

The last of our company finally left around 1 a.m. Folding back the bedding, we burst out laughing finding “Don was here” penned on the crisp white sheet. Rather than calling it a night immediately, we watched a little more Netflix until sleep finally overtook us.

A full day of travel, a surprise hotel situation and a wonderful evening celebrating the rodeo community — not a bad way to kick off our CFR weekend!

Onion Harvest, Ranch Chores & a Last Taste of Warm Weather

Another early wake had me editing and sorting phone photos. S made coffee for us then hopped back in bed as usual.

Once I was up, I let the horses out and finished Saturday’s blog post about our Renn's first saddle ride. With that published, it was time to tackle the ripe tomatoes. I sorted through the 4 boxes, washed and froze the ones ready to go, and restocked the rest so they could continue ripening.

S was busy cleaning the hot tub filters and giving it a shock treatment while I worked away. The overcast, dreary skies and wind made the 22° at 2 p.m. feel much cooler than expected. I pushed myself outside to bury some compost, though, and once I got moving, that warm wind wasn't so bad after all! I dug up all the onions and pulled weeds — okay, not all the weeds! — as the sun finally started peeking out and the temperature climbed to the forecast 24°.

Sheldon was busy blowing out the trailer lines with colder temperatures and possible snow in the forecast for the weekend. Winter is definitely making its presence known, even if we are still squeezing a little more warmth out of October.

B had given me the job of filling all the mineral tubs in the shelters and topping up the water tank, so off I went. While out there, I noticed part of the fencing had the hot wire pulled off. I texted the farm hand, who brought the Ranger out and got it hooked back up.

By then, the weather had turned absolutely stunning, with the wind gone and the sunshine finally making an appearance. I brushed Harley outside before heading in for some plant care. S took advantage of the lovely weather to bathe Harley out on the grass while I changed all her bedding and got it washed. Between the fresh bedding and her bath, she was getting a good cleanup!

I picked beets and carrots from the garden for supper while S washed the truck and car out on the lawn. It's nice to get a few of those outdoor jobs done before the weather turns, especially with the weekend forecast looking rather wintery.

B came out after supper to feed the horses and get her list organized. She also got hay down from the mezzanine for Amber to feed while we are away. Everything needed to be finalized before B heads off after work tomorrow for the CFR in Edmonton, where she'll be running the Moore's booth at the trade show until Sunday night.

We wrapped up the day with more Netflix, enjoying a quiet evening after another full day of garden work, animal care and getting things ready for the colder weather ahead.

A 3 1/2 Hour Trail Ride In The Rockies

I was awake early today to the sound of bird hunters and their fireworks-sounding shots going off every ten minutes or so. A little Instagram perusing and a coffee got me going, while S had his coffee and shower before heading off to church.

I worked on Friday’s blog post for a while, then figured I’d better get myself packed up for our trail ride. I let the 2 horses out with the herd and gathered drinks and snacks for the day, although in hindsight a hearty breakfast would have been a much better idea. :)

Happy 64th anniversary Grama and Papa!! <3

B was out around 10:30 and we got busy. She loaded the tack and caught the horses while I hooked up the trailer. It had been many moons since I had done that, but all those years of hauling for 4-H came back to me pretty quickly — with a little swearing along the way, of course. I did call S to confirm a couple of safety things, just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything important.

The Boysis family went to a petting farm on this beautiful day

By 11:30 we were on the road, heading south for the nearly 1¾-hour drive to Etherington Creek Campground. Sheldon called while he was on his way home from church and had finally decided he would join us, but unfortunately he was too late. The train had already left the station!

After six kilometres of washboard and dust getting in, we arrived at the campground only to discover it was closed. Shoot. That was a bit of a miscalculation on our part — we hadn’t checked and apparently it had closed in mid-September. Oops!

Thankfully, we still had a beautiful sunny 21° day ahead of us and plenty of country to explore, so we saddled up and headed out for our 3½-hour ride.

This map shows the lop we made in the 3 1/2 hours, lots more to cover in one wanted :)

Switch wasn't sure about crossing this bridge :)

Thanks Britt for capturing this photo!!

We were the only humans around in that huge old mountain range, which certainly made you feel very small, but also very blessed to live in such a beautiful country. The first couple of hours were pretty uneventful, but the southern loop brought plenty of water hazards that challenged the horses. They did great, though, taking everything in stride and getting us through.

Back at the trailer, we untacked, brushed and loaded the horses before beginning the nearly two-hour drive home in the golden hour.

We had touched base with Sheldon along the way, and thankfully the bears hadn’t gotten us. He was expecting us around 7 and wondered if we should grab a burger somewhere on the way home, since neither B nor I had brought lunch or supper. Silly us!

Instead, S offered to make salmon burgers, pasta and even a coleslaw with a simple dressing that I had B send him. Now that’s a pretty good welcome-home crew!

We pulled in around 7 as the sun was setting quickly. I let Switch out into the winter pasture and caught Hank to put him in his diet pen with Roo. We ate our supper, B headed out to feed the horses and I finally got into the shower. Once she finished feeding, she headed home.

After my shower I finished Friday’s blog and published it while S continued his sports watching. I watched a couple more episodes of Leanne, and once the sports master was finally finished for the night, we started a new series, East of Eden.

Not a bad ending to a day that started with hunting shots, included a closed campground and a long mountain trail ride, and finished with a home-cooked supper waiting for us. :)