Driving Miss Donna - no more :-( Festivals, Bridges, and Fibre!

When we last left you, we were just leaving Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, slowly making our way homeward.  We were passing through Drumheller when we got a call from the daughter of our great RV friends, Don & Donna.  Don and I went to high school together back in Saskatchewan, and then reconnected decades later in the RV world.  I have camped and traveled with Don & Donna in Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Arizona, Nevada, California, Texas, and likely a few places I've forgotten.  She advised me that they had both died in a collision near their home in Alberta.  What a shock and loss, to all their friends, daughters, and grand kids.

Don had retired a few years ago after spending his career mostly with the Alberta government, but Donna was still super busy with several businesses she ran online, as a board member with the Co-op, and numerous volunteer positions.  Don and I managed to camp together for a week this spring near Abraham Lake, when Donna was busy with all her endeavours.  She also had a blog Driving Miss Donna, though it has not been updated in a while.

Bailey and I spent one night at home, and not wanting to be there, we kept on heading west. After one night along the west boundary of Yoho National Park, 

 

 

 

we were fortunate to get one of our favourite usual spots on Revelstoke Lake, where we spent the week.

Although mostly clear, there was some thick smoke that moved in for a couple of days - from distant forest fires. Remarkably, while BC has been experiencing one of their worst fire years in quite a while, neighbouring Alberta has had plentiful rain, and few ignitions even when the hazard was high.  For the first time in 40 years, Alberta had a day in August where there were zero fires burning in the province!

But, back at the end of July, I attended the memorial service for Don & Donna, and I estimated that was attended by over 500 friends, and I know of many who could not make it.  Sad times with lots of happy memories.

I recognized the photo of their rig on the back of the program as the place where Don and I had camped earlier this year - though both of them have enjoyed that spot with me many times in the past, as one of our local 'go-to' spots when there were no other plans.

We took the long way home, via the Brazeau reservoir, and checked out a newly renovated former railroad Taunton trestle on the abandoned railroad between Nordegg and Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.  It now has an impressive and expansive concrete deck, as well as tables and benches, etc.

This project involved building about a mile of new road, and large new parking area, with outhouses etc.  I thought that I might enjoy biking on the trail, till a short drive in the area reminded me of the huge numbers of ATV's that inhabit the area, using this trail, as well as any other place where they can rip and tear up the terrain.  Perhaps there are sections of the rail trail that are not as busy, or as close to popular ATV camp areas?

Meanwhile, back at home, crews were busy drilling in conduit for the fibre optic cable that is to follow.

Their drill can run just underground, and around corners, with only a few minor excavations required.  Of course, previously, various other crews showed up to flag all the buried utility lines that they do not want to encounter unexpectedly.

Who knows when the fibre will arrive, but in the meantime, Starlink seems to be working quite well ...

Our next expedition was back to Saskatchewan again, for the third time this summer.  This time, the attraction was the Northern Lights Bluegrass Festival, at the Ness Creek site near big River.  I had convinced Don & Donna to attend, and they had purchased tickets they would never get to use. :-(    In no rush, we spent a couple of days on the way there, trying to find alternate routes that we had not previously explored.   

Our second night found us once again at the Fabyan Trestle on the CNR mainline, near Wainwright, Alberta.

 I had planned to stop for the night right at the park boundary of Prince Albert National Park on a little used and remote entry point, but remarkably, was spotted by a relative from Alberta who just happened to be driving by, and we ended up at their family cabin on Emma lake!

Next couple of days, we hooked up with another camping couple, and toured some areas in the national park, before we all headed over to the music festival.

We hiked the Boundary Bog trail.

The festival was held at the Ness Creek site, near Big River, Saskatchewan.  And, according to this sign at the entry, they also host a lot of different events at the same spot!

  

Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys were the headline act. 

They were nice enough to mention the passing of Don & Donna in their closing remarks.

The festival site is deep in the boreal forest, with several open fields to camp in, and many hidden spots in the woods as well.

On our way home, we stopped for the night near the North Saskatchewan river ...

Apologies for the length of this post!  I guess we got a bit busy and distracted, and before you know it, we had a lot of content to try and jam in here.  Fall is definitely upon us, and the weather has not been that inviting for camping.  Till next time ...