Two Cowboys Sinks a Put for the Canmore and Area Healthcare Foundation in Canmore, Alberta

More Than Expected

Communities are defined by how well its people take care of each other. However, we don't always appreciate or is aware of who these "caretakers" are that we rely on so leisurely. 

In our "modern world", we've become so far removed from the people that make our civilized lives possible that we no longer appreciate who they are, and what they do. How well do you know your neighbour? Do you know the name of the kid behind the coffee machine that served your Espresso this morning, or your fries for your poutine last night? Dare you ask and care about how your pharmacist's day is going?

Let's make it serious. Do you know who paid for the heart monitor used when your wife was at the hospital's emergency room? Who bought the chair in the waiting room you slept on outside the maternity ward while waiting for your son to be born? What is the name of the Doctor who treated your daughter when she fell off her bicycle, on her way back from school?

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Community for Community

We go through our days often unaware of the people behind the scenes that make a difference to our lives. Sages are touching us and shaping our every day, positively. We will never meet them.

It is easy to take the little things for granted. Marriages and friendships fall apart when we no longer pay attention to the value of what is often considered trivial. Relationships suffer when we stop saying "good morning" or forget to ask, "How was your day, my love?". In the same way, it is even easier to just assume that someone else is taking care of the big things. Our roads, water, hospitals, schools, sanitation and our safety. Isn't it is the Government's job? People are getting paid to do it. I pay taxes, that is why it is there. That is why I am entitled to it.

Herein lies the problem. Government, our taxes, and public servants don't always take care of things. It becomes quite evident when the system breaks down. The world is full of examples where bureaucracies misbehave, fall apart, or abuse their role with catastrophic consequences for the societies they are meant to serve.

In South Africa people in towns are no longer safe, no longer have clean drinking water or electricity. Municipalities no longer remove garbage and streets and sidewalks haven't been maintained in years. The "system" fell apart. Public servants became more interested in serving their own bank balances and exorbitant mortgages, than serving the people that are funding their purpose and existence.

With towns in peril, local community members came together to take care of each other. Neighbours are now patrolling streets and keeping each other safe. Areas are generating their own electricity and neighbours are collecting each other's garbage. People are taking care of each other. They know who is making their town livable and they take responsibility for each other.

Canmore Community

In Canada, we are fortunate to have public healthcare. There is a massive system of bureaucracy somewhere in Edmonton, Vancouver or Toronto, with Billions of Dollars responsible for being there when we get sick or have a health emergency. We assume that the Government fits the bill for our much needed and essential health services. We certainly pay a fair chunk of our income in taxes with the belief that our public servants have our best interest at heart and will be there when we need it most.

However, there are cases when our system fails us, and much-needed resources are prioritized elsewhere. This is when the luxury of leaving our salvation to someone else costs us personally and our community in much-needed services or resources. It simply leaves us with two tasks. To put pressure on the health care system to prioritize resources our way, and coming together as a community to take on the responsibility of taking care of each other.

The Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation is a community organization that is tasked with these two crucial asks for the people of Canmore, Alberta. Their mission as a community-initiated organization is to obtain and provide charitable financial resources for the continuing improvement of the health facilities and services of the Canmore General Hospital. They encourage philanthropy and guard these financial resources to benefit the community's health needs.  It is the people of Canmore taking care of each other where the public health services don't meet requirements or fall short.

Observations

Soulafa Al-Abbasi invited the Cowboys to be part of this year's Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation's annual charity golf fundraiser. The goal was to have fun, entice more charitable giving, and more importantly, to tell the story of the Foundation's existence and the vital work they do.

We were residents of Canmore for eleven years. All this time, we used the Canmore Hospital and its facilities not knowing about the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation. We've always assumed that thanks to generous public funding through our taxes, of Alberta Health Services, that Canmore has an excellent healthcare facility. Now we know that we also benefitted from the work of the Foundation. More importantly, we benefitted from the charitable contributions of our neighbours towards access to better healthcare.

