Don, John, Lilly and Evy after lunch with in Viking September 10th 2016.
Travels with my Aunt and Uncle 2016
Angela, Don and Evy watching Battle of Alberta, football match between Edmonton and Calgary.
This years trip to Alberta with Uncle John is a little different as my Aunt Evelyn Laws has joined us. Again, I met them at the airport in Abbotsford, B.C. where I left my car. Evy had spent a couple of days with Erin and me in Mount Vernon visiting the nephews and nieces of the Moe family the previous week and then took the train up to Uncle Johns. It was 11:00 am and our plans were to stay overnight at Sun Peaks, a ski resort north of Kamloops.
Sun Peaks is a smaller scale Whistler type resort famous for it's drier powder snow. Erin and I have been here a couple times. Lodging was cheap, ($94:00 Canadian) this time of the year as it was the off-season. Nancy Green (1970's era Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist) is the resorts claim to fame and we stayed at the Kahilty Lodge, her lodge and home when she is not back in Ottowa, Ontario representing her constituents as a representative for British Columbia.
The next morning after a leisurely breakfast we continued on to Jasper Park making a stop at Mount Robson, a popular site to take pictures. Even though it might be considered the "off-season", Jasper was alive with tourists and tour buses so hotel space was limited. We stayed at the Lobstick Lodge, the namesake being a reference to the historic tree in Jasper where the railroad surveyors coming from the east and west met years ago.
The next morning before leaving Jasper we drove across town to the elegant Jasper Park Lodge. Here we took a few pictures and marveled in the beauty of this historic lodge. The lodge did not lack for tourists. I picked up a copy of the options for staying there and vowed that one day I would bring Erin here to enjoy this beauty and luxury which was comfortably beyond what we would normally pay for lodging.
On the way to Irma, AB, we stopped by the Edmonton airport to pick up Svein Helge Falstad our cousin and family historian who had just arrived from Norway. Now we had a full carload in Uncle Johns Nissan Altima as we proceeded to Camrose where Auntie Aurora was waiting to go out to dinner with us at the Norseman Lodge. We were a very crowded 5 people with luggage to boot now and the car hit bottom as we left the retirement home. We had to be careful that the car didn't hit bottom again when we drove into the Norseman parking lot.
It was 10:30 when we arrived at the cabin. Mel was there to greet us and show us our accommodations. We stayed up visiting until 12:30 and a very tired Svein Helge (26 hours since leaving Norway) gladly went to bed.
Sept.10th, 2016
This was a busy day for the farm as they wanted to finish harvesting the last of the barley and Mel was also busy with preparations for the picnic at the cabin. Uncle John, Svein, and I drove the golf cart to the farm so Svein would get a chance to see the grain drying process. Kent and Mel were drying the barley slowly at a low temperature to insure the barley would reach malting grade which was currently almost double the price.
John, Evy, Svein and I had lunch with Lilly in Viking today. Some of the neighbor ladies from Irma who were also residents at the retirement home (Eunice Gulbraa, Solveig Raasak) joined us for coffee after lunch. It was a nice long visit and a lot of fun. Before leaving for the trip back to Irma, we found the grocery store, liquor store, and meat market. Evy fixed dinner at the cabin and that night we had a lot of guests (Mel and Laurie, and Kent and Tausha and family). We sat outside on the deck until late in the evening.
Sept. 11th, 2016
After a quick lunch Mel took us all to the field to watch the harvest today. Svein rode with Mel in the pick-up on the way to the field so he could explain the harvest process. John, Evy, and I followed in Laurie’s car. Neither Svein nor Evy had seen a harvest with such modern and efficient machinery. Svein was all over the place taking pictures of the combining and loading and unloading of the barley into the bags. Evy likewise got a lot of pictures.
Afterwards, Evy, Svein and I continued north to Hwy 16, (the Yellowhead) and proceeded through Vermillion and Vegerville to Edmonton and Angela and Jeff's where we were to meet them and go to an Edmonton Eskimo football game, (Battle of Alberta) between Edmonton and Calgary. It was an exciting game that went into overtime and Calgary eventually won.
Paul Fraunfeld took a picture to capture the dour faces of our Edmonton family. Living in Calgary, he was of course a Calgary fan. Before leaving for Irma, Angela and Jeff provided us with a delicious meal of Eggplant Parmesan. It was 12:30 when we arrived back at the cabin. Svein, not having adjusted to the time lag slept part of the way home. Uncle John had spent the day with Mel and Runa on the farm as he would have had a lot of trouble negotiating the steps at the football stadium with his painful hip.
