My husband and I have traveled through Saskatchewan many times on our way to the west coast, observing the mostly flat scenery of the province, as viewed from the Trans Canada and Yellowhead Highways.

Other than a fantastic camping trip to Cypress Hills Inter-provincial Park years ago, we had not seen much of Saskatchewan.

This summer we decided to remedy this omission and spent five weeks exploring and camping in the southern half of Saskatchewan, along with good friends who have been our camping buddies for the last 50 years.

Pictured above is our campsite at Grasslands National Park, just after a rain shower produced a spectacular rainbow. (I should have checked for the pot of gold under that picnic table at the end of the rainbow...)

The rainbow was filled with 'spokes' that are called anticrepuscular rays (or antisolar rays). They are a meteorological phenomenon, and appear to converge at the antisolar point, directly opposite the sun in the sky.

We stayed four days in this gorgeous park and one evening saw more of the rays, in the opposite direction to the sunset.

The really cool thing about the skies of Saskatchewan is that one can see them from horizon to horizon, without many trees or buildings blocking the view.

This makes the skies appear to be very vast, compared to those in my home province of Ontario.

Shown here is the Frenchman River, which has carved the distinct valley that dominates the West Block of Grasslands National Park.

The thing that struck me most about this extraordinary park is that, as soon as you step out of your vehicle on arrival, the sound of birdsong fills the air, even though there are no trees in sight. (Apparently the birds nest in the prairie grass or underground.) 

After ten or fifteen minutes spent absorbing the smells and sounds of this naturalized area teeming with life, its profound peace and serenity seeps into your bones. It is one of the most relaxing places I ever have visited.

Saskatchewan has lots of hilly terrain, and we got to climb one of the more significant hills called 70 Mile Butte, pictured here. The 2 km trail had switchbacks and steep grades but was well marked.

70 Mile Butte is a prominent landmark (highest point in the West Block of Grasslands National Park), and is known for its panoramic views of the surrounding prairie landscape.

In this photo, our friends are taking pictures near the summit.

Since we were traveling in July, we had the pleasure of viewing many flourishing farm crops of wheat, barley, oats, flax, canola, mustard, peas, lentils, and field beans. 

I used to assume the yellow fields were canola in bloom, but I discovered that mustard fields also bloom with yellow flowers. It is difficult to tell them apart when viewed from the roadway. Can you tell the crops in these two photos?

We were proud to learn that, (according to a very informative sample farm plot in Yorkton), Canada is the world's largest producer of mustards, flaxseed, red lentils, yellow peas, and canary seed.

Learning about farming and the agricultural history of the province was one of the highlights of our visit.

If your travels take you to Saskatchewan and you want to know more about it's multi-ethnic, hard-working people and their rich history, I highly recommend visits to the four branches of the Western Development Museum. 

The travel route for our entire trip was based on visits to these four sites in Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon, and Yorkton.

Together they tell the remarkable story of human settlement in the province, and reveal how and why the province has become a vital part of our country. 

The Western Development Museum began in the 1940's when people realized the collection of abandoned and unused farm equipment (for scrap metal for the war effort) threatened the survival of machinery that had transformed prairie sod into productive farmland.

The fledgling museum set about preserving some of this farm equipment and has grown its collection of artifacts to include all facets of farm, rural, and indigenous life.

Today the Museum has the largest agricultural collection in Canada, with thousands of vintage objects, restored historic buildings, treasured documents, and their stories, displayed in world-class exhibits.

We found each site has a different theme and focus, but together they tell a spellbinding story of an important time in the formation of Canada. 

For example, Canada's national healthcare system, Medicare, has its roots in Saskatchewan's pioneering public health insurance programs. In 1947, the province introduced the first universal hospital insurance program in North America. This initiative, and subsequent expansion of public medical coverage, served as a model for the rest of Canada. 

I hope my account of our trip, and the photos I have shared, do justice to Saskatchewan. Our visit there was eye-opening, and I have the utmost respect for the people who have contributed to the success of, not only this province, but all of Canada. 

I end this post with a sunset photo I took in Regina, at the end of a beautiful Canada Day celebration in the capital city of Saskatchewan.

