Day 6 --> Peace River, AB to Hay River, NT

Day 6 --> Peace River, AB to Hay River, NT 607 kms

New total = 4,710 kms

The drive from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Vancouver driving through Sault Ste. Marie and Winnipeg would be 4,572 kms. Here is a picture of the fire station in Peace River. I spoke with one of the Fire-EMS officers at the Tim Horton's and he told me that there are 6 full-time ems-firefighters for the town and about 30 volunteers. They run the ambulance service for the town and there is another service for the county.

I left Peace River at about 10AM for the long cold drive north. It was about minus 15 Celsius but was sunny. I dove across the bridge, grabbed a coffee and then just drove. It is only one lane each direction and there were not too many cars and trucks travelling north. I didn't know if I should have taken this as a good or bad sign.

By 2:00 PM I had made it to High Level, AB where I had lunch, bought some more windshield washer fluid and got a spare gas can (not filled yet.) There were even fewer cars travelling north from there in fact the whole trip up to Hay River from that point only had three transport trucks and four private vehicles pass me.

As I came up to Meander Creek which is about 180 kilometers from High Level there was a pickup truck on the side of the road with the front jacked up. I slowly drove past and came to a stop before asking what the situation was. The truck had a flat tire and the spare had "frozen" underneath the truck. (What a great design Detroit.) The gentleman told me that his neighbour has the same truck about 10 kms from our spot. I moved some things in the front seat and did my good duty for the day driving him to Meander Creek.

I carried on towards the NWT border in the dark. When I reached 60 I got out of the car into the cold and took some pictures. The previous time I came to Hay River I was travelling in the Buffalo Airways truck and I think I was asleep as we passed into the Territory. As I came towards Enterprise, I came back into cell phone range and learned that Ian would be up in Yellowknife but I could go to the staff house and visit with some of the pilots there. I made the final turn up to Hay River stopping to take a picture at the welcome sign and then checked into the Ptarmigan Inn so that I could watch the address to the people from Mr. Harper and finally once Mr. Dion got his message to the media his statement. I went to the sports bar at the hotel and then over to the Staff house. While there Gord gave me the news that the ferry had been pulled out at Fort Providence, 4,710 kilometres behind me and now no where to go. I was later called by Ian to tell me that he would be in town tomorrow and we will figure it out from there. I returned to the sports bar to digest the news and to watch the end of the Edmonton hockey game.

Day 5 --> Edmonton to Peace River Alberta

Day 5 --> Edmonton to Peace River Alberta 487 kms.

Total distance travelled so far is now 4,103 kms. To drive from Niagara-on-the-Lake to San Diego would be 4,162 kms. 

After a day of record high temperatures for Alberta (Drumheller was 17c ...) the morning cooled off to just below zero. I headed to the downtown to see the legislature and alog the way I came across a Mountain Equipment Co-op where I bought a couple of things. I also realized that I forgot to pack my snowpants so I will have to get them mailed up to me. I left the store to a light snow which got heavier as the morning went on.

I drove up to the Legislature which is blocked at all entrances by sheriffs and there is no parking nearby. I illegally parked my car, told the security guard I was from Ontario and I have been taking pictures of buildings all across Canada and I would only be a minute. He let me park and then I was on my way. I stopped for lunch at the Telus HQ and gt my phone plan changed (same number I just lowered my data plan as there is no 3G north of Alberta.)

I never realized the depth of the valley that the river in Edmonton is. Driving down a steep grade and then through the valley when it is snowing and there hasn't been any salt or plowing was slow. Message to the Dept. of Highways in Alberta: "Get away from sand and gravel" You people are pathetic put some salt down it would make your province look a lot nicer. Everyone s in a big truck anyways so salt don't sand. The filth of the roads is ridiculous. Another thing is that the ministry should make sure that 18-wheelers have mud/sand flaps.

