Greenwater Report for June 12, 2000

Greenwater Report for June 12, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - June 12, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

lots of rain
June 11th, 2000: I hear you have been getting lots of rain - well, that suits me just fine as we planted some grass and bedding plants and sunflowers and such last week, and were concerned about them drying out before we get home again.

Prince George
We are in Prince George as I write this (though we will be home again by the time you read it). We came out to attend a grand niece‚s graduation, and to bring Doreen's sister, Lucille, back to live with us. We took the car this time. The motor home is economical for lots of nights and few miles, but otherwise it's cheaper to rent motel rooms. We came out via the Yellowhead - it becomes divided at Lloydminster all the way to Hinton, 110 kmh for the most part. Going through Edmonton is
accomplished by just staying in your lane and keeping up with traffic. No decisions to make. After Hinton it narrows down to two lanes, one each way, but it‚s a pretty nice highway all the same. Most of the slow zones were because of wild animals close to the highway.

visiting people
In B.C. it is back to two lanes, but still a pretty nice road. We were blessed with very light traffic
except around Edmonton, where it didn‚t matter. We haven‚t had much sunshine, but no heavy rain either, and when you are just visiting people, sunshine isn't that important.

Vegreville
For many years we have driven by Vegreville without paying much attention the their famous
World's Largest Pysanki. This time we stopped and had a closer look, and were impressed. It is quite an engineering and construction feat; weighs fifteen tons but still turns with the wind. It is in a lovely park, a credit to the town. The place is worth a stop.

fix their
own roads
Earlier in the week, the radio talk shows were having a field day with the fact that the citizens of the Val Marie district, and of the Atwater district, had decided to fix their own roads. In each center, a
group got together and went out and patched the potholes. I gather they got tired of hollering and decided to do it themselves. What a novel concept! Do it themselves instead of waiting for someone else to do it! And to their credit, the Department of Highways crews got into the act by supplying safety vests and hats, and the trucks and asphalt to do the job. Personally, I think it was a noble act.

one-man
crew
One caller made the point that by the time a repair crew drives to the point where they are going to
work, allow for time to return, and take a meal break, they are lucky to get in a couple hours of actual work. A result of having fewer crews better equipped but farther apart. Maybe a step backwards is called for, a one-man crew in each town, with a smaller truck, re-supplied with asphalt mix and tar once a week or so. If he was responsible for ten miles or so of highway, it sure wouldn't be hard to tell if he was doing his job!

Europe
Frank Kaufhold, who was my associate for thirty five years, went through Europe with the Tank
Corps. He said the tanks were terribly hard on the cobblestone streets, but no sooner had the tanks passed when one or two men would be out with shovels and wheelbarrows, and within a day the street would be back to normal. If that were Canada today, they would likely wait until the streets were totally demolished, then move in with several million dollars worth of equipment, fourteen
flaggers and forty-seven assorted equipment operators. Three months later, the streets would be passable again. Have we really progressed?

Gerald B. Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423
Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg

Greenwater Report for June 12, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - June 12, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

lots of rain	June 11th, 2000: I hear you have been getting lots of rain - well, that suits me just fine as we planted some grass and bedding plants and sunflowers and such last week, and were concerned about them drying out before we get home again.

Prince George	We are in Prince George as I write this (though we will be home again by the time you read it). We came out to attend a grand niece‚s graduation, and to bring Doreen's sister, Lucille, back to live with us. We took the car this time. The motor home is economical for lots of nights and few miles, but otherwise it's cheaper to rent motel rooms. We came out via the Yellowhead - it becomes divided at Lloydminster all the way to Hinton, 110 kmh for the most part. Going through Edmonton is accomplished by just staying in your lane and keeping up with traffic. No decisions to make. After Hinton it narrows down to two lanes, one each way, but it‚s a pretty nice highway all the same. Most of the slow zones were because of wild animals close to the highway.

visiting people	In B.C. it is back to two lanes, but still a pretty nice road. We were blessed with very light traffic except around Edmonton, where it didn‚t matter. We haven‚t had much sunshine, but no heavy rain either, and when you are just visiting people, sunshine isn't that important.

Vegreville	For many years we have driven by Vegreville without paying much attention the their famous World's Largest Pysanki. This time we stopped and had a closer look, and were impressed. It is quite an engineering and construction feat; weighs fifteen tons but still turns with the wind. It is in a lovely park, a credit to the town. The place is worth a stop.

fix their own roads	Earlier in the week, the radio talk shows were having a field day with the fact that the citizens of the Val Marie district, and of the Atwater district, had decided to fix their own roads. In each center, a group got together and went out and patched the potholes. I gather they got tired of hollering and decided to do it themselves. What a novel concept! Do it themselves instead of waiting for someone else to do it! And to their credit, the Department of Highways crews got into the act by supplying safety vests and hats, and the trucks and asphalt to do the job. Personally, I think it was a noble act.

one-man crew	One caller made the point that by the time a repair crew drives to the point where they are going to work, allow for time to return, and take a meal break, they are lucky to get in a couple hours of actual work. A result of having fewer crews better equipped but farther apart. Maybe a step backwards is called for, a one-man crew in each town, with a smaller truck, re-supplied with asphalt mix and tar once a week or so. If he was responsible for ten miles or so of highway, it sure wouldn't be hard to tell if he was doing his job!

Europe	Frank Kaufhold, who was my associate for thirty five years, went through Europe with the Tank Corps. He said the tanks were terribly hard on the cobblestone streets, but no sooner had the tanks passed when one or two men would be out with shovels and wheelbarrows, and within a day the street would be back to normal. If that were Canada today, they would likely wait until the streets were totally demolished, then move in with several million dollars worth of equipment, fourteen flaggers and forty-seven assorted equipment operators. Three months later, the streets would be passable again. Have we really progressed?

	Gerald B. Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg