I got to spend my week in La Crete helping set up the computer systems for the new Subway opening up on Monday. Monday consisted of a flight from Lethbridge to Calgary to Grande Prairie, and then a 7hr+ drive north to La Crete. I came within 190km of the Northwest Territories. That's as far north as I've ever been, or ever wanted to be, in my life. North is not usually my friend. North is cold. I don't like cold. I like south. Arizona is south. Florida is south. California is south. South is my friend.
Let's put this into a little perspective for those who may not be familiar with the geography...
The purple line represents the drive from Grande Prairie to La Crete. It turns out there are flights from Edmonton to High Level, but the $800+ ticket wasn't in my travel budget. And yes, I do have the Lego Store marked on my Google Earth map.
I was lulled into a sense of false security on Monday, as the weather was 2-5C above zero all the way up, which was warmer than the weather at home. The drive up was rather uneventful, fortunately. It wasn't until High Level that I saw a deer crossing the highway... in the middle of town. The weather dropped to the -25c to -30c range on Tuesday and stayed there until I left early Friday morning.
Add to that three fun filled days of fighting with computer systems which were supposed to have been updated before they were shipped to the restaurant (sadly, not so much). I guess it was a good thing I spent all day, every day working on the computers because there wasn't really anything else to do in town.
I left early Friday morning with so I could get to Grande Prairie for my 4:20pm flight and have time for pit stops, meals, poor driving conditions etc. It was all going well until I got to High Level.
"This is where the fun begins..."
I was making pretty good time when I got to High Level. I had a two and a half hour buffer, which I felt would be enough to handle most scenarios. About 5km south of town, there was a small line forming on the highway for what looked like an accident up ahead (I couldn't see because of the large trucks in front). Three emergency vehicles went by, and so did about 45 minutes. No problem, I still had over an hour. And then one of the highway trucks with the orange flashers started working his way down the line telling everyone it would be about 5-6 hours before the accident would be cleared up. Now that becomes a problem.
This is the ONLY highway going south from High Level, which seems like a glaring design flaw if you ask me. The "highway guy" told me to go back to High Level, take the highway going east, then go down to Red Earth and come across to Grande Prairie that way. My Garmin didn't want to let me do that, so I went to the Shell station to look at a map. Ummm... turns out Red Earth is a 5hr drive, and Grande Prairie is another 5hrs from there, which means there's no way of making my flight in 8hrs. To rub lemon juice in the paper cut, while I'm standing there looking at the map, the accident was announced over the local radio telling everyone to avoid the highway and there was no detour. Awesome sauce with a side of fries.
I went out to the car, pulled out my laptop, used my mobile internet stick, rebooked my flights for Saturday and informed Budget I wouldn't have their car back until Saturday morning. Then I waited. And waited. High Level is not a fun place to be stranded for four hours. If you've seen the movie "Trapped in Paradise", first of all I apologize profusely, no one should have to site through that (I still feel bad all these years later for taking a girl to see that movie). Anyhow, Paradise is a larger town than High Level with more to do.
I had lunch at 11:00, and did the sudoku puzzle on the back of the "Muskeg Buzz" out of sheer boredom. I drove up the highway at noon to see if they had made progress. Nope, still turning people away. So, back to town... I went back to check at 1:00. Nope, still not cleared.
Wait a minute! The same guy who told me to go to Red Earth is now escorting vehicles onto a side road. I followed the procession down a gravel road, hoping desperately he isn't going home for lunch. The convoy turned onto a small one-lane dirt road which led in behind a loading yard for trains, over the hill, through the woods, and onto the highway on the other side of the accident. Son of a beached whale! All this time and a quick 10 minute detour would've had me back on my way and home in time for bed. Curse you Dodge Avenger for not having a dash-mounted laser!
Speaking of the Dodge Avenger, I have to say, not my favorite car. If you rev the engine, you can watch the gas gauge go down. It has a combined highway/city mileage rating of 22MPG. Crap on a stick, our V8 Suburban does better than that. And that's what the car is rated, not what it actually gets... And to make things even more fun, because it's a rental, it receives all the loving maintenance of a bludgeoned seal. The girl at the rental desk said "You won't need snow tires, the roads are all clear." Thanks Dead-end Job Barbie, you can guarantee the road conditions between here and the NWT for the week??
I stopped at a gas station for some travel munchies on the way up on Monday and the "Oil change required" light came on when I started the engine again. That little light on the dash looks nothing like an oil can. It looks like a gravy boat. "Why yes, come to think of it, I could use some gravy. Thank you, thoughtful car, for reminding me."