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Killarney Provincial Park was established on the north shore of Georgian Bay in 1964, but its origins trace back to the conservation efforts of artists, notably A.Y. Jackson of the Group of Seven, who pushed to protect the area for wilderness recreation and its unique landscape. 

For several decades, I have heard of the natural wonders of this region, and this spring spent a week camping, hiking, and kayaking there, camera in hand. It was a dream come true.

In this post, I am sharing photos from four distinct locations in the Killarney area.

POINT GRONDINE PARK:

We set up camp in Point Grondine Park, a First Nation owned and operated 18,000 acre recreational area east of Killarney Provincial Park. 

Point Grondine Park features 12 new spacious campsites for tent or trailer camping.  They are primitive in nature (which means they are off grid, with privy toilets available on site) but very private and quiet. It was so lovely to wake up each morning surrounded by trees and birdsong.

Our Airstream trailer provided all the comforts of home - propane powered refrigerator, stove and oven; flush toilet and shower; comfortable queen-sized bed; and solar powered batteries for our satellite internet. We used our gasoline-powered portable generator a few times for additional electrical needs.

One day we hiked to Mahzenazing Lake, which had some lovely rock outcroppings along its shoreline. This is the largest interior lake in Point Grondine Park.

Scenes of fresh water, sturdy smooth rocks, and wind-sculpted trees, (very typical elements of the Canadian Shield), always captivate my artistic mind. I was able to capture several paint-worthy views with my camera during our hike.

KILLARNEY LIGHTHOUSE TRAIL:

Another day we drove to the little town of Killarney on the shore of Georgian Bay to hike the famous Lighthouse Trail (pictured below).

The slabs of rock were huge, and we spent an hour clambering along the shore. I love the powerful diagonal lines of rock crevices, and the blue/orange colour palette in the photo above.

Shown above is another dramatic photo from that day, featuring interesting puddle shapes that lead the eye toward moody skies over Georgian Bay. This will translate into an awesome painting.

Interesting lichens provided a striking colour contrast with pink granite, worn smooth over millions of years. The Canadian Shield is very old, with parts of it dating back over 4 billion years. This makes it one of the oldest and most stable geological regions on the planet. 

CHIKANISHING TRAIL IN KILLARNEY PROVINCIAL PARK:

My favourite hike of the week took us 3 km along the Chikanishing (pronounced chicken-ISH-ing) Trail in Killarney Provincial Park. We hiked over several large smooth granite ridges with beautiful old growth pines, pictured above. The patterns of lichens were extraordinary, especially when you realize these plants only grow about 1 mm in diameter each year.

We soon reached Georgian Bay, where a collection of rocky islands dotted the shoreline. I was delighted to see two kayakers paddle by, to provide a sense of scale and adventure in the photo above.

Everywhere I looked, pink granite provided a stunning contrast to blue water and sky, and pale green lichen added its unique textural topping to the rocks.

The water of Georgian Bay was very clear, revealing underwater stones and rock shelves. I always wonder how large trees can anchor and survive on what appears to be solid rock on these islands.

Shown above is another dramatic composition with diagonal lines and my favourite blue/orange colour combination. Intricate lichens add interest to the foreground.

As we sat on a rock ledge eating our picnic lunch, it seemed there was a potential painting subject everywhere I turned. 

While we paused to absorb the beauty and peace of these rocky islands, I was reminded anew how fortunate we are to live in this part of the world. 

GEORGE LAKE IN KILLARNEY PROVINCIAL PARK:

On our last day of camping in Killarney, the weather was warm and sunny with little wind, so we took the opportunity to launch our kayaks from the beach at George Lake in Killarney Provincial Park. The photo above shows me in my kayak at the base of one of the impressive rock cliffs on the lake.

Shown above is the same rock face from a different angle. My kayak would look like a tiny speck in this photo.

Shown above is one of the most famous rock cliffs on George Lake. I love the diagonal rock crevices juxtaposed with vertical mineral stains. The two pines at the summit give a sense of scale to this massive, smooth headland.

The same headland looks very different viewed from behind (pictured above). That smoothly eroded kind of rock surface always reminds me of elephant hide.

