Sunday, August 5, 2012

Went for a day at the Lake

Hello  everyone. Yesterday Morning my  friend Russ and his fiancé, Anita called me and asked if I had something planed for the day. I said no, nothing planned. He then asked if I would like to go camping with them for the day. I said sure, you bet.  Russ said he could pick me up at 11 a.m. as they are coming back into town then for some supplies and would love to have me along. Wow, that was really nice of them to think of me and be able to get away for the day. He arrived at 11:30 a.m. and off we went to Wabamun lake about 45 to 50 miles from Edmonton. Wabamun is a large lake wit about 3 or 4 Power plants around it. There is a lot of Coal in the area to use for firing the Generators. It was going to be a hot day and I am normally  hiding  at home in my air conditioned home. We have had a hot summer this year  and today was supposed to be around 28 C not used to this type of heat. 

We got to Wabamun Lake about an hour later and started to make some lunch.

      Russ cooking up Lunch  Russ and Anita 

Russ got a nice fire going to keep the Mosquitos away, and I love the smell of the campfire. After Lunch,  we sat around for a short while, and then got ready for the lake, to see all the boats and good looking ladies in their bikinis. We got on the road and in a few minutes got to the town of Wabamun.

   Welcome to Wabamun IMG_9706 

Took a few photos around the welcome sign, they a great use of an old speed boat full of flowers, how awesome to see this.  We then got to the marina where the was a lot of activity of people getting their boats in and out of the water. We were luck to find a parking spot right by the small beach they had set up.

  Boat launch and Pier 

          IMG_9733 

We found a nice spot near the washrooms and under a pine tree to shade us from the sun. We got enough shade that it was quite comfortable. I took a few photos from our spot to give you an idea of how it looked. There were quite a few parents with their children and a number of one and 2 year olds. One of the little tykes was an escape artist always trying to get away to the playground and water park that was opposite from the beach. We all had a great laugh at the antics of this cute little girl trying to get her way.

         IMG_9721 The little tyke is in the pink bathing suit running away from mom, which is on the far left of the photo.

  We left the beach around 5 p.m. and so did may of the other people. We picked up a little more ice for the coolers in town, and then went back the Wabamun Provincial Park Campground to make supper. Russ and Anita had a great supper planned , Steak with potato’s and Corn on the Cob. It was very good. I thought I would get a few photos of the couple making supper.

          Getting Supper ready

  This time I cut some firewood into little strips so that we can get a nice fire going again. The mosquitos were getting a little braver at this time and we had to get out the bug spray so we would not get eaten alive. We got the fire going real good and the mosies stayed away for a while.

              IMG_9737 

After supper it started to get cloudy and dark, then we heard some thunder it did look like it would rain yet so we slowly started to put things away into the car and the tent to keep everything dry. 15 minutes later the thunder got louder and we started to see lightning so we hurries to get thing put away. I made sure my camera was in the car and it started to rain. Most everything was put away so I jumped into the car, just think slow motion. Anita jumped into the car right after me, but Russ was still outside. We waited for him and wondered were he was, then finally he got in the car all wet. He told us that he fell, tripped on the tent poles and landed on his hands an knees. Just after he got in the car it started to hail. The hail got bigger and bigger until it reached about golf ball size. It just kept on hailing so Russ decided to drive me home , and it just kept on hailing, I thought the wind shield would break. We stopped a couple of times because we could not see the road. Pieces of leaves and branches were knocked off of the trees. We were almost out of the Campground when the hail stopped but it was still raining like crazy. We got to the highway and started for Edmonton. The traffic was heavy and slow. It rained all the way to Edmonton The storm went south and we went north on the Edmonton ring road called the Anthony Henday  Freeway, and the rain stopped. We got to my house and they dropped me off. They had to go back to the campground before the campground closed for the night. Wow that was one heck of an adventure. A great day for me. The next morning (this morning), I listened to the news and found that that same storm caused a lot of damage around the province. It was a fast moving storm with lots of wind. I sure hope that Russ’s car  doesn’t have any dints on it from the hail. Other than the storm it was a great day for me. Luckily there  were no tornados in that storm.  Have a great Sunday  everyone.

   

51 comments:

  1. Pity that you finished off such a lovely day with a massive hail storm. Love the speed boat with the flowers. Keep well Diane

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    1. We have been having a lot of storms come up in the evenings for the last month and a lot of heat during the day. The moisture helps in the garden as long as there is no Hail. I don't think I got any here at home, thank goodness.

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  2. How wonderful of your friends to ask you to spend the day with them. It all sounds great up until the very end. I hope their was no damage to your friend's car.

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    1. I hope the car was spared as well. I will have to ask them when I see them again or I'll call tomorrow night. They are great friends.

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  3. Wabamun is a very beautiful lake. I've been there a couple of times to conferences.

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    1. The Town of Wabamun is a lot bigger than I remember. They have some huge Sailboats there as well.

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  4. Well you had a good day....I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  5. Great account of your day Horst. Shame about the storm at the end though.

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  6. Sounds like a great day out Horst, thanks for sharing it. I love that shot of the speed boat planter, very cool! I've been meaning to check out the beaches around Wabamum one of these days..

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  7. Gosh what an end to the day such a pity , it looked really lovely by the Lake.
    Glad you enjoyed your Sunday Horst, it was indeed good of your friends. Quite exciting and a bit scary to.