Today we enjoyed a pot luck at the cabin with around 45 relatives. It was a bit cold but it turned out to be an enjoyable day. Mel and Kent wouldn't have to feel guilty today enjoying the family fun as the combine would be parked due to the damp grain. Aunt Evy and Svein Helge rode with Janice to Edmonton at the end of the day. Evy would be staying there for a couple weeks before returning to Phoenix and Svein Helge would be joining his tour group which will have arrived in Edmonton from Norway.
Sept. 12th, 2016
Somewhere behind the cloud cover the sun has risen and I now have a view to the east of the Erickson homestead as I enjoy my first cup of black coffee with molasses toast made from Erickson grain that I smothered with butter and honey raised from a neighboring farm. Cattle once again graze the coulees around the farm, utilizing an abundant resource and providing fertility and improved soil tilth to the cultivated fields on a rotating basis.
The buffalo may no longer roam these prairies but they do safely reside on various reserves and farms and the vast Wood Buffalo Park far to the north. The coulees and scrub areas are now inhabited by deer and elk. Farmers, including Mel and Kent have become increasingly aware of the necessity of sustaining the soil for future generations. Grandpa Erickson and great uncle John Erickson would marvel at the efficiency and technology enjoyed by the modern day farmer.
Today the Erickson farm will be hosting a lunch and farm tour. Svein Helge arrived in Canada a few days before a Norwegian tour group he was a member of so he could spend time with family. The group of 50 arrived by bus around 12:30 and received a catered meal in the large farm shop, including sandwiches made with Alberta beef and bread made from the grain on the Erickson farm. This was supposed to have been a tour of the harvest but the weather did not cooperate. Kent gave a thorough speech of the family's arrival in Alberta and then explained how all the modern equipment lined up outside was used during the planting and harvesting of the various crops on the farm. Svein would spend the remainder of his vacation with the tour group which would continue on through Calgary, Banff, Kelowna and the Okanogan, Vancouver, and Victoria.
Sept. 13th, 2016
The farm was busy drying barley today and moving it to various storage tanks to make room for the next days harvest which would be wheat. To reach malting grade barley (for brewing beer) and receive a much higher price, the barley had to be carefully dried in the grain dryer at a temperature not to exceed 132 degrees. This process took extra time but was well worth the expense, explained Mel. John and I took a trip into Wainwright for lunch and then visited Lyle and Marina Hollinger.
The harvest returned to full speed ahead. Mel's friend Keith Creasy brought his John Deere combine to the field to help with the wheat on what is called the James Place. Afterwards they would be moving the equipment to the Lickness Farm. Next Mel and Kent would be moving all their equipment to Keith Creasy's farm to help him with his harvest before moving onto their own Canola. Keith has worked together with Mel for many years. I rode the combine with Kent for a while and John went with Mel to Viking where they delivered a load of grain to the elevator. The wheat price was low this year but the elevators were willing to take high moisture grain and not charge for drying as they needed to fill waiting trains which were in a rush to fill waiting ships in the port of Vancouver.
Dinner time in the field was 6:00 and everything stopped for a few minutes. Tausha brought out a delicious beef and potato casserole made from left overs from the day before. The tailgate on the pick-up went down, the kids hopped out, the "buffet" was set complete with dessert and coffee and within a half hour the combines were rolling across the prairie again and would be working until 9:00 this evening.
Sept. 14th, 2016
John and I left the cabin for home around 9:30 am. We decided to go through Camrose and proceed west through Wetaskiwin avoiding the traffic congestion created by the highway construction around Edmonton. It probably took a little longer this route but it always makes a road trip more interesting to see different scenery. The area south and west of Edmonton was bustling with the activity brought on by oil production, but also had many farms.
We were greeted by a group of about 15 mountain goats near the entrance to Jasper Park as they crossed the highway to water at the river. A few miles later a group of elk numbering the same, likewise crossed the highway. Later, on our journey through Jasper, a herd of deer grazed dangerously close to the highway. That night John and I found lodging in Blue River. This put us within a very manageable seven hours trip to Abbotsford and Vancouver.
Another successful trip to the farm.
What did I learn on this trip? Well, a couple of surprises:
1. Elma was an excellent bare back rider on a horse named Dan. She would race around the fields and farmstead bare back to the amazement of others. She also was the one who usually took care of milking the cows when the others who were older had left the farm.
2. John flew on a search and rescue mission to northern Hudson's Bay where they spotted a downed pilot on an ice floe, enabling his rescue.
3. Gordon Hollinger drove a bus in Edmonton for a while before returning to farm and was noted for his "singing" to the passengers while driving.
