my toes in the water, my ass in the sand

Not only did we get to see Darius Tucker, The Zak Brown Band was a big surprise.  He brought out hit after hit without a pause, the fiddler was soooo good, the crowd loved both of them.
We left Edmonton in the morning and ended up in Valemont which was full of memories from1998 when we went to Sturgis.  We had stayed in the Valemont Hotel and listened to the trains all night long.  From there we went to Little Fort, thru to Lone Butte, Cache Creek, Ashcroft and Logan Lake where we stayed with Anna and Bill.  It was the first time in 17 years and 160,000 kms that I used my reserve, I used a lot of gas playing on the hill when leaving Little Fort!  It was so worth it!
The weather has been so warm, the smoke reminds us that the Forrest's are tinder dry; and the engines don't miss a beat in the heat!
We road thru to Merritt and then the back way to Princeton where we had an afternoon with cocktails by the pool.

 

Valemont Hotel

 

Moonshine Cosmo

We left Cochrane on Hwy 1A heading back to Canmore, it was a break from traffic, with beautiful mountains vistas, the Ghost Reservoir and lake adding to the scenery.  We thought we would stop in Canmore for a java break but it was too hectic to consider a break.  Next stop the Crossing on the Banff Jasper hwy for fuel then on to the David Thompson hwy to Rocky Mountain House. This hwy is definitely overlooked by tourists, very little traffic yet the scenery is spectacular.  We spent the night and then headed to Leduc via hwy 22, 13 and then 2.  The back roads were a good choice as Hwy 2 was really busy.  We followed Anne from Leduc into Edmonton; it was the first time she has not driven over the speed limit and we struggled to keep up!  Al was happy when it was suggested that we go to the Casino for dinner, it was a packed house with everyone lined up for the Prime Rib. I had a Moonshine Cosmo which has moonshine, Grand Marnie and lime juice....no pictures allowed in the Casino.
Rock me mama..,..24 hours to go!

During the Calgary flood the water was over the railings