Mile 12445

 We leave Grande Prairie, AB this morning to make some more miles toward West.  After a stop at the coffee place with the mermaid we find our way back to the Hwy-43 and drive through the last of the prairie and fields.  We pass through a place called Beaverlodge, AB, and it's not hard to see why?  There are also some nice murals depicting a time gone since more than 50 years, but still nice to think about then.  

Beaverlodge, AB

 From here we continue on Hwy-43 to Dawson Creek, BC, the official start of the Alaskan Highway, also known as the Hwy-97 or the ALCAN.  

Going to Alaska, this is the way

 From now on we will follow it for quite some miles, a route we missed pretty much 2014 because our mind was more set on getting our bike repaired than the beauty of the land, beside the point we were driving it the opposite direction then.  But all the beauty of the forest and hills and distant mountains (Northern Rocky Mountains) we are also reminded by the burned down trees about the destroying power of wildfires.  

Crossing the Kiskatinaw River in BC

Peace River Valley and the town of Taylor, BC

On the ALCAN, healthy and from fire destroyed forests

 And wildfires are not the only danger to the land and the exploration by the oil and gas industry is very visible near Taylor, BC.  We continue to Fort Nelson, BC and call it an early day.  There will be a long drive tomorrow, therefore some quality time will be just fine.

"It is the flame which is at the mercy of the forest; but the forest doesn't care, she promises no end, she never says it stops or that it gets better!  Flames never asked to be born as flames: so volatile, so vital, so uncontained.  You are a flame, this world is a forest."  -  C. JoyBell C., American author and book illustrator

Mile 12075

 After another two days in and around Edmonton, AB and Leduc, AB, with a lot of bicycling, tasting local brews, and doing nothing except for the obligatory laundry and some maintenance and repairs, it is now time to move on.  

Telford Lake Trail, Leduc, AB

The Wisdom Stone, 

"Allow the wisdom of a billion years to guide you to the answers you seek"

Harry Beauchamp, Artist statement 2013

 We pack our stuff with blue skies above our heads and make a run to the Cabela's / Bass Pro Shop to refill our stock on gas cartridges and then find our way via Rt-216 onto to the TCH and from there to Hwy-43.  This brings us through fields of Rape and other stuff into the rolling hills of forests as we move further West to Whitecourt, AB.  

Rolling hill in western Alberta, Smokey River crossing

 Northwest of Fox Creek, AB the landscape turns back to more prairie as we near Grande Prairie, AB.  This town has changed a lot since we had our bike here repaired in 2014.  It seems the town has doubled in size, but definitely a lot of new industries and workshops catering the pipeline and oil industry have settled down here.  We drive a little around to explore the "new" town, and then head South to our campsite for tonight.

And a Happy Birthday to my friend Jimmy, cheers to your health and happiness!

"The first time I ever felt the necessity or inevitableness of verse, was in the desire to reproduce the peculiar quality of feeling which is induced by the flat spaces and wide horizons of the virgin prairie of western Canada."  -  T.E. Hulme, English critic and poet, aesthetic philosopher and the father of imagism, 1883-1917

Mile 11758

We leave Lloydminster SK/AB to find our way back onto the Yellowhead Route i.e. Rt-16 toward Edmonton, AB.  We take it easy today as it will be only a short drive.  We hit the outskirts of Edmonton around lunch time and start to find a camp site for the next couple of days.  Easier said than done, as most fo the sites can only accommodate us for a night or two, or only with an interruption on Saturday, but none of those within the 20 mile circle we drive up can do.   So ultimately we are driven South of Edmonton to the city of Leduc, AB, about 30 minutes to Edmonton.  But also here nothing goes as planned / on-line reservation as the site allocated to us is occupied by a caravan.  But a determined chat in the camp office solves this problem and we get a site to set up camp.

Dinner is ready, ....

We do the tourist stuff today, and detach the car / rooftop tent from the Anex and hit to town / Edmonton.  First thing which surprises us are the huge amount of parks this town has to offer.  We make a short stop at Old Strathcona, to check out some of the street murals and of course the old Strathcona Farmer's Market (unfortunately closed today), the Walterdale Playhouse, a former Fire Station, The Station on Whyte / Station Park.  

