I'm in Fort McMurray. Yep, I made it. The short drive (5ish hours) from Edmonton to Fort McMurray was very uneventful and I arrived around 6pm. The traffic lights were out at the one and only intersection I needed to cross, but the two RCMP officers were bravely directing large trucks in all directions. I had thought perhaps there was an accident and carried onto my hotel. At the hotel I walked into a dark lobby....yep, power outage. They were not sure for how long it would be out but assured me that power had been restored downtown and all would be fine soon. Well, three hours after I had checked in the power came back on. In the meantime the emergency lights in the halls had gone out, apparently they only have a battery life of 2 hours. I managed to order some Chinese food from a restaurant in a part of town that had power and it arrived about an hour after I had ordered it. All was good with the world.
I almost got lost today. Kinda. I generally knew the direction I needed to go in and knew I wanted to go from route 15 to route 63. Getting to route 15 was easy, its right off the Yellowhead, but route 63 escaped me. I found another route on my handy map and was searching for route 831. I took a mis-turn onto 830 and quickly corrected my mistake and then tried the next turn which turned out to be 45 or 29 or some other route. I was perplexed as the next couple of turns were these small numbers and 831 had disappeared. I finally found 831 and was once again on my way...but not feeling 100% confident of my selection--the map is after all about 8 years old. About 150ish km in to the drive today I finally saw a road sign for Fort McMurray and I knew that I was indeed on the right track. I was certain of my selection...but for some reason kept expecting to see a road sign pointing me in the right direction...which just proves that Fort McMurray is not the only destination for those traveling in Northern Alberta.
Tomorrow is move in day and I can't wait. Thanks for your patience and reading while I've been motoring down the highway the past few days...and does anyone know what it means when a turtle crosses your path? I ended up with 2 in my trip.
I almost got lost today. Kinda. I generally knew the direction I needed to go in and knew I wanted to go from route 15 to route 63. Getting to route 15 was easy, its right off the Yellowhead, but route 63 escaped me. I found another route on my handy map and was searching for route 831. I took a mis-turn onto 830 and quickly corrected my mistake and then tried the next turn which turned out to be 45 or 29 or some other route. I was perplexed as the next couple of turns were these small numbers and 831 had disappeared. I finally found 831 and was once again on my way...but not feeling 100% confident of my selection--the map is after all about 8 years old. About 150ish km in to the drive today I finally saw a road sign for Fort McMurray and I knew that I was indeed on the right track. I was certain of my selection...but for some reason kept expecting to see a road sign pointing me in the right direction...which just proves that Fort McMurray is not the only destination for those traveling in Northern Alberta.
Tomorrow is move in day and I can't wait. Thanks for your patience and reading while I've been motoring down the highway the past few days...and does anyone know what it means when a turtle crosses your path? I ended up with 2 in my trip.
3 comments:
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry about the power outage, but it sounds like you made good out of it all. Glad you didn't get too 'lost' before seeing a sign for Fort McMurray! I think when you see a turtle crossing twice it means good luck will arrive to you in a double fashion! Let's hope so! Good luck on moving day, today!
Jennifer: I think I would have paniced when I couldn't find route 831. You do get tired driving after a while and challenges like that to a rested person is nothing but to a tired, anxious person - they are stressful. You did super well with your map. I have to agree that having no electricity at your hotel would not be nice. When there is a power outage at an apartment it is one thing but you expect hotels to always have power. Thankfully you did get your chineese food for supper. I suppose everything took longer due to the power outage - not just the cooking of the food but trying to drive from one part of town to the other with traffic lights out.
Well, now you get to move into your new home and set up your apartment. Isn't it hard to believe that after all these days your kitties will be joining you on Sunday. What an interesting time that is going to be to take them out of the containers and let them explore the new home.
Good luck at work at the new job on Monday!
Edith
Hi Jennifer,
Bet you're glad to get to the new spot and, maybe, by now have some unpacking done, babies picked up and when you read this, your first day of work under your belt!
Glad the "detour" wasn't too long prior to realizing you were on the wrong route. Power outage not fun to arrive to; however, you did get some Chinese food so all ended well, as long as it was tasty!
Don't know what traditions or superstitions turtles carry, but must be something to it, as they aren't a normal siting that I'm aware of.
Hope Monday goes really well and that the warm feeling you got from the lady carries on into the job with the rest of the staff.
Looking forward to hearing about the new job ... Lori B.
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