Friday found us on the road again (have you got the Willie Nelson earworm, now?). Travelled a new highway, driving from Waterton to Pincher Creek, which brought us back to Highway 3 about an hour west of Lethbridge, and we continued west to Fernie and back to beautiful Birch Meadows Lodge.
Built by GM Canada, the 1974 Terex Titan was the only 33-19 ever produced and it was the largest, highest capacity haul truck in the world for 25 years. Two Greyhound buses and 2 pickups can fit into the box, all at once! Westar Mining retired the "Titan" from service in 1991. After acquiring the Sparwood Mine in late 1992, Teck Corporation offered the "Titan" for preservation as a public monument in 1993. The Sparwood Chamber of Commerce completed a fund raising effort, restored the "Titan" (minus the engine) as a static display, and promotes it as a tourist attraction.
Relaxed at the Lodge for a couple of hours, then headed to Graham's around 5:30, waited for Amanda to arrive, chowed down on pizza and then headed off to Wapiti Music Festival. Opening act was Buckman Coe - a nice, easy folk/soul/reggae sound. Could clearly hear the instruments AND the singer. Second act was Reuben and the Dark - we all agreed meh! No distinct instruments and you couldn't make out what the singer was saying. Evening's headliner was The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer - blues/rock and AWESOME!! One guy singing and playing harmonicas (harpoons), the other on guitar (axe) and foot percussions, and singing. We were on our feet at the stage (with a large crowd) for the entire performance. Didn't get back to the rig until midnight. Constant eye out for animals as we drove back, and just as we approached the lodge on the access road and Robin turned off the high beams, a deer darted in front of us. Fortunately we were going less than 15kmh, so no one would have suffered any damage if we had made contact. Sky was pitch black and LOADED with stars. Perfect end to the evening.
Slept in until almost 9 on Saturday. Due to a miscommunication the night before, we were still hanging around waiting to hear from Graham, when he called wanting to know where we were. He was expecting us for breakfast and it was now 11am. Oops! So we got our act together and met them at this cool restaurant called LOAF, and had a delicious, very late breakfast (Robin opted for lunch). Our favourite performers from Friday night were sitting at the table behind us with their families, so when we were leaving, I thanked them for an awesome performance. They are based out of Vancouver, so will definitely be tracking them down when we get home.
Back to Graham's to pack up chairs, etc. and we were back to the festival site to see what the day had in store. We missed the first act, and quite frankly (with one exception) weren't very impressed with any of this day's entertainment. The group that started just after we arrived, Lovecoast, from Vancouver, wasn't bad. R&B/soul/pop, they are described as "a young band with old soul". After them, it was basically heavy beats, garbled lyrics and LOUD!! A lot of original songs based on down times in the song writer's (usually the singer's) life, and I only know this because they would tell you before the song started. No way I'd be able to figure out what he/she was singing about over the instruments. The "headliner" was a folk/bluegrass performer from Newfoundland - not bad, and very upbeat, but not stimulating enough to keep us hanging around after a full day of sun, people watching, meh music, pricey food and beverages, and tailgating and beergardening. A fun day, nevertheless, with two of our favourite people. One young man in particular was a very happy camper when we dropped him off at his apartment. Wished Amanda luck, and it will be interesting to see how he feels tomorrow. Back at the RV by 11pm, and no animal encounters this time.
Sunday was another sleep-in day and eventually Graham and Amanda showed up and we had breakfast in the motorhome (thanks for cooking, Amanda). Last night's happy camper wasn't quite so chipper and smiley today, but he wasn't surly either. We were relaxing out in the sun and the guys decided to move the picnic table. Someone had shoved a large branch between the slats of the table, so Robin broke it in two and tossed first one piece, then the other, into the bushes. Suddenly, they are yelling at us to get in the motorhome, and I looked up to see a number of wasps swarming around the guys near a stump. We all made a mad dash for the rig; unfortunately the guys sustained a couple of bites. I was first in and when I hit the top stair I caught my toe and pitched head first towards the couch. Of course, in light of my history, everyone is freaking out. But I was OK, aside from some rug burn and peeling skin on my knee and elbow. As the day progressed, my foot (and big toe, in particular) were letting me know they weren't happy with the morning's adventure, but nothing that won't go away, in time. Once inside, we realized a couple of wasps had followed us in, so there was a great deal of shouting and swatting and flapping of arms going on. Once the beasts were vanquished, Amanda and I just broke down laughing, re-picturing the antics and how it must have looked. It turned out that Marcel (the Lodge owner) had seen us all scrambling for the motorhome and wondered if we had perhaps spotted a bear, or something equally as threatening. As we said to him, if it had simply been a bear, we wouldn't have been moving so fast. Later in the day, he located the nest and will deal with it as soon as we leave.
