Day 17 -- Rural Alberta

Made it into Saskatchewan

Summary

• Drove through random, rural Alberta
• Distance Traveled: 662.5 km
• Time on the Road: 8.5 hrs
• Random Oddities: 3

I did see a few falcons today as well as some sort of crane and a lot of other water fowl.  There were even some deer grazing in a pasture ... next to some domestic bison ... but it's just not the same.

Looks a lot like Iowa

Today was a day of rural oddities as I drove through the rest of Alberta and into Saskatchewan.  The countryside looked a lot like where I grew up, except for the pumps (or oil derricks) dotting the fields and pastures as I was leaving the badlands for the prairies.  I was accompanied by a thunderstorm again today (no summer lightening storm yet though) but neither the CRV nor I are worse for wear from it.

are these pumps?

I didn't realize it but the part of Alberta I was driving through today (East and Northeast of Edmonton) is an area with a lot of Ukrainian communities and history.  That became apparent as got to the second oddity of the day ... but before I get ahead of myself, the first oddity today was the largest Easter Egg (techncially, it was the largest pysanka in the world until 2000, when a bigger one was built in 2000 in Ukraine; Pysanka is a Ukranian style of Easter Egg).  Even Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited it in 1978!  Quite intricate and detailed, this is apparently dedicated to the RCMP centennial (in order to get a federal grant to build it).

Largest Easter Egg, Vegreville, AB

42' sausage in Mundare, AB

After a brief walk through the surrounding park, I got back on the road ... a stop at the visitor's centre had told me that there was a 42' sausage was only 20 minutes away!  The little town of Mundare is, apparently, the Sausage Capital of Canada.  This is actually a tribute to a meat processing plant that has been a staple in the area since 1959.  Less than a block from the statue was an adorable little Ukrainian restaurant ... I decided that the only reasonable thing to do was to have a pierogi taste test to determine the best pierogis, resolving to try pierogis at any future stop.

And I also needed to go try some of the sausage that warranted a 42' statue!  I popped into the sausage shop and immediately started salivating as the delicious scents of spiced and smoked meats wafted around me ...  I now have a car full of jerky ... no promises that any of it will make it back to Halifax. 

Biggest Pierogi, Glendon, AB

my main motivation in life

I started heading East ... my desire to stay off the Trans-Canada has made me meander a bit as I cross the country.  This wandering brought me to  ... A GIANT PIEROGI!  ON A FORK! ... sadly, the pierogi shop was closed by the time I got to town 😒.  I didn't get any more delicious potato dumplings today.

I did have a few other random photos today ... see below for your viewing pleasure.  Tomorrow should be more random oddities as I drive Eastward.

old truck in Glendon

On the drive