Every resident of Canmore is likely to come in contact with the Canmore Hospital sometime during their lives. Here is the ask, when you know that the hospital is in your future. Don't you want to be sure that the Canmore Hospital will be ready and able to treat you, as you would like to be treated when you need it most?

If you do, then make the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation part of your charitable contribution. If it is not a monetary contribution, give your time. You will get back much more than you give thanks to your neighbour, who is also contributing for your collective benefit. This is the community looking after each other, in its purest and basic form.

We thank Soulafa and the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation for the opportunity to share this positive story. We thank them more for the heart monitor they bought for my wife to use when she was in the Hospital's Emergency Room on Friday, 20 July 2019.

It reminds me of a sign I once saw on the wall at one of our best clients. It said, "When you learn, teach. When you get, give." We implore you to give generously!

Hendrik

Canmore Cowboy

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Photos

Perfect Day

Sinking a Put

Canmore

Good Food is Food You Cook Yourself - BBQ and Grilling is as Basic and Easy as it Comes in Alberta, Canada

What You Are Eating

"Fast food" is everywhere. It means, unfortunately, that bad food is too. 

Because it is easy to get cooked food fast, many people are forgetting how to prepare it themselves and are probably unaware of what they are really eating. I know this is a gross generalization. It may upset some people. These may be the very people that never paid attention to how grandma boiled potatoes or pulled a roast chicken from the oven. I bet they can't even fry an egg.

There is a whole generation of Millenials that think milk comes from a factory and burgers should be made in laboratories. Most of what they regularly consume comes from an oil fryer, and they have their local restaurants, and food establishments on speed-dial through technology like "Skip the Dishes" and "Uber-Eats". No wonder they gravitate towards veganism! They are unlikely to be eating enough good food.

Here is the revelation. Whatever you order from a restaurant is probably sub-standard. You can buy better at the supermarket, cook it yourself, and it will ultimately taste better, and perhaps be even cheaper. By cooking for yourself, you may learn something. You will definitely also make a few friends along the way when you also share your work with those around you. 

If you don't cook your own food, you are probably not eating well. Let's take a closer look at the economics of a food establishment in today's world.

This is part of the TWO COWBOYS' EPIC GLOBAL TRAVEL & CULINARY EXPERIENCE - 2019! 

Heritage Heat Ep1

Alberta BBQ Ep2

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Buy vs. Cook

This is the scenario. It is a case that will probably be out of reach for most people. However, it will put in context what good restaurant food may look like. What will be a fair price at an upmarket downtown establishment, when we order a 450g rib steak, scalloped potatoes, another green vegetable and a salad?

Without the trimmings, side dishes and drinks, and excluding tip and tax, the steak alone will probably set you back around CAD$45 - CAD$50. How did they get to this price? Consider that you have the cost of the slab of beef, the skill of the chef/cook, some seasoning, the overhead of the facility and the margin built in as cost to the price of the meal?

According to "Forbes" magazine, the average gross profit margin for a fine-dining restaurant is around 60% with a food cost percentage between 38% to 42%. Because we are looking a premium piece of produce, there is a good chance that the portion of meat that is served in this scenario set the restaurant back around $21.

Remember that the meat is the star of the meal, and clearly, it is the most expensive part of what is served, so everything else should contribute to pay the rent and wages. The potatoes, vegetables, salad, wine, etc. must deliver substantially better margin than the 60% (charged over and above in this case).

Here is the surprise. The price the consumer is willing to pay ultimately determines the profit a restaurant can squeeze out of a meal. If you and I are eager to slap down $50 for a steak, then a good restaurant will creatively engineer their food and overhead costs to maximize the return from that $50 of wallet spend, without diminishing their brand or upsetting customers with a sub-par experience.

The question is, what can they get away with?

This is where creativity starts in the restaurant business. Either they have a heck of a deal to get prime produce really affordable (because they buy vast quantities, know the farmer, grow their own beef, blah, blah, blah, or let's just say it is where the cook/chef's talent come to shine. They likely take an average (or below-average) cut and dress it up to be served as a prime cut for a top dollar.

Now, think what you get served at a fast food restaurant. Where is the margin coming from in a $10 Happy Meal? Not so happy anymore, are we? No wonder, they try their best to obscure what you are really eating from the fryer.

