Fort Albany, Friday January 6, 2012

The Christmas holidays started on Friday December 16^th after lunch: a tantalizing turkey feast provided and served by the school community.
The charter flight I had booked a seat on was scheduled to leave at 11:30am but was ‘officially’ delayed by an hour, which turned out to be about 2 ½ hours. This arrived in Timmins in plenty of time to catch my 7pm flight to Toronto where I stayed the night in a hotel, enjoying the luxuries of scant responsibility.

The following day found me wandering aimlessly around Pearson Airport until my evening flight to Regina, Saskatchewan which left and arrived quite punctually. My parents greeted me with plenty of smiles and hugs and we drove to their home in Moose Jaw where we stayed the night before hitting the open road.

I drank in the surrounding countryside and thrilled at each new view, from hundreds of hay bales laid out in a prairie field, to the mountaintops brushing the skies. We saw thousands of cows, hundreds of horses and even a few dozen buffalo. The huge grain elevators, countless oil wells, and kilometre-long trains served as mental snap-shots of all the drives we did when I lived out there in high school. Talk about nostalgia; literally a trip down memory lane.

We stayed a few nights in Canmore, Alberta, touring the town and visiting the ski slopes. Dad skied every day he could while I attempted once; an afternoon at Lake Louise where the weather was almost warm and it snowed constantly. Spectacular.

From there we journeyed to my brother’s family’s house in Calgary, quickly making ourselves at home for the week by filling each day playing with their two amazing kids and celebrating a very beautiful Christmas together.

On my last day with my parents we decided to try for another visit to the West Edmonton Mall where they’d taken me several years ago in grade 12. Years later it's still just as fun to see all the wonders of modern engineering and childhood imagination meeting in perfectly immense sizes; water slides, an indoor wave pool, a pirate ship and submarines, a live seal show, roller coasters, skating rinks, exotic aquariums, and a climbing centre. Only two disappointments marred my remembrance of the mall, one being the absence of the brightly coloured flamingos and the second, discovering that the store Forever 21 had moved on. Not to worry though, Smart Set was there in full force and appreciated to the fullest by yours truly.

After a one night stop-over in Red Deer, my parents bid me adieu at the Calgary airport and I headed back to Toronto once more, to be met by my eldest sister and her family. I stayed with them for several nights, was treated like a princess and had a perfectly lovely time of it. My sister tried teaching me some basics of ballet one day and the next found us enjoying a very Anne of Green Gables-esk tea party. We spent an afternoon braving the Pacific Mall, were treated to Dim Sum for lunch, and of course spent countless hours taking it in turns to entertain and be entertained by their 11 month old son.

I met up with several friends in and around the area, enjoying a spring-like rainy day on the train to and from Oshawa one day. It was incredibly relaxing and the perfect way to complete my whirlwind of a holiday.

The trip was concluded with a long but very enjoyable train ride from Toronto to Matheson, a short bus from Matheson to Timmins, where I stayed the night, and finally a timely flight back to Fort Albany where it began.

Throughout all journeys, and despite misgivings created by past experiences, none of my baggage was lost, broken or even charged for extra weight. In fact, due to my bag’s sheer size and weight I had several opportunities to meet some very friendly and helpful people all across the country offering to lift, carry and move it with a smile and no small amount of straining.

All in all, I managed approximately 11 hours of flight time, 12 hours by train, 25 completing incredibly scenic drives, 3 hours of buses, and just over one hour in various cabs. It’s good to be home, relying on my very own ‘foot express’.

Thank you everyone for treating me so royally and welcoming me so warmly. It was a perfect trip, full to the brim of memories to be stored and pulled out in tired times.  Looking very forward to seeing you all again this summer.

Happy New Year.