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    1. I've been in bigger hailstorms than this one, but it is still scary.

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  8. Sounds like you had an amazing day. What a weather change. I bet the mosquitoes were really bad especially after the storm. Love the boat full of flowers. We just got back from camping. 5 great days of weather. But back home and a heat wave is on. But I have water to all my flowers so all is good. Berries are ripe now so my picking starts. Glad you are enjoying your summer. Hugs Carrie

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  9. Just wanted to add I have been here at previous blogs before, but when I commented all kinds of stuff wanted to pop up so I always closed it immediately. I am glad I can now comment again and all it normal again.

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    1. I have no idea as to what is happening on Blogger. I have not had any problems, so I don't think it is from my computer. Maybe that is why others are have problems as well. I had a couple of advertisements pop up a couple of times but that has since stopped.

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  10. Oh Horst, what a wonderful day till the end of it. I HATE weather like that and we get it all of the time around here! Glad you guys got through it all decently enough and please let us know if your friend's car was dented. I bet it was mostly because you all were forced to drive in it.

    Love the supper too. Steak, potatoes and corn on the cob..nothing much better than that.

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  11. Hey Carole, I just talked to my friend Russ. He says that he only got a couple of scuffs no real dents. Yes it was a great supper, I really love doing the outdoor breakfast, lunch, or supper thingy. Specially with good friends.

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  12. Horst, wow indeed an adventure you had, I love getting out camping. I too have been through some wicked alberta storms. Glad to hear the hail was not too damaging. The boat with flowers is awesome!
    Oh & like carrie says I also get very strange pop-ups when I leave a comment on your blog, at least with Win XP, when I use Win 7 its ok..

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    1. I'm sure you get your share of storms down in Calgary, sometimes worse than here in Edmonton.

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  13. What a fantastically exciting adventure with a spectacular ending Horst, How kind of your friends to think of you and take you out for a picnic I hope their ccar is OK and they got back to the campground safely and back home without incident, not an experience you'd want to repeat too often. but it made very interesting reading, thanks for sharing your day. Take care X

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  14. Wow Horst!! You don't do things by halves do you...hail the size of golf balls! Oh wolf!! What a wonderful adventure though and how lovely to get out and away with your friends to such a lovely place too. I'm so pleased you had a great day despite wicked sounding storm on the way back. But poor Russ! Falling over the tent pegs...hope he was ok after his little misendemour ;))

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    1. Wolfie, other than the storm everything was just normal. A wonderful day.

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  15. You and your friends sure know how to get an adventure going. A nice slow start to the day and end it with a bang! lol

    Glad you got into the car when the storm hit; with all this heat the storms are unpredictable.

    Daniel

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  16. Horst, so far I didn't do something special in this summer and I enjoyed your story and your pictures about your adventure even you encountered the beginning of the storm.

    Kaya.

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  17. Fine taking, the pleasant time. I am greeting

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    1. Hello, thank you for stopping by and leaving a message.

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  18. Nice to have shared your day, and hope your friends got back to the camp site in time. They sound like nice, kind, caring, people.

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  19. Hi Vera, yes they are great friends, and they did get back in time.

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  20. A nice story. wonderful to read!!
    What a shame that the weather changed completely..
    But that is nature.
    Here in Greece for about one month we are boiling from the heat! (round 40C).

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    1. The weather hear was very hot for me, but not as hot as where you live. You have a wonderful week.

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  21. Sounds like wonderful day out Horst.. lovely images.
    Many thanks for all your recent comments.

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  22. Looks like a really nice day, it is so mice being outdoors :) Great photos! /Susanne

    ps You have posted som really nice photos from the flowers earlier too! ds

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  23. Adventurous day you had Horst,
    The Hail sounds dangerous, glad nobody was hurt by them..
    good photos.
    Have a great week my friend... hugs

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    1. Thanks Doris, you have a great week yourself, dear friend.

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  24. We need such days to remember - it makes our life adventorous!

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  25. Hello Horst, I read your experience from a trip to the countryside to the lake. Beautiful. I also like the smell of burning wood and a good roast. Mosquitoes are intrusive everywhere in the world. This year there was humid and hot weather. Mosquitoes in the woods we have large quantities. It's similar. Storms have also experienced. One was a bit strong and the city pkácela forest, knocking trees in the city and demolished cottages. The weather is something wrong.
    I had a holiday week, but it was nothing. We went with our cat to the vet. She was very ill. It's good but. Many greetings to you. / Peter.

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  26. Thanks Peter, so glad you had a chance to visit. I will have to visit your blog more often.

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  27. thank you horst for your blog coment
    do you have flower shows in your neck of the woods?
    ps lovely pics here today!

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  28. I believe they do but they are to big and I can't afford to go to them.

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  29. Un precioso lugar para acampar. Unas fotografias preciosas Horst
    Un abrazo

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    1. Hi Ceditas, this camp ground is very large. I think that there may be more than 500 campgrounds there. There are many more places to camp around the lake.

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  30. Looks like you had so much fun. I have never been out there . Just seems so far so Im so glad to see it in your photos.
    Stay cool today. Its too hot for me once again .. but then there is a hit of a breeze that is different.

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  31. Horst, I am Roma and Jewish ... I cannot win which ever way I look ... thanks for stopping by my blog ... I thought you'd given up on me a long time ago ... (PS. Please erase this comment, if you feel you should, I'd just thought I'd answer you in some way, okay?) Love, cat.

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