Places Visited: July 9 through 14, 2007. We are staying in the campground at The Great Canadian Barn Dance in Hillspring, Alberta. The campground is a PPA park $12.50 weekdays with no discount on weekends thus $25 for 30-amps and water. We located this place 6-years ago and had a good time at the Barn Dance, this time we decided to stay at their campground. These are great people. If you are looking for the Great Canadian Barn Dance and Campground it is located at: N49° 20.635' W113° 36.972' for those of you not into GPS drive 14-miles south of Pincher Creek on PH 6, then turn east on PR 505 and go another 14-miles where you will see the signs for the Great Canadian Barn Dance. Turn north on that road the Great Canadian Barn Dance will be less than 3-miles up that road on the west side. For those of you that are not familiar with PPA (Pass Port America) it is an organization you can join for less than $50 per-year. Campgrounds that belong to PPA offer 1/2 price discounts. That kind of savings can quickly add up. While participating PPA parks generally have some restrictions on dates the PPA offer is valid, or possibly days of the week the discount is valid, or perhaps the number of days that the PPA discount will be honored the discount is genuine. Many times PPA campgrounds are new campgrounds that need help in getting established. Other times PPA campgrounds may be on the outskirts of town instead of in the "prime" location thus they need to provide an incentive for campers to stay with them. Whatever the reason PPA campgrounds generally provide a much cheaper option. PPA is the only campground organization that I think is worth the cost. PPA does not have a gimic. What you see is what you get. Once you join they send you a directory listing all participating campgrounds. The PPA directory is the FIRST directory we check when trying to locate a place to spend the night. You can join PPA by calling 228-452-9972. If you decide to join PPA, it would be nice if you gave them my number "R-0156251" as the PPA member that told you about PPA. In return PPA will give me a years membership free. I will thank you in advance for that kindness. Thank you.
Our plan for today was to get up and head to Calgary where we planned to get our motorhome worked on plus spend a few days enjoying the Calgary Stampede. It was raining when we got up so we discussed just staying in Banff for another day. I think we had both decided to stay in Banff when the rain stopped. An hour later we were on our way to Calgary without ever discussing staying again. Sometimes we are on the same wave length.
This what the highway out of Banff looked like. It wasn't raining but there were heavy clouds.
When we arrived in Calgary we stopped by the RV service center that was on the west side of town and on the highway. They did not have good news. It seems that RV-Repairs are on a waiting list for mid-September. Oh well it was our house air that needed work and we don't need our house air up here. Once that decision was made we started looking for a place to "camp" for the next several days. RV-Parks were full except for "overflow" sites that they wanted $29 for to DRY CAMP! No way am I going to pay $29 to dry camp. This place is seeming like California! We stopped to fill the motorhome with gasoline. We got a shock there! We have not gotten gasoline for the motorhome since we left Idaho over a week ago and we have put some serious miles on the motorhome so it took 52-gallons at $4.03 per-gallon. OUCH! That added up to $206.95! That is by far the most we have spent on fuel ever. It is almost $100 more than we have ever paid for a fill up While at the service station several very nice individuals told us that they would stay in one of the "big box" store parking lots since it is a common practice in this area. They were even nice enough to direct us to the best of these "big box" store parking lots. So off we went content that we would park in one of these parking lots while spending some time at the Calgary Stampede. That contentment did not last long as you will find out in a moment.
Calgary, Alberta Canada
We turned south on Sarcee Trail SW heading to the "big box" stores. Sarcee Trail climbs to a plateau where we can see downtown Calgary down the hill and to the east.
When we arrived at the "big box" stores the parking lots were full to overflowing. The fine folks had sent us to one of the best areas in town to look for "big box" store parking lots to park in but they were all full, every one of them. There was no way to get a motorhome in one of those parking lots much less room to park it. After circling around for about 10-minutes we said "forget it" lets head to the Great Canadian Barn Dance. Again, out thought process was on the same wave length. We quickly navigated our way to PH 2 that heads south out of Calgary and in a few minutes were free of "big city" traffic.
