Over the Canadian Rockies, past Banff and down the east side into Cochrane AB, just west of Calgary, where we met Dean and Jane at Springhill Campground as planned. They were off at a family gathering and stopped by the coach on their return to the park.  The next day we drove over to Cochrane Ranch for a wee bit of a hike and plenty more talking. 

Jane prepared dinner on their coach that night and we concluded our wonderful reunion.  We hope to see them in the southwest again next winter.  Early in the morning we saw them dive off.

We left for Okotoks ninety minutes south and east.   As we pulled up to the gate of the Country Lane RV Resort, the Hoggs were waiting in their car to escort us the last kilometer and open the gate to the private park they live in when not on the road.  We set up on their friend’s lot and began five days of seeing yet another new city and spending time with good friends.

We started by calling friends of Carol’s brother and sister-in-law and arranging to meet for lunch.  We had a wonderful lunch with plenty of talking and sharing of experiences followed by a driving tour of Calgary and a visit to their home. After returning to the coach we were joined by the Hoggs for Happy Hour and and time to plan the rest of the stay. 

Wednesday we drove into Calgary again after a lovely Vietnamese lunch,walked around the Olympic Plaza the center of the city. We got into the Glenbow Museum where there was a fantastic exhibit of Yousef Karch portraits.  We finally tore ourselves away as they were closing and walked through the +15 back to the car.  In Rochester we call the +15 Skyways – have not yet found out what +15 comes from other than the conjecture that the walkways are 15 feet above the pavement.  The other non metric anachronism is that houses are sized in square feet. 

Another happy hour and dinner and an early departure on Thursday for Rosebud, a very small town east of Calgary on the prairie.  Their website, click here, will provide the details and some history.  We had lunch and then went to the Opera House where we saw a production of A Bright Particular Star (see the web site for plot summary and playwright).  There were only forty in the audience as the weather had been particularly nasty dumping an inch or more of snow on the roads as we drove and it was midweek as the season is just beginning. Five minutes before curtain the lights went out with a crash.  Then stage manager and other backstage people were seen moving around with great haste.  The power had gone out and they resorted to back up power to provide lights.  Eventually they got power from the Fire House generator – fortuitously just next door – and the curtain rose no more than 15 minutes late.  I am not generally tolerant of performances by those who are not professional.  The cast were faculty and students at the Rosebud School of the Arts and they were marvelous.  We thoroughly enjoyed the play, the production and the performances of the cast.  I would return to this theatre for another play if I were in the area.

Our return drive included a stop in Calgary to meet Pat and Bob’s daughter Jenny and son-in-law Art at their home.  We arrived just as they were concluding the sale of a car that had served as Pat and Bob’s tow’d before we knew them and had served the family through two engines.  We were welcomed warmly and had a lovely conversation that included an appearance by Reed, their son, Pat and Bob’s grandson. 

As I write the weather is ugly.  The temperature is in the mid 30’s and it is precipitating on and off.  I would say raining, but there seems to be some harder stuff mixed in with it.  Tomorrow, Saturday the 30th, we will store the coach in a lot next to Country Lane for the two weeks we will be in Rochester.  We will arrive in Rochester late on the first and depart again late afternoon on the 15th.

For those of you who worry about our various maintenance headaches here is a report.  Tony the RV Medic is resident at Country Lane and a friend of the Hoggs.  He spent a couple of hours and resolved our major headache with the leaking sink and installed a new faucet in the kitchen.  Everything inside the coach that is supposed to be dry is dry!  Just as there are things in all of our houses that could be made to work better or differently there are  those things in the coach, but none of them are of any consequence and I will address them as they annoy me.