For anyone that don't know I've decided to embark on a large and exciting adventure: to travel across Canada over the course of 10 months. Yup, that's the plan. I'm crazy excited but it's also kind of nerve racking at the same time. There will be so much to see, do and learn it's kinda amazing. I know I won't be able to do all of it but I'm going to do the best I can! My journey has actually already begun and as I type this I am sitting in a Tim Hortons parking lot in Fort St.John, but that is for another post. Where do I begin?
Well, my journey started in my hometown of Forestburg, AB. It's a small village of about 900 or so people. The van you see there? That's Carlton, he is my house on wheels. I gotta say, it's pretty handy having a bed and food with you at all times. The official start day of the trip was the evening of September 6, 2017. My first stop was Killam, AB. Not very far away but I had a friend I wanted to visit. Same thing happened on the 7th. I visited 2 more friends and then off to Camrose the next morning. My life in a van had started.
The next morning I decided to wander into the Duggan Mall. There I found the haunted house that is being created, I popped in as they were looking for volunteers and I had time. I ended up painting for 1.5 hours and looking like a grey robot. Not sure why it is, but it seems like I have a knack for getting paint and dirt everywhere. This little day though broke my safety net and I was gone. First stop? Cold Lake.Â
That place sure lives up to its name. Now, Cold Lake is a really cool lake. My favourite part being that as you walk along the lake there is a small Lagoon a few metres away from you. It was pretty cool. One of the tricky parts of photographing tourist sites is to get those unique shots. Sometimes that's easy and sometimes it's not. The above image I got was something simple but fun. There are some stairs leading to the water and this was the bottom step. Â My next spot on my list was Grande Prairie. However, I of course had to make a pitstop at my cousins place and along the way to take pictures. I somehow managed to turn a 1-hour drive into 3-hours. Yeah, that's skill! Here is one of the images from that extended drive.
This was an old abandoned hall along the road I found. I have also come to the conclusion that Northern Albertans leave a lot of old buildings up. It's awesome!! I didn't stop at many but from all the ones I saw they all seemed to be well respected and in good shape. That is phenomenal I think! I kept on making my way to Grande Prairie. It was here that I rode Pickles, and played multiple card games at a cool little cafe called 'Cards'. It was so cool there and super friendly!Â
Lucky for me I have a friend, Lara, who is also into photography and willing to take some photographs of me. With that my Alberta adventures were coming to a temporary close while I headed to the B.C. border. (with of course one pit stop at Saskatoon Island Provincial Park. Man, there are a lot of berries there). But, I know my adventure will continue to grow as the weeks continue on. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram where I post regularly. Even more images in the 'Across Canada' gallery as well!