A blog following my Cross Canadian extended road trip to visit all ten provinces in 2017 - the 150th year of the Confederation of our great country! Travelling with my Buick Encore AWD :)
Visiting Mom and Dad: Cold Lake, Alberta
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Almost time to move on after a few weeks in Cold Lake. Had a great visit with my Mom and Dad and my brother's family. My nephew Haiden is only 8 and he is almost as tall as I am!
Cold Lake is first and foremost an Air Force town, and you can often hear the CF-18s and Hornets flying around, but the area was first mentioned in the late 18th century and there used to be commercial fishing on the Lake.... now there are a lot of people (including my brother) who work for the oil patch. Hard work, long hours and good pay.
There is a Wal-Mart, a Winners (yeah!), three Tim Hortons and two grocery stores. There is a good Mexican restaurant, a neat Newfoundlander store/restaurant that just opened and did I mention they have a Winners?
The lake was frozen when I got here, but I actually forgot to take photos... so I took Mom for a drive and got some photos to post today, and a short video of a jet that gets lost in the blue sky, but you can still hear it!
You can hear it, but not see it!
A view of Cold Lake - it is huge!
The Marina - surprisingly few boats moored and the restaurant is closed (Dad and I were going to go for lunch!)
There is a large Metis and First Nations population here with many different tribes.
The Lake
Hope the spots fill in before too long...
Flat as a pancake.
Shadow selfie (I bought a new hat!) and little fish you can't see.
I finally made it to my parent's in Cold Lake, Alberta! This is NOT where we grew up (PArksville on Vancouver Island, the real West Coast), but my brother works in the oil fields so this is where they live now :) Day 5 by the numbers: Km travelled: 611 km Time travelled: Almost 7 hours (gravel roads do no let you drive very fast!) Wildlife see: 1 wolf running across the gravel "highway", Canadian geese, a pheasant (yes, I know what "eating" birds look like, elk (which got me excited until I saw 6 of them and realized it was an elk farm), a few hawks/falcons and cows and horses. Cost-Co pit stops: 1 in Saskatoon, also got gas and hot pickled green beans. Times a bit nervous: more than 1 as the numbered highway in Northern Saskatchewan was like a gravel road in the middle of no where!!! Observations: I have begun to like cruise control, which I always resisted. When you have a lead foot and open highways (and don't want a ticket) you really ...
After driving 3,500+ km across five provinces and lots of different terrain - and a couple months in Quebec where I drove more than the average - I decided to add a review of my car to the blog. My car cleaned and ready for the trip! All my time in the UAE I rented - for the most part a Honda Accord - which was fine and good on gas, but not what I wanted for Canada. I had rented a Trax and an Encore last summer and knew I liked them... and my Dad has been pushing for the Encore for a couple of years (he loves Buicks). So with the help of an awesome broker (email for his name if you live around Rosemere, QC) I got a 2017 Buick Encore AWD - the Premium edition (because I wanted the bigger engine and heated seats). So first what I LOVE 💗 The heated seats - really it was on my list of "musts" after so many years living in the desert I know I have turned into a wimp! Also the lumbar support is spectacular - I wasn't stiff at all after 5 days of long days of drivin...
Sooooo... a few blogposts missed, but I am back! I headed to the 7th province on my list, on the East Coast of Canada. Saint John, New Brunswick is the oldest incorporated city in Canada and was founded by Loyalists fleeing from the US during the American Revolution. It is the only city on the Bay of Fundy (biggest tides in the world) and is home to a branch of the oldest anglophone university in Canada (also founded by the above Loyalists) the University of New Brunswick. I will begin my position in the College of Business there at the end of August... so I came for a visit to set things up for my big move! As I set out on the Friday before the two week general holiday in Quebec (construction weeks) it was BUSY driving... then it got peaceful in NB. The nine hours passed quickly and it was quite scenic... I recommend the drive to any of my family and friends who want to visit (after I find a home!). The day in numbers: 1: time zones crossed - now in Atlantic time which is 4...
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