Travelling the Prairies.. Brandon, Manitoba and Humbolt Saskatchewan

The plane touched down in Winnipeg and I was soon in a car driving through the city and then onto the Yellowstone Highway for a 250km drive south to Brandon. With the satelite radio not working and my iPod battery dead I was not looking forward to the 3 hours in the car by myself so when I saw a hitchhiker with his thumb out satnding at the end of the on-ramp I made a split-second decision to stop and pick him up. I had never picked up a hitch hiker before and I'm not sure what prompted me to do so this time. I have an uncle who travels across the country each summer, often relying on rides from strangers and maybe a part of me hoped the karma would flow back to him and help him get a ride when he needed one.

The traveller got in the car, explaining his previous ride had broken down and he was struggling to complete the trip to Brandon. I was happy to offer to take him the rest of the way into town. My new companion was an older fellow who had travelled across the country many times and we compared stories about towns and cities that we had both been to from coast to coast and across the north of Canada and it turned out we had a mutual acquantance in Fort McMurray, Alberta. As the conversation turned to federal politics I began to realize the hitch hiker probably was dealing with some sort of cognitive disabilty. He blamed Stephen Harper for everything from the amalgamation of the Canadian Armed Forces  in the 1960's to the close Quebec referendum vote in 1995. The conversation became more of struggle as we drove and by the time my companion got out of the car I was relieved to be able to concentrate on my own, slightly more rational and reasonable thoughts about our current Prime Minister's shortcomings.

I hadn't expected Brandon, Manitoba to be a hotbed of culture, entertainment or fine dining and it didn't disappoint.The staff at the hotel gave me a list of restaurants but just about everything sounded pretty sketchy. I did find an Applebee's that served a decent piece of salmon and I struck up a conversation with a guy from Edmonton in the lounge as I ate. I shared some of my Edmonton stories from the week before and he seemed surprised that I was able to find some much to do in the city that he lived in, but quite obviously despised. I drove around the town after dinner hoping to find something interesting to take pictures of but ended back at the hotel soon after without even taking my camera out of my bag.

Two days later and I was driving back out of Brandon en route to Winnipeg where I would fly into Saskatoon. I had started the drive early with the plan on stopping in at a local community park that bordered the Assinaboine River. All my life I had heard stories and seen pictures of the flooding of rivers across the west and this area of Manitoba was still recovering from the overflowing water. Along the highway water barriers and sandbags were still stacked by the side of the road and caution signs were everywhere. I walked around the park taking a few pictures and noticing the water marks on trees that denoted how high the water had been.

A short plane ride from Winnipeg to Saskatoon and I was soon on another 250 km drive to the town of Humbolt. The 2.5 hour drive took me on a dead straight road through the prairies through gently rolling fields of wheat and canola crops. I could have turned on the cruise control and had a nap without danger of missing a turn along the way, I probably could've taken that nap lying on the road without danger of being run over as well, there being no other traffic on the highway.

Humbolt turned out to be a one street town of about 5000 people. I had thought Brandon was dull but it was a hotbed of excitement compared to Humbolt. The only recognizable restaurants were a PizzaHut/KFC Express (?) just off the highway, a McDonalds we would be warned not to eat at but weren't given an explanation as to why, and a brand new Tim Hortons across from the hotel that turned out to be staffed by people that were absolutely insane. With most of my team due to arrive the next day, a colleague and I stopped for dinner at 'Chick Allens' and ate with every senior citizen who lived in the town. Later after stopping in a convenience store looking for a beer store I was directed to a 'private liqour store' across the street. I entered the store through an unmarked door at the back of a run down motel and talked to 287 year old woman through a metal security grill. With only three choices of beer, I paid for a six-pack of Kokanee and headed for the hotel to spend the rest of the evening sitting in the parking lot watching the sun set over the field of tumble weed across the street.

 (Yes, I wrote 'field of tumbleweed' and I wasn't joking..)

I spent the next few days working during the day and trying to stay amused in the evening. Desparate for decent food the locals  recommended eating at Rick's Place, the finest restaurant in town. They did warn us to ask if Rick was cooking and only eat there if he was in the kitchen, leaving us unsure of what to do if he was not. We drove by the 'restaurant' twice before realizing that it was was, in fact, a public eatery and entered the room. 'Rick's Place' was a small, homey, room that looked like a converted rec room in someones basement, self decorated with vintage posters and placards of  50's and 60's movie stars. The place was empty and we were served by a young girl that had to go next door to find someone who could take our drink order. The food was good when it arrived shortly after, nothing fancy at all but tasty and home style. We talked and laughed among ourselves and headed back to the hotel early.

