Our home at this time was some flea-bag, dive motel and that tiny little shack looking thing in back, on the left side over my shoulder in the photo of me, was our unit. The step-dad was a career petty criminal (have cheque book, will travel) and we often lived on the road, out of the car or we crashed at cheap rooming houses, the law and those he swindled always in hot pursuit.

A sibling and I would often stare longingly across the street towards that temple of ice cream, broken-hearted knowing the folks only had money for other things. So booze or smokes, but little else. Living near a DQ as a kid, but being denied on account of certain lifestyle choices of those entrusted as our parents, was pure torture.

Stand there, stare, hope, pray, scour the ground for loose change. Nothing. The dream was not a terribly big one and even a lowly cone would do, but it seemed unreachable. Hang your head, shuffle back in and watch Bugs Bunny with my sister, while the folks drank themselves into a stupor. Yet again.

Fast forward to the summer of 2016 and we got some gigs in the Nelson area. Driving by, heads turn…the old motel, it’s still there…the Dairy Queen too! Connie, knowing the story, shouts “stop…ICE CREAM!” It’s been forty five years and now it’s time. Hard brake, jump out excitedly, grab a shake. Connie’s paying! That’s little me smiling and satisfied. Got my Dairy Queen…

It’s the best damn ice cream I ever had.

From BC…
The Tug SS Hosmer (1909) (not far away and visited on this same trip).
Alexandra Bridge Fraser Canyon BC.
Nakusp Rail Society.

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Date of adventure: July, 2016.
Location: Nelson, British Columbia.

It took forty some years but DQ, it’s good to see you!

A childhood “home” in back & the best damn ice cream, ever…

That unit with the bike in front…the motel is social housing now.

The post The Best Damn Ice Cream Ever… first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

The building is the fourth courthouse to serve the city and dates to 1909. It cost between $70 000-$100 000 to construct (reports vary) and that’s about couple million now. It’s not really bad using the standards of today and considering the cost of buildings presently, but was described as a princely sum at the time. Regardless of the cost, isn’t it a gorgeous building and a scenic setting?

They still hold some preliminary court service here, but most of the space is for provincial government related business. A cenotaph out front honours those who fought and died protecting our freedoms – hats off and let’s raise a glass.

The Fernie Courthouse was a stop on the Great Beater Challenge 2023, a parade of junkers that traveled from Fort Macleod Alberta to Ainsworth BC and back over two days. We were there as a chase vehicle to documented the chaos and hilarity for a magazine article (no longer online, but we may resurrect it).

Participants are given hints and awarded points for visiting specific checkpoints, like the courthouse here. Stop, take a photo and then move on to the next puzzle. The Challenge is a ton of fun for participants, something curious and laughable for folks watching the motley procession pass, and a wildly memorable experience for us documenting the event. It’s not easy to keep tabs on 40-50 vehicles of questionable reliability. We went crazy trying to capture it all and were left spent and exhausted by the end.

From BC…
The Giants of Cathedral Grove (BC).
Big Eddy Bridge Revelstoke BC.
Nelson and Fort Sheppard in Under a Minute.

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Date of adventure: August, 2023.
Location: Fernie, British Columbia.

Welcome to the historic courthouse in Fernie BC.

It was a photo stop for the Great Beater Challenge 2023.

The post The Historic Courthouse in Fernie BC first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

This building dates back to the early days of this little town (1910s/1920s period) and locals saved in the 1970s when they incorporated into the Community Centre. Unused by this point, the railway wanted it demolished or sold off and luckily the latter happened. The group behind it all moved it, fixed it up and still use it to this day. Very few rural train stations survive, but this one is an exception. And it still looks the part.

The old station was once witness to the passing of countless trains and the comings and goings of so many people. New arrivals, and people visiting friends or family. You travelled by train back then…everything moved by train back then…that’s how it worked. The building still serves a function and is now part of a complex that hosts dances, get-togethers, community suppers and all manner of social events.

