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| Page Views: 645 | Adventures in Camping or How Not to get Blown Up by madamx - last update: Jul 5, 2007 |
| Comfy and cozy in the pouring rain |
I had not been camping since I was 12 years old. When my husband saw these camping cabins on a hunting trip (he hunts small birds not big game) and begged and pleaded to stay there, I was quite skeptical. I don't mind getting dirty, but give me a jacuzzi tub and 600 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets after! Well, I'm not that bad, but you get the picture.
I downloaded a camping list off the internet and picked the brains of my friends who actually camp. They told me they hated it but they do it for the kids. "The food prep will kill ya" one of them said. "Make your husband load up the car!" one of them warned. "Otherwise, he'll end up doing nothing". I compared camping lists -- for me: food, clothing, gear, shopping for a few things we didn't have, booking the cabin, cooking items, organizing the menu; for him -- firewood. Hmmmm something was wrong with this picture!! Our camping lists were quickly adjusted.
The Ghost (named for the Ghost River) is an area that is slightly northeast of the Banff National Park boundaries. It's a beautiful area, with rolling low mountains that we refer to as "foothills", dotted with ranches that have been there for over a hundred years. It's pretty much off the beaten track to the usual tourists that flock to Banff National Park, and I hope it stays that way. An hour and a very bumpy dirt /gravel road ride later, we were deep in Ghost country and at our little cabin. No electricity, or running water, a tiny propane heater to take the chill off, and a sweeping view of the Rockies from our front porch. It was beautiful. |
| Sunset over the Rockies from our front porch |
As soon as we got settled in, a huge thunderstorm developed and it poured. Thank goodness we were not tenting and had our cabin. Greg ran out in the storm to throw wood on our fire in the pit so it would not get put out. It rained off and on all evening long, and we fell asleep to the sound of rain on the tin roof of our little cabin, snug as bugs -- under our high-quality Portuguese flannel sheets and down duvet, courtesy of moi -- with our little propane heater going. |
| "When life gives you lemons -- make grease" |
"Is that Supposed to be on Fire?" In the morning, I noticed our provided bbq was out of fuel, but no worries, we had brought a little camp stove that was buried in our basement. I told Greg as I fried up our heart-clogging bacon, sausage and egg brecky, "When life gives you lemons, make grease!". It was strange we seemed out of fuel, when one of the (may I add very cute) cowboys checked our bbq tank the night before and told us we had half a tank left and he would change it tomorrow.
Later that day, I started up the bbq for dinner -- I smelled propane and heard a hissing noise, but I thought maybe it was just the fuel going through the hose and the smell was gone in a matter of seconds. I worked on the bbq, and Greg relaxed on a fold-out chaise lounge. All of the sudden, I heard him say " Um.... is that supposed to be on fire?" (which he admitted later was a dumb thing to say, but I'll chalk it up to shock) I looked down, and flames were shooting out of the top of the propane tank under the bbq. Then we both had a "Duhhhh" moment and bent down at the same time, our faces near the tank as we stared at the flames incredulously for a few moments.
Coming to my senses -- and suprisingly remembering a few things from the fire marshall lectures at work that I slept through -- I ran and got the fire extinguisher in our cabin, pulled the pin, squeezed the trigger, and aimed. The fire was out. There was sort of a stunned silence from both of us, then I heard hacking and coughing. I looked up; Greg had not moved away from the tank, and he was covered head to toe in extinguisher dust. Note to self: have people move away before squeezing the trigger of extinguisher! "Thanks, honey for not letting me blow up" he managed to croak. The bbq was totalled -- all the plastic connectors and hose were melted. |
Follow that Cutline the next day, the excitement over, we went hiking. Cutlines are tracts of land cut by survey teams, that bisect the Alberta countryside. We found a cutline close to our cabin that seemed to lead to a mountain, and off we went. There was a tremendous amount of very steep up and down that certainly gave us a work-out, but I think the result was worth it. |
The countryside was in full bloom with wild tiger lillies, wild roses, northern bedstraw, alpine arnica, fleabane and Indian paintbrush. |
Near the end of the line ... Saddle Mountain and the Ghost River. |
After our hike, the management couldn't find a replacement bbq. We had become a bit leery of bbqs anyway. I managed to successfuly cook for supper a steak cowboy-style over the open coals. It was every bit as delish as it looks! |
| Another view from our front porch |
Besides our little "incident" I think overall our camping adventure was a success. We are going back to our cabin end of August, and hopefully, there will be a new bbq for us to use ;o) |
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VZ-Pam Sat Sep 6, 2008 02:51 UTC
Thanks for your greetings. I did not cook and I had a 8 course meal tonight...no "rubber bands" as appetizer but I got seafood rice baked inside a pumpkin as one of the 8 course meal...ha I can't move now | goingsolo Fri Sep 5, 2008 20:34 UTC
Hi Helen, Great opening photo. I've been away for a long time. Looking forward to catching up on everyone's travels | saccharinicity Fri Sep 5, 2008 18:53 UTC
oh! i made a scary face and stuck my tongue out too! all while wiggling all my fingers around my head like a spider! (tho not sure how many bugs ive actually seen with their tongues sticking out. hehe). lets hope i never have reason to do that again. | Tom_In_Madison Thu Sep 4, 2008 17:07 UTC
Its been good, but seems to have disappeared already. Winters on teh way here, there too I bet. |
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