A few updates from our housing-driven exodus from Toronto:
Driving out west, Sault Ste Marie - a brief stop at the gas station and caught the tail end of a conversation that ended in the customer calling the attendant a "sand n*****". Attendant is Indian, I'm Middle Eastern. How stupid do you have to be to even get your racist insults wrong?
White River, I worked here years ago on a hydro job. Stopped in at Robin's Donuts and had coffee and donuts with Winnie the Pooh. I like stopping here.
Dryden, this place gives me the creeps. It's a necessary stop, but a quick one, in and out.
Winnipeg, caught in a blizzard and ice covered roads first time - and I mean ice. Second time, flooding. Hard to explore the city in those conditions. We didn't stay long enough to enjoy mosquitoes too but it was enough to put my wife off the place. Job offer turned down.
Yorkton, seems like a nice town. We stop in for dinner but not enough time to really explore.
Saskatoon, we like it. Friendly people, sunny, slower pace, lots of bridges around town (the civil engineer in me likes that), beautiful campus and gothic architecture at the University of Saskatchewan (the architect in my wife likes that). They say there's nothing to do there, we found plenty to keep us interested. There's a new youthful energy and spirit to the place - to replace the old demons perhaps. Seems like football (not the European kind) is big here. We'll come back, maybe to catch a game.
Drive between Saskatoon and Edmonton. They say SK is flat and boring, but we enjoyed this drive regardless. Nice views of the North Saskatchewan River for a good portion of it. The drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon is the worst of the lot.
Edmonton, it's bigger than expected. The ring road, Anthony Henday Dr. makes it super easy to get around. Driving in and around the River Valley is different, feels more like Europe than Canada. One thing takes me by surprise immediately - everyone slows down to the speed limit?! Highway construction zone speed limit goes from 100 to 80. The cars slow down from 100 to 80, and I mean exactly 80, not 90-95. I am shocked. Imagine that on the 401? Forget about it. Then I realize, there are speed cameras all over the place, and now I'm wondering if I'll get a surprise in the mail... The second thing that takes me by surprise, it's very multicultural - we meet people from Poland, Serbia, Ireland, Philippines, India, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Eriteria, Cameroon through random conversations within a week. St. Albert is supposed to be a nice suburb, and it is. Housing is overpriced though for what it is. We explore more of town, West Edmonton Mall, South Edmonton Common, more of the River Valley - there's a Middle Eastern joint in town called Jerusalem. We try the shawarma. It's good. Job offer accepted.
We find an apartment in SW Edmonton. 2 bedroom unit + the 10x12ft storage unit for the track bike and other stuff + the 2 parking spots at the apartment - all that combined for less than just the rent at the 1+den in downtown Toronto. We haven't seen winter yet so will reserve judgement for a permanent place until this time next year. The project has me on the job for at least 5 years so there's some degree of permanence to the move. First month at work has been a challenge but interesting and I'm enjoying the change. We'll have to plan a weekend trip to Jasper soon. The track bike needs a bit of work, but I finally feel settled enough to book a few trackdays. 2 days at Stratotech Park in July and 1 day at Rocky Mountain Motorsports Park in August - I find it a little concerning from a safety perspective that coolant/anti-freeze doesn't need to be replaced with water for trackdays here... But anyway, overall, so far so good and we're both enjoying the new adventure out West.
