Grand Prairie Inn Grande Prairie

It was raining in Fort Nelson when with left this morning, but before we left, Les noticed that 2 of our tires where looking pretty bad from bouncing so much and driving over rocks. So we found a tire store (I guess you could call it a store) The parking lot was mud and full of pot holes and so were all the other parking lots of the other businesses there. All the mud was then carried onto the road so our ...

... first time in awhile that we've hit a name brand restaurant, especialy for lunch. It was in Fort St John, we had lunch buffet for $12.99, so tasty! I forgot how much I loved ribs.

Finally made it to Grande Prairie Alberta, so far all I've seen in Northern AB is hay fields and Canola fields. We lost an hour as we're in Mountain Time Zone now, but we'll get that hour ...

... but we will try to write at least every 3-4 days. From my parents cottage to Kyle's parents in Grande Prairie we traveled 5099.0 kilometers (according to the GPS.) Take care and we will be in touch again soon when we enter the next leg of our journey!!!!!

KnT

... We met the new farm dog, six week old cutie Toby, and triplet calves (a first for the Cassity farm).

We also got Calvin's car road ready after a year of sitting idle for the long drive back to Calgary.

Stay tuned for some trip highlights and other ponderings.

... a personal choice. I will not deny that but it does make you reflect on how a country or even a province like Alberta, with the 2nd largest oil reserve in the World, can still have problems. We actually have the means to help these people (homeless and poor) but yet we seem content with the status quo. This trip encouraged me to increase my volunteer time with a few local community groups. My trip, also, taught me to have more confidence in my own abilities. I am often ...

... yesterday were in the 90's but today was a different story with the temp hanging at about 70. Tomorrow is supposed to 60-70 and rain. Looks to be that pretty much the expected will occur as we are here in the rainy season and as the saying goes, "In Ketchikan, it either just got done raining, it is raining or its getting ready to rain." So that seems to be what we are expecting. We decided to head out to eat at Tony Roma's BBQ, steak and ...

... I could kick myself for not doing the 'Alberta only’ rental car option. Then I could drive all over Jasper and Banff national parks, maybe even go down to Calgary or up to Fort McMurray. Gas is $4/gallon, but the car doesn’t drink much. As it is I’ll be lucky to get back to Edmonton within the limit, but if I’m looking good at Hinton, maybe I’ll do a back-and-forth to Jasper.

... encouragement and guidance, or interferance other influences take over. I guess this is precisely why parenting is so important, at least if it is consistant. Teachers have the ability to have such a positive influence... In the afternoon, we did positive "flowers," everyone puts their name on a flower and posts it on the wall, everyone else takes a turn at each one filling up the ...

... but everyone was friendly. The supervisor, who originally applied to have us as technical interns changed life plans, and left the shelter without a clear plan for us... We fended for ourselves quite a bit in the first couple of weeks. "At lunch time we get to interact with the women a bit. Yesterday morning I was hanging out with two little ones, Kevin (5) & Suzy (3), for awhile until I had to go start 'work.' When it was time to say goodbye, Kevin ...

... was at a women's shelter, it brought the odds down even more. The other group wouldn't budge. It came down to a votre, and I think instead of skill, people voted not to rock the boat. So we will be working at the shelter." I laugh re-reading this, I remember being so choked-- in the end, I don't remember what the other job was, but we loved our placement, it was the best one. Funny how things turn out. "To take a break, we took a tour of the fire house. I volunteered to ...