Moose Jaw happenings

Well, Moosomin is in my rear view mirror and I arrived here in Moose Jaw yesterday afternoon to visit old friends Gary and Veronica B.  Gary and I had served together back in the 80s at Borden.  We caught up on the old times and recent stuff (including Veronica's stroke and subsequent open heart surgery), and away we went to a retirement party for one of Gary's sisters.  It was a big family gathering, lots of laughs, a few drinks, loads of munchies, and more than one person was curious as to who the bearded guy was.  Two of the guests are sausage and smoking experts, and I had grand conversations with both of them.

We came home fairly early and I turned in soon thereafter.  It was chilly in the camper last night - went down to about plus six or seven, and I had three blankets on the bed.  Reckon I will have to re-learn how to start the propane furnace and all that!  Fall is coming...

My plans for the Labour Day weekend were to do a gopher safari here with Gary on farms owned by his family and friends.  Three of the farmers who were at the family celebration last evening mentioned that the cold, wet weather of late has put the gophers down their holes and unless things warm up significantly, one will not see them up above ground.  Indeed this was the case, as we covered a lot of territory this afternoon and did not see a single gopher.  In one field it was like an artillery impact zone, holes absolutely everywhere and not a gopher to be seen.  Too bad, so sad.

I will probably move on tomorrow rather than stay here in Moose Jaw - no gophers, no safari, and I have a few miles to cover before my elk and mule deer hunt in BC.  In the meantime it has been a very enjoyable visit, and also an opportunity to do up some laundry and put things back in some semblance of order in the camper.

I am typing this on a real computer at the home of my friends, and it sure is delightful to be able to type (with two fingers) at a somewhat normal speed rather than the PAINFULLY slow process of using that laptop keyboard.

So far I have driven over three thousand kilometres, bought maybe a thousand bucks worth of fuel, and for the most part have been very pleased with the F250 and the camper.  There are some excellent highways, and some that were not so much so.  Probably the worst so far was the Trans-Canada west of Winnipeg, which has washboard asphalt, NOT FUN to drive on.

I am heading to Calgary, will take two days to get there, and hopefully will catch an old buddy tomorrow in Medicine Hat.  (Matt K or Klim for those who know him, class of '77)

Doug