Canola fields south of Calgary
When we were in this area 6-years ago we stopped in the small prairie town of Pincher Creek for the night and went to the Great Canadian Barn Dance out on the prairie. We had a great time and have talked about what a good time we had since then. Since the Great Canadian Barn Dance has a campground and it is located between Calgary and the US it is a logical place for us to stop for the night. So off we went with the Great Canadian Barn Dance as our destination. On the way we pass field after field of canola. When we were through here 6-years ago we did not notice any canola but did notice grain fields from horizon to horizon.
Canola fields in full bloom with Rocky Mountains in distance
Grain fields are still evident but much of the acreage is now in canola.
Huge wind farm in Ft. Macleod, Alberta
In Ft Macleod we briefly turned west on PH 3 then quickly turned back to the south on PR 810. PR 810 is a good paved road through the agricultural region on the prairie east of the Rockies. Here we are passing a grain field that has been harvested. In the distance on that rise we are easily able to see over 50 of the large variety of modern wind generators.
This is green grain that will not be ready for harvest for another month or so.
McBride Lake Wind Farm south of Ft Macleod, Alberta
These wind generators belong to McBride Lake Wind Farm located south of Ft Macleod.
These wind generators aren't slowing down the canola production. The canola is planted up to within a few feet of the base of these wind generation towers. A two track vehicle trail connects each of the wind generators making a minimal imprint on the canola field.
Summerview Wind Farm near Pincher Creek, Alberta
These wind generators are located in the "wind tunnel" created by Crowsnest Pass west of Pincher Creek. Pincher Creek is reputed to be the wind energy capital of Canada.
We continued on PR 810 until reaching PR 505 where we headed west. Ten miles or so west on PR 505 until we see the Great Canadian Barn Dance sign pointing up a gravel road.
Joyce spent time walking around the facilities at the Great Canadian Barn Dance taking pictures to document our stay. Note the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the distance.
The sunsets can be spectacular from out on the prairie. Not all the time but on occasion. Facing west the best lighting on the mountains would be early morning when we are sleeping. VBG These afternoon shots from the campground will have to do.
The mountains in this picture happen to be in Waterton National Park, Canada's sister park to Glacer National Park in the US.
Joyce got this effect by focusing on the brightest spot and using a lens that narrowed the view.
On this night there are many vacant sites in the campground. Tonight probably had the best color of any sunset while we were here.
On another evening Joyce took this picture down the road from the campground.
Another picture taken from the gravel road leading to the campground.
This pair of osprey had a nest at the corner of the gravel road leading to the Great Canadian Barn Dance. When heading back to the campground on PR 505 we would generally spot this osprey nest before spotting the Great Canadian Barn Dance sign.
On that same corner, in fact directly above the Great Canadian Barn Dance sign was this pink flamingo. Someone has put this plastic flamingo on a power pole, it must be a good conversation piece in this part of the country.
Later in our stay we were talking with some locals that told us "the-story" behind this Pink Flamingo. It seems that the osprey nesting in the picture above constructed a nest on this pole. When they did --- it would short out the transmission wires. The power company tried a variety of things to discourage the osprey from building their nest on this pole, all to no avail. The "Pink Flamingo" was one of the things they attempted to discourage the osprey, it did not work. Finally the power company put up the pole with the nesting platform on it and moved the nest to that platform complete with that long flowing piece that was also transferred from the power pole. The pink flamingo was left in place as a reminder of one thing that did not work. For us it became a conversation piece.
Hay fields are a major part of the fabric in these parts.
This church is visible when heading west on PR 505 between the campground and PH 6. Several different types of grain are in the fields between us and the church.
We were surprised to see this yellow headed blackbird but here it was. We have seen them in the Hill Country of Texas, then the Great Salt Lake area of Utah and now in southern Alberta.
Mowing hay fields is a major activity in these parts. Farmers are either mowing, raking, bailing or picking up and hauling hay to storage.
Click here for more Canada Travel LogsUntil next time remember how good life is. Mike & Joyce Hendrix
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