Old Strathcona Farmers Market, Walterdale Playhouse and firefighter memorial

'The Rescue' statue, Firefighter Memorial Square

From here we drive downtown over the Walterdale Bridge and venture through downtown.  We pass the Legislature Plaza, visit the MacEwan University, of course the Rogers Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers (yes it still hurts) and the Ice District.  

MacEwan University

Rogers Place, Home of the Edmonton Oilers

Fan Plaza and ICE District, Bob and Doug McKenzie statue

We head down to the Millenium Plaza and the Chinese Garden, cross the bridge and follow the river through Forrest Heights Park and back to Strathcona to meet up with a former colleague.  We hadn't seen each other for 31 years, so sitting over one beer was certainly not long enough to catch up with everything, but it was very much enjoyable to see an old face again.  We fetch a bite to eat in this district and head back to the camp site, having escaped a short but intense shower.

Winspear Center, Tawatina LRT Bridge

Hotel Hyatt Place, Canada Place

Edmonton skyline, Hotel Macdonald

Some of the many ...

... Street Murals in and ...

... around Edmonton

"Murals, sculptures, and installations aren't just pretty to look at; they also make a powerful statement about social issues and give community members a platform for expression."  -  Walls of Justice, an online gallery and community forum to honor and showcase street art focused on positive reform in law enforcement and social justice

Mile 11475

 After a night of down pouring rain in the early hours, we leave Yorkton, SK this morning with low hanging, rain loaded clouds, but not a single drop coming down.  We return to the Yellowhead Route and continue our way West.  The landscape doesn't change this morning neither, the road is still a straight line, surrounded by corn, wheat, canola, lentils and peas fields, and the occasional potash mine.  It is very tiering to drive through this monotone landscape, and it doesn't help if here and there the monotony is interrupted by a train running next to the highway.  But we need to move on, and so we pass Wynyard, SK, the Great Quill Lake, and towns with names like Mozart (music), Kandahar (Afghanistan), Guernsey (British Channel Island), Wolverine (animal), Dafoe (actor), and others.  At least those keep the brain awake and soon we reach Saskatoon, SK for a lunch break.  Then its back to the prairie and the endless fields and raking in more miles to Battleford, SK and on to Lloydminster, SK/AB (another divided town) where we call it quit.

If you're not the front dog the view never changes; doesn't matter here

"Don't fence me in", Bison made of barbed wire 

by local artist Donal R. Hefner, Battleford, SK

"I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun.  I was born where there were no enclosures."  -  Geronimo, military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people, 1829-1909

Mile 11198

 We get up and the sky is still overcast and gray, but it's not raining.  So we head down to "The Fork National Historic Site" with all the beautiful sights.  There is Union Station (yes, another one), the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, The Forks Market, The Forks Historic Port, and the Oodena Celebration Circle, and so much more.  

Union Station, Winnipeg, MB

The buildings at "The Forks"

Inside the Forks Market

The Forks Historic Port

The 8th and Final Fire, a prophecy of the Anishinaabe People

Oodena Celebration Circle

 The Oodena Celebration Circle is a significant site honoring the area's Indigenous history and its role as a gathering place for thousands of years.  Oodena, meaning "heart of the community" in Ojibwe, is a natural amphitheater designed to connect with the cultural history of The Forks and the forces of earth, water, and sky.  Oodena features a 3 meter deep bowl, reminiscent of the archaeological layers of the site, and incorporates elements like celestial orientation markers, an Aeolian harp, and a fire pit symbolizing the connection to the earth and sky.  Especially impressive are is the naked-eye observatory, looking through the markers at given dates and times to see celestial constellations.

 We could spend the whole day down here, but we must go on and so we pick up TCH again and divert from it west of  Portage la Prairie, MB and join Rt-16 or the Yellowhead Route as it is called.  We continue through the prairie and endless wheat and corn fields or whatever is farmed here, and pass through Gladstone, MB, Neepawa, MB, moving up to Russel, MB, before crossing into the province of Saskatchewan (SK).  In Yorkton, SK we call it the day as we didn't want to take a gamble on the weather which still can't make up its mind between sunshine and/or rain.

Along the way of the Yellowhead Route (Rt-16)

"Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another."  -  Plato, ancient Greek philosopher