The railway line though Cadillac still exists, although it’s no longer a Canadian Pacific property. Now the shortline Great Western Railway does the honours, but it’s not a terribly busy stretch of track. Prairie lines like this are usually pretty sleepy affairs and trains run when they run.

Love Saskatchewan…
Robsart Saskatchewan 61 Years Apart
Bay Island One Room School (1919-1950).
Avon School.

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Date of adventure: June, 2024.
Location: Cadillac, Saskatchewan.

The Cadillac SK Train Station is now part of the Community Hall.

The post Cadillac Saskatchewan Train Station first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

In that spirit, Safeway went all in with a series of stand-out designs in that era. The arched-roofed model is most well known (iconic), but for smaller stores like this, they often went with something a bit more subdued. Still reflecting the attitudes of the time, but less showy.

No matter which, these Safeways were all airy and open, thanks to the extensive use of laminate beams requiring minimal intermediate supports on the inside. This one in Crescent Heights was not the only example of this design, and we know of others like it built in Calgary. A couple are still standing, but house other businesses now.

The Safeway firm stood out thanks to the architecture of its stores, but today they seem content to looks like everyone else. In the most blasé and cookie-cutter way possible. They’re just another store now and no longer dominate the market as they did when this outlet was built.

The Crescent Heights Safeway was empty on our visit, but someone was doing work inside. That, we understand, is in preparation of a Dollarama moving in. That’s not the first Safeway to dollar store transition and something similar happened with a former Marina Safeway in Calgary not far from BIGDoer HQ. The arch, in an instant, tells you what it was.

From the area…
Retro Motels: Medicine Hat Alberta.

Random awesomeness…
Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf.
MacDonald Bridge Calgary ~70 Years Apart.

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Date of adventure: August, 2024.
Location: Medicine Hat, Alberta.

The former Safeway in Crescent Heights, Medicine Hat Alberta.

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The plant remained mostly intact into the 2000s, but the owners of property razed most of the structures in recent times. This is the machine shop, in support of the coal operation and they repaired mine equipment here. There’s a big RV Park on the former plant lands and it’s their place now.

The date 1913 is cast into a wall of this concrete building. It’s a solid structure and appears in reasonable shape.

Coal processed in the Coleman Collieries plant came from a number of underground and surface mines in the Pass. There used to be dozens and dozens of these in the valley and now there’s none.

We viewed the building from a walking path down by the Crowsnest River. It’s a nice stroll and there’s some history too.

From the area…
Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927).
Chinook Motel Crowsnest Pass ~50 Years Apart.
Crowsnest Ridge.

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Date of adventure: A gloomy January 1st, 2025.
Location: Coleman (Municipality of Crowsnest Pass), Alberta.

The machine shop at Coleman Collieries dates to 1913.

The post Coleman Collieries Machine Shop 1913 first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

It’s closed now, some time ago from the looks of it, and you’ll have to go elsewhere.

For people like us deep into nostalgia, an old time service station symbolizes a connection to the past that’s hard to shake. They’re reminders of the value of personal service and a slower pace of life that seems to be slipping away. A stop was more than just a quick errand and instead a social experience. It where stories were exchanged and where everyone caught up on the latest local gossip.

Now people in these little communities fill up at the unattended card-lock, usually on the road out of town. It’s a little less personal but convenient I suppose, and usually open 24/7. If they even have one (they do in Coleville), but if not, it means driving a town or two over. For service, they find a specialist in town, or wherever is closest, do it themselves, or rely on someone they might know who does.

The old truck beside is someone’s pride and joy, and it appears they use the old station bays to work on it. It completes the scene perfectly.

We’re in Coleville Saskatchewan for the Beer Parlour Project, at the Coleville Hotel, and this was a little diversion before the start of the evening’s shoot. We’re always easily distracted. In addition to Price Street in Coleville, there’s a Princess, King and Queen. It’s a town honouring royalty.

