Sometimes it feels almost like we haven’t been away, as coming home, we’re plunged right back into the regular busyness of life.
But first, a couple more photos to share.
As we left Bar U Ranch a few days ago, we drove a portion of the Cowboy Trail:
Apparently named because it winds its way through much of Alberta’s ranchlands:
This isn’t the first time we’ve driven parts of this route. And not the first time that we’ve seen this:
Either cowboys don’t wear cowboy hats anymore, or they so like their cowboy hats that other caps only get to top fence posts!
But the views of the prairies with the mountain backdrop – breathtaking:
And then a few days later, we headed west again, and once again stopped just to enjoy the mountains as they got closer:
As much as we enjoy our road trips, there’s a certain risk in heading out there and we have to stay alert for what other drivers may decide to do. Over and over again we see drivers passing at risky times, cutting off other drivers, ignoring rules of the road – and then we saw this:
This wasn’t a ‘new’ accident, and there was no evidence of people needing help, but it’s truly a worry on these roads as you can never know what’s around the corner. Hopefully this trucker came out of this okay!
Since we arrived home 2 1/2 days ago, we’ve hardly stopped. First there’s the job of emptying and cleaning the trailer, opening up the house again, getting laundry done…..
Then on Saturday morning we joined our DS-K as he opened the door to his new home for the first time:
He knew what we’d find inside, at least some of it, but we didn’t. This was a bank foreclosure, and the previous owners weren’t the cleanest. It was a shock to pull out the fridge and stove and washer. First task – pull out all the carpets. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for her) DDIL-M was unable to be there for this as she’s back at school in Edmonton for her last year.
Sunday we returned to help continue the job of making this house live-able. It was determined that the stove and dishwasher were not keepers, and they were sitting in the carport when a junkman just happened to drive by. He took the appliances and a few other small bits of metal, and will return to get the freezer (really, really not useable). How handy was that?!
There’s a lot of work ahead, and after a morning appointment, we’ll go back again to give some more help. There’s plumbing and electrical to address, as well as paint and then replace flooring. First up – make the kitchen and bathrooms use-able, clean up the living room and one bedroom. Once that’s done, K can move in and they can work on the rest of it one step at a time. A couple of positives: the roof is good for another 20-25 years, and most of the windows are newer thermo-pane. Actually once it’s cleaned up, mostly esthetics will make this home very desirable.
So, there’s no just sitting around for us – gotta get busy!!!!
Happy busy times! Blessings, Peg
