The Irricana Dry Out Centre

Before you think that Tina staged an oddly timed intervention, let me explain. We’ve been camping the last 2 nights at Irricana. Those were pretty ugly nights – we woke to rain on Saturday and decided to stay again on Sunday rather than pack up in the rain. Now, we have a very good tent so this seemed like a pretty good strategy. Well, if you recall Sunday was a “snow day”. Gord Beach came out and we slogged through the wind and slush to get to Beiseker. By the end of it, though, shoes to knees were soaked, despite rain gear. The water moved upward, probably via capillary action, so my jeans were drenched. Socks, naturally as well as gloves, mitts, etc.

We figured we’d find the laundromat and throw everything in together. One small problem, the laundromat is no longer open. We talked to Sheila, the campground manager, and she said there is a lady in town, Lora Peterson, who allows people to use her dryer. Okay, sounds good so we went back to the tent to check on it. The tent had a puddle an inch deep and a foot in diameter. It appears the snow piled up against the back and seeped in. So, Tina bailed the water out, then soaked up the rest with a towel. More for the dryer.

So we dropped in on Lora and she was very welcoming, interesting lady. A lifelong learner, full of energy. She agreed to join us for dinner at the Irricana Family Restaurant where we were able to get to know her better. Somewhere along the way, it struck me that she really should call her home “The Irricana Dry Out Centre”. Pretty sure it’ll catch on….