Looks just like my drive to Edmonton last Thurs morning so my SO could attend her teachers convention. I had an oil field medic pick up lose control on the turn off and swing across three lanes, just missing the guard rail. They didn’t hit anything fortunately, and all I had to do was carefully brake out of the way and watch as he cleaned out his shorts…
Anyone who drives on the prairies, or pretty much anywhere in Canada without a good set of winter tires is asking for trouble. My wife’s Edge is AWD and studded Gislaveds on the rims. I want her as safe as possible.
We saw at least a half dozen SUVs and pick-ups on their side or their roof from driving the night before. I’m glad you got through ok, Muffin.
+1 to Radium! I’m hoping to head back out there in the Spring again!
I ran across this and thought it was…Interesting. I certainly see why it is being considered; why waste natural gas that you can put to market to drive oil production that will make you less.
Of course, my mind immediately runs to the worst case scenario and since this is my back yard it makes me itchy under the skin just a little; like driving through Pickering…
That’s interesting, but it makes me wonder about using natural gas versus a small nuclear reactor - doesn’t bitumen usually come with natural gas as a bonus?
If you ever make it out to the prairies (and you should - we’ll be expecting you!), make sure you find time to get out into the middle of nowhere and get out of the car and just soak it in for a while. I think it’s a great experience - to be so far away from everything else, and see nothing around you for as far as you can see in all directions, and nothing but the biggest sky ever above you - I love that feeling.
One of my favourite editorial cartoons (can’t find it on-line) was to commemorate John Diefenbaker when he died.
It was almost an abstract cartoon in white with black; huge white background, two light lines converging towards the top, with a few heavy “t” shapes beside one of the lines, and an upright figure between the lines. After looking at it, it wasn’t abstract; it was Dief, seen from behind, walking down a prairie road into the distance, with a few telephone beside the road.
The simplicity of the cartoon really captured the Prairies for me, and was a fitting tribute to a man who loved the Prairies.
You should come. They really have to be seen to be believed.
I remember when a friend of mine came out to visit. He’s originally from Nova Scotia, but has lived in Ontario for a number of years. He had never seen such emptiness on land before–the ocean, yes; but not land. It blew him away.
And Northern Piper, it always amazes me when I drive eastbound on Highway 1, that I can see the city of Regina on the horizon, an hour before I actually get there.
And for all that the prairies seem plain, they really are beautiful. The interplay of land, sky, sun, and cloud, has to be seen to be believed. You can be in clear sky and sun, while watching a thunderstorm, complete with lightning, miles away. It’s quite a show!
A friend of mine (Franco-Ontarian) came out to Regina on business several years ago; first time to Saskatchewan.
When I met her at the airport, her first words were: “Mon Dieu! C’est plat!”
I took her for a drive in the country. We were on a grid road, driving along, and there was a large plume of dust way ahead of us and to the side, moving towards our grid. She asked me what it was.
I said, “It’s someone driving on a grid road, kicking up dust. Their grid will intersect our grid; we’ll get to the intersection at about the same time, in [pause for quick mental calculation] about 7 minutes.”
She said, “Go on!” and timed it.
Seven minutes it was! Flat road, square grids, and known rate of speed.