You can cook for yourself. Visit the grocer or butcher and buy a prime piece of meat. Drop it on a hot grill for 4 minutes a side. Slap it with some garlic butter and a little S&P and another couple of minutes in the oven. See how that compares to your $50 barely adequate rip-off restaurant steak.

I cannot fathom why I would choose the restaurant's steak over my own unless I have money to burn or masochistically feel like tendering for a round of prime indigestion. The point is, you may ultimately spend the same money if you want to (if you pick the 90-day, dry-aged, prime cut that is actually the 90-day, dry-aged, prime cut). However, you will be eating better, because you know what you're cooking, and you have no incentive to cheat yourself out of a perfect meal.

Which brings us to barbeque and grilling.

Observations

We cannot wait for the BBQ season to start. Granted, we BBQ, grill and cook year-round. We are die-hard braai boere from South Africa. Before we came to Canada, we didn't know there was another way to prepare food!

The good thing about BBQ season is that there is a season for it. As with most things in Northern America, there is no half-measure. It is done with complete commitment, enthusiasm and dedication. Rain, snow or shine, the cookers will be running with brisket, pork, sausage, chicken and for the really adventurous they even do baked cheesecake, bread, and desserts, in what is really just a big woodfired oven.

The best part of the BBQ season is that you get to do something primal with good friends. You gather around a fire and prepare food as it was done for thousands of years. It is where every cooking adventure should start and where it ultimately provides one with better eating and a better quality of life.

If you cook your own food and do so with friends, you will be a better person. You will enjoy life more and likely to be happier and healthier. This is the Two Cowboys guarantee.

Come along. We'll show you how we do it.

Hendrik

Cooking Cowboy

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Photos

Pork Chop

Steaks

Original

Beast

Salad!

Hot Chefs, Cool Beats, and a Good Cause with Alberta Pork in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Ode to The Chef

"My happiest place is when I am "in-the-moment". The world can go by when I am in the kitchen. Cooking makes me whole. It is my passion and purpose. It is what I am and what I do.

I am amazed by the chemistry and the intricate processes that take place when food ingredients are combined with energy. My knowledge and skill transform it into culinary perfection. I have no care in the world other than to watch steak grilling, sauce thickening, cake rising, and pork crackling transform into golden crispy bits of sunshine. 

My moments are complete when I witness precise olfactory, taste and visual symphonies of well-plated food. It becomes a magnum opus of culinary glee to see it, an experience that is only topped by the primal moans of pleasure coming from a loyal patron as they bite into a course I carefully prepared. 

This is what I am dedicating my life to. It is my vocation."

This is part of the TWO COWBOYS' EPIC GLOBAL TRAVEL & CULINARY EXPERIENCE - 2019! 

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Hot Chefs Cool bEats

We recently attended the "Hot Chefs Cool bEats" event in Edmonton, courtesy of our partner Alberta Pork. It featured interactive food stations from Edmonton's top culinary talent. Attendees could also sample wine, beer, & spirits from Canadian wineries, local craft breweries and distilleries. If that wasn't enough, it included performances from DJs, dancers, street performers, and live musicians.

The initiative began in 2011 as a fundraiser for The High School Culinary Challenge's Canadian Culinary Fund, and after a short break, it was back with a new home at Edmonton's Mosaic Centre and a restricted guest list of 200 privileged patrons. It meant that not only was the food top-class, there was also enough so that you didn't go home hungry or thirsty. Most importantly, it introduced you to some of Edmonton's more innovative chefs and their talents. You could sample a variety of the best creations like litchi moose, mini ice cream cone tacos, pork on a bun, and more.

Some of the highlights for the Cowboys were the Pork Coppa and Prosciutto made by the young chefs Peter Keith (himself an alumni beneficiary of the scholarship) and Will Kotowicz of Meuwly's Charcuterie, Sausage and Preserves. They promised us it was only BertaPork! Then there was Scott Downey from the ButternutTree's deep-fried Canadian moss. If we knew that these vegetables were so delectable, we would forage our forests until they are empty! Apparently, the moss was from Back East.