We love Saskatchewan (but don’t get there often enough)…
Twilite Drive-in Wolseley.

Old gas stations…
Highway Gas.
Canada88.com.

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Date of adventure: May, 2025.
Location: Coleville, Saskatchewan.

On 1st & Prince in Coleville Saskatchewan.

The old service station has been closed for some time.

The post 1st & Prince Coleville Saskatchewan first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Tastes change and there’s competition in other places. Now you can just watch it at home thanks to streaming services – even recent releases – if you so desire. But it seems that Hollywood pictures, in the traditional sense, are not the draw they used to be. Not only have small town theatres closed but those in big cities have suffered too. The magic is no more.

The Avalon Theatre opened in the early 1950s, although interestingly the local history book lists a second opening date of the mid-1960s. Sold at some point perhaps?

Oddly, they do not appear in any phone books searched until the mid-1960s. A newspaper ad from 1961 shows the building looking much as it does today, and there’s no phone listed. Didn’t need them in small towns back then…I guess.

Now the building houses a computer services firm and while not quite the same, at least someone has found a use for it. Empty buildings in small towns is an all too common occurrence.

From the town…
Down by the Tracks in Coronation Alberta.
Coronation Roadmaster’s House Museum.

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Date of adventure: May, 2025.
Location: Coronation, Alberta.

The closed Avalon Theatre in Coronation Alberta.

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“It took us over five hours to reach Climax!” – the account of one person driving in from Calgary. “Please come again!” – a sign on a business and another seen when leaving town. “Some people live their entire lives and never get to Climax.” – a lament to those who will never visit the uplifting little village. “I’ve been close to Climax but never actually made it there.” – you keep trying!

You get the picture. It’s silly, immature stuff to bring out your teenage self again and make you chuckle. That’s how you do it here – embrace the silliness and let it all hang out. “Dick’s service is what brought me to Climax.” – A Facebook comment when we posted this photo there. It’s just begging it, so have a little fun.

Dick’s Service operated from the mid-1960s on, but we’re not sure when it closed. Sometime in 2000s is hinted at. Now this former gas station and service shop, along the main road through town, evokes only memories from those who knew the business, and perhaps a silly grin from out of towners. It probably gets a lot of double-takes and mischievous looks.

From the area…
Prairie Sentinels: Coderre Saskatchewan.
Robsart Saskatchewan 61 Years Apart.
Shaunavon Saskatchewan ~70 years apart.

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Date of adventure: June, 2024.
Location: Climax, Saskatchewan.

Dick’s Service in Climax Saskatchewan – please come again!

The post Dick’s Service Climax SK (Come Again) first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

“The McLear Block and Annex are valued as part of a grouping of early Edwardian commercial buildings that dominate the downtown core of Lacombe, making it one of the best preserved historic centres in Alberta.” – City of Lacombe.

We’re not sure the exact square footage of the McLear Block Annex, but it’s much longer than it is wide. Still, the frontage make it look so tiny that one must wonder how it’s even usable. It must hold title as the smallest business block in Lacombe and for all we know may be in contention for all Alberta. We have to go in next time we’re in Lacombe and it’s open. Not just for a scoop of French Vanilla, but we’re eager to see how it looks inside.

“It’s not clear why the (McLear) decided to have this completely separate building tacked onto, rather than included in the McLear Block: it’s possible that a mistake was made in surveying the plot of land, or maybe it was an afterthought.” – Alberta Culture & Multiculturalism Historic Sites Service. It does almost seems like an afterthought and we can’t be alone in that thought.

The Denike Block also dates to the early 1910s and for a long time housed Denike Jewellers on the main floor. Both it and the McLear Block have historic designations.

From the area…
Red Deer Alberta: River Loop.
Random fun…
Chinook Motel Crowsnest Pass ~50 Years Apart.
New Horizon Mall is Strange!.

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Date of adventure: March, 2025.
Location: Lacombe, Alberta.

