You knew it was just a matter of time before Phoebe would leave her nest at Seba Beach and venture out to explore new lands. For this trip the new land was Saskatchewan, and for all who are either from there (most of Edmonton) or have crossed the border it is a very different world. To start it is flat, the colours of yellow canola fields glisten in the sun, the big sky with The Simpsons-styles fluffy clouds in the shapes of birds and dinosaurs. And don’t forget the fandemonium of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders and “Rider Pride.” Oh and of course PIL beer. What you might not know is that lakes and rivers cover more than 12% of Saskatchewan. In fact there are over 100,000 lakes and rivers in Northern Saskatchewan alone. 100,000! We stayed on Emma Lake. And we also took a day trip to Waskesui Lake in the town of Waskesui—Prince Albert National Park. So we have more than 99,990 lakes and rivers to go! Yikes! Here’s what we learned about Phoebe on the trip:
Phoebe is most happy when she has a place to head to. And she will be happy to know (we haven’t told her yet) that she is heading to two more campsites in the coming month. She can do what she does best—come along for the ride and be a place to call home when we’re done exploring for the day. We are excited to say that the next two trips include our tails, Phin and Westley. They stayed home this round to look after the house with our dog sitter but they are ready for our next adventures! Here are some more photos of our excellent week in Saskatchewan with family
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Our Airstream trailer is 19’. That may seem large to a 13’ Boler owner and not so large to a 46’ Forest River trailer owner. In fact our trailer is a full three feet longer than the Airstream 16’ Sport. Gosh that is bigger. Three feet! When you read about the 19’, the promotional material will tell you our trailer sleeps four. But in our experience it sleeps two, and the two sleep in different areas of the trailer. And when it rains, and our fellow campers are nestled in their 30 foot SOB (some other brand) trailers lounging in their Lazy boy chairs watching their 35” flat screen TVs with five slides we are trying not to trip over each other or the dogs. I’m having a very difficult time figuring out what a family of four would do other than want to kill each other. Perhaps the size inspires more outdoor activities… Here’s what we’ve come to think about since we bought our trailer. It is made to move, not sit in a long-term campground. If you are focused on adventure and want to pull a trailer every weekend this is your trailer. It is light and a breeze to pull. It is absolutely well made and beautiful (our trailer Phoebe is quite lovely). It is so well thought out inside with so many features in a smaller footprint. And it is guaranteed to make you smile every time you look at it. We’ve also come to discover that Airstream is one of America’s iconic brands. American because Airstreams, like Harleys, Gibson Guitars, and yes, Smith and Wesson guns are still made in the US and have never been outsourced to another country. Every. Iconic American brand cares about quality, craftsmanship, and durability, and they make them at home to ensure you are getting it right every time. So yes they are more expensive. But they keep their value and they are built to last. So back to the long and short of it. Phoebe is made to move. She craves adventure. And she is not happy just sitting around a campsite. In fact Phoebe has a lot in common with us. We can’t sit around either. No offense Phoebe, but you are too small to hang out in when it's raining. Add a couple wet dogs to the mix and we are ready to explore. First we decided to head about 18 km south from Seba Beach to Tomahawk. Who wouldn't want to visit a place called Tomahawk?! Tomahawk has a really nice welcome sign (with geese, not a tomahawk) but it was a bit far from the road so, no photo. Since our visit, I've learned a bit about the hamlet. The population is 65. Here's a little history from Wikipedia "During the fall of 1902 lumberjacks Ed Martin, Chas. (Charles) Lindell, John Kelly, and John L. Croppley scouted along an old pack trail for land. They returned with reports of good land. In March 1903 the first European settlers arrived, traveling along the same trail. In July of the same year the first woman arrived. The original building for Tomahawk School was constructed in 1909." So there you have it. We saw a few businesses but of course the hotel with the Dog Gone Saloon...cold beer and hot women...Were to Busy Having fun-fun-fun-fun... takes the tomahawk! We headed back north past Seba Beach and decided to stop at the 9 Iron Grill at the Pineridge Golf Resort for late breakfast. The restaurant is really nice and breakfast was delicious. The rain stopped and we decided to check out the Dragonfly Festival in Wabamun. Wabamun has owned the dragonfly. They have the biggest in the world. We walked around a bit and checked out the sites. Before heading home drove around the Wabamun provincial campground. We stopped at the store and received a message from Smokey.
James found a metal firewood stand on Amazon. With free delivery. We thought it looked perfect for the half cord of wood we knew would be waiting for us at Shadybrook. We arrived on Friday evening to a large pile of cut pine in the middle of our camp site. Time to stack. James put the stand together and we found the flattest area to set it up. It took us about an hour to stack the wood on the holder and between the two trees. Mighty fine work we thought. Now we are set to burn wood all season. Sad faces prevailed this morning when we saw the metal rack tipped over and all the wood on the ground. The rain all night and this morning likely played a factor. Plan B...we put the metal rack against the wood pile and didn't stack it as high. Fingers crossed that this works. We'll know next weekend when we go back out.
We don’t always follow a logical path. For instance, last year we bought a truck with the explicit purpose of pulling a trailer. Only problem was we didn’t own a trailer. So we had…well…another vehicle that was stored in my office garage. We almost booked a spot at a campground without a trailer too. But that is another story for another day. Mellissa is a much more experienced camper than I am. She has actually camped in a tent and small trailers. For me it is a new experience altogether. Now that I am a co-owner of an Airstream named Phoebe I have a lot to learn. Simple things like how to connect the darn thing to the truck—and the real kicker, how to back the trailer into a camp spot. I watched a lot of videos, most of them not Airstream specific, all about black water, grey water, shore power, dewinterizing and even how to open the awning which to be honest needs to be learned correctly or you can break it. I even recorded on my phone how our friend unhooked the trailer. But truthfully there is only one way of learning. By doing. We’ve been busy lately buying a lot of stuff for Phoebe who is relaxing near Seba Beach, like chairs, outdoor carpets, and even a Camp Chef barbecue and a strange looking pie iron that you throw into a fire. I think a storage shed of some ilk is the last big purchases in our future. What's next? No idea! But I'm excited to find out. After about a year of searching for an RV that we liked (and could afford) we finally found a 2008, 19ft Airstream Safari. We are thrilled to start exploring! We decided to start this website because this is a different type of adventure for us. We both document our overseas travels on other websites but this site is dedicated to our travels with our Airstream and our dogs - Phin & Westley. We purchased the Airstream at the end of May and have been gathering supplies for her ever since. We are RV newbies so we have a lot to learn - thank goodness for Youtube! Our first tow went well and friends helped us set everything up at the spot we have rented for the season. The site is beautiful, the people are friendly and it's only an hour drive west Edmonton. Naming your Airstream is common in the Airstream community and after our first weekend camping, we decided on Phoebe. The name was suggested by the people we bought her from. Phoebe means bright or shining one. Perfect. Thanks for following along, we look forward to sharing our experiences with you. |
AuthorMellissa & James live in Edmonton, Alberta and enjoy exploring. Currently our Airstream is parked at a seasonal site about an hour from our home. Archives
May 2021
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