June 17 to 20 - Dunnet Regional Park, near Avonlea, SK

At this campout we had 11 rigs attending - a total of 21 people. All are members except for Lorne and Joanne, who are prospective members:

Ralph and Bev

Roger and Marlene C

Peter and Diane

Harvey and Nancy

Jim and Carolynn

Terry and Kathy (Wed aft and Thurs only)

Lorne and Joanne

Gus and Barb

Alan and Alanna

Rilla

Bob and Marlene T

It was too late by the time we all arrived on the first day to play any games, so we just started with happy hour, which became a wiener roast, which became an evening campfire! Thank you Jim and Carolynn for sharing your canopy with us:

On Wednesday we drove half an hour to Claybank, and the Claybank Brick Plant:

They are usually closed on Wednesday but opened especially for us. The Bunkhouse Cafe in the above building served us sandwiches (egg salad and ham & cheese on homemade buns) and soup (homemade mushroom):

We filled four tables - Alanna, Alan, Diane, and Peter:

Bob, Rilla, and Marlene T:

Ralph, Jim, Carolynn, and Bev:

Marlene C, Roger, Nancy, and Harv:

Bev, Gus, Lorne, and Joanne:

And for dessert, we had a choice of homemade Saskatoon pie (yummy):

Homemade rhubarb and Saskatoon crisp (also yummy):

Or a homemade cinnamon bun (apparently OK, but nothing special):

After lunch we wandered through the Interpretive Centre. There was an old pump piano with a sign saying "do not touch" on it, but when the gals looking after the place found out that Gus had one at home they told him to go ahead and play it:

After we looked around for a bit one of the gals gave us a presentation on the history of the brick plant. It is a National Historic Site but unfortunately that designation no longer comes with any funding. They are doing their best just to preserve what they have, but they have no funding to repair anything. The actual buildings have been condemned so we can only see them on the video and from behind fences. Many of our group had toured them years ago when the buildings were still open:

After the presentation we all went out to look at what remains of the brick plant:

One of the things we learned in the presentation was that the kilns were so hot that they expanded when they were firing the bricks, and had to be tightened up with bands as they cooled:

Here is a close-up of the screws that tighten the bands that Harv is pointing to in the above picture:

All of the buildings and visible equipment were described on the large signs on the fences, with pictures showing how they were used, etc:

Behind the buildings were mounds of the clay used in making the bricks. Here also is a pile of rejected bricks deposited over many years, and nearby was a sign warning us not to walk on the area that looked like a dried slough - it is actually a type of clay that acts like quicksand:

A picture of the back-side of the plant:

A couple of us went for a short hike in the Massold Clay Canyons behind the plant:

Then back to the campground just in time for happy hour!

On Thursday we had morning coffee under Jim's and Carolynn's canopy again, then played bean bag baseball in the afternoon. We had a nice breeze in the open space between Harv & Nancy's and Terry & Kathy's units - perfect place to play games:

Our truck's gear shift quit working, (a clip on a cable broke) but a bit of haywire and Harv trying to squeeze under the truck and we had it back and running.

For dinner that night we went out to the Long Creek Golf & Country Club (That is Kathy and Terry on the far right - not yet at the campout in the Claybank pictures):

It was rather disappointing. We had called ahead and made reservations and called again to confirm the number of people, but the people working at the restaurant had not been told we were coming. Service was extremely slow, and although the hamburger was good, some of the other food was barely acceptable. We would not recommend this place.

Another campfire that night, Friday morning coffee, and then we all headed home. All except Peter and Dianne - their jacks would not go up. Almost all of us were gone by the time they tried to put them up, so there was little help available to them. They called their roadside assistance and finally got the jacks tied up so they could leave. Hopefully they will be all fixed up before our next campout.