Not yet ready for bed, I decided to take a walk through the back fields and see if I could find a nice spot to watch the late northern prarie sunset. The back of the hotel looked out over a construction site but behind that were flat empty fields so I started tramping through the dirt and dust to the get a nicer view. The mounds of dirt and meter wide and deep trenches were a more formidable barrier than I had anticipated and when I emerged thirty minutes later I was covered in a yellowish dusting of.. well, dust I guess. The prairie field was not quite as flat and empty as it had appeared from a couple of hundred meters away and was inconveniently surrounded by a rusty barbed wire fence and gaurded by a 'Keep Out' sign. Thirty meters more past a stand of short brush and I would have a clear view of the whole horizon but I wasn't sure if I should continue. Thoughts of a crazed country farmer protecting his land with a long rifle competed with the prospect of taking a seriously good sunset picture as I watched the sky redden in the distance.

 I skirted around the fence not long after and waded through the almost waist high thorny shrubs. The night was warm and grasshoppers, mosquitos and dragonflies buzzed around in the air, the mosquitos of course paying me the most attention. As the sun fell behind a cloud close to horizon the sky behind it lit up and the ground darkened making me realize suddenly how dificult it would be to manoveur the field of thorns followed by the perils of the construction yard in the dark.

'Stupid city boy!' I thought to myself as I turned and began the walk back to the hotel turning around every few steps to watch the sun drop down and start to turn the sky red and then begin to darken over my shoulder.

Another long drive back to Saskatoon a couple of days later would complete a thousand kilometers around Saskatchewan and Manitoba and my first trip through the prairies.

Flying out of Saskatoon a few days later over the endless patchwork quilt of fields and the empty stretches of prarie grass I had a greater understanding of the 'flat, empty' ground below. A greater understanding perhaps, but not necesarily a greater appreciation. Brandon was wet in terms of water but dry in terms of entertainment. Humboldt was just dry.. a desert in terms of both. Next week back to BC and my favourite city in the country. Vancouver, where there is food and people and traffic and noise and mountains.. those incredible mountains that I first saw back in February. I can't wait.

Edmonton Part 3: A Big Appetite..

Food can become such a major source of concern when one travels as much as I do. Spending time in remote locations increases the challenge of finding decent food, being a vegetarian makes it next to impossible to eat well at times. There have been days when my only sustenance has come from vending machines and small regional airport coffee shops so when I find myself lucky enough to land in a real city I tend to take full advantage of the abundance of grocery stores, restaurants, and food vendors. Edmonton is a city full of fine restaurants and so it happened that a lot of the time I spent, outside of shooting guns and plunging on impromptu hikes down ravines, in the city revolved around the hunt, and subsequent enjoyment, of good times and good meals in good restaurant.

The West Edmonton Mall has a wing known as 'Bourbon St' that is essentially a super-sized food court (this is in addition to the two main fast-food courts and separate Chinatown food court). Bourbon Street is a collection of a dozen full sized restaurants, both chain restaurants as well as a piano bar and comedy club. We settled into a table at Hudson's Canadian Tap House and it didn't take long before we had engaged the entire wait staff and surrounding tables in conversation. Constantly finding myself in strange places, often alone, has forced me to develop an extroverted personality that has not always come naturally to me. By nature of the job I and my colleagues are as classic a group of Type A personalities as you could find and when we get together we often find ourselves dominating the room and tonight was no exception. It didn't take long before we were laughing and telling stories of our travels and we spent the rest of night eating and drinking, exchanging rounds with the waitresses and new friends that had pulled tables together to join us.

(Another sign I'm getting old.. seven straight hours of pints and shots wouldn't have phased me not so long ago- this hangover lasted two days. I can still live like a 25 year old but it seems as though the price to be paid is a helluva lot bigger than it used to be..)

Earlier in the week a cabbie had told me the 'Taste of Edmonton' festival would be worth checking out and F. and I drove downtown one night to see what the city had to offer. About 40 restaurants from around the city were represented and we bought a stack of tickets and started to wander the aisles, at first just absorbing the aromas of dozens of house specialties. A simple Italian pasta whetted our appetites and we followed it up with Polish perogies, and incredible Ahi tuna salad and an amazing dessert of strawberries soaked in Gran Marnier. We wandered around the downtown core for awhile checking out the beer tent as well as some public spaces around the art gallery and city hall before heading off in search of a real meal.

