Day 30 - Wednesday, October 16

Sadly, all good things must end and it's time for us to leave Alberta. The Hampton Inn and Suites may have other thoughts...you see, I had a bit of an issue with the desk chairs, yes chairs, not one but three. The first one was so loose I felt my using it would end in a trip to the hospital. We called and they replaced it. The replacement was so tight that the next day I leaned back and it exploded; screws and washers all over the place. Called again and the same good-natured maintenance man found me another one. This one was somewhere between the first two but was making loud noises any time I moved at all. I decided it was best to say nothing and bear with it. We left with the chair and me intact.  😂

The whole return flight process was seamless and almost enjoyable. For once our boarding gate was only half way down the long line of options and surprisingly was not changed. It was raining when we left Edmonton right on time. Rain, what's that? It cleared as we progressed. We flew over the Soo as the sun reached that golden hour that photographers love so much, so I had to participate.

Landing was the standard over the warehouses of Mississauga. However, just before that we got a nice view of the Absolute Towers, a Mississauga landmark.

We landed 20 minutes early, just under a 4 hour flight time. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the jetway to be put in place but the bottom line is our luggage was actually there on the carousel whet we got to baggage claim. That never happens in Toronto.

Our ride home was a fitting end to our trip (except for the horrendous traffic). As the moon rose...

...the sun set.     We arrived home around 7:30 in time to scrounge up some dinner and watch TV to pass the two extra hours away we had so we wouldn't go to bed at 8:30.

Even if you have not visited Alberta you probably know there are mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and Albertans are very proud of that feature. Those who hail from and live in British Columbia share the same pride for the same reason. Canada's Rocky Mountains are the essence of majestic – there's no denying that. 

This was our fifth visit to Alberta so we deliberately stayed away from the Banff/Jasper corridor. We did pass through Jasper but did not spend any appreciable time there. Had we done so it would have been too sad. We saw first hand the devastation suffered and how they were struggling to rebuild after the summer wildfires. I was particularly moved by the sight of a lone elk at the roadside rummaging through the ashes that were once trees and grasslands desperately looking for something to graze upon.

It's just as well we made that decision. Some of the spectacular highlights along the route no longer allow you to drive to the location. You have to leave your car in a central parking area and take a shuttle to the site/sight. I know that's better for the environment (not appreciably so unless they are using electric buses and shuttles) but in my mind it just accentuates the crowds bringing more things I hate to the table. The sign I saw in the hotel in the ghost town of Wayne near Drumheller best exemplified my feelings...I used to be a people person but people ruined that for me.

This trip was to concentrate on areas we had not previously see. That took us on a 5000+ kilometre road trip that was simply amazing. I knew there were prairie lands in Alberta but had no idea there was so much of it or so many areas that indeed looked just like Saskatchewan. Another oddity (due to my sheer ignorance of such things) was the existence of far more natural gas fields and plants than oil. The almost total lack of wildlife sightings did not surprise me – that's standard fare on a Whitehead road trip.

We had phenomenal weather almost every day. The predominant colour was most certainly blue in the clear or only slightly cloudy skies. Having said that, the beautiful fall colour, primarily yellow in this province, competed with the sky for top honours. I don't see how this trip could have been better.

Once again, we thank you all so very much for tagging along. In a lot of ways it made us feel like you were with us. Stay well and keep smiling. I'm sure we'll do this again soon.  

😎

 Day 29 - Tuesday, October 15

To start things off Happy Anniversary to US!!!  😅  47 years of marriage, 56 years together. Life is good.

October 15, 1977

October 15, 2024   c 3PM Edmonton time

We visited a brand new friend in St. Albert, a northern Edmonton suburb. Val is a fellow member of Willowdale in the 70s, a phenomenal Facebook group. She wanted my new book so I delivered it in person. Talk about customer service! It was a great lunch get together. I've always said old friends are the best friends but there's nothing wrong with throwing a new one into the mix. Ahhh, a rose between two thorns.  😂

When we are on a road trip following flying to an initial destination we feel it necessary and very useful to buy a styrofoam cooler at the beginning of the trip. Needless to say we do not take this home with us on the plane (I'd have a garage full of smashed coolers if we did) so we leave it in the room on our last night's stay. This time I added a message.  😀

So that's the end of another fabulous road trip. It's hard not to enjoy Alberta, especially in the fall...and it doesn't hurt when you have perfect weather every day. I'll follow up and advise you with a final posting shortly after we get home.

