New Patrol Car?

Our car died on my trip back to Hinton after the September long weekend so I've been trying to find an auto wrecker to come take the thing away but to no avail. I made it clear to my troop mates that I was trying to get rid of the car so they decided to surprise me yesterday morning.

When I walked out to the lot (it was still dark) the first thing I noticed was the car was turned around, as I got closer I noticed the fenders were black, than that the doors were white and the hubcaps were gold. When we got back from the ATV Course I stood and admired my car in the daylight, I was impressed with their handiwork!!!

Several of my troop mates spent a couple of hours the night before painting the car, in the dark, some were so excited to see my reaction that they couldn't sleep afterwards. Some were worried how I was going to take it, to me it just showed how much these guys love me, now I don't know if I want to get rid of it!!!

ATV & 4x4 Courses Competed!

Update from WCLEA (Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy) for the Week of October 20th, 2008.

We completed 3 days of the 4x4 Course and 3 days of the ATV Course.

I found out in a hurry that my truck isn't very good in the bush or in the pit! The Dodges proved to be far superior, both in power and clearance. My Chevy was continuously bottoming out and on one occasion we got it high centered and had to pull it out with one of the Dodges, even the F250 Fords fared better than the Chevy, what they lacked for in power they made up for in clearance. On top of everything my winch wouldn't work either!!!

After pounding the trucks to heck we switched to the ATVs. I found one thing that my truck was really good at and that was pulling a trailer loaded with 5 ATVs, plus mine in the back of the truck, the 6.0 liter engine had plenty of power for pulling!

One of my troop mates from Manitoba doing the fighter pilot pose!

All ready for a day of riding, it was just below freezing so I had the Helly Hanson's on.

After taking the trail through the bush from the highway we came out on the shores of the Athabasca River and the fun began. That's me making a climb out of the river bottom while the rest of the troop waited their turn.

Troop #5 posing for a photo on the shore of the Athabasca River, in the background is Folding Mountain and Jasper National Park. The scenery in the area was unreal, everywhere you looked the view took your breath away and the sand dunes were incredible, nothing like I've ever seen in my life!

Another group shot, this one from the top of a sand dune (I'm third from the right). We spent the day ripping it up in the sand, bush and river. When the day was done we had had one roll over, one runaway machine, one flat and several stuck machines, but no injuries. By 6pm we were all ready for bed, it was a very physically demanding course!

Birthday Girls!

October 21st and 22nd were two special days; Carolyn & Erinn's birthdays!

Erinn opening her card and gift from us prior to me heading back to Hinton.

Six candles on that cake!

No boyfriends!

Erinn at her birthday party with her friends.

My other birthday girl looking as good as ever!

New Work Truck

Yesterday Carolyn & I made a trip to Pincher Creek to look at more houses. We found a few that were to our liking but until we sell the acreage there is no point in making an offer on anything, our choice came back to a newer house that we looked at last time.

I picked up my new work truck, its a pretty sweet ride! Its an '07 Chev 4x4 with all the bells and whistles!

I also brought my work quad which I will need next week for the ATV Course and my truck for the 4x4 Course.

I don't know who was more excited about the new equipment; Blair or me!?!?

The Tooth Fairy's Visit

This morning at 6:10 am Erinn woke up to find her 3 teeth missing from under her pillow and some treats left behind by the Tooth Fairy; a new Littlest Pet Shop (a bunny with two pearly white teeth poking out of his top lip) and some of that 'paper money', she said she knew it was coming this time!

By 7:00 am she was ready for school and very excited to show off her missing teeth and tell all her friends & teachers about her adventure and what her reward was. She was the first one out the door and on the bus, her little toothless grin shinning out from the back window of the bus as it disappeared down the road; what a kid!!!

Rough Day!

You can't tell by the smile on Erinn's face, in the picture below, but she had a rough day today. She got to spend the morning playing with dad and watching movies, then we headed into town for the doctor's office and some much needed dental work. Erinn was actually excited about the whole thing, which didn't really surprise us too much since nothing seems to phase this tough little kid!

Erinn has been having issues with her teeth and it was decided the easiest way to deal with it was all at once when she was under general anesthetic.

When it was all over & done with she had 3 top, front teeth removed, 3 caps and 5 fillings! Wow! I brought her home and she laid on the couch most of the afternoon. By supper time she was eating soup and cheese toast. Then we had company come over and she was back to her usual self, running and jumping around like nothing happened, the envy of her little friends who haven't lost any teeth yet!

