CHARTING NEW TERRITORY - ARRIVING AT GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB & A SIDETRIP TO SEXSMITH HISTORICAL TOWNSITE - Monday, May 1, 2023

HAPPY MAY DAY EVERYONE! I remember "May Day" very day fondly when I was young and used to deliver homemade May baskets filled with candy or flowers to my friends. I would simply hang the May Day basket on the door knob, ring the door bell and then run as fast as I could so I wouldn't get caught.

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(Beautiful sights this morning even though it was a bit cloudy.)

Well today as we left Jasper National Park and headed north toward Grand Prairie, AB we definitely charted new territory along the Yellowhead Highway (Trans-Canada Hwy 16 East). Mel and I both agree that, "Our favorite thing is to go where we've never been!" The day started out at around 7:50 a.m. with clouds in the sky and the temperature at a chilly 33 degrees. Before the end of the day we reached a temperature of 74 degrees.

We saw some beautiful mountain reflections in the lake along our drive today.

Trees were everywhere we looked along the highway, as well as many logging trucks loaded with or without logs. Sometimes the downward grade was as much as 8% on this heavy truck route filled with oil tankers and logging trucks. We saw numerous wildlife crossing or moose signs along the drive. 

But on this particular day, the major wildlife that we saw along the road was a herd of 17 bighorn sheep.

Continuing along toward Grande Cache and then Grand Prairie, we crossed the Athabasca River. We also drove by the William A. Switzer Provincial Park (which was still closed.)

Soon we arrived at Grande Cache, where we made a brief stop at the visitor center. Grande Cache has a population of 3,300 and an elevation of 4,200 feet. It is located on the Alberta Highway 40 (called the Bighorn Highway) and was established in 1969 in conjunction with resource development by McIntyre Porcupine Coal Ltd. In 1980 a sawmill was constructed by British Columbia Forest Products Limited.

Historically, this location was used as a staging and storage area for fur trappers prior to their departure to trap lines in what is now part of the Wilmore Wilderness Park. Upon their return, they stored large caches of furs while waiting for transportation opportunities to trading posts. A "cache" is basically a cabin on stilts and the origin of Grande Cache's name.

Above is our truck and camper parked at the Grande Cache visitor center. Back on the road again, it wasn't long before we saw the CST Coal Canada Limited mining plant along the side of the road. (CST Coal Canada Limited is an Alberta based metallurigical coal mining company located close to the community of Grande Cache.)

And next we came to the Weyerhaeuser Company's logging plant -- lots of logs there for sure! (Weyerhaeuser is one of the world's largest private owners of softwood timber and one of the world's largest producers of softwood lumber, hardwood lumber, engineered lumber, softwood market pulp, and containerboard and paper-based packaging products. Headquartered in the United States with millions of acres of land in Canada as well as Uruguay and New Zealand.)

We soon arrived at our destination for the day, Camp Tamarack RV Park in Grande Prairie, AB. This is a Good Sam park and cost us $42.41 CA for one night. We parked at site #85 and got set up.

Grande Prairie has a population of 685,556 and an elevation of 2,198 feet. Grande Prairie was first incorporated as a village in 1911, as a town in 1919, and as a city in 1958.

After getting everything set up, we took off to get gas at Petro Canada in Grande Prairie. Then we stopped briefly at the Grande Prairie Visitor Center to take a picture of the 40-foot high sundial which is the largest in North America.

We had lunch at Taco Time, which is no longer in existence in the United States, but was like old times for us -- as we often frequented Taco Time when we were first dating along with our good friends Ginger Hull and Joe Costanzo when they too were dating. We loved their taco sauce!

After lunch, we drove to the townsite of Sexsmith to do a historic self-guided walking tour. The Sexsmith townsite was subdivided in 1916 by the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway and named Benville after Bernard Foster, the homesteader whose land the townsite was on.

The post office was named after David Sexsmith, a nearby homesteader who passed through the area as early as 1898. The hamlet of Sexsmith was incorporated as a village in 1929 and became a town on December 15, 1979.

Shown below are the historical sights we saw on our 1-1/2 hour walking tour.

(Alberta Wheat Pool Elevator)

 

(Northern Alberta Railway Station - built in 1928)

(Sexsmith Garage, c1926)

(MacEwan Hardware, c1929)

(Peace River Meat -- Olson & Sons Meats, now Cowbella's Cafe, c1954)

(Rexall Drugstore, c1956)

(Dr. Dick McCrum's Office, c1942)

(Bird's General Store, c1921)

(Richards - McNaughton Store, now Sexsmith Grocery, c1916)

(Sexsmith Hotel, c1921)

(Alberta Wheat Pool Agent's House, circa late 1920s)

(The Old Doctor's Office/Pondick Residence, c1928)

(Innes Residence, c1926)

(Olson Residence, c1923)

(Sharp Residence, circa 1920s)

(Christ Lutheran Church, c1922)

(Sexsmith Maternity Home, a native Norwegian named Johanna, a mid-wife purchased this home in 1941. It would serve as the district Maternity Hospital.)

(St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, built in 1954)

(Emmanuel Anglican Church Manse, circa late 1920s)

(Emmanuel Anglican Church, c1936)

(Dr. Robert Shaw Residence, c1920)

(Nels Johnson Residence, c1921)

(Anderson Hall, c1918)

(Paszkowski Residence, built between 1926 to 1934)

( Barn on Paszkowski Property) 

( Sexsmith Blacksmith Shop, c1916) 

( Barn behind Sexsmith Blacksmith Shop) 

After leaving the townsite of Sexsmith, we went to Staples to get a copy made and then on to Wal-Mart for groceries. Around 8:30 p.m., we had hamburgers with all the toppings for dinner.

We will be going further north tomorrow to charter more new land and sights.

Shirley & Mel