Monday, August 08, 2005

Beam me up Scottie

To Vulcan, AB to see the Vulcan Hotel, formerly the Imperial Hotel at Frank. We call on the splendid museum where Walter McNiven produces a plate inscribed with "The Imperial Hotel, Frank, Alta." We learned something of how the Imperial Hotel morphed into the Vulcan Hotel in its new location.
Vulcan has turned its Star Trek shtick into a tourist attraction and Annette poses by the Starship Enterprise in town - she normally resists being photographed.
High tea at Tim Hortons at Lethbridge - a quick look-see at the High Level Bridge, a steel classic railway bridge crossing the Oldman River, an engineering masterpiece. We head for Grassy Lake, AB, municipal camping, $15.00, shower $1 (we shared). We prefer the "Cheap Charlie" campsites - no shop, swimming pool or crowds. We can play the country radio and disturb nobody. Listening to AM 1060 from Calgary - "City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie, Ricky Skaggs "Cryin' my heart out over you" and Charley Pride "Is anybody goin' to San Antone?"
The honour system has died out at gas stations in the western United States - you pay first. Now back in Canuckistan we revert to more familiar methods and no longer have to guess how much diesel we need.
That old train whistle blows and the sun sets on the grain elevators. Tomorrow we head for Medicine Hat and I can't help thinking of those geography lessons at school all those years ago. My geography master advised "Why don't you take more interest in Europe? You are more likely to go there."
Now Stomping Tom Connors sings "Sudbury Saturday Night" - "The girls are out to bingo and the boys are getting stinko!"

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