However, the start performance of the evening was Paul Shufelt's (The Workshop Eatery, Edmonton) collaboration on a Wagyu Holstein Beefetta. It wasn't pork. However, it was BertaBeef, and so they were forgiven for rekindling our love for meat on a stick. You just needed a large stick for this one and a massive appetite! They did promise us a suckling pig for next year, to honour their loyal sponsor, Alberta Pork.

All proceeds from ticket sales and silent/live auctions benefitted the Canadian Culinary Fund and its main program, The High School Culinary Challenge, so it was all for a good cause.

Observations

Being a chef is not an easy job, and to venture into the culinary industry requires guts and you to be a little bit crazy. It is a lifestyle and a vocation that continues to draw attention for its opportunity, but also for the harshness, low wages, and extreme physical and mental demands on the individual.

Contrary to the glitz and glee of television programs like MasterChef, it is far from glamorous. Most of what chefs do is monotonously droned behind the scenes, in hot holes, spending long hours with equally weird and crazy people feeding the masses with basic fair. Only a few become "rock star chefs". Even less survive as small businesses and entrepreneurs.

However, the culinary industry provides endless opportunity for creativity, learning and mastery. These are the opportunities that the Canadian Culinary Fund attempts to unlock for young people when they introduce and lure them into the possibilities in preparing food.

We salute them for it and congratulate them on a Hot Chefs Cool bEats event that set the bar high. We look forward to the next one. We travel the world for food, and we are entitled to our opinions. Edmonton's chefs should get more attention. They surprised us. It will get more from the Two Cowboys for sure if this is the standard we can expect.

Now, if only there were more pork...

Hendrik

Alberta Pork's Cowboy

P.S. We thank our partner Alberta Pork for making this work possible. Now, go eat more pork!

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Photos

On a Plate

Moss Discovered

Canadian Ceviche

Double Trouble

Epic!

Sitting Out the Alberta Winter with Fried Chicken and Spiked Frulattes at Marv's in Black Diamond, Alberta

Worth the Trip

The Cowboys have a few favourite ways to pass the time when it is cold outside. 

One way is to visit friends in Alberta to do some home-style cooking. Marv Garriott, the owner of Marv's Classic Soda Shop and Diner, invited us to Black Diamond for such a visit. He wanted to tell us more about his special fried chicken and unique peanut butter burgers. We had a little surprise installed for him too with a spiked Frulatte!

This is part of the TWO COWBOYS' EPIC GLOBAL TRAVEL & CULINARY EXPERIENCE - 2019! 

DO YOU WANT YOUR BUSINESS OR COMMUNITY FEATURED?

Winter is a particular time in Canada. Canadians find all kinds of ways to make the most of the snowy, frosty season. Ice Hockey, Ice Fishing, Skiing and Sledding are a few of the activities that make winter exciting and bearable. You also have the festivities of Christmas Markets and the Holidays that precede the big freeze.

However, by late February and early March, the novelty of winter has worn off. Canadians become grumpy and start to look for something new to do. These are also the hardest months for some of Canada's tourism-related small business owners. People avoid travelling when it is cold. It means that business is slow during the mid-winter months.

If you are in locations outside the main centres, you are hit harder. As a business owner, you really have only two options during this time. Either, you shut your doors and sit it out, or you find ways to draw attention to your store with something new or unique.

A fifties diner is not new or unique. However, Marv managed to add his own personal style to this iconic attraction in small-town Black Diamond. During the Summer months, weekends are busy when people stop for a malt shake, ice cream and his unique hotdogs, sodas and burgers.

During winter things are really slow. It is then that Marv comes up with new recipes and twists on old favourites like his trusty crispy fried chicken. According to Marv, it takes a little longer to properly prepare his chicken. That is why it is not on the menu during the busier summer months. He reserves the chicken for the slower winter months instead. It is hearty and worth the trip to have produce that he sources locally, brine, bread and cooks personally, for his loyal customers.