George Lake is lined with interesting rocky shores. The contrast of pink granite and green conifers dominates the photo above.

Our day on the water provided a fitting finale to our week exploring the wonders of Killarney. Now I understand why artists like the Group of Seven were captivated by this stunning region and kept returning here to capture the iconic Canadian Shield landscape in their famous paintings. I have so much admiration for this land and look forward to capturing some magic of my own in watercolour. Stay tuned!

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The term 'shakedown' often has negative connotations, such as a swindle, an unwelcome search, or a radical restructuring of a company. But an Airstream Shakedown is a happy occasion - the first group camping weekend of the season by the Ontario unit of Airstream Club International.

The event is called a Shakedown because it is an opportunity to check that all systems are working properly in our trailers, after they have emerged from winter storage, and that we remember how to operate everything. We make sure any wear and tear issues are identified and resolved before extensive summer travel begins. Usually we discover items we forgot to bring with us from home, and add them to our checklists.

Sixteen Airstream trailers of all sizes and vintages gathered for a long weekend early in May, to check over our rigs and enjoy some relaxed, social time together. It was lovely to renew friendships after the winter break, and to make new friends.

Our 2025 Shakedown was held in the Richmond fairgrounds, on the outskirts of Ottawa, ON. Facilities included water and electrical connections, and access to a dump station for emptying our wastewater tanks prior to leaving. 

We enjoyed lawn chair happy hours in the sunshine (pictured above) as well as catered breakfasts and a delicious pot luck dinner in the adjacent community hall. Some of us visited area flea markets, craft shows, and yard sales and found a few treasures to take home.

One evening, my husband hosted a Canadian trivia game slide show to entertain the group, and I gave a slide show of recent paintings and the steps of making my landscape painting And Nothing Else Matters (shown here).

Coincidentally, I delivered this painting to its new owners at the Shakedown, and they proudly showed it off to the audience after my slideshow.

That presentation lead to the sale of one of my rustic Canadian flag paintings, to our new Airstream friends Patrick and Caroline (shown above), who will be hanging it in their beautiful trailer. They camp and travel full time throughout North America every summer and have a YouTube channel called @RoadTripEscapades. Patrick shared the awesome drone photos he took of the Shakedown, and allowed me to use them in this post. 

Airstreamer Jim McQuaid took the above photo of the encampment at sunset one evening. Our trailer is in the middle, with a purple entrance light beside the door. 

The Richmond Shakedown was a relaxing way to enjoy spring weather in the company of many wonderful friends, and start off the camping season on the right foot. My husband and I have arranged four awesome camping trips to various regions of Canada this summer, so stay tuned for highlights in future posts.

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This post is the third and final chapter of our Manitoba travel tale.

As we toured this beautiful province for five weeks alongside 18 other Airstream couples this fall, little did we know this adventure would become one of the most memorable of our lives. (There are a couple of videos at the end of this post that reveal why.)

In my first post Manitoba: Through an Artist's Eye, I shared with you my favourite photos of the Manitoba landscape.

My second post Artist's Travels: Hidden Gems of Northern Manitoba, detailed our fascinating visits with farmers at their potato, canola, honey, bison, and softwood farming operations.

As enthralling as these aspects of our tour were, the icing on our proverbial cake was a five-day excursion to Churchill, on the shores of Hudson Bay, to see polar bears and northern lights.

Having left our trucks and trailers at a campground in Thompson, we boarded a Via Rail train for the 15-hour overnight ride to Churchill.

Our hosts from Frontiers North picked us up at the train station the next morning and gave us a bus tour of Churchill. This included a visit to the town's Polar Bear Holding Facility, shown below. The 'jail' has 28 cells.

We learned that from mid October to the end of November each year, about 300 polar bears gather at the shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill. They wait for sea ice to form, so their winter seal hunt can begin.

Polar bears are marine mammals whose main diet is seal blubber. They catch seals by ambushing them at their blow holes in the ice.

The bears we were soon to meet had not eaten since spring when the ice melted. They spent their summer inland, without food, resting and living off of their body fat reserves.

Polar bears are powerful predators. A mature adult male can be ten feet long and weigh 1,500 lbs - a dangerous threat to humans.

