A Change to Weekly Recaps

WHERE ARE WE? Rivers Provincial Park, Rivers Manitoba

It is the time of year when we get really busy with Cj's.  School is getting out and the short holiday season is upon us.  Because of that, I have decided to post weekly instead of daily for a while.  I hope to be able to post interesting, new things, rather than just going through the same routine every day.  If it wasn't important enough to record in my journal, it won't be here.  

This is the last week when we will not have great hoards of campers in the park during the week so we decided to take 3 days and go up to Emma Lake to visit Ken and Rhonda.  They are our friends who we spend winters with in La Penita.  Its about an 8 hour drive one way so we headed out early on Monday morning.  Lots of water everywhere along the entire trip.  We have had way too much rain this spring.

We took a little bit of a scenic route via Hudson Bay Saskatchewan and saw some very pretty country.

We had a nice travelling day, however as we got closer to Emma Lake (which is north of Prince Albert) it turned into a drizzly rainy mess.  It rained off and on and was cool all night.  We got there early enough to enjoy watching the Stanley Cup Playoff.  It was a good game but we came out on the wrong side.

Tuesday was another dreary day.  We spent most of the time in the cabin chatting, playing games, and relaxing.  The girls went for a walk and Ken and I checked the tarp on their pontoon boat.  We will have to wait for another trip to spend time on the lake.

Wednesday morning we waved goodbye and were off home again.  It was fun to spend some time with them again and maybe we will see them later this summer.

The trip home was as long as the trip here!!  We did see lots of Canola starting to bloom around Watrous.

Then we saw a bunch of rail cars on the tracks beside the road.  Obviously they don't use the tracks for anything but storage anymore because first there was about 10 miles of tank cars sitting.  Then there was a line of about 5 miles of container cars, minus the containers.  Then about another 10 miles of grain/fertilizer cars.  I wondered if they are out of service and being scrapped or were they just not needed right now and await further service.  

We came back via Regina and that route takes us over a lot of true prairie land.  Flat as a pancake without a tree.  They say you can watch your dog run away for 3 days.

Thursday was supply day and yes, I was up at 6:15 to meet the truck.  It was also windshield change day for the wood truck, so I didn't get to go back to bed.  I had to take it to Brandon this morning and they would change it later in the morning.  Because the shop is beside the airport, I went there to use the wifi while I was waiting.  Security was eyeing me up like a potential threat to security.  lol

The finished product on the windshield was great.  It is nice to have a clean windshield with no cracks.

Before heading for home I went for fuel at the Waywayseecappo Gas Bar.  This is the best gas station around with full service and 5 cent lower price than anywhere else.  They will check your oil or wash you windows and fill you up, all with a friendly attitude.  We could learn a lot from this establishment about how a business should be run.  On our trip we paid 159.9 and this was 129.9!!  How come the big difference?

While we were away, our coffee supplier dropped off a sign to use to advertise that we brew their coffee.  Forbidden Flavours is one of the name brand coffee roasteries and have very good product.  We are going to start promoting Cj's more as a place to come for morning coffee in the sun on the deck.  

We had to go get the grand kids today and bring them to the lake today.  They wanted to bring their bikes but were concerned that there wasn't room in the Jeep for them.  "Hold my beer!!!"  They laughed at how I tied them to the front bumper.

We spent a little time on the deck, but it was quite chilly still.  Sure wish summer would hurry up!!

We have purchased a new POS (point of sale or cash register) for Cj's and Sue spent a bunch of time getting it all set up.  It's a neat tidy system, but will it do the job for us?  We will see.

Friday morning was nice and sunny so I had coffee in a sun beam.  

I even brought a spare chair for a friend!  Anyone want to join me?

It wasn't long and my friend Randy showed up to spend his coffee break with me.  He works for the park and is on weekend patrol.  He is the sort of guy that brightens anyones day.

I'm hoping I have enough wood in the compound to get me through the weekend.  I won't be getting another wood shipment until next week.  Hope we make it.

We have been getting lots of rain these days and it even makes finding a place to park a car difficult.  This car in Strathclair is in a big puddle.  They will need rubber boots to get to it.

Saturday started off with some rain but the sun came out around noon.  It is amazing how ones attitude changes when the sun comes out.  Saturdays at Cj's are all about the music and today we had Ross Mathison come to entertain us.  This was the first time he was here and the audience loved him.  We had between 90 and 100 people show up for "Music in the Park".

Oh yes, remember I wondered about the wood pile lasting?  I think we are going to make it, but just barely.

This time of year it stays daylight until almost 11 pm, so I took Archie for a late night run.  He loves to run and even stops to check out the odd gopher.  

Sunday was a busy Cj's day, but for the most part, our capable staff look after the masses.  That allows us time to spend with family.  The sun was out but the breeze was a little chilly on the beach.

A couple of different views of the sunset tonight.  One of the sun setting in the west

and the glow on the lake to the south east.  And that was our week here at the lake.  Hope you had a great week too.  Good Nite!