On the Road again…..2024 travels kick off.

First stop, a quick farewell trip to the neighbours…..

……..off we go again……

After receiving an invitation from friends which inspired a three day ‘shake-down’ trip to Aspen Crossing 45 minutes south east of Calgary, the 2024 travels adventures were underway.

It turned out to be a good move, as we awoke the first morning to find the bathroom floor swimming in water and an enormous puddle under the trailer. 😮

At first it was a bit of a horror………but turned out to be three different ironically simultaneous issues. The inlet valve for the toilet ( now 11 years old) had cracked and leaked water onto the bathroom floor (CLEAN water..!!!)….the water heater that we had just de-winterised and cleaned needed another couple of turns of plumbers tape on the valve……and the third one………we remembered a ‘BANG’ in Lethbridge…….something had kicked up off the road and hit the underbelly of the trailer leaving a dent right beside the edge of one of the inspection hatches on the black tank (the water in there was also clean from drawing water through the system to de-winterise)

All three issues solved relatively easily (said the person who didn’t have to crawl around under the trailer in the muck…..!!!)

While in Aspen Crossing we also managed to do a side trip to Vulcan (really…who could resist.) The town had the name before Star Trek became a ‘thing’……but the town has embraced the connection quite tastefully !!!

I especially loved the little Enterprises on all of the lamp posts in town….

Scott found some aesthetically broken down barns on the way home….( 😂 )

After saying our goodbyes to some old friends and some new ones (Hi Mike and Leslie…!!) off we set for next stop…a Harvest Host at Cypress Hills Winery just off the Trans Canada in Sasketchewan

Cypress Hills make a variety of fruit wines and as overnight guests (in the windswept and completely exposed parking lot) we were obliged to taste test their product. The rhubarb honey wine was quite acceptable…!! 😋

Next stop, after crossing possibly the smallest Canada/US border port (it was a bit like going through a Tim Hortons drive thru to be honest..LOL)…..was another Harvest Host ...The Teachers Lounge in Fortuna, North Dakota (we have since discovered that even people elsewhere in North Dakota don’t know where Fortuna is…LOL….Their loss….. it was a tiny town (popn 30) but the Teachers Lounge bar was one of the most interesting and ‘atmospheric’ bars we have been in. Super friendly……. a little gem that is totally worth the stop…even if it is a little out of your (really anyone’s) way.

The bar….

The town…..

Fortuna is a surprisingly well-put-together little town for its small size….but it is on the edge of the oil fields.

It was a delightful stop and gave us great hope for the entertainment which awaits us down the road.