To Empress AB N50 57.375' W110 00.685

2011 06 06 Leisurely drive from Drumheller with stops at Hanna and Oyen to Empress.

My dad was one of six Lyster kids who were raised there. Empress is where my mother and I came in the cold winter of 1946 as part of the first sailing of Canadian War Brides and dependents after WWII. Then it was a bustling railway town. Now, with the tracks gone, it serves as a gathering place for farmers and petroleum workers in the vicinity. It is, perhaps one of the most isolated villages in southern Canada.

N50 57.375 W110 00.685

Most of the commercial buildings are gone. My uncle Gordon's general store, long torn down, looked like this.

Empress Hardware

You can stay at the Empress Hotel which depends on roving construction crews for survival.

The Empress Hotel

Time of the Signs: The little GPS we are carrying had a detailed map of the village, although it was confused by this intersection:

Better than the corner of Walk and Don't Walk

We said goodbye to the old family house which is to be demolished. My syblings and I are keeping the site in the family.

The Brodie-Lyster House

It has been carefully documented and may be rebuilt as a retirement home for a family member. Our cousin Denny has assembled a detailed history which does not answer the question how my grandparents raised 6 feisty kids, including Aunt Vera, in a two bedroom house (big porch, though!)

We visited Joe and Susan, together with other members of the family. How does one express the plentitude of lives pioneering the prairies? Another book perhaps.

Grampa Joe and Grandma Susan

Carolyn's tribute was one of her patented yarn bomb flowers.



Near the cemetary (Empress is so close to the border that the cemetary is in Saskatchewan) is an aviation beacon.

This beacon shows on Global Navigation Chart 2 of 24 covering the whole planet.

The social hub of Empress is an impressive reno of the old bank building, now a boutique called Empressive. I joined the folks for morning coffee (two shifts: 6:45 for the farmers and 8:30 for the retirees). This is Empress's Internet. All necessary data is exchanged in a most affable manner. And arguments such as "does the "V" on a tractor tire point up or down and if so from the front or the back and given that what if you have to back-up the tractor". This has, apparently, been an ongoing discussion with proponents and opponents and no solution in sight.

Empressive

EsDora's stay at Empress's Municipal RV Park....

was made special by our cousins Bill and Elaine who transported, washed, fed and entertained us. They even politely sympathized as the Canucks collapsed on the big screen at the pub in the Empress Hotel. Elaine is a former Municipal Administrator, so I, a lowly planner, kept snapping to attention when she spoke.

Thanks Elaine & Bill

And also for the Ginger Snaps! With severe rationing they lasted part way into Manitoba.

2011 06 12 Race across the Prairies to N49 41.019 W095 19.526

The next phase was a race across the rest of the Prarie Provinces to get back to where we left off in 2009. Our idea of a race is, drive no more than 4 hours a day, stop at random spots for food and entertainment and never pass a second hand store (not many on the Trans Canada Highway.

Briefly:

Fifteen Degrees

One twenty-fourth of the way around the planet in 4 days. Marco Polo eat our dust.

A final tribute to all we impacted on the way:

What WAS the last thing that went through my mind?....