A fine rural relic

Back in October last year, I knew that, if I was going to make myself drive north of the city, I had better do it straight away. So, on 28 October 2014, I plucked up courage and drove "to parts unknown". Actually, part of the drive was along familiar roads and the rest was exploring.

I had intended leaving home around 9:00 am, but it ended up being 11:00 am. I had only been driving maybe 40 minutes before I pulled over for the first thing. I couldn't take my eyes off one particular cloud - actually more like a stack of clouds. A car turned off along the gravel road shortly after me, and the young guy commented about the beautiful lenticular cloud. That is exactly what I had thought it might be, so I was really pleased. We don't get to see them very often.

Continuing my drive north, I managed to get as far as the town of Didsbury before I knew I just had to turn around and head for home, coming back via Water Valley and Grand Valley Rd/Horse Creek Rd. Saw quite a few Magpies, three or four Crows and one Gray Jay, lol. Other than that - oh, and one Hawk perched high up on a power pole along a busy road - I saw no wildlife at all. That was fine, though, as this trip was more about looking for barns.

The one in this photo was a beauty. The owner's young Grandson happened to drive out of the property while I was taking photos from the road. I asked if he knew how old the barn was - he said he'd been told, but just couldn't remember. Said his Grandfather had thought about painting the barn, but had decided not to - thank goodness. It is a fine enough historic building to be protected in some way, though.

During the seven hours that I was out on the road, I did manage to find several other barns, too, though not as spectacular as this one. Total driving distance was 322 km, which is more driving than I am used to.