As I left the city, the snow stopped and there was a divided highway to Valleyview. I drove past Mayerthorpe and got some fuel in Whitecourt. From Valleyview to Peace River is a 2 lane highway I was lucky it was dry but the speed of the logging trucks and others going in the opposite direction nearly blows you off the road. My mom would be proud that I listened to the CBC radio (the only reason is to keep up to date with what is going on in Ottawa)

I made it into Peace River at about 8PM my earliest stop yet as this was only a half day drive to make a half day drive on Wednesday too. I did some e-mailing and telephone calls from the hotel and then went to Boston Pizza for dinner. While I was there I got talking to the owner who blames British Columbia for this mess not Quebec. He said that if they hadn't voted in the number of NDPers then Harper might have got his majority. He and the bartender spoke to the western view that anything west of Ontario doesn't matter to the Liberals and they brought op the old quote "Let the .... freeze in the east." I wonder how Justin Trudeau is felling with all his fathers work to keep the country together. I then took the rest of the night watching news about the "Harpocolypse"

Listening to constitutional experts got me thinking about what it would take to get a few liberals to move over to the other side. There have to be some in that party who are ABD - Anyone But Dion. Please someone tell Mr. Harper to check his facts about the flag. That is going to come back to bite him during question period. I think that the Fiberal-NDPers are going to pull the hansard to see when the Conservatives and Bloc voted together. I don't think that Mr. Layton got that message out over the drama-queen Dion (who really needs to learn to speak in French instead of English) I have also been trying to get the Quebec election angle on this. (from the CBC)

"Marois favours the Liberal-NDP coalition because she said it would help the Bloc get a more favourable equalization deal for Quebec. The Bloc has promised to support the coalition, should it gain power, for at least 18 months. Dumont called the federal crisis "unbelievable, frankly," saying the Bloc could have gained as much for Quebec by pressing Prime Minister Stephen Harper instead of lending a hand to efforts to overthrow him. Dumont also blasted Marois for backing the Bloc deal."

'We can see clearly that this country doesn't work.'

—PQ Leader Pauline Marois

http://www.cbc.ca/news/quebecvotes2008/story/2008/12/02/qv-ottawacrisisfromquebec1202.html

On another chord, what takes the Governor General so long to get back to Canada. We have a fleet of A-320's on standby and she can use one of the Bombarier Global challengers. She must use the same travel agent Jean Chretien used when the King of Jordan died bak in 1999 hen he was skiing with me at Whistler and said that he couldn't make it there in time. (in fact I looked it up and he could have made it there flying on commercial flights) The Governor General's interview in Prague has her looking scared. At this time, I hope that she prorogues Parliament.


Here is a flight I found for her in first class : 9:55 am Depart Prague (PRG)Arrive Ottawa (YOW) 6:24 PM Duration: 14hr 31min connecting through Frankfurt and Washington on United

I heard that Parizeu would comment on the Coalition of the three parties (oops I mean the 18 month agreement of support for the two parties who have less seats than the Conservatives.) Anyone who doesn't believe that the bloc is the ones in the drivers seat are as oblivious as Mr. Dion. The BLOC are not to be trusted.

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.canoe.com/journaldemontreal/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djournal%2Bde%2Bmontreal%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1C1GGLS_enCA302CA303

Here is what he said: L'ancien premier ministre Jacques Parizeau a salué sans aucune réserve «la victoire impressionnante» que viennent d'obtenir Gilles Duceppe et le Bloc québécois pour la formation d'un gouvernement de coalition à Ottawa.

The former premier Jacques Parizeau welcomed unreservedly "impressive victory" just to get Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Quebecois to form a coalition government in Ottawa. In a telephone interview yesterday afternoon, Jacques Parizeau said that "this victory sweeping all the hesitation that Quebeckers can have on the usefulness of the Bloc in Ottawa."

Quebec has obtained, he said, of "tremendous gains" in favor of interest "for its artists, its workers and all those who might be in difficulty facing the economic crisis that threat.

P.S. Gerrard Kennedy just told Mike Duffy he wouldn't put it past Stephen Harper to enact the War Measures Act (unfortunately, Mr. Kennedy it is now called the Emergency Act) and Why is Bill Richardson speaking in Spanish to accept the nomination as Secretary of Commerce.