Good or Bad?

The city of Edmonton, Alberta is bursting at it seams. Since we moved to Alberta in 2002 Edmonton's suburbs have grown like cancer in all directions. Where rolling farmland was the normal residential areas now cover the area up to the horizon. Other areas have been developed for industrial purposes.
Many companies are drawn to the area because of Alberta's booming oil business.

Is that good or bad?
It depends from what angle you see the point.

The businesses are hungry for land. In a radius of 20 to 40 km around the city farmland is for sale, big time.
Small farms that used to be far away from the city find themselves now surrounded by industry or residential development.

And only a few years ago this very campground, which is located about 16 miles (10 km) west of Edmonton's famous mall, was a quiet location in a rural setting.
That has changed dramatically. Growing Edmonton has quickly gobbled up lots of neigbouring rural communities. And it is hungry for more, much more.

This camping ground is now placed in the middle of a huge industrial area that is still under development.

Gone is the ambience of vacation/recreation which one would normally expect of a campground. But even though it is winter time the place is about 70% full.
Mostly long term campers who go to work every morning and come back by nightfall. Some might even call the place now a "work camp".

From the campground's view that makes sense since the summer is only about 6 weeks long. Long term guests mean a constant flow of income, also in the "dead season". And with property taxes constantly on the rise you want to make a buck where/when you can.
Just yesterday they told us on TV that taxes rose 4.6% in 2014 and will be rising another 5.3% in 2015!

Walking around I see a lot of dogs. Big dogs.  Rottweilers,  Labrador Retrievers, Staffordshire and the likes.
People I meet on my walks, in front of the laundry and shower rooms are smoking.

My guess: some are here for a reason. The rental market does not want us. "No smokers, no dogs".
If you love your dog and won't want to give it up for adoption there is only one other alternative: the campground.

Well, we belong to the dog lovers and are better looking around and get our rig ready for -30 C (-22 F) and more.

Good for the campground owners and house-less workers, bad for guests who are looking for recreation.

Oh, I nearly forgott: Happy Halloween!
Seen today, in our wintry sunset today.

Improvement

What an Improvement!

From this view all day long ... 

... to this.

We moved to a campground today. Full hook-up and internet. Yeehaa!
J.P. was right onto it. Think he is enjoying it? Looks like it, eh?

And I forgot how to wisp cream. I loosened the grip for one moment and there was cream all over the place! Eeeww.
But I was so glad about the new surroundings that I didn't care about the mess I made.

After the big clean up we enjoyed our first coffee brake at our new site with cake and cream.

The world looks a lot brighter. I sat all afternoon in the winter sunshine. Pure bliss!

Culture Shock

After the long drive we ended up at our "home" in Edmonton.

and it took me a week to get over the "culture shock".

The view now (if I get high enough on the property) 

and then. I don't want to show more, it is too depressing.

Luckily the temperatures have been on the mild side and

living in the camper trailer hasn't been too bad so far.

I did a fair job of cleaning the inside, even if hubby said he

did the job already. It was therapy, just to keep me occupied 

while J.P. was gone on his 12 hour absence to work.

The "his" and "her" view of a trailers inside.

I have not bee around much and therefore I have very limited internet access. 

Luckily I have a pretty good sense of orientation, but with no GPS 

(J.P. uses it in the bus) it is quite a challenge to find back home

with the traffic so incredible. For the moment I avoid driving on

these roads if I can, but eventually I will have to do it.

We have been looking into housing, and so far our search has ended 

with the the same discouraging result. NOTHING.

A minimum one year rent and no pets policy seems to be the 

standard requirement.

And if you think you are lucky and find a pet friendly place, 

the friendliness ends as soon as the pet is above 30 lb. . 

So, our major disadvantages are:  the short term rent and our sweet

dog Molly.

Birding at 70 miles/hour

Since we have seen so many photos of the prairie on Peter's blog,

I rather wanted to show you what else there was to see while we raced along the American highways.

I always keep my eyes open for the feathered creatures around.
Boy is it ever so difficult to get a decent shot out of the side window while driving at a speed of 70m/h! So bear with me for the blurriness.

A hawk on a pole. Probably a red tailed, because of the colour of it's tail feathers.

This long legged shore birds were hard to find,

but their colours where so distinct that I opted for "American avocets" in non breeding mode.

On a photo I borrowed from the net you see what it was that I actually saw.


When we had lunch the other day I looked at a huge coal shovel parked on the ground.

Movement around these holes in the side of it captured my eye.

 Clever sparrows had taken the openings in the metal as their dwellings.

 When we slowly drove bye I could take these shots.

 Cute.

Finally I found out: it helps to put the camera on manual. Then keep tuning the viewfinder while shooting multiple frames.

One of the shots will be sharp! :))

Another day I was scanning the darkening evening sky. What was that? See all those dots in the air!

Hundreds of migrating Canada geese up there.

An amazing view. A sure sign of the winter to come.

And of course - the vast prairie landscape and endless sky. 

For ever captivating.

@@@

The poem of the day

Saskatchewan Summer (Charles Nichols)

Wide the open spaces lie, 

Fields of yellow cheerfulness, 

Circled all by wheat and trees, 

Ruled soft by blue and white

Roads to nowhere but afar, 

Scattered perfectly with farms, 

Fences sent for ages outward, 

Clear broadness touched by prairie towns

Rippled ponds enclosed by rushes, 

Distant rivers pulling streams, 

Rolling earth, arms widely steady, 

Fields and cattle, wooden barns