The Denike Block dwarfs the McLear Block Annex (Lacombe AB).

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The first image shows a view towards West Lawn Building (originally Male Chronic Building) and it’s the oldest structure in Riverview (built 1913). It’s been closed for some time now, but it and all the others here are watched over and kept up. The vegetation has grown up since the original capture and blocks the view from this angle, but everything is still there. The sidewalks, the stairs and the building itself. It’s hard to get a full shot of the latter, given all the growth.

This Then image is from the Royal BC Museum and for allowing use, we send our thanks.

The second image is not a direct angle and composition comparison, but still pretty close. We only found it after we shot there and remarkably it almost lined up exactly. This one shows a nurses’ graduating class of 1932 at the Centre Lawn Building (formerly Acute Psychopathic Unit). The structure is from 1924 and architecturally similar to West Lawn. Essondale/Riverview also functioned at as a training centre for nurses.

To know and see more about these two buildings, plus others in the Riverview complex, go here: Riverview Hospital Coquitlam BC.

This image comes from the the City of Coquitlam archives and once again, we’re appreciate it they allowed us use. There’s actually many more images in the two respective archives that we didn’t know of, and if we’re ever in the area again (fingers crossed), we’ll plan to shoot more comparisons there. We were unaware of many at the time of this visit (late 2023) and anyway with more it would have been overwhelming that pass. Now that we know the place, we relish the thought. This visit, we accompanied a couple friends, and had a grand time.

From that same trip…
Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf.
Royston Wrecks (Vancouver Island BC).
Alexandra Bridge Fraser Canyon BC.

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Date of adventure: 1932, 1940s (originals) and October 2023.
Location: Coquitlam, British Columbia.

West Lawn

The same view at Riverview Hospital Coquitlam BC, 1940s & 2023.

Up the stairs, and the West Lawn building comes into view.

Film photographer Rob Pohl left.

Centre Lawn

A nurses’ graduating class of 1932 and 91 years later.

One of many disused buildings in this former metal health facility complex.

The post Essondale/Riverview 2 Views first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Still, Canadian National (who succeeded Canadian Northern in the early 1920s) held on to it for a long time, in anticipation of the mines reopening. They never did. The track was pulled up by the 1980s and now the roadbed is a recreational trail. It has some scenic sections and is fun to follow.

The can was found in the area of a deep cut and presumably crews tossed it after doing rock work here. The company that made the material only used the name Canadian Explosives Limited for the few years in the late 1920s. Prior, they were Canadian Explosives Company and later Canadian Industries Limited (CIL). This helped date the can, although when made and when used might be some time apart.

Either way, it’s an interesting relic from long ago and we can only imagine how it got here. Did they blow up something in this rock cut or was is discarded while enroute to somewhere else along the line? We’ll never know but it never stops us from thinking of the possibilities.

From the area…
Crimson Lake Amerada Trail.
Nordegg Memorial Cemetery.
Taunton/Fortner Bridge.

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Date of adventure: August, 2024.
Location: Near Nordegg, Alberta

A Canadian Explosives Ltd Black Powder can (empty) – circa 1920s.

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We chased the engine for a time east from Calgary, along with quite the entourage of others, but in spite of this managed to find solitude. We picked out of the way spots or places less popular and let the throngs duke it out elsewhere. Still, we bumped into a few good friends along the way and made some new ones.

The Empress emerged from the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930 and retired by the railway thirty years later. It then became part of the Steamtown collection (USA) before the CPKC (then the CPR) reacquired it in the late 1990s. The railway has used it for promotional tours from time to time ever since.

We really enjoyed the pursuit and even in spite of the number of people following it, managed to get intimate with today’s subject. We did it as a for us trip, but hope you enjoy the photo all the same.

That same spring…
Westmount School Edmonton 100 Years Apart.
You Are Here: Corral 4 Drive-in Calgary.
Canmore Pathways: All Around Town.

