A Trip To a Ranch & a Great Dinner!

Yesterday, I got to do something a little different in terms of wedding preparations. Rhett, his Dad Ray and myself had to go out to a ranch about 40 minutes east of Blairmore to pick up 22 bales of straw. These straw bales are going to be covered with Paulette's quilts and used as seating for the wedding ceremony in the backyard.

The rancher had a bunch of straw bales stored in this old metal shed

From Wedding Preparations

The ranch owner said Rhett could take the bales for a deposit of $4 each, and if they were returned dry and not beat up, he would refund him $2.50. It was a lot cheaper than renting 50 chairs at $5 each that's for sure. We could only fit 22 bales in Rhett's trailer so that will have to do but we can get 2 people per bail! The guests are going to be mostly younger folks so a lot of them will just stand for the 30 minute wedding ceremony.

All loaded up with 22 bales of straw and ready to roll

From Wedding Preparations

When we got back to the house around 4:30pm, we covered the bales of straw with tarps as there was a pretty good chance of overnight thunderstorms and we sure didn't want to end up owning 22 bales of straw in the middle of Blairmore!

Typical Southern Alberta ranch country

From Wedding Preparations

After that, I went back to the RV Park for a shower and to put on some clean clothes as we were all going back to Erin and Rhett's for dinner. And, a great dinner it was. Our daughter Hayley had volunteered to make her specialty - "Pulled Pork". She cooked up 2 Costco size pork loins in 2 crockpots using her own special recipe. All I know is it tasted just terrific and had just the right amount of "zip and kick" to make it real tasty. Looks like there was going to be lots left over for lunch today too!

After dinner project - making bride's and bridesmaids bouquets

From Wedding Preparations

This dinner was a great chance for us to spend some time with Rhett's parents - Ray and Gail. Like Paulette, Gail is a retired elementary school teacher so they had a lot in common to talk about. Ray just retired a few months ago from his position as the Park Warden(Ranger) at Riding Mountain National Park which is about 3 1/2 hours northwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba. We spent a lot of time discussing what it's like to be retired. Hint - it's just great!

At 1:00pm today we have the wedding rehearsal. Then later, at 7:00pm, we are all going to a hall in town where Rhett's parents, Ray and Gail, are hosting a dinner for all of the wedding guests who will be in town tonight. So, it looks to be another busy day. One more day to go!