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.

In the end (Over 100 Towns Later)

What started out as a cool way to stay close to home and still have a summer vacation started out as simply visiting the "Big Things" of Alberta, quickly turned into a huge list of roadside attractions to concur. With the kids back at school, summer vacation is truly over. In the end, we visited ? towns/cities, saw ? roadside attractions, went through six list updates, and at least four Alberta maps covered in various highlight routes, black lines outlining our route and approximate driving times. However, my obsession doesn't end there. With still ? small towns and ? roadside attractions left to see, I will have plenty to do in my spare time. Whether I go alone, with a friend, or with family, I hope to keep going places until a thick blanket of snow covers the ground, or too much ice covers the road.

If you're planning a trip, bring a pen and write down your memories as you go. Make sure you have a working camera. I lost a lot of great memories - photos that will never make it into my scrapbook. Set your course with no final destination in mind and have fun. Take in the scenery, meet the locals and drive around. Give yourself more time than I did to enjoy each town and what it offers Alberta.

Maybe one day I can take the boys on a tour of Alberta's festivals, rodeos, historical points or museums. Perhaps I could even take my MIL or biological mom on a tour of antique shops and old graveyards. Oh, Ghost Towns! I like that idea the best. All I know is that one day I would love to see a thumbtack on our Alberta map, showing places I've visited. So for me, the question becomes, when will this obsession end? Is it once there is a tack on every small town or more likely until the next big idea hits me?

However, before I travel again, here are some things that other drivers should know:

• There is such a thing as too slow
• Merge and yield are not the same thing
• The right lane is for slow people
• The white line should not be down the center of your car - you aren't trying to trace it
• A secondary highway doesn't mean it is paved
• Sometimes a map is still better than an electronic navigation system
  

Sept 3 - Home Alone

So much for the mountains. I tried to go...but I guess my stomach had a different idea. Hubby and the boys took my mom to Canmore and went to the mountains without me. I was really looking forward to trying to find that Rooster again.

I also found that Canmore has a few sculptures: Chinook, The Guardian and Plantagenet. Plus, I was hoping to go to Banff to see the $2-million outhouse.

Oh well, a weekend alone to rest will do me some good.

Aug 28 - Is it really coming to an end?

With school starting on Monday, this really is the final stretch of our journey. Where did summer go and how do I still have so many unvisited places on my list?

We left High Prairie and drove S towards Swan Hills, the geological center of Alberta. We took photos with the wilderness scene and enjoyed a quick lunch at the local restaurant. The three kids looked a bit glum knowing we were nearing the end of the road. Once again, we forgot to look for the Center marker before leaving town. Fort Assiniboine to see the World's Largest Wagon Wheel and Pix Axe. I don't think the boys even left the vehicle this time. It was one of those, been there done that moments. I got some lovely photos of the flowers outside the museum. Finding the bear was of course forgotten as we drove towards the farm.

Aug 27 - Next Stop?

We grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel, sorted out confusion over our bagged lunch, and then went across the road to get photos of the Large, working Sundial (located off of Highway 43, in front of Centre 2000). I have to be honest, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. It was cool, but for some reason I expected more.The sundial measures 40 feet high and accurately tells time. Time capsules are sealed into the sundial, to celebrate the millennium. Unfortunately the World's Largest Trumpeter Swan is no longer in existence. It had to be taken down due to the high level of vandalism. As for the Massey 21 Combine and the Many Lawn Statues, we didn't take the time to look for those.

A slight detour further west to Beaverlodge to view the World's Largest Beaver (Hwy 43). It is really cool. The detail is amazing. The sculpture is 15' high and 28; long. It weighs 3000 lbs.

Continuing our journey N, we stopped at Rycroft next. The large Tepee is located at the Junction of Hwy 49 and 2 (in a very muddy parking lot). It is not in the best condition. It looks like wind as gotten the better of it. After a quick bathroom break, I asked the cashier where I might find the Wooden Train. She was amazed that it had made a website as a roadside attraction; it turns out that her brother was the one who made it.

Located at the Nardam Camp Site (just N of Rycroft, over a little bridge), the wooden train is beautifully carved. It sits atop a hill in the play area. The kids enjoyed running around and playing at the park, despite the wind. While I wouldn't stay at the camp site, the location was a great place to stop for lunch. Not only did it offer the playground, but also a small lake and a covered eating shelter. Our hotel lunch, which in the end proved to be very expensive, was not actually that enjoyable. Although, i must say I did like the Nanimo Bars.

Further N, is Hines Creek - home of the World's Largest Railway Spike (SecHwy 685W & 10St). It is nestled within a garden patch, and cute wooden train and telegraph line. We then went to tour the Hines Creek End of Steel Museum. It is a really cute collection of historical building and various relics. The museum is a self-guided walking tour. My MIL and I stayed together, while the kids ran around getting rid of their excess energy. When we were ready to go, the kids were no where in sight. My MIL and I decided to be evil and start driving away and parking the car somewhere else, to see if they would notice. They did not. We still needed to get out and find them.

Turning slightly S, the next planned stop was Fairview, to visit the Historical Dunvegan Site (I think). It turns out that it is located about 26Kms outside of Fairview, even further S. We decided to skip this stop and drive towards Brownvale instead to see the bull and rider - another town we decided to drive by. While we didn't take any photos we did see the Mile O Monument in Grimshaw, as we drove through on our way to Peace River. What beautiful territory. Wow!!! We eventually found the 12' Davis at the Crn of 102 Ave & 101 St. We then took a quick driving tour around town and stopped at the museum; although, we didn't go in. Unable to find a Best Western type hotel, we continued our journey. Not to mention, it was still relatively early.

Can you hear the buzzing? If so, it is coming from the World's Largest Bee in Falher, Honey Capital of Canada. It looks like it is made with some type of mesh wire. It is very cool. It is about 22' long and 7' in diameter. We were also fortunate enough to stop in at the visitor information center on its last working day of the season. Falher produces about 40% of Canada's honey.

We were now officially on our way home, as we headed S towards High Prairie. Although, not an originally planned stop, this is where we stayed the night. There was a hotel located along the Hwy and it meant we wouldn't have to keep going towards Slave Lake.