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Date of adventure: May, 2024.
Location: Cassils, Alberta.

The Empress, CPKC #2816 in Cassils Alberta.

The post Random Pick: Chasing the Empress #2816 first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

On a blistering summer’s day, those metal slides in back might get as hot as a baking pan fresh from the oven, but otherwise they’re pretty benign. The dangers of the rocking horse were inherent to the design, and deliberate, but never obvious. You never saw it coming. It targeted the soft-spots, the face, wrists and shins. Who doesn’t have a chipped tooth from a run-in with one?

Did the designers hope to make an adult of you or did it perhaps satisfy some a twisted fantasy? Let the little devils suffer! While it appears they didn’t bother themselves with trivial matters like safety back then but, or were just sickos, we think there’s something more. There’s a life lesson here.

Let overzealous kids test the limits and if they walk away from it, they’re ready to take on the world. Survival of the fittest. Prepping you for tough times ahead, as an adult was perhaps the intent all the long.

By our our accounts most playground rocking horses have the form seen here and usually only differed in the number of seats. It’s more fun getting hurt with friends! We’ve seen lesser and greater number of sitting positions, but otherwise they look the same. While absent from modern playgrounds, you might find some in out of the way places. Like here in little Burstall Saskatchewan.

We posted this photo on Facebook and share the following comments: “….You could hear the clunk clunk of kids playing on it a block away.” – Jo Tennant. “Never wanted to sit up front cause for sure you were gonna bash your face on that horse’s head. Think it was meant for that!” – Patti Crews-McMorran (bingo – they wanted you maimed). “My son got a broken collarbone from the horse .” – Debra Leicht.

SK is Awesome…
Riding the Rails in SW Saskatchewan – Part Two and Riding the Rails in SW Saskatchewan – Part One.
Brownville School.
Forgotten Prairie: Fusilier.

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Date of adventure: August, 2024.
Location: Burstall, Saskatchewan.

The playground rocking horse wants you hurt.

The post The (Sinister) Playground Rocking Horse first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Built in 1914, it came to work for Hillcrest Collieries in nearby Hillcrest in 1920, after a brief stint in Manitoba. When Hillcrest closed in 1939, it found work with West Canadian Collieries at their Greenhill Mine in Blairmore. This firm had a few mines in the area and the Greenhill was not far from where the locomotive sits today.

It worked until the late 1950s when mining ceased and for spell remained in the engine house at the abandoned mine site. Rescued a few years later, locals put it on display and it’s been here ever since.

We’ve acquired some old images of this locomotive from over fifty years ago and they’ll be fodder for a BIGDoer.com Then and Now. Stay tuned and we’re just waiting for nicer weather. At that time, we’ll compile a more in depth history too and share it with you. There’s a lot to chat about.

From the area…
Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927).
Chinook Motel Crowsnest Pass ~50 Years Apart
Saskatoon Mountain.

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Date of adventure: New Years Day, 2025.
Location: Blairmore (Crowsnest Pass) Alberta.

West Canadian Collieries #1, in Blairmore Alberta.

The post West Canadian Collieries #1 Blairmore AB first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Family Groceteria closed a couple years before our photo and soon after the building was torn down (image is from 2016). The lot, as of the posting of this, is empty but it’s only a matter of time before something is built there. The city could use more condo towers, you know. The first mention of the store we could find was from 1947. When built it was close to the edge of city, but that boundary (amazingly) is now some 15km directly north of here. Wow!

We’ve chatted with people that knew the store in latter years, and they speak fondly of the owners. Family Groceteria sold pretty much everything, as was the norm, and in particular many old customers recall the plant selection available there. With the loss of this one, Calgary is now down to barely a handful like this still operating.

Like many corner stores of the era, it had an attached living quarters. These places functioned as a second home for kids in the area (can you say candy) and were a great place for the folks to pick up something quick on the way home. Smokes, a carton of milk, the paper, or who knows what. Looking at Family Groceteria brings on the fond memories – we never knew the business, but there was a corner store just like it where we grew up.

