Found the Roaster

Today I did it. I found the Canmore Roaster. If you read my blog last year, you'd know that this silly Roaster was driving me in circles as I tried to find it. Well, today I did it. It is not in the industrial area, it is not out on HWY 1A and it is not on the corner of Railway Ave and 17th. It is on the Corner of 17th and Industrial Way.

On on where he we didn't drive through Ghost Lake or Morley, but both of them are now considered to be ghost towns by some.

August in Review - 5528Km

Aug 4: 4h46min & 352Kms

• Canmore - Black Diamond ***1h50m***144Km
  Black Diamond: Centre Ave (Hwy 7) by municipal building
• Black Diamond - Okotoks***23m***22.9Km
  World's Largest known Glacial Erratic Rock (only in Western Canada): Hwy 7 - 10Km SW of city
• Okotoks - Turner Valley ***28m***26.9Km
  Mini Oil Derrick replica: Centennial Park
• Turner Valley - Deadman's Flats ***1h43m***132Km
  Windmill: Hwy 1 - behind gas station
• Deadman's Flats - Canmore ***21m***25.6

Aug 6: 5H26m & 361Km

• Canmore - Airdrie ***1h35m***127Km
  Korean Totem Poles: Nose Creek Park
  Cowboy - didn't look for
• Airdrie - Irricana ***34m***32.2Km
  Horse
  Pioneer Acres: W side of Hwy2 & TWP 274
  Vehichles on Post: TWP 567 & RR263
• Irricana - Beisker ***11m***11.2Km
  "Squirt" the Skunk: Campground Hwy 72, W of Hwy 9
• Beisker - Torrington ***1h6m***54.9Km
  Clem T. GoFur, Gopher: Main St & Hwy 27
  World's Famous Gopher Museum
• Torrington - Alix ***1h32m***109Km
  Village Alligator
• Alix - Buffalo Lake ***26Km***26.8Km

Aug 8: 5h16m & 348Km

• Buffalo Lake - Donalda ***44m***46.7Km
  World's Largest Working Lamp: Main St
  Oil Lamp Museum
  Bell
• Donalda - Heisler ***34m***37.3Km
  Canada's Largest Baseball Glove: adjacent to baseball fields
• Heisler - Daysland ***22m***23.7Km
  Crocuses: off SecHwy 855
• Daysland - Viking ***56m***58.4Km
  Viking Ship: Viking Troll Park - Beside old CN Station - 51Ave & 50St
• Viking - Myrnam ***129m***101Km
  Peace Dove: Site of old Myrnam Hotel - 50Ave & 49St
  Little Church: Hwy 45
• Myrnam - Whitney Provincial Park ***1h10m***79.9Km

Aug 10: 6h51m & 447Km

• Whitney Lakes - Elk Point ***26m***28.9km
  Elk Point Mural Park: 5201 50 Ave
• Elk Point - Glendon ***46m***57.2Km
  World's Largest Pyrogy: main Rd through town
  School Bell: Crn Hwy 28 & SecHwy 881
• Glendon - St. Paul ***40m***39.2Km
• St. Paul - Saddle Lake ***28m***27.6Km
  Cree Indian Metal Sculpture: Manitoukihew Centre
• Saddle Lake - Vilna ***37m***32.5Km
  World's Largest Mushrooms: two blocks off Main St - 50Ave & 48/49
• Vilna - Smoky Lake ***30m***38.2Km
  Pumpkin Patch: Railway Dr & Wheatland Ave
• Smoky Lake - Andrew ***31m***34.6Km
  World's Largest Mallard Duck: 50Ave & 50St
• Andrew - Willingdon ***17m***17.5Km
  World's Largest Lapel Pin: entrance to town - 50Ave (Hwy 45)
• Willingdon - Waskatenau ***1h02m***70Km
  RCMP Memorial Stone Marker: SE Victoria Tr (50St)
• Waskatenau - Redwater ***30m***36.7Km
• Redwater - St. Albert ***59m***64.2Km

Aug 17: 4h27m & 325Km

• St. Albert - Athabasca ***1h37m***133Km does not include extra milage to Ghost Lake campgroundLarge Wooden Chair: Ghost Lake Campground - N of Athabasca Hwy 2 & TWP 683
  Metal Moose: 1Km N of Athabasca E side Hwy 2
  Miniture Train: 7Km N of Athabasca W side of Hwy 2
  "Field of Dreams" Row of Combines: Hwy 2 N of Athabasca
• Athabasca - Rossington ***1h28m***103Km does not include extra driving to locate Mars or BustMars or Bust: N side of Hwy 18 - 2Km E of Hwy 776
• Rossington - St. Albert ***1h23m***89.6Km

