I was talking to my parents today and they think I'm having a full summer holiday living here in Pincher Creek. We have someone come in once a week to clean the chalet and change our sheets and replace the towels. It does sound pretty good. We have been enjoying our time here and trying to find new places to explore or do new things in places we have been.
Ron has been working hard but then on his days off we are off to see new things. A week ago today was Ron's first day off after starting to work in Waterton. We walked across the street to church.
The church is a small Pentecostal church with very friendly and welcoming people. Some remembered us from being there last year when we stopped by to check out Pincher Creek after finding out that Ron was being transferred here. The rest of the day we took it easy since Ron was just coming off of nights.
On Monday, we went for a motorcycle ride through Crowsnest Pass.
This takes you right by Frank Slide. We have driven by here many times but each time it is a sobering realization of how fragile life is. On April 29, 1903, 82 million tonnes of limestone rock fell down Turtle Mountain and in less than 2 minutes the east side of Frank town was wiped out. The rocks remain on both sides of the highway.
We continued on into British Columbia which is really not too far away.
We arrived in Fernie, BC just in time for a tea and bagel break. Fernie is a pretty little mountain town that is known for great skiing but this time of year the mountain bikes take over.
We stopped along the way home at a little lake for a picnic and got home in time for supper.
The next day, Ron loaded up our bicycles while I packed our lunch. We headed into Montana to Glacier National Park.
Waterton and Glacier are two connecting National Parks, one in Canada (where Ron is working) and one in the US.
Glacier is a much bigger park and the Going to the Sun road is still only partially opened due to snow removal still happening. This is where we headed with our bikes.
I was a little nervous about the ride because I am not a long distance rider and I was a little concerned about the regular sightings of bears. The road runs along Saint Mary's Lake. The lake is 15.9 km long.
We made it to a beautiful look out but Ron encouraged me to get to the next spot and I was glad that we did.
We refueled with our picnic (or should I say our back pack lunch) and then headed back down the road to stop in some more beautiful spots. We arrived at a perfect little photo op and a family from China was very excited to see us on our bikes. Not only did they take our picture for us, but they took some of us on their camera.
Although the day was beautiful and only sweaters were needed; the road crews were still busy clearing the highway at the higher elevations but we also found snow along the way.
We didn't see any bears along the way and I was more than okay with that. We got back to the gate and loaded the bikes and checked my odometer....27 km! That might not be much for some bike riders but I was pretty proud of myself.
We headed back to the border, noticing the marker for the two countries.
Once again, we were home in time for supper. We can get into British Columbia or Montana, do some exploring and still be home in time to make dinner.
Ron started back to work on Wednesday and has been working ever since. I've been working from the chalet and getting lots done. We have been biking or walking around town to get some exercise and planning what we should do on Ron's next days off. I went to church this morning and was greeted by a friendly congregation. Ron is finishing nights tonight and might be putting some overtime in tomorrow with the quads. It's a hard life but somebody has to do it.
So life in Pincher Creek has been going pretty well for us. We are very comfortable in the chalet, love the mountains that surround us and are enjoying our days of exploration.
Stay tuned....
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