Observations

We've often seen in Canada that small business close down during the winter months. They do it to preserve cash and to prepare for when the warmer season starts again. It has a knock-on effect for others in the community. When small businesses close their doors, even if it is temporary, then casual staff go without wages, local producers don't sell their produce, and destinations don't attract visitors.

Surely, this cannot be good for their communities. Kudos to Marv for staying open and supporting his local clientele. All we can ask is that you give him a hand by stopping by for some fried chicken or burger, and a milkshake. Who knows, you may also be able to have a yummy Frulatte to remind you of the approaching summer? In the mid of winter, we know, it is a welcome reminder.

Hendrik
Frulatte Cowboy

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Photos

Classic

Burger Filming

Burger Making

Frulatte, Eh!

Traveling Cowboys: Old School Values and Fun at the Only Great Canadian Barn Dance, Alberta, Canada

Dance More

The Saturday Night Dance used to be an essential town event that brought the community together. Young and old came to share a meal, dance, meet new people, catch up on local news, and have some good old-fashioned fun and laughter. It was good exercise too.

Unfortunately, like the Drive-in and the Roadhouse Diner, the Saturday Night Dance also disappeared from our towns. 

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One cannot precisely pinpoint when and why this happened. It just stopped, and somehow no one seems to be missing it. Maybe it ended because people became distracted by other forms of entertainment like Television, the Internet and Social Media.

If you ask Trevor Kunkel from one of the last Saturday Night Dance hold-outs, The Great Canadain Barn Dance, he blames the introduction of alcohol to these events. "Everybody had a good time and families participated until alcohol was introduced. People started to misbehave. Before you knew it, parents stopped coming. Older folks stayed away, and people found other ways to be entertained", says Trevor.

He may have a point, because the Great Canadian Barn Dance is in a dry county in Southwestern Alberta and he is now the second generation of hosts that still caters to dancers from, and visitors to the area. Saturday evenings is dance night and has been for several decades now. Friday evenings are for dinner shows, and the rest of the Summer calendar is filled with events and workshops for teaching old fashion dancing and music.

The Great Canadian Barn Dance is, quite possibly, the only campground you'll find where the whole family can camp, dance, enjoy recreational activities, and take in live entertainment all in one scenic location. It caters to music for all ages. You can join in complimentary dance lessons, and with no liquor allowed at the dance, it's an event the whole family can enjoy, the way it used to be.

Observations

We stumbled upon this gem in desperation for a Southwestern Alberta camping spot in 2017. Waterton Lakes National Park's campground was full. We needed a place to park in the area, and Google pointed the way to the Barn.

Apparently, it all started with a barn. Instead of the Kunkels taking to the road every Summer, playing for audiences across the Province, they sought a way to draw the patrons to them. It all started with hosting a dance at the Barn. That was 25 years ago. Since then, every Spring to Fall music rung out over the Prairie, and the people continued to come.

Now we have an annual appointment with the Barn too. The first time we arrived we were immediately welcomed to the Barn Dance family with roast beef, corn and mashed potatoes. Before we knew it, we were doing the two-step, the waltz, the line dance and the polka.

I am not sure what exactly draws us to make our annual pilgrimage to the Great Canadian Barn Dance. It could be the location, the food, the music, the dancing, or it could merely be the old-school values that draw everyone in to have fun together, young and old, like we used to.

People should dance more.  Start at the Barn and keep dancing. We did!

Hendrik van Wyk 

Dancing Cowboy

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Photos

Mustering

Dance Place

Old West

The Barn

Roast Beef!

Two Cowboys: Every Individually Perfect Pierogi is Pinched by Hand in Airdrie, Alberta

The Little Things

When you work with dough, every batch is a little different. Only the trained eye and the sensitive touch of a master baker is in tune with the moods of the gluten gods. They all say that knowing dough is to understand its feel.

The perfect pierogi has the same demands for detail and attention. Emma Linton knows that to craft the ideal delicate shell of her creative flavour explosions, she has to pay particular attention to the dough’s consistency, bounce and stretch. She feels with her hands for when the mixture is perfect. Every pierogi is hand-crafted. She makes her pierogies the way its traditionally been made. She pinches them by hand.

