Goodbye Kenny

On Thursday left Hinton fairly early as we had about a 5 hour drive to Devon, where my brother Ken had lived with his wife Pam. Driving weather was great, sun was shining. We drove past the turn off for Mayothorpe. Most of you recall  the tragedy in 2005 when four RCMP officers where ambushed while assisting with a Bailiff seizure. These unsuspecting officers were in a Quonset on the property and didn't stand a chance. Yet another incident of police officers killed in the line of duty.

We whizzed through Edson, which is where my nephew and his family live. The population of this little town is about 8700 people.  Edson which lies in the McLeod Valley just east of the foothills of our Canadian Rocky Mountains.  It is named after the general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. His name of course was Edson J. Chamberlain. I wonder if they called him "Eddy"? As we were leaving Edson we saw a huge buffalo in a field all by himself (maybe it was a female,,,,we didn't stop and check). I was pretty sure that it was a wild buffalo as it was all alone, but have since been told that it was from a bison farm. What do I know?!

As we are speeding along the highway heading east towards Edmonton, we suddenly hear this funny cow mooing sound. We both looked at each like "what the heck?". Well it turned out to be the GPS mooing at us to let us know that Raytard was speeding!! Apparently it moos when you go 5 mph over the posted speed limit. We had totally forgotten about that funny little feature from our last trip. Now I know exactly when MR Riggins is being a little heavy footed!

We arrived in Devon at the prebook end campground that Pam had booked for us. It was in a beautiful spot beside the Saskatchewan River. Spacious sites and lots of green grass. After setting up we went to Pam's as there was lots of work to do to get ready for Ken's memorial. My sister Joann and her husband Tom were already here from Ontario. While Ray & Tom took a motor home out to the campsite, Pam, Jo and I got busy with food preparations. A few more out of town guests arrived., My sister Christine, friend Sheila and Ken's old friends Steve Findel, Jim and Jane Black. With everyone's help we had the hall set up with tables and chairs in no time at all. We were a tired bunch!

 Here are some photos of the group of us who had come out for the Celebration of Life...

Sheila and my sister Christine

My sister Jo (on the right) and sister-in-law Pam

 Ray and Pam

 Pam and her bestie Cindy

Travis, Del, Dylan and Chera

 Pam and our Kenny

The memorial for my brother Ken was very well done. His wife Pam, did an amazing job in the preparation of the whole event but her composure during the speech she gave was commendable. Her strength is amazing. I know that I would not be able to hold myself together in her shoes. Both of my sisters got up and spoke of their memories of Ken as did their husbands. Pam's daughter Stephanie also did a great job with the media presentation. The last part of the presentation was the scattering of Ken's ashes from a glider plane over Arizona which holds a special place in Ken and Pam's hearts. Pam's daughter Danielle scattered them into the wind with the song "Freebird" by Lynard Skynard. Very emotional day it was! Rest in Peace dear Kenny as you are now free like a bird.

We left Devon yesterday (Sunday) after a busy weekend. We drove down to Erskine to visit with Ray's Auntie Eva.

 We had planned on stopping for coffee and then heading down to Medicine Hat where we would camp for the night. But no, when your 84 year old Auntie wants you to spend the night,you do so! We had a great visit and went for dinner before going to bed early.  This morning Auntie Eva fed us breakfast before heading off to Medicine Hat where we now had to stop and have lunch with Auntie Jean. I fell off of the wheat free wagon for lunch as you just can't explain to someone in their 80's who just made salmon sandwiches and also home baked cookies that you don't eat bread. You just can't!! Yup had a cookie or two also. Oh and a glass of wine!! And yes it all tasted delicious!

This is Auntie Jean in Medicine Hat,,,

Today we drove through parts of the Canadian Badlands. I wondered what that actually meant so I  googled it.  The badlands are a type of terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. They can represent volcanic rock, canyons, hoodoos, and other such rocks. Around places like Drumheller the terrain is very layered in appearance. It is actually quite beautiful!

We are in Havre tonight and are going to do a wee bit of gambling. I do have some photos but cannot add them from my iPad. So maybe the next blog entry will be a photo only page!

Tomorrow we continue east into North Dakota.