Saturday July 6th

I wanted to write a piece about Alberta. When I crossed from Saskatechewan to Alberta at Lloydminster, there was a sudden shift. What had been a folksy kind of rural air became intensely industrial. What were awful roads with no shoulders to speak of became paved, repaired and easy to drive. And immediately across the border there were black tanks – like miniature silos – which I assume are for the oil industry. They seem to be associated with that industry. And as I drove through, the news described Kenney’s announcement that he was funding an investigation into funding for ‘radical groups’ who are against the pipeline. I laughed out loud.

[An aside: in Lloydminster I stopped at a fast food joint and conversation with a woman who agreed that this was no longer ‘fast’ nor ‘food’. She was interested in my trip and it turns out she’s from Mirimichi, NB! Doesn’t know Bob though. Small country in spite of its size.]

The road to Edmonton was unremarkable, though pretty country. It was all about the oil industry. Supply depots, a few of the pumps – some working, some not – and very little rural prettiness, although there were a few ranches and ranch houses which were quite stunning – and very wealthy.

My overnight was at a suburban RV site – comfortable but nowhere interesting to walk. And pricey. The suburb was very affluent. If Albertans are suffering, it isn’t these Albertans.

In the morning I made my usual breakfast, but also stopped at Starbucks – I passed three in a few blocks. Very upscale urban. I was listening to CBC, and even the CBC morning person, when discussing climate change with a scientist, sought out the ‘other option’ – that being what we could do if climate change is not real. And whether we should pay attention to climate change because doing so will cost people jobs. I couldn’t believe it – CBC! Very depressing.

But soon I was on the highway north to Grand Prairie. What a ride! Even though the weather was grey, the sky was beautiful and the land began to rise into rolling hills, then hills that made your ears pop! Not the Rockies – no rocky peaks – but high enough to give a beautiful vista of the rolling fields. Then the fields became spruce forests. The weather was cool and every stop was fresh and the air sweet smelling.

The small towns are like many small towns in BC – all business, no beauty. Gone are the picturesque farms houses and older town halls. And here there is more industry. The farther north I got, the more oil industry supply places were in evidence. I went through Meyerthorpe where the four Mounties were shot a few years ago – there is a memorial to them in town. And through to Valleyview. After that things started to change and become more of a high rolling plain with fields of yellow tucked in amongst the black spruce. Could have been mustard or canola – not sure. There were wild flowers on the roadside, but not where I was able to pull over and have a look so all I could identify were parsnip and some fireweed.

A sign indicated a cleared area where trucks could pull over and put on chains, which I thought peculiar, but then the valley happened. A sudden roller coaster plunge. What a sight! The Peace River has carved a deep and sudden valley in this high plain. Mud walls hundreds of feed high. I would have liked to explore but there was absolutely nowhere to pull over and not even any side roads – just a huge bridge, and then the rising valley wall on the other side. Quite dramatic. In some ways, I’d like to be going further north to Peace River itself, but unless you are wilderness camping, there is not much to draw you. The towns are not up to much. And once again I was tricked by the GPS and the time change. I’ve gone across another time zone and so had another hour to drive. I was glad to arrive in Grande Prairie.

It’s a big place! 68,000 or so people it says, but it is certainly spread out and the northern end is dedicated to the oil industry. Conference motels, supply industries, storage and rental of living units, drilling equipment, etc.  Mile after mile of it. It is going to take a huge force to turn this ship around, and there will be many casualties. I think they need to choose to address it now and perhaps soften the blow, or like the fishing industries on both coasts, ignore what is coming and take a hard fall. Other than evidence of ranches in the prairie land around Grand Prairie, there seems little else to support people. In spite of the sunny climate, not a solar panel in evidence. Nor a windmill, both of which could be used here.

I never did find the actual downtown – if there is one. And now that I’m parked in front of Jessica’s house (the daughter of a friend) I think I’ll stay here unless I move to the nearby Walmart. I’m not good enough to back into her driveway – there is a car parked on one side and a tree on the other, and I wouldn’t want to be either with me backing this baby up – although I’m getting better every day. So it’s an unhooked night tonight and tomorrow I’ll head out for Chetwynd or one of the two parks just after that. It’s only 3 hours to Chetwynd and probably 4 to one of the parks. Another 3 hour trip to Prince George and the 3 more to 100 Mile House. I’ll probably be able to do it in two days even counting shopping trips to try and replace the drain plug in my kayak.

No photos today – there just wasn’t the opportunity. But it is beautiful country – and I’ll try and take some tomorrow.

Note to self: a quart of milk, once opened, splashes all over the inside of the fridge, and the floor.