Later in the afternoon, we headed to Paul & Lisa's home for a BBQ. We got to meet some more of Graham's friends here in Fernie, and had lots of laughs hearing about some of their insane adventures and escapades. Great dinner and fun company. Robin had been designated the DD earlier in the afternoon, and I think Amanda and I gave the two guys a little taste of their own medicine on the drive back to Graham's, giggling and hooting and hollering from the back seat (windows open, of course).
Then it was, unfortunately, time to say goodbye for now. The kids are back to work tomorrow and we are moving on. We returned to the Lodge and, as requested by Sonya earlier, stopped in for a drink. Spent about an hour with them, and a couple of their friends from Calgary (interesting and very nice folk - a veterinarian and an acupuncturist) and then it was time to traipse back to the rig and call it a night.
Slept in until almost 9 on Saturday. Due to a miscommunication the night before, we were still hanging around waiting to hear from Graham, when he called wanting to know where we were. He was expecting us for breakfast and it was now 11am. Oops! So we got our act together and met them at this cool restaurant called LOAF, and had a delicious, very late breakfast (Robin opted for lunch). Our favourite performers from Friday night were sitting at the table behind us with their families, so when we were leaving, I thanked them for an awesome performance. They are based out of Vancouver, so will definitely be tracking them down when we get home.
Back to Graham's to pack up chairs, etc. and we were back to the festival site to see what the day had in store. We missed the first act, and quite frankly (with one exception) weren't very impressed with any of this day's entertainment. The group that started just after we arrived, Lovecoast, from Vancouver, wasn't bad. R&B/soul/pop, they are described as "a young band with old soul". After them, it was basically heavy beats, garbled lyrics and LOUD!! A lot of original songs based on down times in the song writer's (usually the singer's) life, and I only know this because they would tell you before the song started. No way I'd be able to figure out what he/she was singing about over the instruments. The "headliner" was a folk/bluegrass performer from Newfoundland - not bad, and very upbeat, but not stimulating enough to keep us hanging around after a full day of sun, people watching, meh music, pricey food and beverages, and tailgating and beergardening. A fun day, nevertheless, with two of our favourite people. One young man in particular was a very happy camper when we dropped him off at his apartment. Wished Amanda luck, and it will be interesting to see how he feels tomorrow. Back at the RV by 11pm, and no animal encounters this time.
Sunday was another sleep-in day and eventually Graham and Amanda showed up and we had breakfast in the motorhome (thanks for cooking, Amanda). Last night's happy camper wasn't quite so chipper and smiley today, but he wasn't surly either. We were relaxing out in the sun and the guys decided to move the picnic table. Someone had shoved a large branch between the slats of the table, so Robin broke it in two and tossed first one piece, then the other, into the bushes. Suddenly, they are yelling at us to get in the motorhome, and I looked up to see a number of wasps swarming around the guys near a stump. We all made a mad dash for the rig; unfortunately the guys sustained a couple of bites. I was first in and when I hit the top stair I caught my toe and pitched head first towards the couch. Of course, in light of my history, everyone is freaking out. But I was OK, aside from some rug burn and peeling skin on my knee and elbow. As the day progressed, my foot (and big toe, in particular) were letting me know they weren't happy with the morning's adventure, but nothing that won't go away, in time. Once inside, we realized a couple of wasps had followed us in, so there was a great deal of shouting and swatting and flapping of arms going on. Once the beasts were vanquished, Amanda and I just broke down laughing, re-picturing the antics and how it must have looked. It turned out that Marcel (the Lodge owner) had seen us all scrambling for the motorhome and wondered if we had perhaps spotted a bear, or something equally as threatening. As we said to him, if it had simply been a bear, we wouldn't have been moving so fast. Later in the day, he located the nest and will deal with it as soon as we leave.
Later in the afternoon, we headed to Paul & Lisa's home for a BBQ. We got to meet some more of Graham's friends here in Fernie, and had lots of laughs hearing about some of their insane adventures and escapades. Great dinner and fun company. Robin had been designated the DD earlier in the afternoon, and I think Amanda and I gave the two guys a little taste of their own medicine on the drive back to Graham's, giggling and hooting and hollering from the back seat (windows open, of course).
Then it was, unfortunately, time to say goodbye for now. The kids are back to work tomorrow and we are moving on. We returned to the Lodge and, as requested by Sonya earlier, stopped in for a drink. Spent about an hour with them, and a couple of their friends from Calgary (interesting and very nice folk - a veterinarian and an acupuncturist) and then it was time to traipse back to the rig and call it a night.