The 100 Club was an upscale restaurant/lounge/nightclub that F. and I discovered downtown Edmonton, not far from the food festival. We were one of only a handful of people in the place but the atmosphere was cool and the music was supplied by a DJ spinning dance and hip-hop records while we ate. We ordered calamari and oysters and a cheese and fruit tray and  F. did his best to pick up the waitresses, but mostly we just chilled out, enjoying the next to last night in town.

Ten days in Edmonton had passed and I had certainly enjoyed my time in a 'real' city, exploring and enjoying the streets, creeks and eats. Flying home, flipping through pictures of my time in the city I really felt I had made the most of the time there. I sat on the plane with a smile on my face until the stewardess came by and informed me that they had run out of veggie sandwiches (which i had pre-ordered). I settled in to enjoy my lunch of pringles and a chocolate bar, thinking of the good times and good eats I had just left behind. 

Edmonton Part2: A Big Weekend

I was spending the weekend alone in town and was looking forward to my more common types of exploring. Always on the lookout for a chance to get into nature I had found a great trail that sounded like it would be perfect. The North Saskatchewan River flows through the River Valley just outside of Edmonton and a running/cycling path stretches about 4 kilometers along its banks and provided the perfect location to walk and take some pictures of a river that was continuing to lead me around the cities of the Canadian west. The drive to The River Valley Nature Park was beautiful and by the time I hopped out of the car and stepped onto the path I was anticipating a great morning. Every half kilometer or so placards were placed describing the novelties of that particular part of the riverside. Some were interesting, drawing my attention to trees or rocks I may have missed but part of me regretted the intrusion of someone else's thoughts of what I should be looking at.

It ended up being a pretty good walk but by 11am I was starving and ready to move on. After a quick breakfast stop I turned the GPS on and let it lead me to Rexall Place, home of the Oilers and one particular point of interest that I couldn't imagine leaving Edmonton without visiting. I found the statue of Wayne Gretzky at the front of the building but tucked off to the side, not the place of prominence I had expected and was someone disappointed by that. Nevertheless I spent a few minutes there and snapped a couple of pictures before moving on.


For my Toronto friends.. I know the Wayner highsticked Dougie and screwed us out of our best chance of a cup in my lifetime. He's still a Canadian icon.. that pass to Lemieux in '87.. magic.

A quick shower and a change of clothes and I was in the back of a cab headed downtown Edmonton. I had intended to rely on the drivers suggestions as where I would find some fun but had little to suggest. I asked about a pub/patio area but he said there really wasn't one. I asked about shopping annexes and he suggested the downtown mall, no street shopping he said. He did finally mention a 'Taste of Edmonton' fair was just starting and there might be some people there so I agreed enthusiastically. He dropped me off and pointed me in the direction, of course the direction ended up being the totally wrong one. 

The wrong way though, for those who know me, often turns out to be the better way and this was no exception.

I had walked a block or two without seeing my life at all when I turned a corner and stumbled into a farmers market. I wandered up and down the aisles and sat enjoying the sun on a curb with a veggie dog. I was just wondering which way to go next when I heard guitars and drums start to warm up. As I followed the noise I heard a PA system turn on and a voice announcing the band and the music started. It was loud and energetic but with a real surf/ rockabilly edge. I came around the corner and was at the side of the small stage whereupon a great band 'The Raygun Cowboys' was belting out loud fast rocakabilly tunes. The audience was an odd group of families with young children dancing up front, a handful of local fans of the band who seemed to be not quite ready to rock out just after twelve noon and a group of Americans who had wandered over from a nearby Edmonton Indy car event.

The band was giving it their all and totally blew me away and when I bumped into the drummer in a nearby pub later that afternoon I made sure I told him how cool it was to randomly wander into such a great live street performance.

Wandering around Edmonton I had spotted a path running along the north side of the river and I was up early Sunday morning ready to explore that part of the city that also included the Government House and the Royal Alberta Museum. I had no intention of spending time inside these places on such a glorious day but I did enjoy wandering around the grounds as I drank my morning Starbucks.

I followed the path for about a kilometer until I came across a staircase that climbed probably 300 meters up the river valley and would offer a great view of the North Saskatchewan River. 15 minutes later I was at the top and after taking a moment to admire the view I followed a street that ran along the top of the valley. Massive houses lined the way and I saw two chauffeured cars on the road waiting with engines running for probably important folks about to do important things. I continued down the street hoping that it would eventually lead back to where I parked but it kept leading me away so when I came across a path that led down a ravine towards the path that had led me to the staircase I decided to take a chance and see if it provided a shortcut.