Churchill is very protective of its polar bear population and does its best to keep bears away from townspeople. But now and then a hungry bear gets too close to town.

In that case, the bear is caught in a bear trap similar to the one shown here, using seal meat as bait. The bear is transported to jail and kept there until sea ice forms. Then the bear is anaesthetized, netted, and transported by helicopter far up the coast so it can reach the ice from there.

While in jail, the bear is not given anything to eat, so it will not associate the facility with food. In other words, the bear's fast continues whether it is incarcerated or not.

After the town tour, we were dropped off at the Tundra Buggy dock to board this 40-passenger cross between a Greyhound bus and a Hummer.

The tires were as tall as I and the electric powered vehicle was custom-built to navigate the rough terrain of the tundra while keeping passengers safe from bears. The open air viewing deck at the back made photographing wildlife easier.

Once we boarded the Tundra Buggy, our feet did not touch ground for three days. The reason was twofold: to keep us safe from bears, and to keep the tundra as untouched by humans as possible. The Tundra Buggies adhere to a strict trail network in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area to protect the delicate tundra ecosystem.

After spending the afternoon meandering over rough terrain full of rocks and shallow ponds, listening to stories from our guide and our driver, and seeing bears and ptarmigan, (more about that later), we docked at the Tundra Lodge, pictured here on the shore of Hudson Bay.

I would describe this portable, self-contained resort as a travel trailer on steroids. The Lodge unit on the right was our sleeping car, with each little square window representing a single bunk. There were hot showers and flush toilets, as the Lodge had storage tanks for fresh water and waste water.

The unit with the viewing deck on top was our lounge. Beyond that were the dining hall, kitchen, and staff lodging. Outdoor viewing platforms connected each unit to the next one. For two nights we stayed in this comfortable resort overlooking Hudson Bay. We slept well in cozy bunk beds and enjoyed chef-created meals in the dining hall.

For another two days we crawled over rough terrain in the Tundra Buggy, coming close to bears many times and spotting other arctic wildlife such as fox, hare, bald eagle, and many small birds. On our last day, one female polar bear came within 20 feet of our vehicle.

I have so much excellent photographic footage of our bear encounters that I made this video to share the most exciting highlights with you. Click on the image below and meet some bears! (The video is 12 minutes long so may take a few moments to load, depending on your internet speed. Trust me - it will be worth the wait.)

While we were at the Tundra Lodge, northern lights that had eluded us for the entire Manitoba trip finally made their appearance on a clear night.

Those of us brave souls who donned coats over PJ's and ventured outside in the wee hours of the morning were treated to an epic display of red, purple, and green Aurora dancing among brilliant stars over Hudson Bay. The sight was profoundly beautiful and took our breath away.

On the overnight train back to Thompson, a few of us caught another strong show of northern lights, this time all in brilliant green.

Then, incredibly, we experienced the strongest celestial show as we journeyed south towards Winnipeg.

The rays of scarlet, pink, and green light danced throughout the entire dome of the sky for several hours. Words cannot express the wonder we felt as we witnessed this natural phenomenon. It was an overwhelmingly moving experience.

I was able to capture a multitude of stunning photos of the aurora with my iPhone and made this six-minute slideshow of our best northern lights sightings.

I hope you have enjoyed my travel tales of northern Manitoba, and that I have been able to convey the enthralling magic of our experiences. I also hope you can witness these natural wonders in person one day.

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This fall my husband and I had a grand adventure: a five-week guided camping tour of Manitoba from Winnipeg to Churchill and back.

In my last blog post Manitoba: Through an Artist's Eye, I shared with you my favourite photos of the Manitoba landscape, from my perspective as an artist.

For my second post, I am revealing some hidden gems we discovered during the first few weeks of our tour. We were privileged to have access to several family-owned farms where we learned about their way of life in this surprisingly fertile pocket of northern terrain.

We talked to the owner of Spud Plains Farms, the largest potato growing operation in Manitoba, and saw his potato harvesting equipment in action in the fields. We also watched one of his enormous, climate-controlled, potato storage barns being filled by conveyor belt.

Enjoy this two-minute video showing the fascinating process at Spud Plains Farms:

Near Neepawa, we were enthralled by several presentations at RNR Galbraith Farms, telling the story of their canola business.

