A few weeks after we came home from yachting, it was officially the start to camping season with May long weekend upon us. We have been going to the same location for about 6 years, which is out on crown land, in the foothills of the rockies. You never know what the weather will bring, and this year brought all 4 seasons. We usually get to see the wild horses and baby foals too, which did not disappoint. Todd and I typically head out a few days early to get our spot (like the Tues or Wed before) but Andrew texted us Tues to let us know he got “the spot”. We headed out late Tues afternoon and then turned on to a very wet, rutty and soft gravel road. We weren’t sure how this was going to go as we had an 11 km drive to our location. Although there were a few nasty spots along the way , Ruby and Todd navigated them like champs…..until the road was a little too vertical and way too soft…and Ruby couldn’t do it on her own! We were less than a km away from our destination. We backed up and then the trailer decided to jackknife on Todd….well shit, what are we going to do now? And just at the same time, two truck and campers stopped at the top of the hill coming the other way, but when they saw we were blocking the road and stuck, they stopped in their tracks as they were not going to make it past us! And about 5 minutes later Andrew shows up with his Chevy half tonne truck to give us a heave ho! We disconnected the trailer and lowered it in the ditch sideways, with some fancy maneuvering concoction that Todd (the safety guy) figured out. Then he reversed Ruby back down the hill, hooked up Andrew’s truck with a kinetic recovery rope (that we actually never thought we would use) but when Todd blew the horn, it was all vehicles pedal to the metal! We just barely made it to the top of the hill, but we made it! The rest of the trek was easy peasy! This is only the second time we’ve needed some help getting up a hill.
“The spot”
It was a quiet few days in the outback bush camping. Mostly sunny, until Friday of the long weekend, when rain and snow decided to show up! Somehow, we always make the best of it with our camping crew. May long (rumble.com)
When the sun came out, the quad’s come out, outdoor games, walks and tree cutting keep everyone busy. The neighbors from other sites come over for visits and its like a family reunion. 
Every night we start the bonfire and this year miraculously, there was no fire ban! Here is some photographic evidence of said fun: May long photos (rumble.com)
On our last night the ladies cooked us all up a huge seafood boil – although we had 25 people, there was SO MUCH leftover, it looked like we hadn’t even touched it! Here is the crazy amount of food we had: June 3, 2024 (rumble.com) And then the weekend was over and it was time to head out!
Our home location has had non-stop rain since we returned from BC. I keep telling Todd we need to go camping on the east side of highway 2 there is way less rain over there! So two weeks later, we packed up and headed out on our next tour to the famous Three Hills, AB for the Cruise weekend car show and drag races! I think this might be our 5th time coming to this event. Its not that we “LOOOOOVE” old cars and have to go see them every year, but we like the whole event: car show, bike riding, hanging with our crew, camping in grass and the drag races are cool. We usually setup shop in the field behind the ball diamond, next to the spring crops.
Spring Field camping
We bring bikes and head down to the car show on main street on Saturday to check out all the cool old muscle cars and eclectic vehicles. I have zero photographic evidence of this activity, since we’ve been here a few times and I have pictures from previous years. Our bus buddies usually put their 1958 & 1957 GM buses in the show and this gives us a place to sit, have a bevvie or two and some more great food! And we usually run in to one or two people we know along the way. On the way back to our campsite, we spotted another Prevost in the campground! They are a rare site in Alberta, so we went over to introduce ourselves and chat about what we love…bus life! So exciting to meet new bus people from Camrose, Alberta. Once again, no photographic evidence of other Prevost or our new bus friends! But here is a short vid of food, friends and camping: 3 Hills (rumble.com)
Hoping our next post will include some photo’s of our major bus renovation…..that’s been keeping us busy over the last 5 months.