For the past few months my team have been planning to meet in Cardston. It is sort of a midpoint between Alberta and Montana. This an account of my trip.
Friday 13 July 2018
We left home about 9 am to attend my FamilySearch team activity in Cardston.
We passed field after field of bright yellow canola blossoms. They were beautiful.
I appreciated our car, and especially enjoyed the air conditioning.
Among the thousands of on-coming vehicles I noticed a white Tesla model S electric car, an interest of mine.
About 10:30 we stopped at the iconic Donut Mill in Red Deer, and although the apple fritters looked especially good, the lineup was so long that we just left. Getting back on the highway now was really dangerous. They really need to add a traffic light.
We stopped for a Big Mac meal at McDonalds in Airdrie, then took Deerfoot Trail through Calgary, which went really well. We were able to travel at 100 km/h with no stops.
We refueled at Ft MacLeod, which took only 30 litres of gas @5.1 litres/100 km.
Resurfacing of the highway between Ft MacLeod and Cardston cost us perhaps half hour of travel time. It was one-way traffic for kilometres at a time. So you had to wait for a line of vehicles that might be kilometres long before the traffic going your way got a turn.
I realized that I had not packed a white shirt and tie for tomorrow.
Incredibly. in Cardston I got lost trying to find our motel, so I phoned them to say I was coming in the next hour, and we drove to the distribution center. There we made some necessary purchases, including a white shirt for me. They did not sell dress ties, but suggested a book store on Main Street that also sells ties. When I parked on main street near the book store, I noticed that the store directly in front of us was a dollar store. I went in and asked if they sold cheap ties. They only had Canada Day ties for $2 – perfect for my needs!
We checked into the motel. It may be the oldest motel in Cardston, It seemed clean but the air freshener smell was very thick in the air and the air conditioner was noisy. Our original accommodation plans had fallen through, and this was what was still available.
We had not planned on attending an evening temple session but decided to do so. We had time to enjoy supper at the temple, before getting ready for the 8 pm session. We were delighted to meet our friend Courtney McD there, and she ate supper with us and we caught up on the news of the past 5 years, since our families had moved from the Onoway area.
We enjoyed the temple session. It has been probably 4 years since the last time we attended the Cardston temple, which is the first temple either of us attended and where we were married.
By the time we got back to our motel it was about 10:30, so we turned off the noisy air conditioner and went to sleep.
Saturday 14 July 2018
We had decided to have breakfast at the A&W restaurant on Main Street. There we happened to meet a member of my team, who I had never met before.
We arrived at the temple,about 8:30 am and visited with team members as they arrived until 10 am, when it was time to change into our white clothing and sit in the chapel. The lady I sat beside identified herself as a member of my team from Montana. I was pleased to meet her in person. Our friends Hal and Karyle from Stony Plain were also there.
I noticed that the brother offering the prayer included a blessing of safety as we traveled home. I faced a 6 hour drive home later in the day, so I was appreciative of his thoughtfulness.
After the session we met again in the waiting room and then 12 of us had our pictures taken on the grass in front of the temple.
By the time we left for the historic Cobblestone Manor it was 1:45. They had expected us an hour earlier. An additional team member was waiting for us there. We had a beautiful meal. I was among those who chose the French Purse meal, which is sort of like a pot pie but in a globular pastry shell. It was excellent. Our hostess had made a carrot cake in the shape of a temple. Elder Redd paid for the cake, treating us all to dessert. Sister Shideler paid $20 for my meal, over my protests; and I bought a copy of a book written by Sister Thompson.
After the meal, some of us went to Sister Thompson’s house for a video chat. And we chatted at length with Sister Jack, a member of our team in Winnipeg.
I had a wonderful time, and I think everyone else did too. Judy and I stopped at A&W for our free July 14th root beer, then drove home.
The resurfacing of the highway again involved 1-way traffic but the lines were much shorter.
We ran into construction twice more.
We reached home about 9:30 pm.
It was really special to meet so many of my team in person.
About Cobblestone Manor
In 1893 LDS pioneer Joseph Young built a log house on the site. In 1913, Belgian immigrant Henry Hoet purchased the property for $200 and began to cover the 22x44 foot log house with stone walls, and built additional stone walls to extend the house. He made ceilings out of intricate panels of oak, thousands of precisely-cut and fitted pieces. Henry was a master cabinetmaker, and his skill is very evident a century later. He said he was building a palace for his sweetheart back in Belgium, but the years passed and she married someone else. Henry’s mental health failed and in 1929 he was relocated to Ponoka, and later to Edmonton, where he died. But in Cardston, his master work remains as a monument to his skill and hard work.