Canola (an abbreviation of 'Canadian oil'), was developed by plant breeders in Saskatchewan and Manitoba during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, there are 7,500 canola farmers in Manitoba.

Canola plants grow 3 to 6 feet tall and produce beautiful yellow flowers in early summer. These develop into pods, resembling very slender pea pods.

Each pod contains dozens of tiny black seeds, which are made up of about 45% oil. Seeds are harvested in the fall and crushed to extract the oil.

Amazing Fact: Just one bushel (23 kg or 50 lbs.) of canola seed, represented by the black plastic cube in this photo, produces 11 litres (2.4 gallons) of canola oil!

Canola oil is used in a wide range of products all over the world, so it was interesting to get our hands on some canola honey at Pretty Valley Honey Farm in the Swan River Valley. Yes, bees gather nectar from nearby canola fields to make this delicious honey.

The beekeeper gave us a guided tour of his family operation, which included about 3,000 hives. He produces honey for BeeMaid, a cooperative of over 300 western Canadian beekeepers. Pretty Valley Honey Farm also creates a wide array of beautiful candles made from pure beeswax.

Interesting fact: In wintertime, if you see a bunch of dead bees on the snow surrounding a beehive, that is not cause for alarm. It means the worker bees have been keeping their hive clean by removing bee bodies as they naturally die. If there are no dead bees outside the hive, it means there are no bees still alive to do the housecleaning.

Near The Pas, we were thrilled to visit a small bison herd at Round the Bend Farm and help the farmer move his free range chickens to a new section of pasture. Now we know the answer to that age old question ’Why did the chicken cross the road?’ It was because a bunch of tourists were chasing it!

We ended our visit with a campfire dinner of bison tenderloin shish kebabs and green tomato pie. Delicious!

Enjoy this 5-minute video about our day on the farm and all the healthy, happy animals we met there:

At Spruce Products Ltd., a mill that has produced dimensional softwood lumber since 1942, we learned about another type of farming - growing trees that take up to 80 years to mature - and how the operation utilizes every bit of those trees for various products and it’s own energy use.

In the mill, a computer assesses each log and determines optimally what size and quantity of lumber will be cut from that log. Byproducts such as sawdust are pressed into pellets for wood stoves and shavings from the planer are bundled up to be sold as horse bedding. The bark and other log trimmings are burned to heat the drying kiln (pictured here), which removes moisture from the cut lumber to reduce warping.

Incredible fact: each board produced in this mill is stamped with a code and photographed. If there is ever a complaint about any piece of lumber afterwards, the mill can refer back to the photo taken during manufacture to investigate the complaint.

As fun and interesting as these agricultural tours were, the crowning glory on our guided caravan was an excursion to Churchill to see northern lights and polar bears.

I will share amazing photos and video footage of this extraordinary 5-day adventure in my next blog post, but for now here is a teaser shot of a curious polar bear checking us out.

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This month my husband and I concluded a five-week camping tour of Manitoba from Winnipeg to Churchill and back. We were on a guided adventure along with 18 other Airstream couples. Pictured above are some of our trailers, camped in the moonlight on the last night of our tour.

We had a wonderful time getting to know everyone on the trip, and enjoyed a wide variety of interesting and educational excursions together. But this post is not about our itinerary.

Instead, I am sharing with you my favourite photos of the Manitoba landscape, from my perspective as an artist. These references will provide authentic details for future paintings.

This is Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park near Dauphin. The leaning tree on the point caught my eye but I also love the rocks in the foreground and the moody sky.

We enjoyed a sunny autumn hike on the Rex Leach Museum Trail in Swan River. I like the contrast of yellow leaves and blue sky. The curving pathway invites the viewer to step into the scene to see what is around the bend.

I almost stepped on this cluster of tiny mushrooms on the trail to The Caves in Clearwater Lake Provincial Park. They make a perfectly balanced composition as they sit basking in the autumn sunshine.

Clearwater Lake is spring fed and lacks major in-flowing streams which may carry silt. This helps to keep the water very clear. I have seen this lovely turquoise colour in Lake Superior and would love to include it in a painting.

