Mary and Sam make trek to Calgary Stampede

Mary spoke of her trip coming up last week and we finally find out where she and Sam are headed. This week they went to the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada. They pitched a tent by a river in an auto camp for their stay. Sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Friday, July 2, 1948

Went to Seattle and was out to the little house. The first renter had made off with the dishes, so it was pretty bare. Got some slacks and shirts at the Bon and killed a lot of time as I had but little to do. We ate dinner at the Farm. It was very good. Home at 9:30. Really a day wasted. I can’t see what good it was for me to go out to see the house. I wanted to do that before the renter left, “Oh no” Sam says. You can’t do that. Now he does not have much to say when everything is gone. To bed tired.

Saturday, July 3, 1948

Washed clothes before I went to get my hair done and it was a job! Sam went to Seattle to get a pinball machine and was gone all day. In the afternoon I went to Belfair and got mosquito netting and saw Marie Higgins at the store. Home and had a good swim and lay out in the sun to bake awhile. Put some mole bombs out and sprayed roses for green aphids. Cleaned house and changed all the beds. Defrosted the refrigerator and cleaned the cooler so now I am ready for my trip. Very warm out today but a wind came up in the afternoon. We drove to Staircase. No blackberries so I won’t feel so bad being away. I won’t be missing the fun of berrying anyway. To bed early. Very cool out.

Sunday, July 4, 1948

The Cadys came down to breakfast and we had a lovely time. Served ham, hotcakes, fried potatoes, eggs, coffee, jam and strawberries with cream. Ironed all the clothes and put everything away. Started a fire in the oil stove. It was so cold! In the afternoon I got all my clothes packed for our trip. Got all cooking utensils, etc., ready. Ralph Swanson and two friends were here for a few minutes. Then Rudy, Karl and two other brothers-in-law came over to get a couple of floats. I gave Rudy some lovely rosebuds for Alma. The men went upstairs and had a few too many so Sam couldn’t eat any dinner. Too bad. To let a few drinks spoil your evening. Very lovely out on the point. The mock oranges are so lovely, and everyone is thrilled at how wonderful it looks. Rained last night hard!

Monday, July 5, 1948

Today it rained in the morning and was cloudy most of the day. Ironed clothes and fried chicken for tomorrow. Sam cleaned up all his bookwork and then packed the car. We have quite a heavy load. Then he washed the car, so it looks very nice. To Wychoff’s and had my hair combed. Then I made 6 pints and five jelly glasses of strawberry jam. Went over to Nichols to tell them about raspberries. Paid the milk and berry bill. I picked all the pansies and removed all flowers from the house, so it is clean.

Tuesday, July 6, 1948

Left Belfair at 7:45 and arrived at Kimberly, British Columbia, at 9:15. We had a wonderful day and ate our lunch by the Columbia River. It was a sunny day but not too warm. Saw nine deer, six of them in Canada after we crossed the line. Stayed at Kimberly Hotel and had a nice room. We were tired after over 500 miles of constant riding. Saw a turtle near Sandpoint, Idaho, and a grouse. There are places here where roads were all washed out. Ate lunch at Tourists Headquarters. Very clean and good. To bed at 10:30. Cool out. Saw fields of daisies and a lovely pink flower near Spokane. Lots of mock orange by lake.

Wednesday, July 7, 1948

Raining out this morning and very dark and chilly. Arose late. We started out from Kimberly in rain but as we went along it cleared up. Oh, we saw such lovely wildflowers, bluebells and a large red tiger lily like none I’ve ever seen before. There were fields of yellow grass for miles, like a huge prairie, forests of fir and cedar and rugged mountain streams and many fine places to camp and eat. We ate lunch at a lovely river. Saw three deer, six moose and a cub bear. One cow and calf we saw way below us going along the edge of the lake. Many, many lakes along our way. Arrived at Calgary at 5:15 and set up tent at Sunshine Auto Camp down on the river. As soon as we had eaten, we went to Stampede. We had to stand up as every seat was taken. Saw “Chuckwagon” races and then on came dances. We watched awhile then walked around the carnival and home. This is more like a huge fair than Pendleton which is strictly cowboy races. To bed late. Very cold out. Fireworks went off just as we went to bed.

Thursday, July 8, 1948

Last night we nearly froze we were so cold, so did not get up early this a.m. We ate and cleaned camp then we went downtown and got tickets for Friday and Saturday shows. To Hudson’s Bay and got some hand lotion. Then out to Stampede Grounds to get a seat for today’s show. Starting to get very warm out. Thank goodness! We parted company. Sam went to Stampede and I went thru the stores. Saw many lovely things but only got two sweatshirts for Sam and face lotion for me. At 5 we met and went home, got dinner and then rode around along the river. It was very lovely too. We went home and read awhile. To bed early. Sunny out today and blue skies. A grand sunset. We saw it from the hill above our camp which overlooks Calgary and the Stampede Grounds. It is a perfect view spot.

■ Clydene Hostetler is a longtime Belfair resident, local historian, media archivist and documentary filmmaker of “Hidden in Plain Sight.” She has been researching Mary Theler’s life for the past 4 years. She can be emailed at [email protected].