Wanderung 29

Alaska or Bust

July 2014 - August 2014

3 Saskatchewan
Dawson Creek & AlCan 4
Index


 

July 11: Lloydminster to Fox Creek, Canada

Ukrainian Cultural Center

Bob:

We had a great day today because we paused a bit to visit the Ukrainian Cultural Center just East of Edmonton, Alberta, and it was much larger and more fun than we had expected. Apparently a LOT of folks from the western provinces of Ukraine migrated to Canada from 1892 to the 1930s to take advantage of the 160 acres offered free to settlers under the home steading laws of the time. They had to fight the harsh winters and plagues of mosquitoes in the summer, but they were dead set on getting land (impossible in Ukraine at that time) and forging a future for their families. The cultural center has 30 original buildings that were re-located to this site starting in 1972, combined with a cadre of re-enactors in period costumes to discuss their life and times.

Not all the buildings are open at any one time, but we joined a guided tour that allowed us to visit several of the closed buildings, among which were two churches, a Greek Catholic Church and a Ukrainian Orthodox Church (the third church is Russian Orthodox), both of which were small but beautifully decorated inside and in perfect shape (still in use!) despite being 120 years old!

Monika:

We started by walking to a little restaurant for breakfast, then filled up the car and finally got going around 9:30. 2 hours later we stopped at a Ukrainian heritage center, a recreated village with around 30 original buildings that had been moved to this site. Ukrainians started emigrating to Alberta 1892 after they heard about the 160 free acres of land, more than they ever could have in the old country. But it was hard work to clear the land and cultivate it. But it was their land and that was all that mattered. We went on a guided walk that included 2 out of the 3 churches.

Bob:

We also visited the Police Station , staffed by an English emigrant who was trained by the RCMP but functioned as part of the Alberta police force. He had a 1-person cell in his police station, and so had to transport extra prisoners to nearby towns or even Edmonton if necessary.

The train station was also very interesting as the stationmaster lived there. So the station had living quarters including a beautiful kitchen complete with a cast-iron and chrome wood stove, true "ice box", and cupboard/hutch thing that had both built-in sugar and flour dispensers, the latter with a sifter in it! I'd like to have something like that hutch nowadays!

Monika:

We also visited the police station, the train station and the hotel.

Bob:

The general store had a wonderfully diverse selection of trade goods from that era, including one of the first home radios (2 tubes!!), a table-top butter churn , and a LOT of glassware. The salesman gave us all the 1920s prices, which of course seemed ridiculously low by modern standards.

Monika:

Afterwards we went into the hardware store and the train station. All was fascinating, and we certainly would want to come back some time to see some of the farmhouses. Today we just ran out of time

Bob:

We had pirogies for lunch at the food barn, But then ran out of time and never even got out to the two nearby farmsteads included in the museum (a short walk into the woods) , but we surely intend to see those sections the next time we visit!

We completed the day by swinging up past Edmonton, which had a surprising amount of traffic and what appeared to be air pollution or just plain old smog. Thankfully, the smog let up as we left the city behind us and the rest of the drive West by Northwest was pleasant. Tomorrow we will complete crossing Alberta and begin the AlCan Highway. We are gradually getting closer to the Canadian Rockies which are just to the West of us.

Monika:

We had lunch there, authentic Ukrainian cuisine, perogies, cabbage roll, sausage. After lunch, I started driving and getting through Edmonton was a hassle. As we had already encountered in Saskatoon, the Canadians seem to believe, when a 6 lane interstate goes through a city it needs stoplights. Obviously cheaper than interchanges, but I can't imagine what it is like during rush hour, it was bad enough around 2:30.

But we managed to get through and started northwest on the road that tomorrow will become the AlCan highway. The land turned into wooded, rolling hills and we saw our first warning signs for moose. We stopped at Fox Creek, a city reminding me of Breezewood since it only seemed to be primarily a stop for the tanker trucks that go up into the oil fields. There were lots of motels and the tanker trucks parked along the frontage road.



Copyright 2014 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt


 

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