Aug 19: 3H16m & 214Km

• St. Albert - Villeneuve ***18m***15.3Km

Villeneuve - Alberta Beach ***20m***19.2Km (opps, I mean Spruce Grove)
Spruce Grove - Alberta Beach ***37m***44.5Km
Alberta Beach - Wabamun Provincial Park ***27m***20.8Km
Wabamun Provincial Park - Seba Beach ***26m***28.6Km
Seba Beach - Wabamun ***17m***22.6Km
Wabamun - St. Albert ***48M***63.3Km

Aug 21: 4h12m & 333Km
St. Albert - Ponoka ***1h35m***125Km
Ponoka - Red Deer ***48m***61.8Km
Red Deer - Calgary ***1h49m***146Km Does not include getting lost in Calgary and taking lots of detours

Aug 22: 8h5m & 594Km
Calgary - High Level ***49m***63.4Km
High Level - Nanton ***25m***30.9Km
Nanton - Stavely ***22m***24.7Km
Stavely - Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump ***46m***57.7Km does not include backroad driving
Head Smashed-in Baffalo Jump - Pincher Creek ***42m***50Km
Pincher Creek - Fort Macleod ***42m***50.6Km
Fort Macleod - Lethbridge ***38m***49.6Km
Lethbridge - Taber ***36***45.7Km
Taber - Burdett ***11m***13.1Km
Burdett - Bow Island ***41m***47.9Km
Bow Island - Spitz Factory***41m***47.9Km
Foremost - Bow Island***41m***47.9Km
Bow Island - Medicine Hat ***45m***58.5Km

Aug 23: 7h26m & 519km
Medicine Hat - Vauxhall ***1H36m***115Km
Vauxhall - Vulcan ***1h42m***120Km
Vulcan - Rosebud ***1h50m***125Km
Rosebud - Drumheller ***32m***36.9Km
Drumheller - Rosedale ***5m***4.9Km
Rosedale - East Coulee ***13m***14.1Km
East Coulee - Delia ***56m***68.8Km doesn't count leaving East Coulee in the wrong direction and needing to do a u-turn
Delia - Hanna ***29m***34.3 doesn't count extra Kms to campground

Aug 24: 8h13m & 570Km
Hanna - Coronation ***1h26m***98.5Km
Coronation - Hughenden ***1H14m***82.9Km
Hughenden - Provost ***49m***56.1Km
Provost - Chauvin ***46m***50.4Km
Chauvin - Wainwright ***56m***60.7Km
Wainwright - Fabyan ***10m***10.8Km
Fabyan - St. Albert ***2h51m***211Km

Aug 26:8h5m & 594Km
St. Albert - Redwater***57m***63.7Km
Redwater - Westlock ***1h6m***75.7 Km
Westlock - Rossington ***26m***17.7Km
Rossington - Barrhead ***49m***45.5Km
Bearhead - Mayerthorpe ***58m***66Km
Mayerthorpe - Grande Prairie ***3h47m***325Km

Aug 27: 6h6m & 448Km
Grande Prairie - Beaverlodge ***31m***42.1Km
Beaverlodge - Rycroft ***1h23m***111Km
Rycroft - Hines Creek ***1h2m***63.3Km
Hines Creek - Grimshaw ***1h3m***66.4Km
Grimshaw- Peace River ***21m***26Km
Peace River - Falher***50m***68.8Km
Falher - High Prairie ***54m***70.1Km

Aug 28: 5h51m & 423Km
High Prairie - Swan Hills ***1h49m***147Km
Swan Hills - Fort Assiniboine ***54m***62.6Km
Fort Assiniboine - Redwater ***2h8m***149Km
Redwater - St.Albert ***59m***64.2Km

Searching for Ghosts

It's already getting late into the summer and our travels haven't even begun. With summer sports and the rain there hasn't been much opportunity to head out. I was really hoping to hit some more roadside attractions, but even more then that, I was hoping to search for ghosts.

Armed with the books Ghost Stories of Alberta and Albert Campfire Stories (or something like that), I was ready to start my list. The problem there is that searching for ghosts turned into searching for ghost towns of Alberta. This proved to prevent a problem. How does one find towns that no longer exist? Apparently not on a map. After trying to find the town names on top of my Alberta map proved to be a very discouraging task. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong, until I realized it wasn't me at all. They are ghost towns - towns that are no longer around - no longer around to be placed on a map.

This is were Google comes in handy. Now I have my list and a number of coordinates, and a family who are less then thrilled to be spending another summer in the van with mom. I keep telling myself that they will appreciate it later in life.

Now I have 163 possible destinations, excluding the roadside attractions I'd still like to get in, with maybe 50% of them actually appearing on my Alberta map. I think I'm lucky enough that about 35% more exist in the world of coordinates, but the rest - who knows - maybe the ghosts will guide me.