4. Paul Fraunfeld wanted to pay for his return trip home from Mount Vernon, WA. after spending part of his summer in the 70's picking cucumbers on the Moe farm, but Evy and August wouldn't let him.
5. The road to the farm from the Lickness place has been straightened and soon will be paved all the way to Irma.
6. Angela and Jeff are huge Edmonton Eskimo fans.
Uncle John, Evy , and I had a great trip
Don
Sun Peaks is a smaller scale Whistler type resort famous for it's drier powder snow. Erin and I have been here a couple times. Lodging was cheap, ($94:00 Canadian) this time of the year as it was the off-season. Nancy Green (1970's era Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist) is the resorts claim to fame and we stayed at the Kahilty Lodge, her lodge and home when she is not back in Ottowa, Ontario representing her constituents as a representative for British Columbia.
The next morning after a leisurely breakfast we continued on to Jasper Park making a stop at Mount Robson, a popular site to take pictures. Even though it might be considered the "off-season", Jasper was alive with tourists and tour buses so hotel space was limited. We stayed at the Lobstick Lodge, the namesake being a reference to the historic tree in Jasper where the railroad surveyors coming from the east and west met years ago.
The next morning before leaving Jasper we drove across town to the elegant Jasper Park Lodge. Here we took a few pictures and marveled in the beauty of this historic lodge. The lodge did not lack for tourists. I picked up a copy of the options for staying there and vowed that one day I would bring Erin here to enjoy this beauty and luxury which was comfortably beyond what we would normally pay for lodging.
On the way to Irma, AB, we stopped by the Edmonton airport to pick up Svein Helge Falstad our cousin and family historian who had just arrived from Norway. Now we had a full carload in Uncle Johns Nissan Altima as we proceeded to Camrose where Auntie Aurora was waiting to go out to dinner with us at the Norseman Lodge. We were a very crowded 5 people with luggage to boot now and the car hit bottom as we left the retirement home. We had to be careful that the car didn't hit bottom again when we drove into the Norseman parking lot.
It was 10:30 when we arrived at the cabin. Mel was there to greet us and show us our accommodations. We stayed up visiting until 12:30 and a very tired Svein Helge (26 hours since leaving Norway) gladly went to bed.
Sept.10th, 2016
This was a busy day for the farm as they wanted to finish harvesting the last of the barley and Mel was also busy with preparations for the picnic at the cabin. Uncle John, Svein, and I drove the golf cart to the farm so Svein would get a chance to see the grain drying process. Kent and Mel were drying the barley slowly at a low temperature to insure the barley would reach malting grade which was currently almost double the price.
John, Evy, Svein and I had lunch with Lilly in Viking today. Some of the neighbor ladies from Irma who were also residents at the retirement home (Eunice Gulbraa, Solveig Raasak) joined us for coffee after lunch. It was a nice long visit and a lot of fun. Before leaving for the trip back to Irma, we found the grocery store, liquor store, and meat market. Evy fixed dinner at the cabin and that night we had a lot of guests (Mel and Laurie, and Kent and Tausha and family). We sat outside on the deck until late in the evening.
Sept. 11th, 2016
After a quick lunch Mel took us all to the field to watch the harvest today. Svein rode with Mel in the pick-up on the way to the field so he could explain the harvest process. John, Evy, and I followed in Laurie’s car. Neither Svein nor Evy had seen a harvest with such modern and efficient machinery. Svein was all over the place taking pictures of the combining and loading and unloading of the barley into the bags. Evy likewise got a lot of pictures.
Afterwards, Evy, Svein and I continued north to Hwy 16, (the Yellowhead) and proceeded through Vermillion and Vegerville to Edmonton and Angela and Jeff's where we were to meet them and go to an Edmonton Eskimo football game, (Battle of Alberta) between Edmonton and Calgary. It was an exciting game that went into overtime and Calgary eventually won.
Paul Fraunfeld took a picture to capture the dour faces of our Edmonton family. Living in Calgary, he was of course a Calgary fan. Before leaving for Irma, Angela and Jeff provided us with a delicious meal of Eggplant Parmesan. It was 12:30 when we arrived back at the cabin. Svein, not having adjusted to the time lag slept part of the way home. Uncle John had spent the day with Mel and Runa on the farm as he would have had a lot of trouble negotiating the steps at the football stadium with his painful hip.
Today we enjoyed a pot luck at the cabin with around 45 relatives. It was a bit cold but it turned out to be an enjoyable day. Mel and Kent wouldn't have to feel guilty today enjoying the family fun as the combine would be parked due to the damp grain. Aunt Evy and Svein Helge rode with Janice to Edmonton at the end of the day. Evy would be staying there for a couple weeks before returning to Phoenix and Svein Helge would be joining his tour group which will have arrived in Edmonton from Norway.
