(no subject)
Jul. 5th, 2012 09:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bare_bearAh man, I had a great day yesterday.
Rode into city centre to do some running around, and stopped at a little 50's diner for lunch. Mmm poutine (with real cheese curds too) and chocolate milkshake. So good, and so damn filling, I could only eat half of the poutine. I'm definitely going back there, and probably dragging someone in with me to share the tastiness!
Then, as promised, I checked out one of the museums. Since I was meeting D (formally known as 'the Maybe' and M, and I really don't like using either of those when I'm actually here and trying this thing out - seems disrespectful) at his place to help with some renos, I decided to hit up the transportation museum since it was right across the street for him. It was pretty cool. They went through the history and challenges faced by early transportation methods in some of the most rugged and punishing conditions to get through. They showed the struggles of early stampeders and pioneers as they moved through the terrain, and how that all drastically changed when the railway made it's way through. A trip that used to take 6 months could be done in 6 days via rail. How frustrating would that be, eh?
They also went into the history of the construction of the Alaska Highway by the American Army, and the struggles they faced. The poor bastards were generally recruited from the southern states and had no idea how to deal with conditions up here, from -40C/F weather, swarms of bugs that are beyond annoyances and could cause bodily harm, permafrost and muskegs. And it turns out that they highway was actually constructed multiple times since they'd learn the hard way not to do something, or it'd be destroyed by washout or some other natural catastrophy, and would have to start over. And never mind having to construct multiple bridges for the same river crossing. I'm amazed they were able to do it, and in 8 short months too!
Granted, it had to be redone all over again when the American army turned the majority of it over to the Canadian government, since it really wasn't passible for non-military vehicles, and there's ongoing work to this day to improve it, but it's still an utterly amazing feat.
I'm glad I went, because it's certainly sparked my interest in the history of the region. It'll be cool to check out some of the other museums in town.
Heh, but man I almost died riding D's bike to the museum. HINT: D's place and the museum are at a much higher elevation than my home and city centre. I'm a prairie girl, we don't do hills. My legs staged a revolt this morning when I tried biking home. Wasn't too bad once I got to the downhill section (I've never ridden that fast on a bike in my life!), but getting over the small incline to get to that section was torture! I am so out of shape, heh.
Alright, time to get moving (despite protest from my legs). Cheers all!
Rode into city centre to do some running around, and stopped at a little 50's diner for lunch. Mmm poutine (with real cheese curds too) and chocolate milkshake. So good, and so damn filling, I could only eat half of the poutine. I'm definitely going back there, and probably dragging someone in with me to share the tastiness!
Then, as promised, I checked out one of the museums. Since I was meeting D (formally known as 'the Maybe' and M, and I really don't like using either of those when I'm actually here and trying this thing out - seems disrespectful) at his place to help with some renos, I decided to hit up the transportation museum since it was right across the street for him. It was pretty cool. They went through the history and challenges faced by early transportation methods in some of the most rugged and punishing conditions to get through. They showed the struggles of early stampeders and pioneers as they moved through the terrain, and how that all drastically changed when the railway made it's way through. A trip that used to take 6 months could be done in 6 days via rail. How frustrating would that be, eh?
They also went into the history of the construction of the Alaska Highway by the American Army, and the struggles they faced. The poor bastards were generally recruited from the southern states and had no idea how to deal with conditions up here, from -40C/F weather, swarms of bugs that are beyond annoyances and could cause bodily harm, permafrost and muskegs. And it turns out that they highway was actually constructed multiple times since they'd learn the hard way not to do something, or it'd be destroyed by washout or some other natural catastrophy, and would have to start over. And never mind having to construct multiple bridges for the same river crossing. I'm amazed they were able to do it, and in 8 short months too!
Granted, it had to be redone all over again when the American army turned the majority of it over to the Canadian government, since it really wasn't passible for non-military vehicles, and there's ongoing work to this day to improve it, but it's still an utterly amazing feat.
I'm glad I went, because it's certainly sparked my interest in the history of the region. It'll be cool to check out some of the other museums in town.
Heh, but man I almost died riding D's bike to the museum. HINT: D's place and the museum are at a much higher elevation than my home and city centre. I'm a prairie girl, we don't do hills. My legs staged a revolt this morning when I tried biking home. Wasn't too bad once I got to the downhill section (I've never ridden that fast on a bike in my life!), but getting over the small incline to get to that section was torture! I am so out of shape, heh.
Alright, time to get moving (despite protest from my legs). Cheers all!
