Saying Goodbye

 NOTE:  Today is the last day of my two years on the road--yet I'm not ready to stop!  Am I having fun? What a silly question.
Finally, I just checked the blog tally.  One year ago there was a total of 10,000 page views of the blog.  A few minutes ago that number rolled over to 45,000!  Pretty cool, guys.  Thanks.

Ron and I were up and on the road by 7AM.  We had to be in Brooks by 8AM for him to catch the shuttle to the Calgary airport.  The clouds were getting heavier and rain had begun falling by the time we started out.

15 minutes after leaving the park we encountered this herd of cows in the middle of the road.

They were in no hurry to move along.

Hmm, rain and cows--the stress level was rising.

I shouldn't have worried--we made it in time.  

I had planned to go on to Calgary for the Stampede but the weather was supposed to stay stormy for the rest of the week.  Anyway, I needed to slow down for a while so, after waving a final goodbye to Ron, I turned south and headed to Ft. McLeod to wait out the bad weather.

 

While I was in Lethridge a hailstorm came through.  It was my first in the RV and it was so strong I worried there would be damage to the vehicle.  But no, none that I could find. But hail stones were piled up all along the streets and I even saw merchants shoveling the hail away from their doors. (Why didn't I take some pictures?  I don't know.)

Later I was talking to a local who informed me the hail had destroyed most of the crops in the area and many of the farmers were suddenly in bad shape. Talk about stress!  Life as a farmer must be as tough as ...

 

...well, a beekeeper's life.  These are shelters for the bee colonies that are brought into the fields at different intervals. Yes, bees are dying in great numbers and the keeper's are worried about their future as well.

 

It was very lonely for me when Ron left.  He is so easy to travel with and his energy really gave me a boost.  Plus, I so appreciate the effort he put into planning the week and picking the places that will forever stand out in my mind as highlights of this voyage.  Thank you, Ron.
Besides, I have my faithful traveling companion--the only cat I've known that sleeps with her head on a pillow.