15 November 2006
Off the train at last
Saturday 4 November
Last night we slept much better on our good seats.
Today we went through a bit of prairie which, although flat overall, had lots of little hollows and hillocks. The grass was all light brown, and there were lots of little thickets of small trees. There were a few herds of cattle but most of the land appeared to be uncultivated. All the streams were frozen but there wasn’t much snow on the ground. We saw several beaver dams. Now (nearing Edmonton) we’ve got back to flat arable land again – mainly wheat, by the looks of it – and there’s lots of snow on the ground and on the farm building roofs.
We got out at Edmonton (3 hours late) to stretch our legs again and have some free hot chocolate. A lot of people got on, most of them in one party which turned out to be some kind of knitting retreat. Their teacher seems to have invented a way of knitting möbius strips in one piece which sounds interesting. They are getting off at Jasper too. There is more snow now – all the trees are thickly covered and we’ve seen a few fences with only the top couple of inches showing.
We arrived in Jasper 3 hours late and checked into the Whistler's Inn hotel just opposite the station. It was fantastic to have a shower at last. Rowan toyed with the idea of leaving his beard – this is the longest he has ever been without shaving – but decided against it in the end. We had dinner in a nearby restaurant. It was very good but they had a special offer on which meant three courses was cheaper than just a main course. Trouble was, the three courses were all savoury so we were unwise enough to have dessert as well and felt rather too replete afterwards.
Last night we slept much better on our good seats.
Today we went through a bit of prairie which, although flat overall, had lots of little hollows and hillocks. The grass was all light brown, and there were lots of little thickets of small trees. There were a few herds of cattle but most of the land appeared to be uncultivated. All the streams were frozen but there wasn’t much snow on the ground. We saw several beaver dams. Now (nearing Edmonton) we’ve got back to flat arable land again – mainly wheat, by the looks of it – and there’s lots of snow on the ground and on the farm building roofs.
We got out at Edmonton (3 hours late) to stretch our legs again and have some free hot chocolate. A lot of people got on, most of them in one party which turned out to be some kind of knitting retreat. Their teacher seems to have invented a way of knitting möbius strips in one piece which sounds interesting. They are getting off at Jasper too. There is more snow now – all the trees are thickly covered and we’ve seen a few fences with only the top couple of inches showing.
We arrived in Jasper 3 hours late and checked into the Whistler's Inn hotel just opposite the station. It was fantastic to have a shower at last. Rowan toyed with the idea of leaving his beard – this is the longest he has ever been without shaving – but decided against it in the end. We had dinner in a nearby restaurant. It was very good but they had a special offer on which meant three courses was cheaper than just a main course. Trouble was, the three courses were all savoury so we were unwise enough to have dessert as well and felt rather too replete afterwards.