Sept. 12th, 2016
Somewhere behind the cloud cover the sun has risen and I now have a view to the east of the Erickson homestead as I enjoy my first cup of black coffee with molasses toast made from Erickson grain that I smothered with butter and honey raised from a neighboring farm. Cattle once again graze the coulees around the farm, utilizing an abundant resource and providing fertility and improved soil tilth to the cultivated fields on a rotating basis.
The buffalo may no longer roam these prairies but they do safely reside on various reserves and farms and the vast Wood Buffalo Park far to the north. The coulees and scrub areas are now inhabited by deer and elk. Farmers, including Mel and Kent have become increasingly aware of the necessity of sustaining the soil for future generations. Grandpa Erickson and great uncle John Erickson would marvel at the efficiency and technology enjoyed by the modern day farmer.
Today the Erickson farm will be hosting a lunch and farm tour. Svein Helge arrived in Canada a few days before a Norwegian tour group he was a member of so he could spend time with family. The group of 50 arrived by bus around 12:30 and received a catered meal in the large farm shop, including sandwiches made with Alberta beef and bread made from the grain on the Erickson farm. This was supposed to have been a tour of the harvest but the weather did not cooperate. Kent gave a thorough speech of the family's arrival in Alberta and then explained how all the modern equipment lined up outside was used during the planting and harvesting of the various crops on the farm. Svein would spend the remainder of his vacation with the tour group which would continue on through Calgary, Banff, Kelowna and the Okanogan, Vancouver, and Victoria.
Sept. 13th, 2016
The farm was busy drying barley today and moving it to various storage tanks to make room for the next days harvest which would be wheat. To reach malting grade barley (for brewing beer) and receive a much higher price, the barley had to be carefully dried in the grain dryer at a temperature not to exceed 132 degrees. This process took extra time but was well worth the expense, explained Mel. John and I took a trip into Wainwright for lunch and then visited Lyle and Marina Hollinger.
The harvest returned to full speed ahead. Mel's friend Keith Creasy brought his John Deere combine to the field to help with the wheat on what is called the James Place. Afterwards they would be moving the equipment to the Lickness Farm. Next Mel and Kent would be moving all their equipment to Keith Creasy's farm to help him with his harvest before moving onto their own Canola. Keith has worked together with Mel for many years. I rode the combine with Kent for a while and John went with Mel to Viking where they delivered a load of grain to the elevator. The wheat price was low this year but the elevators were willing to take high moisture grain and not charge for drying as they needed to fill waiting trains which were in a rush to fill waiting ships in the port of Vancouver.
Dinner time in the field was 6:00 and everything stopped for a few minutes. Tausha brought out a delicious beef and potato casserole made from left overs from the day before. The tailgate on the pick-up went down, the kids hopped out, the "buffet" was set complete with dessert and coffee and within a half hour the combines were rolling across the prairie again and would be working until 9:00 this evening.
Sept. 14th, 2016
John and I left the cabin for home around 9:30 am. We decided to go through Camrose and proceed west through Wetaskiwin avoiding the traffic congestion created by the highway construction around Edmonton. It probably took a little longer this route but it always makes a road trip more interesting to see different scenery. The area south and west of Edmonton was bustling with the activity brought on by oil production, but also had many farms.
We were greeted by a group of about 15 mountain goats near the entrance to Jasper Park as they crossed the highway to water at the river. A few miles later a group of elk numbering the same, likewise crossed the highway. Later, on our journey through Jasper, a herd of deer grazed dangerously close to the highway. That night John and I found lodging in Blue River. This put us within a very manageable seven hours trip to Abbotsford and Vancouver.
Another successful trip to the farm.
What did I learn on this trip? Well, a couple of surprises:
1. Elma was an excellent bare back rider on a horse named Dan. She would race around the fields and farmstead bare back to the amazement of others. She also was the one who usually took care of milking the cows when the others who were older had left the farm.
2. John flew on a search and rescue mission to northern Hudson's Bay where they spotted a downed pilot on an ice floe, enabling his rescue.
3. Gordon Hollinger drove a bus in Edmonton for a while before returning to farm and was noted for his "singing" to the passengers while driving.
4. Paul Fraunfeld wanted to pay for his return trip home from Mount Vernon, WA. after spending part of his summer in the 70's picking cucumbers on the Moe farm, but Evy and August wouldn't let him.
5. The road to the farm from the Lickness place has been straightened and soon will be paved all the way to Irma.
6. Angela and Jeff are huge Edmonton Eskimo fans.
Uncle John, Evy , and I had a great trip
Don