DO YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

When she makes them by hand, she can trust each one to provide a thin, yet sturdy housing for her traditional and more adventurous fillings. The shell enhances the overall taste of the morsel, and it promises to remain closed so that no filling leaks out during steaming, cooking, frying or grilling.

Emma makes a lot of pierogies. She sells them at several farmers’ markets in and around Calgary. It is also available for online order through her website (http://www.pinchedbyhand.com) and delivery within Alberta.

We checked in to see how she does it and she obliged us with a privileged look into the inner-workings of pierogi making genius, by taking us through her processes. We are not divulging any secrets, but it is safe to say that as it is with all the simple classical recipes, it has a lot to do with the method of making and with the quality of the ingredients. In the case of pierogies, it also has a lot to do with practice and patience.

Pinching every one by hand is a tedious job. Why then the attraction is to do it? According to Emma, pierogi making was, and still is a family affair. It has a social aspect to it. It brings people together to collectively prepare food and share a meal - something that is quite unique to our species. When Emma makes pierogies, it brings her people together, and it is her hope and wish that it does the same for others.

Observations

Pierogi making is a lot simpler than most people think. A little dough, some filling, a bit of creativity, practice and patience and time with family and friends around the kitchen table.

Not only is it simple, it also allows small quantities of food to go a long way. If you have leftover meat or vegetables from another meal that you prepared, you can mush it together and work it into a filling for pierogies. Add some extra spices or flavouring sauces, and you will soon have your own style and unique pierogi creations. Freeze it to keep it and fry it up with lots of butter when it comes time to enjoy it.

If you are pinched for time and cannot go without your pierogi fix, then Emma will look after you. Enjoy her pierogies because it gives her a chance to come up with another recipe. Emma's pinched by hand pierogies comes with the Two Cowboys endorsement. It is that good!

Hendrik van Wyk 

Pinched Cowboy

 We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode to promote a local business or event.             

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Yum!

Market Day!

Two Cowboys: Learning Why Little Things Matter for Tiny House Builder, Finished Right Contracting, in Morinville, AB

The Little Things

When you consider living in a Tiny House, you know that the little things matter. 

It matters because space is limited in your living quarters. Everything has its place, and everything must have a purpose, or it is in the way. It also matters because you recognize how precious space is in your mind that you dedicate to the things around you. 

When you are conscious of your physical and mind-space limitations, you discover how little meaningful time you have and how much of this precious resource it can take to truly dedicate to “belongings”. There are only so many hours in a day, days in a month, and months in a year. Keeping something for "in-case" or "sentimental" value quickly becomes something in the way or another thing that needs storage, maintenance and care. It merely occupies space you may no longer have.

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The same applies to the people with which we surround ourselves. If we choose to have them in our lives, do they honestly matter? Should they matter? Does your employer really commit to your wellbeing like you commit your precious life hours to theirs or will they let you go the moment you are no longer needed, useful, nice, or “a team player”. Do clients really care about your welfare or are they merely focused on extracting as much as possible for as little as they have to offer? 

Should you care to whom you hand over your money? Do the people from who you buy have your health and well-being in mind when they sell you that highly preserved meal, lousy coffee or device that will stop working or break in 18 months. Who makes, grows or crafts the items that fill your life? Are you with a partner, parent, or is your older child with you because they build you or because they use you or even worse, abuse you?

This is probably why minimalism and living tiny go hand in hand. Both are contrarian outlooks in today’s fast-paced consumption driven life. Both require a lot more thought about the things we have, the time we spend, and the people we have around us. It is anti-hoarding. It is less that is allowing for more. It is living with purpose.

We’ve discovered that it has the power to create space for more meaningful living. That is why we like it. We’ve also found that it doesn’t come easy, though. It requires firm resolve and dedication. Every decision made, item used, hour spent, and person loved needs to made conscious of the real value, role and purpose it plays in your life. The little things matter because that is where you find meaning.