The rock lover in me is drawn to the rocky shoreline of Clearwater Lake. The autumn foliage adds a punch of contrasting colour.

As we enjoyed an interpretive forest walk on the Grace Lake Trail near Dauphin, I noticed the sunlight illuminating these red leaves. Glorious!

My husband and I took a side trip to Flin Flon to visit a friend who gave us a tour of the area. This rocky landscape punctuated with autumn poplars touches my soul.

Near Thompson we stopped to admire Pisew Falls. It was absolutely beautiful. The contrast of white water beside dark forest and rocks makes a stunning composition.

On the train from Thompson to Churchill, we saw lots of wilderness scenery from our window. The tamaracks were in their full autumn glory the week we were there. They are a deciduous conifer whose soft needles turn golden in the fall, drop from the tree and regrow each spring.

There was an endless parade of northern scenery from the train. This dawn scene over a wetland area has a beautiful sky.

The train crossed several rivers which afforded nice views of unspoiled shoreline. I liked the rocks and tamaracks in this one. These trees are also called larch.

As we explored the terrain between Churchill and Hudson Bay in an electric people mover called a Tundra Buggy, we saw many of these lopsided evergreens known as flag trees. They only have branches on the lee side because the branches on the windy side are killed or deformed by the constant wind, hence giving the tree a flag-like appearance.

These unique rocks form part of the tundra landscape. They have been scraped flat by glaciers, which also deposited the gravel.

I love the colours and forms of this rocky shoreline of Hudson Bay near Churchill's harbour. They definitely will make it into a future painting.

These striped rocks on the shore of Setting Lake at Wabowden would make a great foreground for a painting. The stripes lead the viewer's eye into the scene.

This photo shows the structure of roadside tamarack trees very well. I like the contrast of their yellow needles against the other conifers and the blue sky.

This shallow bay in Cross Lake near Grand Rapids has several interesting features. I am intrigued by the ribbons of refracted light that are dancing over the pebble bottom. The reflected light on the water surface on the left is interesting too. Foliage colours are warm and inviting.

I love the brilliant scarlet and gold of this fiery sunset on Cross Bay Lake and the hint of distant rain. I may use these elements in a future northern lake painting.

I am happy to share this brief glimpse of our Manitoba adventure. I hope seeing my photos and reading my thoughts about them gives you an idea of how an artist views the world. 

Stay tuned for more stories from our Manitoba trip. I can't wait to show you the amazing farms, majestic polar bears, and epic northern lights we encountered.

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This past summer and fall, my husband and I enjoyed a 5-month camping adventure in our Airstream trailer. We began our trip by travelling to the west coast through the USA and back through Canada. I shared highlights of the western portion of our explorations in these posts:

My Summer Travels in the High Desert

Pacific Northwest: Forests and Freshwater

We spent the final two months of our journey discovering the wonders of the American states surrounding Lake Michigan. This exploration began with with a tour of the Upper Peninsula, which lies between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan.

Although there was much to see and do in the 'UP' as the locals call it, the most exciting highlight of our time here was taking a scenic afternoon cruise out of Munising, Michigan to see Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

This 42-mile stretch of protected lakeshore includes 15 miles of towering multi-coloured sandstone cliffs, as well as beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls, inland lakes, and forests. Pictured Rocks was established in 1966 and is managed by the National Park Service.

The cliffs reach a height of 200 feet and are made entirely of sandstone. The sedimentary rock layers erode at varying rates due to different densities. This produces the sea caves, arches, pillars, and other fantastic sandstone formations we see today.

Colourful vertical streaks are caused by groundwater seeping through the sandstone and depositing dissolved minerals on the cliff face. The orange-red streaks are iron, blue-green are copper, brown-black are manganese, and white are limonite. When afternoon or evening sunshine lights up these cliffs, the glow of rock contrasted with clear turquoise water is breathtaking.

I put together a short video from our scenic cruise, to give you a glimpse of the unique majesty of these natural formations. Click on the image below to enjoy two minutes of relaxing sights and sounds.

Our boating excursion was hosted by Pictured Rocks Cruises and I highly recommend their services.

