Our plan for Saturday was to drive up to Stettler, Alberta to ride the Alberta Prairie Steam train. It’s a neat old train where there’s entertainment, and they explain Alberta’s past to you through dramatic representations, etc . I was so stoked to go on it. So we got to the steam train, and apparently you needed to make reservations in advance and the train was all full so they couldn’t take us. I was devastated. We were in the middle of nowhere in Alberta now with nothing to do all day until we met up with my aunt and uncle. So I called Dayle and she said she’d meet us in Big Valley at 3:30. Jade works at the museum there (which really is just a room with a bunch of old stuff, it doesn’t look like a museum at all) so we popped in to say hi, and then Andre and I wandered around Big Valley. 5 o’clock rolls around, and still no sign of Dayle. There were a bunch of people displaying old steam engines in the little town square, so we saw all of those. We bought some fudge from the fudge shop. Finally around 6 o’clock, we see Dayle. Ed was working in the field and wanted her to wait for him. We visited the rest of the town with the Slootweg clan and went for ice cream. We left around 7 o’clock and drove to Dayle and Ed’s place. Ed showed us around his place. The house is so nice. Dayle is such a great decorator! Everything has a rustic theme to it, she has old wooden soda crates and country signs on the walls. The house itself is a log cabin. It’s huge, so I guess it’s not really a cabin. But very, very cool. The only thing is that it’s so picture perfect that it doesn’t look at all like a family of 6 lives there with 4 kids. It’s magazine perfect.
Ed showed us around the yard. They have lots of animals (Ed’s a farmer). They have a big cage outside with about 15 bunnies, a dog who also lives outside, a bunch of cats, and a horse for each kid plus a couple of extras, chickens, doves, etc. etc. They have a huge garage with 4-Wheeler ATV’s for everyone in the family, there’s a fancy Hummer in there too and huge faming equipment. Lots of really cool stuff. They have huge gardens, and even an extra house on their lot.
Once thing I was surprised about is how well the kids all get along with each other. They’re always playing with each other outside. Austin (my cousin) is an absolute monkey. He’s always climbing up walls, trees, barns. He can do crazy backflips on his trampoline. He jumps on his trampoline, and then grabs onto a branch in the tree, climbs up the tree, then jumps out onto the trampoline. It’s nuts! Brooklyn is very talkative and always has a cat or bunny in her arms. Brody keeps to himself, but he’s very pleasant. Jade is shy and kind of awkward, but a tomboy at the same time. She has a really fancy souped up car that she’s very proud of.
Dayle made us all dinner (local roast beef on buns..mmm!). It was about 9:30 by the time we ate, which appeared to be normal for them. After dinner, we went outside for a bonfire, which was nice. I was very tired from staying up late the night before, so I slept like a baby.
Now, we are on the road, en route to Gayle’s house, which is 8.5 hours away in Vernon BC. The terrain out here is really cool. Either it’s badland-y with sandy hills, or fields with animals.
Until next time!
The Tubmobile, which is a home made car made out of an old bathtub. It runs and everything.
The Alberta Prairie Train, the one we were supposed to go on.
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