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And always just wanted to visit Drumheller… just to go on a dig, see the dinosaurs, just to say I’ve been, whatever… it looks cooool.

So I’ll get up there for hiking and stuff sooner or later. Probably within a few months. :)

I’ve heard about the trail since I was a toddler. I grew up all around Canada, but mostly in BC (born in Victoria) and I have always wanted to do the trail. It used to be free. Does anyone know what it costs now?

I’ll get around to it, maybe in the fall, maybe next spring, once I save up a little cash for better camping gear and get some friends together.

Lex

I am a BC native and some of my happiest memories were road trips up and down the island and swimming at Qualicum. The sand was littered with sand dollars when I was a kid (dead) that you could take home as souveneirs and there was a little fish n’ chips shop with sea salt and malt vinegar- quintessential BC.

I love this country.

I love nature and I am a BC Native (born in Victoria) and proud of it! :) Cathedral Grove has some trees that are thousands of years old, perhaps older. It feels preehistoric and some sections- it’s almost a spiritual experience, or it was for me. I guess you really have to love wilderness to feel that, though,

At first look it’s dull, dull, dull… but if you know when to come and where to go, there are some pretty cool things to do. There are a couple of great historical sites like The Forks, which has one main huge building with food of different cultures on the main floor and little crafts and ethnic stores up above, a pretty big IMAX, the Red River Ex, and my favourite Muesum ever… the Mueseum of Man and Nature. It’s an old, industrial prairie town and fairly spread out, but in the summer there is the parliament building and art galleries and the Assinaboine Zoo to visit…. I’ve been to Mondragon of course and St. Boniface and The Forks, The Ex, all of it. I spent ages 4-12 in Winnipeg, and spent a few months there at 18.

The winters, though, are terribly cold and I could not hack them after the enjoyment of building forts and sliding down hills on scraps of carboard wore off.

There are a number of small prairie towns on the outskirts, some with interesting little histories, but you have to dig for the excitement and, like a lot of Canadian places, it’s subdued.

Canada doesn’t do flashy well. Just a warning. If you’re one of those people who couldn’t stand the Kubrick version of “The Shining” because it takes too long to get into, don’t go to Winnipeg. It’s cold, things move slowly, and whole neighborhoods are houses that haven’t changed since the 50s. It has a sort of timeless feel to the place… the old train yard is from the 1800s, the forks was an old meeting place for the Metis, some parts are “modern” as in made in the 60s… some of the Safeways still havent been upgraded and have this old 60s charm.

It’s a weird little city. But I can see how it could be seen as boring. Go to the Zoo if you go there, and a place called “Skinner’s Wet and Wild” (a waterslide park). And the Red River Ex.

Lex

I lived here for awhile as a teen, unfortunately, and quit school to work more than full time at McDonald’s to get out of that place. To visit it might be quaint. To be a secular kid coming into that environment was hell! The public schools still use public prayer despite the fact that in every other public school I’ve ever been to (and I moved a lot as a kid) that is illegal. The town got together and changed a lot of laws… they don’t even sell alcohol of any sort within city limits. The place has 5,000 people, not 10,000 like the visitor said, and more than 30 churches. You do the math. And the people can be fanatical. Most, of course, were hudderite, mennonite and amish and until I came along I don’t think most of the kids knew that other people could be athiests… the kids in that town were isolated and would parrot back whatever they were told, and one little mennonite child I saw at McDonald’s one day was so badly beaten I was amazed she was walking around (black eyes, belt loop marks, the whole nine yards and I doubt she was 2)....

In short, if you have seen the movie “Children of the Corn” you will understand the creepiness factor (unless you’re a fundamentalist Christian or just passing through, then it’s “cute”)... except that in Steinbach, if the kids had actually gone around and killed the adults, at least I wouldn’t have been so dreadfully bored… Believe me, the quaint red and white gingham checked table cloths and children with bonnets on gets old when you CAN’T LEAVE, it’s 45 below zero, and they don’t get half the television stations that Winnipeg gets…

Worst place I ever, ever lived in and I’ve lived or visited quite a few places…

Lex

typing with one hand so ignore the lack of caps….I was born in Victoria and it is one of the most beautiful places ever- old buildings from the Victorian area, relatively few people, a few awesome attracts like the Royal Museum, little cafes and hanging plants everywhere and virtually no pollution…. definately worth a trip!