Time to leave the Rocky Mountain area and head to the Alberta foothills and prairie area. We are heading to Stavely, Alberta where my sister Margaret and Dennis live. The last time I visited them they were living very near downtown Calgary, so this is the first time I have been to Stavely.
We checked out by 11 a.m. and plan to do some sightseeing on the way to Stavely.
We wanted to take a pass through the mountains to go to Upper and Lower Kanaskis and then through to Stavely, as I hear it would have been a gorgeous ride, but part of the road is still closed for winter (opens in June). We could have gone to Upper Kanaskis which was about an hour off the highway in Banff, but then would have had to drive one hour back out. We will save that for next time!
We took highway 22 and made a few stops. We stopped in Bragg Creek for coffee and goodies.
We then went to Spirit Hills Winery in West Millarville, Alberta. They use no grapes in their wines, just fruits and flowers! If it was a nice day it would have been great to sit outside as you would have a nice view. On a nice day, she said they get quite busy with people enjoying their wine and chacuterie boards out on the patio.
We got some nice pics by the old truck they had on the property. We knew that we were very close to the Heartland Ranch (for all your Heartland Ranch fans!). I was there years ago with my sister Margaret. When I asked the girl where the ranch was, she got red and said “I am not really sure, I know it is near here, maybe about 15 minutes”….but then she went on to say how her sister-in-law was a fill in stunt for horse riding for Amber Marshall, and that Amber Marshall ons/lives on a ranch 5 minutes away from the winery. I think she knew where the ranch was, but they don’t make it public as it is someone’s personal ranch when they are not filming. I think the ranch is in Kew, Alberta.
I also found out from her that Amber Marshall owns a store in Diamond Valley, Marshalls Country Store, and her Mom runs it and sometimes Amber is there too. We were going to stop by the store, but we missed the road…..so maybe next time!! or not!
The buns!!! yay we remembered them today. We enjoyed the buns that I forgot in the fridge yesterday. Once again, we enjoyed the travel bag that Margaret (and Janet) packed up for us, as we found paper plates and cutlery to use! Very handy and a great idea!
We stopped at the Okotoks Erratic Rock. They know that this rock came from the Rocky Mountains – this one came from Jasper area. Wow – Jasper is a long ways away from here. I looked it up – 340 kms!!
We stopped in High River. High River is where the filming of Maggies Diner takes place from Heartland! Hank and I got out in the rain and peeked in the windows!
We stopped at Candy Store in the small town of Nanton. Wow!! what a massive candy store! They had every candy imaginable!
I found some of my favorites!!! Dutch Drops!
…and then we made our way to Margaret and Denis’s in Stavely around 4:30 p.m. We were hungry!!
We got some rain today, but since we were travelling it really didn’t affect anything we did. Tomorrow we have plans to go to Waterton Lakes National Park and it looks like we are in for some nice weather!!
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