A lot is said and produced online about Tiny Houses, tiny living and the motivation of people that choose the lifestyle. At the outset, it sounds bohemian to be able to live in a space that is considered small by North American standards (...in Europe and Japan with their space limitations, even our tiny is considered big). A home you can move with you if you choose to live in another part of the town or country. It comes with a philosophy of possibility. It also comes with a perspective of quality which is different from what you get in a mobile home, RV or a motorhome.

Observations

We were fortunate enough to meet Steve Zaleschuk of Finished Right Contracting who shares in our philosophy. He is a tiny house builder just north of Edmonton, Alberta. Steve has been doing carpentry for over 34. You can see his keen sense of accomplishment when he takes a stack of lumber and turns it into something beautiful and useful that can stand the test of time. This is precisely what he does when he builds his customers’ small homes. Everything Steve makes is scrutinized by that little voice inside his head, “Would Grandma be happy with this?” If not, I do it better!  

Steve Zaleschuk is a true craftsman and maker. He prides himself in making a tiny home that will be enjoyed for the next eighty years by all who walk through the entrance. Everything is hand-finished and done custom to the client's satisfaction. This takes a lot longer and costs more at the outset. However, as we know with things that are well made, over time it's better.

Steve “overbuilds” his tiny houses. He thought of everything. Every last detail is done with care and consideration. Nothing is too much. Just right. We’ve discovered that the fit out of a tiny home can be a minefield of options. It is a marriage between a conventional building and an RV. Traditional buildings last longer and is more comfortable during bad weather but is heavy, more expensive and less mobile. RV thinking ads mobility, less cost at the outset, but quality and durability are usually an issue. Should you do solar? Do you really need water tanks? What heating should you use? How do you cool down in hot weather? All these questions come up, and Steve has an answer for every one of them and more. He did his homework and will guide prospective customers through a build that is perfect for their needs.

We have not seen the amount of care before that Steve puts into constructing tiny houses for other people. Steve can rightly call his houses, “homes”. If there is a little home we want to live in, Steve’s is at the top of our list. Who knows? Maybe we will get a chance to do it.

Hendrik van Wyk 

Minimalist Cowboy

 We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode to promote a local business or event.             

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Quality Control

Dimensions

Small Home

Craftsman

Traveling Cowboys: Seeing the Light with Dark Sky Guides in Waterton, Alberta, Canada

Not So Dark

Sometimes you need darkness to appreciate the light. This is indeed an opportunity in Waterton National Park as the residents of the town reinvent themselves after the devastating Kenow fire of 2017.

One of the ways they are doing it is to offer a new experience that is well suited for the literal darkness of the destination - stargazing! You can now have a guided stare at the breathtaking heavenly night sky of Waterton with Dark Sky Guides.

DO YOU YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

The four Robinson Brothers were lucky to grow up in Waterton Lakes National Park, and over the years they explored all areas of the National Park, both in daylight and after dark. As third-generation tourism service providers (they also operate Waterton Shoreline Cruise Company), sharing Waterton Park’s abundant human and natural history has always been a part of their lives. Now they are starting at the heavens and they want to take you with them.

After the Kenow Mountain Fire burnt a significant portion of Waterton Lakes National Park in September 2017, the brothers knew it would be more critical than ever, to show people that there is more to Waterton that just daytime hiking through (the once forested) mountain landscapes. And so, Dark Sky Guides was born.

Between the four of them, the Robinson Brothers officially have 40 years of experience acting as tour guides in Waterton Lakes National Park. And over the years the brothers have travelled to many destinations around the world, picking up best practices from other tour guides and companies across the planet.

Dark Sky Guides offers small, personalized tours that will open peoples’ eyes to an entirely new area of Waterton Lakes National Park – the night sky above. The brothers hope to encourage every single tour participant to connect on a personal level with the National Park, in their own particular way.

Observations

We were lucky to be invited to the dinner kick off and Dark Sky Guide launch night on the 29th of May 2018.

Keith, his brothers and their team surprised us with a fantastic meal while we waited for the sun to set and the moon to shine. At around 22:30 we were treated to the new experience of having our own local guide - one of the brothers - from Dark Sky Guides showing us the heavens above Waterton Lakes National Park.

