Greenwater Report for June 26, 2000

The Greenwater Report for June 26, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - June 26, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

five inches
for June
What a day! It started out cool and drizzly, then for the rest of the day blue skies and fantastic clouds alternated with rain, high winds, and some hail. As I write this, there is 3/8ths in the gauge, just from today(Sunday). That is almost three inches of rain since last Sunday, and a total of over five inches for June. Our dugout didn‚t get filled by last spring’s snow melt, but it's full to overflowing now, and I believe the lake has come up a few inches. I guess that’s enough water for now - let’s holler for some good warm weather. (Pretty narrow, our viewpoint, isn’t it? I understand the western part of the province would love to have some of our moisture.)

Cranbrook
On the road again! We left on Sunday morning for Cranbrook, spent five hours there on Monday, and were home again by Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t a rush trip, so we took our time; weather was generally good, with fantastic clouds pretty well every day. We even managed to take a few photos.

World’s
Largest
Truck
I used quite a bit of film on the World’s Largest Truck, on display at Sparwood. It really is some machine - it weighs half a millions pounds empty and carried a payload of about 750,000 pounds, for a total of about a million and a quarter pounds. Think what that would do to our Saskatchewan highways! When coal mines went from shaft mining to open pit mining, this truck and three or four little brothers that only hauled about a hundred tons each, were used to haul away the overburden. Some major part of the drive train quit in 1990 and it was too expensive to be worth fixing, so it was donated to the town. The wheels of the thing are about twelve feet tall!

moose
We got a surprise coming home Wednesday - just east of Alvena, we saw a moose trotting south of the highway. We stopped and I got my camera out. The moose stopped, turned, and looked at us for awhile, then trotted off again, into a copse of trees. I think it was a young cow. When we got to Wakaw, I mentioned it to the waitress, and she said someone had hit a moose with his car the week before. I guess they are getting more and more spread out.

golf course
We went out to the golf course for coffee this afternoon. There weren’t many cars there, and only a couple of people in the clubhouse. After awhile, four young ladies from Kelvington came in. I asked if they golfed through the rain and hail, and Kelly Swartz said yes; it didn’t bother them except that the hail hurt their ears when they were driving. They weren’t wet, so I suspect they hid in their golf carts for most of it.

campgrounds empty
Afterwards, we took a drive around the Park’s campgrounds; all were empty except Lakeshore, and it must have been about half full. We didn’t see any cars at all around the log cabins, and there weren’t too many people around. Then we remembered that school isn’t quite finished yet; there could be a couple of days of exams left, so people with kids in school had likely already left for home. Sheryl said the Cove was busy and I can believe it - it just isn't the weather for picnics or barbecues.

Empire Department Store
Our daughter, Jenny, said: "Enough of this having fun. I’m going to go into business!" So she bought the Empire Department Store in Kelvington. She takes possession the end of June, but is doing some renovations so won’t be open for business until a week or two later. There are some tough ways to make a living in this old world, but I really can’t think of many tougher than the small-town retail business. She is going into it with lots of enthusiasm and a tight string, so she just might make it!

size 64 denims
Since I put on the last forty or fifty pounds, I am constantly looking for pants that will go all the way around. The big stores will have racks and racks - up to about size 44. Rarely anything bigger. When we were in Kelvington looking over Jenny's purchase yesterday, I was amazed to see a tremendous selection of clothing for big men - all the way up to size 64 denims, oversized belts, and 13W shoes! A friend told me that he needs size 50 tall coveralls, and the Empire is the only place he can get them. There are wondrous things hidden in these small town stores!

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

The Greenwater Report for June 26, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - June 26, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

five inches for June	What a day! It started out cool and drizzly, then for the rest of the day blue skies and fantastic clouds alternated with rain, high winds, and some hail. As I write this, there is 3/8ths in the gauge, just from today(Sunday). That is almost three inches of rain since last Sunday, and a total of over five inches for June. Our dugout didn‚t get filled by last spring’s snow melt, but it's full to overflowing now, and I believe the lake has come up a few inches. I guess that’s enough water for now - let’s holler for some good warm weather. (Pretty narrow, our viewpoint, isn’t it? I understand the western part of the province would love to have some of our moisture.)

Cranbrook	On the road again! We left on Sunday morning for Cranbrook, spent five hours there on Monday, and were home again by Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t a rush trip, so we took our time; weather was generally good, with fantastic clouds pretty well every day. We even managed to take a few photos.

World’s Largest Truck	I used quite a bit of film on the World’s Largest Truck, on display at Sparwood. It really is some machine - it weighs half a millions pounds empty and carried a payload of about 750,000 pounds, for a total of about a million and a quarter pounds. Think what that would do to our Saskatchewan highways! When coal mines went from shaft mining to open pit mining, this truck and three or four little brothers that only hauled about a hundred tons each, were used to haul away the overburden. Some major part of the drive train quit in 1990 and it was too expensive to be worth fixing, so it was donated to the town. The wheels of the thing are about twelve feet tall!

moose	We got a surprise coming home Wednesday - just east of Alvena, we saw a moose trotting south of the highway. We stopped and I got my camera out. The moose stopped, turned, and looked at us for awhile, then trotted off again, into a copse of trees. I think it was a young cow. When we got to Wakaw, I mentioned it to the waitress, and she said someone had hit a moose with his car the week before. I guess they are getting more and more spread out.

golf course	We went out to the golf course for coffee this afternoon. There weren’t many cars there, and only a couple of people in the clubhouse. After awhile, four young ladies from Kelvington came in. I asked if they golfed through the rain and hail, and Kelly Swartz said yes; it didn’t bother them except that the hail hurt their ears when they were driving. They weren’t wet, so I suspect they hid in their golf carts for most of it.

campgrounds empty	Afterwards, we took a drive around the Park’s campgrounds; all were empty except Lakeshore, and it must have been about half full. We didn’t see any cars at all around the log cabins, and there weren’t too many people around. Then we remembered that school isn’t quite finished yet; there could be a couple of days of exams left, so people with kids in school had likely already left for home. Sheryl said the Cove was busy and I can believe it - it just isn't the weather for picnics or barbecues.

Empire Department Store	Our daughter, Jenny, said: "Enough of this having fun. I’m going to go into business!" So she bought the Empire Department Store in Kelvington. She takes possession the end of June, but is doing some renovations so won’t be open for business until a week or two later. There are some tough ways to make a living in this old world, but I really can’t think of many tougher than the small-town retail business. She is going into it with lots of enthusiasm and a tight string, so she just might make it!

size 64 denims	Since I put on the last forty or fifty pounds, I am constantly looking for pants that will go all the way around. The big stores will have racks and racks - up to about size 44. Rarely anything bigger. When we were in Kelvington looking over Jenny's purchase yesterday, I was amazed to see a tremendous selection of clothing for big men - all the way up to size 64 denims, oversized belts, and 13W shoes! A friend told me that he needs size 50 tall coveralls, and the Empire is the only place he can get them. There are wondrous things hidden in these small town stores!

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