Yellow Head Trail - Rosetown Part 4 of 8

Yellow Head Trail - Rosetown Part 4 of 8

Oil Rig

Harley Shovel Head

Connecting with Family

Oil Rig

Maybe I was mistaken when I said that there's nothing to see in this part of Alberta when apart from the nice folks in Rimbey; the buffalos in the fields; and the dynamite skies; you can see a live working Oil Rig from my niece and nephew's place right from their patio. It works silently night and day pumping out oil from deep inside the ground. It reminds me of those perpetual motion toys that kids play with. They never stop rocking. But, these Oil Rigs are no toys. Alberta is just peppered with them. They are all over the place. You can't turn around full circle in Alberta without seeing at least one. The actual drills can go down in the ground up to one thousand meters in some places which is about 3,000 feet for Brits like me. Don't think you can go get a bucket and pinch a bucket-full of oil for your pick-up truck though. It just doesn't work that way. The oil is picked up on a regular schedule by Oil Tanker Trucks or it goes through a pipeline underground to somewhere else.

Harley Shovel Head

We were out in the countryside going someplace. I thought we were going for a care-free joyride in the pick-up truck and we ended up in a place called Eck Ville.  Don't bother trying to find it on the map because I could find it either. While we were stopped on the main street, I think there was only one street, my nephew disappeared leaving me and my niece in the truck wondering what was going on. After living in Canada for so many years you just learn not to ask - you know - its just the Canadian way. Oh My Goodness! What a surprise! My nephew appeared from behind a large building riding a huffing, puffing and smoking 1975 Harley Davidson Shovel-Head motorcycle. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Apparently, my nephew had stored it for years in his garage while it was not running. He had decided to take it into the shop to get fixed and I was delighted. I like to believe that my visit might have influenced him to get the repairs done while I was there . I can't be sure about that but I like to think so. My niece and I followed him home in the pick-up truck. After a while, my nephew stopped at a remote intersection. He turned around in his seat to face us. He gave us a "thumbs up" gesture together with the biggest smile you ever saw. He then took off again on his Harley with a puff of black smoke streaming out of his exhaust pipe.

Connecting with Family

Words cannot describe the joy I felt reuniting with my nephew and nieces after half a lifetime of being away and estranged from them. It was a reunification so to speak where I got the benefit of meeting their families for the very first time. All of them picked terrific spouses. I didn't know they made them that good in Alberta and in the case of my youngest niece - she had two strapping good-looking children as well - a girl and a little boy. As you read on you will read about things happening on this trip but this has got to be the defining moment in this excursion. Meeting my nephew and my niece; my elder niece and her husband and my younger niece and her family with all the catch-up talk; the smiles; the hugs and the kisses, and, of course the tears, made us wonder where all the intervening years had gone. In the limited amount of time I was there, my elder niece was able to take a day off work where she took me to visit the highlights of Calgary's Heritage Park and the last evening brought things to a temporary close with dinner provided by my youngest niece. Of course, it was indeed a family affair where everyone pitched-in. If you are able to "connect" with what I'm saying and perhaps you have folks you have not seen in a number of years, I urge you to take the first step and arrange to go and see them. Its something you will never forget. Don't pull a "surprise" visit though, they sometimes don't work very well.