A mari usque ad mare (From Sea To Sea)

In Canada, you can't get much further east than Nova Scotia. There is Newfoundland, but other than that, this is it. The city of Halifax literally juts out into the Atlantic Ocean in part. If you want to see new land, you need to go west. So, in July of 2013, that's just what I did.

After six and a half hours on a plane, including a 40-minute layover in Toronto, I found myself in Calgary, Alberta. This wasn't the final destination for this trip, but it was here that I was confronted with this:

Mmhmm. That's right. That little tiny plane with propellers on the front that looked like it could be made of Lego blocks was my ride for the last leg of my journey: a one-hour flight to Fort St. John, British Columbia. It was tiny, inside and out. There were, however, a bunch of empty seats and I had the comfort of sitting beside one of them. When we arrived, as the mostly male group of passengers and I were gathering our belongings, the guy ahead of me looked at me and asked what I was doing in Fort St. John: clearly I was not there to work. 

"How do you know I'm not a class 1 welder?" I asked. 

"Are you a class 1 welder?" 

"Nope, I'm here to see my brother."
And so began my week in a working town.

I arrived to find (big surprise) a large portion of an Alberta cow prepped to be roasted on a spit that was, naturally, built into the barbeque.

Yup, I'm going to like this place.

We spent my first afternoon doing exactly what I had come for: spending time with my family and seeing new sights. The first day's mission brought us to the Hudson's Hope Bridge in Hudson's Hope, BC. The bridge itself is a sight to behold, built in 1965 and traversing the Peace River.

The view from the bridge is absolutely out of this world.

 

My gorgeous sister-in-law Kelly waiting on the other end helps the view too!

 

And little treasures like this make the area all the more magical.

 We spent an hour or so enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather, then started the drive back to Fort St. John. On the way, we managed to convince my brother to stop so I could take a few more shots along the way.

We arrived back at the house just in time to head to a barbeque at a friend's just down the road. There were about 15 people there, all of whom knew each other, and, as it always seems to be in western Canada, some of whom were from Nova Scotia like me. We ate food, drank beer, and played washer toss, and it wasn't long before I felt like I'd known these people forever. It was a good thing, because after 11 hours of travel and a 4-hour time difference, I was looking a little worn out:

That's my adorable nephew Colby, who at 7 months old, looks just like my brother Chris at that age.

Speaking of whom, here is my brother at this age!

Although it did cross my mind, I was too big to curl up in the nearest clothes basket for a nap. Colby, however, could have been made for it and, uninterested as he was in burgers and salad, spent quite a bit of time just being his super-cute self.

The next day, with Chris working, Kelly and I packed up Colby and drove back to Hudson's Hope. Our aim this time was a tour of the W.A.C. Bennett damn, but again, there were photographic pit stops on the way.

There are government plans in the works to flood the Peace River Valley in order to create more hydro power for the area. There are signs and petitions to prevent that from happening. I think I can see why:

 

and on the other side of the road: Canola!

and not much further on, this:

It turns out, the building of the W.A.C. Bennett Damn created North America's third largest man-made lake and the largest body of fresh water in British Columbia: Williston Lake. In creating the lake, crews also managed to dig up one heck of a deposit of dinosaur fossils, casts of which are now on display near the damn's interpretive centre.

Our tour started  at the Centre, where we were picked up by a bus and driven down from our perch on the overlooking mountain to the entrance to the damn. We saw a bear on the way, but he was too quick for my eyes and my camera. As we got closer to the actual damn, however, something amazing started happening: eagles. Everywhere.

 

 

This isn't a photographic trick, or a crazy zoom lens. These birds are wild and from our bus, we were able to get THIS CLOSE:

They come in for the fish, which are dizzy after coming through the turbines that push the water underneath us. They sit and wait for an easy meal and have learned they have nothing to fear from us.

Other than the noise inside the damn, there are parts where you would never guess you were standing under tons of concrete and water. Other parts are cold and damp (and too dark to take pictures). Our tour guide was Kevin, and he definitely knew his stuff.

After our "damn tour" (yes, they went there), we were able to drive over the actual structure itself to the other side, where we were greeted by more spectacular sights and things to see.

Then we went back to the interpretive centre for a picnic lunch outside on the grass and a bit of this:

 

On the way back to Fort St. John, a pit stop! Of course!

The next day found me and Kelly and Colby driving across the provincial border to Grande Prairie, Alberta. It's about a two-hour drive and I marvelled at everything along the way, including this gem, in the middle of an intersection in Dawson's Creek that marks "Mile '0" on the Alaska Highway.

Once in Grande Prairie, we headed to Tokyo Ichiban for sushi, where I tried sashimi for the first time and had a taste of green tea ice cream.

We shopped all day, and then indulged ourselves with Five Guys Burgers & Fries before starting the trip back to BC. We weren't even out of town, however, before we ran into some stunning weather phenomenon and "STOP THE CAR!" moments.

First pit stop was in a town called Beaver Lodge, Alberta. It's possibly the only place where this makes sense:

 

Colby's first complaint of the day came somewhere around the Alberta/BC border. We stopped the car so Kelly could get him fed, and I didn't mind at all!

 I can't remember the name of this last place we stopped, but despite my exhaustion from the long day, I was definitely game to pull over and get a few shots of the town far below us.

 After shopping in Alberta, Kelly still had a few places in mind for me. The next day, she told me we had a few stores to see in Fort St. John. As she was getting ready to head out for the day, I hung out with Colby in the living room, where this happened:

and, not to be excluded:

Before we could shop, Kelly had to make a pit stop to visit a friend in the hospital. I took the dog and my camera and wandered around town for a bit before meeting back up with her at the house.

She first ambushed me with a scrapbooking/camera supply store, where I stocked up on cheap supplies and some gifts for the girls back home. Then we drove downtown, got out of the car, and I was introduced to some of the most original boutique-style merchandise I have ever seen. I tried on dresses and shirts, bought some antique decorations for home, and I learned very quickly where Kelly had developed her shoe fetish. The owner of Good 2 Go Shoes knew her by name, and this place was AWESOME.

I bought the second two pairs, and only didn't buy the others because they weren't in my size. I haven't looked back since!

Kelly had also bought us tickets to the RCMP Musical Ride, which happened to be in town nearby. Currently serving RCMP officers don their iconic dress uniforms and put on a display that includes 36 magnificent well-trained horses, and an opening show with Glen Stewart, known in the Peace River Region as the "horse whisperer."

On my last day in town, I found myself at a farm owned by a friend of Kelly's. There were chickens and kittens and a donkey that seemed to have a thing for me, but I found myself most mesmerized by the stunning horses...

...and the adorable goats!

 Later in the afternoon, we packed up Colby again (he was thrilled):

 

and headed out for one last photographic opportunity just on the edge of town. Can we get to the river? Let's see...

Nope! All fenced in.

But there is this field for the dog to run in!

And back the way we came, there's a spectacular look-off, dotted with warning signs about staying away from the edge of the cliff, and sad monuments to what might happen if you don't.

I fell in love with British Columbia while I was there. I've never experienced such a feeling of 'home' in a place I've never been before. It was awesome to meet my nephew and to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law for the first time in years. Fort St. John itself is a little far north for my sun-worshiping self, but this trip definitely spurred me onto the idea that I was born on the wrong side of the continent.