I expect a few of these remarkable rock formations will find their way into a painting or two of mine down the road. I hope I can do justice to these natural wonders. Stay tuned!

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My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring western USA and Canada in our Airstream trailer this year. It has all the comforts of a small apartment, and I often refer to it as our mobile condo.

During the 20 weeks we were away, we drove just over 20,000 km which made for a comfortable, relaxed pace. Some locales we visited only a day or two, and others had us settling in for a week or more, depending on what there was to see and do in the area.

In previous blog posts I shared my favourite photo highlights from the first half of our trip. If you missed them, here are the links:

My Summer Travels in the High Desert

Pacific Northwest: Forests and Freshwater.

I will be sharing more travel stories and including videos and photo highlights of our trip in coming months, as time permits. I have a lot of painting to do, since the fall and winter seasons are when I produce the majority of my artwork.

However, as we travelled, I made sure to take time for a few hours of painting every week or so.

I have learned that this regular creative time is essential to my well-being. I get cranky if I have a long stretch of time without having fun making art.

My husband would go off to see a car show or for a walk, and I would set up my portable studio at the dinette in our trailer, as pictured here.

My painting setup is very simple: a fistful of brushes, two small travel palettes, a dozen small tubes of paint, pre-cut sheets of watercolour paper, a few foam board supports, and some reference photos. I also employ a folding LED desk lamp, old rags to protect the dinette surfaces, and some repurposed pantry equipment.

I generally had three paintings in progress at any one time, so if I had to stop working on a painting while it dried, I could work on another one in the meantime.

Getting all my equipment set up at the dinette takes about five minutes, so it is no trouble to paint for just two or three hours, and then put everything away.

Cleanup takes about ten minutes, including washing my brushes. Watercolour is especially suitable for a mobile studio like this, as there are no solvents needing disposal.

To avoid the risk of mould or mildew, I have to let my paintings, brushes, and rags dry fully before I pack them away. I also need to let my palettes dry so the paint won't spill during storage. Watercolour paint can be reused another day, by adding water to dissolve the dried paint. This is another factor that makes this medium ideal for travel.

I came up with the idea of using the shower stall in our Airstream bathroom as an overnight drying area. This keeps all the materials out of our way so we can use the living area of the trailer. This photo shows three paintings drying after a painting session.

The shower seat holds the paintings on their supports as well as my palettes. On the floor is a zippered clear plastic bag (the kind that blankets come packaged in) that I use as a storage case. Resting on top of that is a rag and my wet brushes. The shower stall has a small retractable clothesline (not shown in the photo) that I use to hang more rags to dry.

After drying, all my painting supplies fit into the blanket bag, which I then stow into one of our overhead cupboards in the Airstream.

I was very happy to complete these ten new paintings during our travels. That equates to an average of one painting every two weeks.

Back home in my art studio, I mounted the watercolour paintings onto archival wood panels, shown here.

I use various heavy objects at hand (including my awesome pebble collection) to help affix the watercolour paper to the cradled panels.

Once the adhesive was dry, these paintings were trimmed, varnished, and framed. A few of these new paintings have found their forever homes and the rest are being delivered to my retail galleries in Huntsville, Fenelon Falls, and Port Perry, ON. To view details and locations of the remaining pieces, visit the New Paintings page on my web site.

For a complete description of how I mount and varnish my watercolours, see my article Framing Watercolours Without Glass.

We had a wonderful holiday and it feels great to be back home again. I am keen to start on several large scale northern landscape paintings in my roomy studio. Now that cold weather is here, my little gas fireplace will be put to good use.

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When examining the map of the Pacific Northwest region of North America, one might assume that mountains would be the most remarkable feature travelers would encounter.

But when my husband and I explored the Pacific Northwest for five weeks in July and August, I found this not to be the case.

As we camped and hiked throughout northern Idaho, Washington, and southern BC, I was much more intrigued by the pine trees, lakes, and rivers we encountered.

In my view, the mountains became more of an attractive backdrop that gave context to the landscape.

The first group of photographs pictured here were taken as we explored northern Idaho, following our travels in the high desert of Wyoming and southern Idaho in June and July.

Journeying north from Boise, we followed along the Salmon River and were thrilled to see many parties of river rafters floating in the current.

