A busy summer so far

Another long time between posts, but in my defense it has been a bit busy around here.

We have continued to build our summer RV site to the point where my credit card finally waved the white flag! So I think we're done for this year. Amazing how those seemingly small purchases add up to a big monthly bill.

We finished off the shed and now have it pretty much filled with ......stuff. I thought we had downsized a couple of years ago but apparently we still have a lot of stuff we just can't live without. We still have our cargo trailer about half full too :-(.

We decided we should build a deck instead of sitting on the gravel. We hadn't planned on building this until next year but now we're glad we did. Much more comfortable and with the wind screen we built the barbecuing is easier too.

Leveled.....

......and joists in place.

Decking nearly done.

Good help is hard to find......

........but he works cheap! We're working on the wind screen

Wind screen done. The slats are adjustable. Barbecue nicely tucked in the corner.

Slats fully open if we need any breeze to come through.

Completed deck. Eves trough on the shed. Deck is 16 x 22.

Hard to see but there are stairs built up to the trailer.

We spent the first half of July at the Resort then headed to Winnipeg, Manitoba for a family visit. We took our 7 and 9 year old grandsons with us. We did this trip two years ago with them and that additional two years made a big difference. They were much easier to entertain and look after. Actually with all the electronics they packed along they pretty much entertained themselves. We enjoyed that time with them immensely. They are asking when we can go again so I guess they enjoyed it too!

We stopped in the pretty little town of Boissevain to visit with my cousin Murray and his wife Judy. We hadn't seen them in many years.

Boissevain, Manitoba

Just down the road from the campground in Winnipeg is Tinkertown. An amusement park for kids of all ages. It's lots of fun and unlimited rides for $19/day. A good deal and the kids love it, especially after traveling in the truck for two days!

They went on every ride, most of them several times!

Just down the road was Grand Prix Racing. The boys had never done go-carts before and they loved it!

They also loved the bumper boats. Something new for them as well.

My Mom and Dad were hoping to get as many of the family together as possible so we arranged to meet at my brother's house. My three brothers and sister were there and as many of our families as possible. We had a great catered beef brisket supper (thanks Dad!) and enjoyed a great visit with everyone. Even my two sons and their families from Red Deer made a last minute 3,000 km round trip visit for the event!

We also got together with as many of Cheryl's family as we could. Always nice to visit family and we try to get back to Winnipeg every year.

Thirty four of the McMechan clan. (I was taking the picture.....if you were counting)

Back home in Central Alberta and back to the chores and other fun. The truck was due for an oil change and while it was in they tried to fix an issue with adding fuel into the tank. Especially when hot and just off the highway I couldn't get fuel into the tank. It would bubble and foam and spill on your boots. The mechanic blew out the tank vent hose which he thinks was partially obstructed. This makes sense but I likely won't be able to confirm if it's fixed until we head south this Fall.

The trailer has needed a bit of maintenance as well. The hitch has been lubed and serviced, the tanks have been flushed and cleaned, some LED lights have been replaced, and oh yeah, we installed a washing machine! It's an apartment sized washer that fits nicely in the front closet which was already prepped for it. We put the dryer in the shed. We won't take the washer with us when we travel south. It's too heavy and we really want the storage back, but it is very handy while we're parked here at the Resort. We'll winterize it and leave it in the shed when we go.

The pretty yellow Canola fields in full bloom at the end of July.

......and that was Our View From Here!

It's not all work

We've been working on the RV lot a LOT and some days you really need to take a break.

Kids love to fish so we picked up a couple of the Grands and headed to an open house at a local trout pond. Nobody caught any fish, but the hot dogs were good!

Nobody was catching any fish.....but it wasn't from lack of trying! There were several hundred hooks in the water at any given moment.

Of course you actually need to have your hook in the water!

Len Thompson Industries has been making fishing lures for 75 years. They are based in the small Alberta town of Lacombe. They have erected what Guinness says is the worlds largest fishing lure. It is located next to the trout pond we were at.

Hey, I hooked a couple of small ones!

I joined my Grandson on his Grade 1 field trip near the end of June. We visited a Strawberry Farm and market garden that also had some cute farm animals and a playground. A nice way for the kids to experience a few agriculture items and have some fun.

Lots of greenhouse items. Hey, everybody is paying attention! Must be interesting.

The baby lamb was popular

This lady bottle feeds the lamb. His mother abandoned him. This is often the case when the mother has multiple babies but can't feed them all.

Kids loved him.

The lady was explaining how they planted corn for their corn maze using GPS satellites and computer programs to manage the planting. Very high-tech.

A very woolly momma sheep enjoying some freshly picked grass the kids fed her.

No farm is complete without a rooster, and a ....

........and a pirate ship. No, wait, this was in the farm playground.

Fun falling down Strawberry Mountain.

Wagon rides are fun.

The kids enjoyed climbing on this retired tractor. 

OK, everybody grab your stuff!

Time to go home.

We enjoyed a day at an antique tractor show and pull. So impressive to see some of the old tractors still working hard. Some of these old tractors are nearly 100 years old for heavens sake!

Some big......

.....some small.

Some of these old campaigners were all heart. Not pretty to look at, but just as willing to pull as ever!

Pride of ownership was very apparent. These owners loved to show off their tractors.

These old John Deere 'D' models were popular and boy could they pull! 

This old German tractor was impressive. It has a 640 cubic inch ONE Cylinder engine. Crazy!

See the driver leaning back over the seat trying to get just a little more traction? It was pretty close competition and a few inches more down the track made a difference.

Those rear tires take a lot of abuse. Some only run a couple of pounds of air, trying to maximize traction.

Some tractors were too 'new' to compete so they just pulled for fun. To be considered antique the tractor must be older than 1960. This beautifully restored Allis-Chalmers was a 1962 I believe. This fella has spent tens of thousands of dollars restoring it. (and I thought collector cars were expensive!)

Lots of variety.

Some unrestored

Some were actually scale models of larger tractors, like this Rumley.

Some were beautifully restored.....

......like this Minneapolis.

Of course John Deere was popular.

I raked a lot of hay back in the day on a tractor just like this.

Lots of fun to see these old tractors and actually see them work pulling a sledge down a track. No 'trailer queens' here!

We enjoyed a nice evening out at our son's in-laws place for Canada Day. A rare nice evening with fireworks to help celebrate July 1. I should have used a tripod and a bit longer exposure, but it's hard to get a re-do! :-)

Enough play. Time to get back to work on the RV lot!

We've had a LOT of rain in the past month so a few rainbows showed up.

......and that was Our View From Here!