I clambered down the path grabbing roots and small branches to keep from sliding out of control. I wasn't wearing the right shoes for this at all (a continuing theme in my travels..) and without any water I suddenly realized what a stupid thing I was doing. Stubborn as always I pushed on, or rather, down the ravine not sure if the path I was following was actually not a path at all. Steeper it got until I came crashing out at the bottom at the side of a small stream. The water was cool and I stood in my bare feet for few minutes and pondered my position. I couldn't see a path of any sort on the other side of the ravine and with a sigh realized I would to have to climb back up the way I came and back to the 'established' path. It took almost an hour to work my way back up the slope and another hour to get back to my car where I thirstily emptied the two bottles of water in the car.

Back to the hotel to clean up and then I found a patio not far from the hotel and settled in for a late of afternoon pint and meal. Later that night another colleague would be joining me in town so I was happy to spent the last few hours sitting quietly by myself with a book.

Edmonton Part 1: A Big Mall

Edmonton, Alberta was to be my first extended stay in Western Canada and I was looking forward to a whole new set of experiences. Ontario is my home and I love it but I've seen almost every inch of it now and have had a sense of this vast country of ours being out there.. waiting for me to experience it.

Driving into West Edmonton where I was staying I was amazed first by the seemingly endless kilometers of retail. Strip mall after shopping center after reataurant and hotel complex line the roads in every direction. Whole suburbs of shopping and eating spots with little evidence of anyone living there in way of sousing, schools or.. people.  And all this surrounding North America's largest shopping/entertainment complex, the infamous West Edmonton Mall.

I spent enough years as an teen working and hanging out in malls to develop a pretty good hate for them in general but this one I was interested to see, after all this was no regular mall. The second day in town a colleague and I drove over and started an aimless wander. Every corridor seemed to lead to something unexpected. The pirate ship was the first thing to wow me but when I turned the corner and saw the waterpark I was even more amazed and then the rollercoaster, quite an enginerring challenge, was also just pretty damn cool. Other areas of the mall contained tropical fish tanks, a marine park, and one of my favourites and hockey rink in the middle of one of the vast hallways.

 A few hours later, as our heads started reeling from over-stimulation we traced our steps back towards the car. We walked past an massive games arcade, a casino and then one last susprise, a shooting range. My colleague and I looked at each other and instantly said 'Yes'. We pushed open the door and found ourselfves facing a wall of weaponry from handguns to shotguns to semi and fully automatic machine guns.

Now I would've assumed I could've made it all the way through my life without ever firing a gun but with the opportunity in front of me I was suprised to find myself completely pumped up for the experience. We asked some questions and decided that immediately after work the next day we would be back. On our way to the car as were discussing all the crazy attractions in the mall werealized that we hadn't even paid attention to the hundreds of high end retail shops that really define the mall as a mall.

We were back next day and after signing a waiver and forking over about $70 bucks we were given ear and eye protection and we entered the shooting range. A rapid fire safety lesson and I found myself, shaking with adrenalin as I loaded 10 rounds in a clip and slammed it home into a Glock semi automatic pistol. I hit the target with the first three shots and set it down to wipe the sweat from my hands. Wow.. this is really cool I though aiming at the target again. We had paid for fifty bullets and by the time I had spent them my target was covered in holes, I had only missed a couple of times as had had a blast doing it. Although I could never imagine using a gun for sport hunting, it was cool to think if I had to rely on a gun for survival I might have a shooting chance at eating. It was an adreline producing experience and one that I was glad I had taken part in, especially becasue it was one that I never even knew I would enjoy.

There were several more trips to the mall over the next ten days to shop and just to gaze at the non retail attractions, with several diffrent co workers in town it was interesting seeing the different reactions as well a my own changing internal reactions to the West Edmonton Mall. Where at first I had enjoyed the excesses off the place and found the over the top, wow-factor attractions exciting and novel I now began to develop a not-so-slight aversion to the massive reatil/entertainment complex. It started to seem like a pretty good representation of everything the rest of the world hates about America, and by association, me. The expensive shops, the extravagence, the tourist trap. It must seem so wanton and gratuitous to those countries, those people that have so little..

The West Edmonton Mall was an experience unto itself. I was overwhelmed by all of it's sparkly lures at the beginning and ultimately a litte disappointed that I missed some of it's attractions (might have tried bungie jumping if I had seen it). At the same time the massive edifice to the kind of blatant and unrelenting consumerism that the world hates about us so much became less and less enjoyable until I backed out completely of the last planned visit. I had enough of the that aspect of life in Edmonton and was ready to see what else the city had to offer.