Thank you so much for being part of it. Until next time, stay well and keep smiling.

😎

Day 28 - Monday, October 14

As you saw from the Thanksgiving Day card, this morning's sunrise was worth getting up for. I believe if you can see it and enjoy it, it's worth it (even with a less than ideal foreground). One of many things to be thankful for.

Elk Island National Park is about 70 kilometres east of Edmonton so very approachable for the day. They pride themselves on their wildlife, particularly elk, moose and bison. The welcome sign flaunts similar promises. We have learned to not get too excited because we're somewhat notorious for not seeing anything. Seemed like today would be no different.

The Moss Lake Hiking Trail looked promising but... It was a nice trail with lots of ups and downs. Why does there always seem to be more ups than downs? There were certainly signs that wildlife was present on an ongoing basis. The animal paths down to the water were numerous in a short stretch of shoreline.

And there was lots of,,.well, you know what that is.

It was a very pleasant hike. As you can see, most of the leaves are down now. Time for nature's clean up.

The fastest way to level out any hiking trail is to take a photograph of it. Looking at the pic you'll wonder what all the fuss was about. This one dropped into a gully for half the photo at an angle of roughly 45 degrees then rose just as steeply to the top of the hill. Looks awfully flat in the photo eh? In this case, it would take a thousand words to explain what the photo does not show.

It took until our drive out of the park to see any wildlife at all. He was pretty comfortable loafing in the grass on the side of the road. Reminded me of a great adventure close to 50 years ago with our friends Mike and Gayle in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. In those days I'm sure Gayle and I were crazy enough to approach the bison far too closely and probably should have been removed from the park for our antics - either by the rangers or the bison themselves!

Tomorrow is essentially our last day. I do not count the actual last day when we fly home.

😎

Day 27 - Sunday, October 13

We stayed in "our house" right until 11AM because it was only about a 2 hour drive to Edmonton from Red Deer. I wasn't crazy about that so mapped out an alternate route far off the main highway. That increased our travel time to 5 hours but included a lovely hike through Pigeon Lake Provincial Park...and you know what kind of day it was.   😀

We're still in rolling prairie land but there was a lot more trees than I expected - not unlike many parts of Ontario actually.

Except for these of course.

A visit to Pigeon Lake Provincial Park worked out very nicely for us given the weather and the fact we had ample time to enjoy a walk in the woods. Pigeon Lake is about 37 square miles with a maximum depth of 30 feet, so it's not a huge lake by any means but was a very pretty spot for a hike.

It was a wonderful hike but I was quite surprised to find it very buggy, Really?! You know it's mid-October, in Alberta and below 15 degrees C!? Nothing could spoil it today.

We arrived in Edmonton, actually Leduc, the south end of the city, where the airport is. We're here three nights then wing our way home on Wednesday.

😎

Day 26 - Saturday, October 12

It was minus 4 feeling like minus 6 when we headed out on our exploratory journey of Sylvan Lake. Sylvan Lake is a town (and a lake) with a population of approximately 16,000 about 25 kilometres west of Red Deer. It's a pretty little town on the lake; the beaches are probably a busy, happy spot through the summer. It reminded me of an upscale version of what I remember about Wasaga Beach. That may be very different now as my memories of Wasaga Beach are a few decades old now.

There were a number of things we wanted to see and do in Sylvan Lake and we got to them all but one. More on that in a moment. The Sylvan Beach lighthouse was my top priority, it being one of a very few inland lighthouses in Canada, the one in Cochin, Saskatchewan comes to mind as another. The lighthouse gracing Sylvan Lake's shore was modelled after the famous Peggy's Cove structure and completed in 1988. By 2011 the structure had to be demolished as it was in disrepair.

Using duplicate blueprints for the original Peggy's Cove lighthouse, donated by the Premier of Nova Scotia, the new structure was completed in June 2016. Nowhere near as big as the one at Peggy's Cove the Sylvan Lake model is a pleasant sight.

