June 29 - Red Deer

Our first stop was in Red Deer. Not only did this provide with the opportunity to see the big pig, but it was also a great chance to meet up with my baby sister for lunch. We had an enjoyable lunch at Glenn's Teahouse before heading across the road to enjoy the memorial gardens. I also saw the large Doughnut Mill, Windmill as I have seen many times before. I simply didn't take a photo. While we chose to eat at a restaurant, I know from previous visits that there are some beautiful parks in the area where one could enjoy a picnic.

My sister decided to join us one our first big things quest to find what is either Canada's or the World's Largest Pig Statue; however, don't be looking for anything huge. The only information that I was able to find ahead of time was that the pig was located by Wei's Western Wear. With Navi ready to go, we followed her to a parking lot. No sign of any pig. I went in and asked the people in Subway who all must have thought I was crazy. I asked someone outside having a smoke; he just sort of laughed at me and then walked away. Finally I came across two women in another vehicle. One of them actually knew what I was talking about. She told me that I was at the wrong Wei's Western Wear. How was I to know that there are two? She gave me some direction, so I got back in the car and started to drive.

I tried to look up Wei's Western Wear in Navi, but found nothing. Feeling hot and frustrated after this drive that appeared to be going no where, I decided it was time for Starbucks. As I was ordering, my baby sister managed to find Wei's in Navi, so we wet our new destination and went on with the journey. We arrived at the destination and sort of looked around. We saw nothing at first, but them from the corner of my eye I spotted a statue. We payed for parking, which seemed silly since all I wanted was a photo across the road; however my sister wanted to get out with us rather than wait in the hot car. After taking the two photos we went into some type of video game/music store things. My sister also wanted to check out Wei's. She bought the cutest little outfit for my soon to be nephew. Just as we were leaving and our parking meter started running out, we spotted the meterman. Good thing we paid.


Francis the Pig, is simply a standard size pig statue. He is also well hidden amongst some flowers and bushes in what appears to be a parking lot - although I'd imagine that the street has some historical relevance. (51ave & 52 St - Gaetz in Parking Lot) Even now, the boys and I have a chuckle as well tell people about the "big pig" in Red Deer.

The stone next to the monument says it all and reads in part:
Ghosts
Francis the Pig
by Danek Mozdzenski
The legend of Francis began in July 1990 when this pig escaped from a local abattoir. For nearly five months the fugitive roamed throughout Red Deer's parklands, eluding predators and several attempts of recapture. This freedom loving pig was finally captured and spent his remaining life on a local farm. Francis reminds us of the importance of hog production and processing to the economy of Red Deer.

Also in Red Deer

• Historic Fort of Normandeau
• Alberta Sport's Hall of Fame (off QEII heading N)
• Donut Mill Windmill (Gasoline Alley heading S)
• Sound the Alarm Statue (Downtown)
  

Red Deer is

• 148Km from Edmonton
• 145Km from Calgary
• 360Km from Lethbridge
• 409Km from Medicine Hat
• 586Km from Grande Prairie
  

How it Began

I didn't initially plan to travel Alberta this summer; in fact, I was busy planning a trip to BC and then Seattle. However life had a different plan. Due to a family illness, we felt it best to stick close to home. The question then became - well, what does one do in Alberta? Rocky Mountains...we go four or five times a year already, camping...we've done Waterton National Park and driven Crowsnest Pass...Drumheller...visit once when the boys were little and no one seemed that interested in going again. Hum, did that actually leave anything?

I've often thought about all of the "big things" in Alberta, but it wasn't until this year that I realized visiting them would become our summer. It was a great way to stick close to home, camp and get away from the electronics. Armed with a map of Alberta and a small internet list, I was ready to start our Alberta journey.

Little did I know at the time, that the little journey would grow very quickly. You need to know that not only do I have an A-personality, but I am also obsessive. One map of Alberta quickly became four (one to highlight the areas we were planning to visit, one to outline possible routes with travel time, one to put on our bulletin board at home so we could tack the places we've been and of course a spare one). The initial list also grew from one small Internet list to three Internet lists and two paper lists. With so much paper it was time to get to work - not on travelling, but on creating my excel spreadsheet - city, attraction, location, notes, other. I also started to colour code everything - green for places we've stopped at, red of the attractions are no longer there or we were unable to find them and yellow for attractions we've seen in previous years.

As of today, I am on my fifth draft of the list and we have visited around 40 small towns. I can't even tell you how many miles or how much we've paid for in gas, but I can tell you that it has all been worth it.