Text 5534, 103 rader
Skriven 2011-01-05 07:53:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip log 1
==================
Since this is getting cross-posted to a bunch of food forums the
tale is rather top heavy on the food notes.

Our Christmas road trip took us from Yellowknife to Peace River,
Alberta, then Fort McMurray, Athabaska, PR again, Edmonton, back to
PR and then home... about 4400 km in all.

Sat, Dec. 18: We started our trip the first day the Mackenzie River
ice bridge was open to traffic for vehicles up to 5000 kg, while the
ferry continued to carry the heavy vehicles. At this time of year it
runs 24/7 whether it has a load or not, to keep the channel it runs
in from freezing solid.

The ferry (and the future bridge) are located at a narrow part of
the river where the current is quite fast and the river takes a long
time to freeze over. The ice bridge is about 10 km upstream, where
the river is wider and slow moving, and therefore prone to freezing
earlier in the year which explains how we can have an ice bridge and
an open ferry channel simultaneously.

All science aside, it is still kind of spooky driving past the ferry
and seeing the mist rising from open running water and then drive on
the ice just a few miles away, the first day of the year it's legal
to do so.

The ice bridge was just two lanes wide and workers were spraying the
ice right beside it with cold water to build up layers for a wider
bridge quickly that will have the capacity for 66,000 kg B-Trains.

To see the sprayers at work go here:

http://semjanovs.com/images/North/mackenzie-crossing.jpg

To see the ferry working its way through the ice go here:

http://www.dot.gov.nt.ca/_live/images/rad/MV%20Merve%20Hardie.JPG

The partially completed bridge can be seen here:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1289/4707083536_f4336c15e7_z.jpg

Before crossing the river we stopped for lunch at the Big River
truck stop in Fort Providence, NWT where the food is always hearty
and good if a tad greasy and I had my usual: a fully loaded bison
burger made from wild, local bison, and garnished with bacon and
mushrooms. Roslind had a steak sandwich, which she ordered medium
that came out well done but was otherwise fine. (I had warned her to
order it rare to get medium but she ignored my advise.)

Our next stop was for supper in High Level in northern Alberta.
There is an interestingly named group of family run motels there all
in a row, and all of them named after famous places in Las Vegas:
the Frontier, Sahara, Stardust and Flamingo. As they get newer, they
also get better in quality and amenities and have better restaurants
attached to them. (Whenever we stay there we sleep at the cheapest
one but eat at the best one, next door.) They have now opened a
fifth place, the Mirage, with a business centre, conference rooms,
water park and a huge high ceiling steel and glass atrium. Not
surprisingly the restaurant was quite good. Roslind had a grilled
pork tenderloin in a fruited wine and stock reduction which was
moist and delicious while I had some really succulent lamb shanks.
The house bread was interesting: a herb and garlic round loaf cut
into thick wedges and then fried/pan toasted in butter and served
hot. All quite impressive for a little oil and gas hick town truck
stop!

We arrived at Ray's new place in the country just outside of Peace
River late that evening. It was our first visit since he moved there
in July. I like his place: 10 acres, 5 of them wooded, a 1200 square
foot log house with a 600 sq ft loft, a 15x20 green house, a 24X40
shop, a slightly larger barn and 8 small out buildings all for less
than half the price of his bungalow and single car garage on a small
lot in YK. He is surrounded by wheat and canola fields interspersed
with woodlots and the place is teeming with deer (I spotted 21 of
them by the roadside in the six mile drive from town). Canada geese
land in the wheat field to the north of him every spring and fall,
his woodlot hosts ruffed grouse and there are plentiful moose and
elk not far away. His freezer was full of goose, elk, moose and deer
as well as Neekha's first batch of rabbits and chickens.

His girlfriend Sheila is Indigenous Aboriginal and holds a
general hunting licence so she can bag a deer whenever she feels
like it. When she learned I like wild game, especially organ meat
she offered to go get another deer, as casually as if she would
offer to go to the garden to dig up some potatoes. She grabbed her
30-30, took off to a spot two fields away and a shot rang out 20
minutes later. She was back after another 10 minutes with a yearling
doe. So I had fresh grilled kidneys (Ray did them over coals in
their wood stove, so that the fatty membrane crisped up nicely and
basted the meat) and fried liver and onions (cooked and sauced by
me) 30 minutes after that! The doe was quickly dressed, skinned and
hung before bedtime.

Cheers

YK Jim


... I volunteered my stomach for the sake of journalism.

___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)