“I remember going there as a kid and just looking through the Archie comic books they had while my mom shopped for flowers.” – Lisa Wong. “Don and Donna’s store. You could buy anything from flip-flops for 25cents to car models lol…I used to buy my mother’s cigarettes there with a note.” – Rick Valiquette.

Calgary…
Ogden Road Calgary 1950 & 2016.
The Wilson’s Arch Building Calgary.
Last Houses in Victoria Park.

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Date of adventure: November, 2016.
Location: Calgary, Alberta.

Family Groceteria Centre Street Calgary – closed and torn down soon after.

The post Family Groceteria Centre St Calgary first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Presenting more interesting things seen while visiting little prairie towns and there-in lies the attraction for us. Being a bit quirky helps cushion the blow of a challenging life and it’s often reflected in these places we visit. That we love. You have to keep a sense of humour or wither away.

The stop sign is an oldie and dates from the mid-1950s or before. Things move at a slower pace here in rural SK, in regards to infrastructure and the mindset is if it works, why change it. The sign has degraded to such a point that perhaps the local government might have to splurge for a new one soon. If the stop sign budget has been replenished since installing this one.

The antler tree is just a short hop away (on Narrow Street) and collecting all of those must have taken a lifetime. Antlers make up other things in this yard, but we liked this shot best. How utterly over the top.

Small towns have us in such a hold that we make it a point to wander about, on foot, as many as we can. We meet lots of cool locals that way, learn much and have a grand time photographing what ever comes our way. That’s how we roll, so look for us in your town.

Sask baby…
Prairie Sentinels: Coderre Saskatchewan.
Wolseley Places Part One, Wolseley Places Part Two and Wolseley Places Part Three
Avon School.

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Date of adventure: August, 2024.
Location: Mendham, Saskatchewan.

On the Straight and Narrow in Mendham Saskatchewan.

The antler tree not far away.

The post The Straight and Narrow Mendham SK first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

An attached residence for the manager was also a thing back then and the Bates Motel has it. The phone booth out front is the cherry on top but it wasn’t in working order.

There was not much going on this day, and that no cars were seen in the lot suggests plenty of vacancies. It was incidentally, October 31st, so Halloween.

The Baits Motel name is of course, a play on the famous Bates Motel of movie and TV fame. It also speaks of the fine fishing in the area and the mighty Thompson River is just behind our shooting position. You know we love places like this and if we’re ever in Spences Bridge overnighting, you know where we’re staying.

“Well, a boy’s best friend is his mother.” – Norman Bates. He loved her…to death.

From this same trip…
Ioco Port Moody BC (Ghost Town).
Royston Wrecks (Vancouver Island BC).
Alexandra Bridge Fraser Canyon BC.

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Date of adventure: October (31st), 2023.
Location: Spences Bridge, BC.

Baits Motel, Spences Bridge BC – the Wi-Fi password is “Mother”.

The post Baits Motel Spences Bridge BC first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Last used in the 1970s, redevelopment has obliterated much of the former line. Where there were tracks is now housing, pathways and green spaces. Still, every now and then, there’s subtle reminders, including what’s seen here. One section of the old roadbed is next to a baseball field and the other in behind a condo complex. They don’t look like much, unless you know, then it’s clear and recognizable. A long skinny park marks a third section and any remains of the line here are completely gone.

The Grand Trunk Pacific folded into Canadian National Railways in the early 1920s. The current end of what was this same line ends a little further south from our photo positions.

The is one of those older articles lost to that big database crash and it’s reposted here as new.

We love Calgary…
MacDonald Bridge Calgary ~70 Years Apart.
1959 Calgary Stampede Dream Home.
Retro Service Stations: Lakeview Husky.

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Date of adventure: April, 2016.
Location: Calgary, Alberta.

This berm marks the former Grand Trunk line into downtown Calgary.