We didn't have a chance to investigate this time, but if we return to this part of the world, we will look into taking a guided rafting trip down the Salmon River.

It looked like a lot of fun, not too challenging, and the scenery was gorgeous.

When we used to travel all over the US and Canada by motorcycle, we attended a Honda Gold Wing rally in Coeur d'Alene and were impressed by the beauty of the area.

As we planned this year's trip, we were sure to include a visit to this scenic lake, pictured here from the Mineral Ridge hiking trail.

We were thrilled to take a site seeing cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene one warm evening. We got to know some of our fellow passengers and enjoyed excellent live music by a local band, while watching the sun go down over the surrounding hills.

It was a magical experience and the scenery reminded me of Lake Muskoka, with many luxury homes and resorts nestled along the shore.

We journeyed on from northern Idaho across Washington and up to Vancouver to visit family and friends for a week. Then we made our way south to Olympia, Washington.

For two weeks we camped at the Washington Land Yacht Harbor, an Airstream-only RV park and mobile home community.

From there, we explored the area around Tacoma. We asked a local resident about scenic hiking areas and she directed us to a hidden gem near the town of Yelm.

It was Deschutes Falls Park, a 155 acre sanctuary featuring a lovely old growth forest and a small river gorge, and we spent a pleasant afternoon hiking in this shady park.

In this photo I am standing beside one of the venerable trees beside the forest walking path.

The river water dropped 27 feet over rapids and a series of small waterfalls, interspersed with calm clear pools. All we could hear were the soothing sounds of trickling water, a breeze in the treetops, and birdsong.

The moss-covered rocks were a type of conglomerate that looked very different from the Ontario granite and limestone I am used to.

Another day, we took a bus trip to Crystal Mountain (the largest ski resort in the state of Washington) with some fellow Airstreamers. We enjoyed a gondola ride up the mountain and lunch at Summit House restaurant.

As our cable car slowly ascended, more and more of the surrounding mountain ranges came into view.

I loved seeing the progression of blue shades in the mountains, from pale cerulean in the far distance, gradually darkening to a smokey navy blue in the foreground. 

You can see two gondolas in the centre of this photo.

At the summit of Crystal Mountain we enjoyed beautiful views of the Cascade Range and Mount Ranier, which we learned is pronounced ‘rah-NEER’ in Washington. (We had been calling it ‘RAY-nee-er’.)

With its snow cap glowing white in the sunshine, contrasting with the clear blue sky, Mount Ranier was an impressive sight. We also could see Mount St. Helens and Mount Baker (which we had glimpsed often when visiting Vancouver.).

Our travels then took us east through Washington, crossing back into Canada at Yahk, BC, where we found a delightful little place to stay for a few days.

River's Edge Ranch RV Park was nestled on the bank of the Moyie River, which was a shallow glacial stream with a gravel bottom.

In this photo of the campground, you can see our Airstream on the right.

The campground was just off the Crowsnest Highway and was part of a horse farm, surrounded by the Kootenay Rockies.

The owner said we could hike beside the pasture area, so we were able to stretch our legs and see the horses up close.

We drove to nearby Creston for groceries (having crossed from the USA with a nearly empty fridge) and were delighted to find many roadside stands selling local produce from vegetable farms and fruit orchards. We loaded up on organic sweet peppers, summer squash, cherries, nectarines, and apples. Delicious!

The next day we walked into the quirky village of Yahk, home of Two Pump Paul's gas station, and enjoyed lunch at a tiny ice cream shop and cafe called Two Scoops Steve's. Next door was an artisan soap shop that had a pen of pet white goats.

Between the two stores was an entrance to a public garden that lead to a charming forest walk, which eventually brought us to this beautiful spot on the Moyie River.

Our stay in this interesting community, surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty, was as delightful as it was unexpected, and allowed us to conclude our visit to the Pacific Northwest on a high note. It was time to head east towards Ontario and more adventures...

If you have comments you wish to share, please do so using the 'Leave a Comment' button at the top of this post. 

Subscribe to Karen's Newsletter if you wish to see more travel tales, painting stories, studio news updates, or notices of upcoming exhibitions.