Of the many murals in town we did find a couple that were of particular interest to us. The CREATE mural sits somewhat obscurely in a downtown pocket park; a quiet spot (at least today it was) to rest and reflect. Also downtown, the Here Comes the Sun mural celebrates Sylvan Lake throughout the seasons. The perfect place for a photo, the artist Jaimie Cooney hopes that's true and people will take their photo then post it on social media for all to see.

The Lakeshore Drive along the beach front is gorgeous. Starting at The Letters, it seemed a good place to have lunch as well. By the way, lunch for us when on a road trip is nothing glorious but hopefully nutritious and satisfying. Gavin and Adam may disagree having endured many of these in past travels with us instead of enjoying a stop at McDonald's or some such place. The setting often makes a difference.

Continuing the drive treated us to the dwindling fall colour, some empty beaches (that's the only way I like them) and a look into the past at some re-sided old cottages flanked by new local versions of super homes, an interesting then and now. It came fast and furious so we parked the car and covered a few kilometres walking the promenade. 

The area has an interesting history which added to the enjoyment of yet another gorgeous day, the temperature ultimately hitting about 15 degrees. A sign board recites the tale of an original settler returning after 100 years. Though fictional it rings so true...The Sylvan Lake of 1913 appears to have been completely swallowed by progress. The busy traffic, coming and going, so fast so soon. Main Street could never again be used as the tobogganing run it used to be, the children enjoying it hours on end. Such a shame. And the ball diamonds, soccer pitches and playgrounds are built just for children. Do they not play anywhere else? Oh how a century has changed the village. Is there anything left of their labours? Is there anything familiar? Though the heart of 1913 Sylvan Lake still beats, its lifeblood was, and continues to be, its citizens.

Sadly tomorrow we return to Edmonton for three nights to end our vacation. Hang in there - we'll do what we can to find something of interest.

😎

Day 25 - Friday, October 11

As we were heading down to breakfast Karen drew my attention to the sunrise. Sweet start to the day despite needing to crop the foreground out entirely. We're headed for Red Deer about a 5 hour drive away.

We bid a fond farewell to Medicine Hat as we pass the Saamis Tepee from the highway. Its gargantuan size sure makes it stand out.

The landscape was rolling prairie land just like coming in to MH a couple of days ago. Until we neared Castor (an oil town?  😅) then the Drumheller syndrome took effect, just came up out of nowhere.

After that it was not stimulating at all so I had to search for something with a bit of levity. Nailed it!

Believing things will be as you expect can be a mistake as was the case today with gas stations. We stopped (where the above tire man was) and got only $10 worth because it seemed awfully expensive. That turned out to be very lucky because we didn't find suitable services until we reached Deer Lake. I have to tip my hat to Ford on this one. In spite of all their short comings (our Escape is pretty pathetic) they got the fuel gauge perfect. Couldn't have cut this one much closer.

We have a nice little Airbnb somewhere in Red Deer. This is the way to go if you dislike hotels like I do. Airbnb trumps Vrbo (there's that horrible word again) because their host fees are about 1/5 of what Vrbo charges. This one will be great for us for two nights.

Host Dion has obviously given this a lot of thought!

😎

 

Day 24 - Thursday, October 10

A beautiful day in Medicine Hat, Canada's sunniest city (330 days a year) so it's not just us this time. We were out about 8:30AM to enjoy a self-guided walking tour of historic downtown MH. It totally did not occur to me this trip would be in the heart of rush hour. No worries, this is downtown traffic at its peak.

It truly is a wonderful city with many century old buildings, some re-purposed and some sadly abandoned. The courthouse was fascinating. We entered and asked if we could come in, explained we were just annoying tourists who wanted to have a look. The sheriff waved us through and indicated we could just walk around. Upstairs they let us into the main (the only) court room. It was just before 9AM so no cases were yet being heard. I was asked to remove my hat (you heathen you) then a lawyer asked if we were there to be heard. Admitting once again we were mere tourists she smiled and wished us well. Just imagine doing this in Toronto.  😅

We spent a long time looking for the mural painted in honour of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It was something that seemed important to me even though it was such a sad state of affairs that such a thing even exists. I knew from an online map exactly where it was but we walked under the bridge 3 times, back and forth, and it was not there. We ultimately had a conversation with a group of middle-aged women in a shop near where we had parked and they told us it had been painted over and re-cemented just weeks ago. I found that a little surprising but I have no idea what the protocol for wall space is.