So tonight there was no fight to get her to bed since she knew the Tooth Fairy would be coming and would probably be leaving her some of that 'paper money'!

Missed Daddy!

It was obvious that the family missed me after being gone for 6 weeks!


The kids all participated in welcoming me home with some artwork.


Wherever I go there are the kids!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hopefully everyone had a good Thanksgiving Holiday! I know we did, I finally got home to the family after being gone for 6 weeks of training; only 8 more to go!

The family and I at the farm enjoying the fall weather.

Firearms Training!

This past week of training was in firearms. For me there was lots of learning & unlearning, it seems that what the police services have been teaching is slightly different than the way Fish Cops do it!!! After the first couple of days I just shut my mouth and did what I was told to do, next year I will have my say!


The holster was my biggest stumbling block, it took me the longest time to master it! My shooting was terrible because of the other stuff going through my head, but by the second week I had no problem passing the qualification. Here the rule is if you don't pass you get sent home, one guy from another troop was already sent home!


This week we started shotgun training, this is by far my most favourite firearm! Its been several years since I did any of this type of shooting or training but it didn't take long for it to become old hat!

Next week we finish shotgun and spend a day with the rifles, than 3 days of Chemical Immobilization Training before I head home for Thanksgiving, I can't wait!!!

Rifle certified!

The Bike Ride!

Just after getting to Hinton, Carolyn & the kids came up for a visit and we spent the weekend out at the Cadomin patrol cabin, if you recall the pictures on this blog. On our drive out there I made it my goal to get in good enough shape to ride out to the mine entrance which is south of Highway 16 on Highway 40, sounds like an easy ride? Well it is almost straight up the whole way to the mine site!

Last Sunday I left with this objective in mind, it was a nice day, 16 degrees, sun shining and a slight SW breeze. I estimated it to be a 25-30 kilometer ride, up hill, to the entrance.


Highway 40 southbound, this was one of the first descents on my route, for the most part it was up hill the entire way. One of the descents had my speed up to 74 km/hr! All I kept thinking was 'I have to ride back up this!' On the way back I was doing ~8 km/hr!


My objective! The tunnel is the entrance to the Elk Valley Coal Mine at Luscar Creek! It was exactly 40 kilometers to this point which took me 2 hours to reach, the return trip only took me 1 hour!

Stats: Ascent - 718 meters, Descent - 246 meters, Average Speed - 24 km/hr, Total Ride Time - ~3 hours, Average Heart Rate - 155 bpm, Max Speed - 74 km/hr!

Jasper Trip

Last weekend the guys convinced me to go on a sight-seeing trip to Jasper. I haven't done much on the weekends since I've been here other than going fishing a couple of times, some bike riding and missing the family. I was glad at the end of the day that I had tagged along, it was nice to get away and get my mind off missing the family!

Maligne Creek Canyon. That water fall in the background dropped down 50-100 feet below us. There was a giftshop nearby that we stopped at for a drink, they had a large jade bear with a $1,000,000.00 price tag on it!

The highlight of our trip was our $25 ride on the the Jasper Tramway to the top of Whislter Mountain.

The tram coming up the mountain; it takes 30 people at a time on a 6-8 minute trip to the top of the peak at 4-6 minute intervals. It is apparently the highest one in the Canadian Rockies!

The chalet at the top of Whistler's mountain where we had lunch and a hot drink.

That's the Athabasca River far below me where we swam on our Swift Water Rescue Course.

From the chalet it is a 90 minute hike to the top of the mountain, as you can see I wasn't exactly dressed for the weather; -1 and snow!

My buddy Brock was brave enough to climb out on this rock, below him is the town of Jasper.

We sat out on the patio of Earl's in Jasper for a drink and could see this image on the top of an adjacent mountain. If you look close you can see the profile of a man who appears to be laying on his back with his face to the sky.

First Tooth!

Erinn lost her first tooth the other day, she was so excited that she had to phone dad, right away, on mom's cellphone to tell him. That night she put her lost tooth under her pillow and the next morning she woke up to discover the Tooth Fairy had come and replaced the tooth with a shiny new toonie, however Erinn voiced her disapproval right away, apparently she wanted some of "that paper money" instead of a toonie!!!

Birthday Blair!

Blair celebrated his 9th birthday on September 24th, in attendance was everyone but his dad (sob, sob!!!). Grandma Zimmer was down for it and Mama & cousin Ben came out on the weekend.


Ben helping Blair blow out his candles.


"Happy Birthday to Blair!"


Hanging out on the tramp.


Boy cousins!


A cool present from Grandma.