The moon was full. With the telescopes they provided, we were given a chance to see it in a whole new light. We were left with a renewed appreciation for the area and for our own small place in the vastness of our Universe thanks to their expert guidance and commentary about the heavenly bodies.

Keith noted that while the summer nights in Alberta doesn't provide a lot of dark hours, they hoped to offer the experience year-round. Winter in Canada is a stargazers dream, and there is no better place to dream than amongst the beauty of Waterton Lakes National Park.

This is a recommended Two Cowboys experience, and we wish the Robinson brothers all the success they can have with their new venture!

Hendrik van Wyk

Moon Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode to promote a local business or event.

Photos

Maiden Voyage

On Tour

Mooning

Big Gun!

Traveling Cowboys: It is Summer 2018 and Waterton is Open for Business Again in Alberta, Canada

Now More Than Ever

Waterton is a place dear to our hearts. Its scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. But, we are most fond of its people. Waterton is open for business in 2018!

The tiny seasonal village adopted us, the Two Cowboys, as their own. From our start in 2016, they gave us an opportunity to showcase their natural beauty, the variety of food and intrigue, to the world. We cannot start a Summer in Canada without our annual visit to Waterton. This is our fourth year.

Open for Business!

Waterton After the Fire

DO YOU YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

At the end of May, the snow melted, and the remaining trees were green. The flowers were out all over Waterton's grasslands, and in the town, the baskets were in bloom. We made our way to our favourite camping spot unsure of what 2018 will hold for the destination. During the last couple of years, we've worked with Waterton to promote the town, the destination and its businesses.

This year we were even more committed than usual to show the world a little of our Spring paradise, because of the recent Kenow fire. The disaster destroyed a lot of the natural attraction of Waterton in 2017. The good news was that the village was saved, except for the Parks Canada Information Centre (which was slated to be moved anyway), and nobody got hurt. We found Waterton open for business.

At the townsite, many of the faithful pilgrims returned to pick up the pieces after the disaster, with the hope to continue where they left off, before the fire. The big question on everyone's mind this year was if Waterton would recover from the incident. Will the visitors return and will patrons again come to enjoy the beauty and the people of the community?

Observations

With every significant and sudden change in people's lives, such as what happened in Waterton, there is a sense of loss. However, such a move also provides ample opportunity for reflection and renewal. Some may regard the event of a massive forest fire in Waterton as a disaster and a loss. We make the case that it need not be the case.

It is not a loss for nature. Instead, it only a step in the continues cycle of renewal. It's a natural cycle that been playing itself out in the forests and on prairies of Canada, over and over for millennia. It will continue to do so long after humanity left the planet. Waterton's forests and animals didn't lose something. It gained necessary renewal.

The question that remains is if the event will translate into a loss for the town and its businesses. Will tourism return in 2018 like before and will the businesses suffer if they don't? People will be aware that what they came to expect from Waterton's Park landscape is no longer there. Instead, there is something different, and equally spectacular, or will they drive by towards the other natural attractions of the Province?

The opportunity now, for the visitors to the Park is to discover this natural process of renewal and experience the unique ways that trees recover, new flowers blossom and animals return to a rebirth of a region.

With it, the businesses in the town have an opportunity to renew and refresh. The tourists are unlikely to return to previous numbers in the near term. It will put pressure on revenue and force a rethink for a complacent few that got too accustomed to the visiting masses. For others, it will open opportunities to try something new, upgrade, or for new businesses to step in where some may decide to throw in the towel.

Waterton's businesses and its people are as much an attraction for the destination as its natural beauty. They are all given a chance to renew, rebuild, attract and grow. The ones that take this chance will be the folks who prevail and flourish and who we will promote in years to come. Those are the people you will find in Waterton this, the next and the years thereafter.

We are glad that Waterton is once again open for business.

Hendrik van Wyk

Waterton Cowboy

We earn our livelihood by producing great content and supporting inspiring people, businesses, and communities. Please book us here so we can tell your story too. If you want to see us do more of these, then please forward the favour. We will use it for the next episode promoting a local business or event.

Photos

On the Water of Waterton

Majestic!

Waffletons

Renewal

The Locals