Choo Choo is at the Acreage again this weekend for some tests. Unlike usual visits, these are hours each, which is mildly inconvenient for anyone taking her out there, which in this case, is me.
Yesterday, it was 3 hours. Today, it’s 4.
I don’t know what all she’s doing, but I’ve got to find some way to occupy myself. I refuse to drive all the way home just to turn around and come back, so I thought I’d take advantage of the time and look around Foothills County.
Southeast of Calgary is a bit of a void for me. There’s the Tsuut’ina Nation, there’s Bragg Creek, and then there’s a whole lot of … something. And then you get to Turner Valley. The Acreage is wedged in that “something”, right near Millarville, and that’s about all I know.
So instead of driving north or east, which is what I usually do, I drove west. I did this in part because Cathy, in her usual habit, was looking at what sort of real estate was available and somehow ended up way out in the boondocks. I thought it odd that she’d see more of the area than I had.
Yesterday, I stuck mostly west of the Acreage, going out as far as 288th St (aka Range Road 40). Parts of it are remote, there’s entirely whole sections of nothing but open land (some covered in trees, but no farming), some with absolutely brilliant views.
But, I effectively did a loop and came back.
Today? I had more time, so I went … further. First, I went down to Turner Valley. I had hoped to get a picture of trees in a curve that I somehow mentally mapped into existence, but not to be found. So I figured I’d find out where Highway 546 went. (As it turns out, into Kananaskis Country, and I don’t have a permit for that.)
I doubled back a bit and went up Range Road 35 (aka 272 St.), then over to 304 St. (aka Range Road 41). All I was looking for was vistas, of any kind. And some were more fantastic than others, several of which had made me wish I’d been there shortly after the snow had stopped falling a week ago.
Thankfully, it’s hard to get lost out here – the roads only go so many places, and they’re largely in grids, plus the fact that the mountains loom in the west, so you’re definitely not going any further than that, and going east puts you on known roads.
It might have been -16C, but it never felt awful. And exploring always puts a smile on my face.