Here, the old roadbed is hidden in the grass.

The old roadbed is gone and the property now a green space.

The post Grand Trunk Pacific in Calgary first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Records call it the Camco Mine, owned by the Canadian-American Coal Company, and production spanned the years 1919 to 1941. Output was minimal and the small waste dump points to this. Records go on to state that coal was of questionable quality, with the seam thin and spotty. All this would suggest sporadic use and output may have been only for the person(s) doing the digging. The cabin was perhaps their home while on the job.

The sealed off mine entry is nearby and it’s not hard to see where it was there on the hillside. The site, well hidden in the trees, would be easy to miss if one didn’t know what they were looking for. We spotted remains of a very old car on the rough trail up to the mine, along with a dump not far away containing discarded cans. Where ever people have been, there will be something left behind.

This is an old article reposted and since we visited the site long ago, we’ve noted that this same coal firm had other small diggings in the area. Perhaps we need to go back and explore further. To that we say a resounding YES – we love the Pass.

From the area…
Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927).
Chinook Motel Crowsnest Pass ~50 Years Apart.
Serendipity @ The Rock (Frank Slide).

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Date of adventure: October, 2016.
Location: Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.

On the trail to the cabin in the woods – Crownsest Pass, Alberta.

Remains of a very old car.

The cabin was tiny…

And there’s not much left today.

Atop the coal dump – cabin to the right.

Many discarded cans.

The post Cabin in the Woods (Crowsnest Pass) first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Thinking back to the Bonanza of old we knew as a child, and of sister chain Ponderosa (which were exactly the same), they really were awful…yet good. It’s a contradiction for sure and we can’t help look back with a bewildered fondness. It fit the times, but in a more modern world they seem really out of place.

Bonanza regulars knew the drill. Bulk up on the salad bar because entrée portions were small. They had all three kinds of 70s dressings, Kraft French, Italian or plop on a huge dollop of Thousand Island. Tough choice there. The steaks mimicked a slice of baloney and were so terribly thin that if held to the light they were practically transparent. They always came too well done (no matter how you asked them to be prepared) and were tough as Kevlar.

We’re sharing memories of a lousy restaurant from our childhood and we hate that we actually liked the place. This one had just closed for the night on this visit, and we thought maybe just maybe, we’d drop by next time we found ourselves in the area. For old time’s sake, but no, they were gone. Let’s hang our head in a moment of silence at this loss. To quote another: “Bonanza was too beautiful for this world.” – Zach Tennent.

This is an old post lost to a database crash, and reposted here as new. The photo is from a simple snapshot camera and not anything special, yet it means so very much.

Hello Saskatchewan…
Prairie Sentinels: Coderre Saskatchewan.
Wolseley Places Part One, Wolseley Places Part Two and Wolseley Places Part Three.

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Date of adventure: May, 2014.
Location: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

The Bonanza in Moose Jaw SK (2014 – gone now).

The post Bonanza Steakhouse Moose Jaw SK (2014) first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

When the airport was built or closed is unknown at the moment. Information is spotty but we suspect the published, but elusive Hodgeville History Book (Prairie, Pioneers, Progress) might offer answers. We’ve yet to find a research copy (so one free to use) but we’ll continue to look. As general rule, many of these airports were established in the post World War Two personal aircraft boom, so that might be the case here.

The airport had a simple grass runway and when viewed from Google Earth the faint outline of it can be seen in a field extending south. The sign out front shows that the airport’s elevation is 2310′.

Airports like this were bases for small private planes and/or agricultural service firms (“crop dusters”). As the cost of aircraft ownership has increased over the years, many of these these facilities have closed.

This is a repost of an article from 2014 that was lost to a system crash and presented as new.

We LOVE Saskatchewan!
Robsart Saskatchewan 61 Years Apart.
RCAF/CFS Alsask Radar Dome.
Twilite Drive-in Wolseley.