A walk down by the South Saskatchewan River was very pleasant, especially on this cool fall day.

The St. Patrick's Parish on the other side of the river was beautiful. We tried to go in but it was locked. Aren't churches always supposed to be open?

All that's missing from this photo is a train...again the mind boggling morning traffic.

The Saamis Tepee was originally constructed for the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics. It was moved to MH in 1991 as a tribute to Canada's native heritage. Each of the 10 masts feature a large storyboard and the structure is indeed the world's largest (oh no, here we go again) tepee.

You can walk a distance around the structure to view it from many angles...a very peaceful procedure.

We're leaving tomorrow morning we just don't know where we're going to land - all part of the game.

😎

Day 23 - Wednesday, October 9

We didn't want to leave our cabin in the woods so we waited until the last minute at 11AM. Words cannot express how wonderful the Wolf's Den has been. Loved it!

The balance of the day was a drive to Medicine Hat. I am in constant awe of how much and how fast the landscape/topography changes. We left the mountains behind quickly and within 5 minutes were back into the prairie terrain. The rest of the drive was like this. Not too exciting but we made the best of it.

We made one stop, at about the half way point, in Taber, a small agricultural town. My reason was somewhat sound...to meet with a guy Karen and I went to high school with - haven't seen or corresponded with him in over 50 years. We met at McDonald's and were about to get a coffee but decided to wait until our classmate showed up. He arrived with his wife shortly after we got there. In that short interval about 200 kids showed up...2 full school buses and several cars. Coffee will have to wait until we get to the hotel.

Murray, Rick and Steve, I was going to make you try and guess who it is but I would not have had any idea so I'll be kind. Cliff Kenyon, retired and enjoying life.

Tomorrow we'll see what Medicine Hat has to offer.   😎

 

Day 22 - Tuesday, October 8

This, our final day at the Wolf's Den, was wonderful because we were here. That's the main reason we stayed an extra day. There's always something to do but our plans for the day were somewhat unstructured to say the least. There's a hiking trail nearby called the Miner's Path, the route the miners took to get to work each day. A small waterfall lies at the end of the trail which leads me to question exactly what did the miners want to go to a waterfall for?

The trail traverses a path riddled with gravel and small rocks, though there are some pretty large boulders along the side of the path. There is also a gate midway with clear instructions to close it once you pass through. Why is it here? To keep something in or out? Like the wildlife we have seen no sign of since our arrival three days ago? 

I'd be lying if I didn't say the waterfall was a disappointment. However, given the trickling brook leading up to it, it was no surprise. Did I mention it was small?

Coleman is an old mining town, as is every other town within a day's drive of Crowsnest Pass. It was indeed a stroll into the past walking down both streets. 

This photograph made me laugh. 

About ten minutes later I had the crap scared out of me as we walked past a concealing fence to be greeted by loud barking and menacing growls. I was caught by surprise and peered over the fence expecting to see some horrific, ferocious hound. At first I saw nothing then gazed downward and just fell apart laughing. It was a tiny chihuahua-like yappy dog protecting his owner's territory as if his life depended on it.

As you know, Karen enjoys visiting graveyards to learn what she can about who lived there in the past. The one we saw two days ago on the edge of the Frank Slide has nothing to do with that disaster. It is a local Catholic cemetery resplendent in the remains of the fall colour. 

The Hillcrest Mine Disaster Memorial Park is very close by. How despairing so many reminders of the tragic past are so close to one another...and that all these were connected to or a result of a flourishing mining industry of the time. 

We returned to the Wolf's Den one last time along the Heritage Drive. 

What a fabulous place is Crowsnest Pass and the Wolf's Den is one of the most perfect places we have ever stayed if not the best...and that's saying something after more than 50 years of travel at various spots around the world. It's going to be difficult tomorrow to leave this behind. 

But Medicine Hat awaits.    

😎