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Date of adventure: May, 2014.
Location: Hodgeville, Saskatchewan.

Hodgeville Community Airport, elevation 2310′.

There’s only a concrete foundation…

…And this small support building.

The grass runway is located behind.

The post Hodgeville Saskatchewan Community Airport first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Leaning and sagging, it’s clearly seen better days. There was talk of trying to save the structure, but a few years after these photos were captured, it got demolished. It looked unsafe and perhaps too far gone to consider any other option.

The building has housed many businesses over the years and most notably a laundry. Interestingly this false-front building faced the alley and not the street. A tire shop owned the property in more recent times and used it for storage.

Look closely and you can see the old laundry sign above the upper windows. It’s faded and the hard to see, but there as a reminder of the town’s past. At the time of its construction this building stood in what was Fort Macleod’s small Chinatown district and a short distance from downtown.

From the area…
Fort Macleod Alberta ~75 Years Apart.
Prairie Sentinels: Fort MacLeod Alberta.
Fort Museum Fort MacLeod Alberta.

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Date of adventure: July 2014.
Location: Fort Macleod Alberta.

The former Chinese Laundry in Fort Macleod Alberta.

Note the old sign above the windows.

The post Chinese Laundry Fort Macleod AB (2014) first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Let me introduce you to the Southern Ranchman’s Inn Tavern (or is that saloon, pub, or beer parlour?) in Manyberries Alberta, a backwater dot-on-the-map place smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and it’s this day’s rest stop.

The interior is dark and musty and the decor dated. The walls are lined with obligatory local pictures, dusty old cowboy memorabilia and all manner of kitschy knickknacks. The tables are old school liquor control board issue, beat up and none of the chairs match. An old pool table, shuffleboard and jukebox complete the scene. Is that a pay phone? There’s the wall of local brands on display.

Other than a couple old timers nursing their beers, some good friends and us are the only customers.

There are no trendy craft brews here, no meals of Wagu-beef tenderloin with a red wine reduction, locust flower honey glazed over baby carrots and heirloom fingerling potatoes basted in bone marrow butter. You won’t find it here.

Instead they have ice cold Pilsners and fresh from the fryer wings…and it couldn’t be more perfect.

This post takes us back to 2014 and present day, the Southern Ranchman’s is long closed and Team BIGDoer is now part of the The Beer Parlour Project (It’s Happening). This place would be a perfect backdrop for an episode, if only it were open.

From the area…
Manyberries AB Train Station (Blt 1917) (photographed the same day).
Great Beater Challenge 2021.

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Date of adventure: August 2014.
Location: Manyberries, Alberta.

At the Southern Ranchman’s – all the beer that’s fit to drink.

In Manyberries Alberta and the hotel is closed now.

It would have been perfect for the Beer Parlour Project.

The post Beer Stop: Southern Ranchman’s Manyberries first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

At the time of our visit in 2015, the store had recently closed after being in business sixty plus years, but everything must come to an end we suppose. More recently, the building was torn down after being empty for years. The plans were to incorporate it into a residential complex, but that never happened. Too far gone structurally and beyond saving they said.

Black & White Grocery, or any of its contemporaries, were a magnet for kids who’d flock to buy candy and which sold like crazy. A penny, dime or quarter at a time. Lotto and smokes were big sellers. In the old days meat and produce were often available, but later on it seemed junk food filled the shelves.

Few of these stores remain anywhere and Calgary has less than a handful. One, within shouting distance of Black & White Grocery, recently closed. Now a nearby chain convenience store is the only neighbourhood option.

Black & White Grocery dates back to the 1940s and common for the time, there’s a residence in behind for the owners. These people, along with their families, typically, were also the employees. It’s a short commute to work. Our visit the building was adorned with old coke signs, more throwbacks to another era, but these and everything else up there were removed shortly after.

It only seems fitting that given the store’s name (officially Black & White Meat, Grocery and Confectionery) that images be shot in monotone. Or is that too formulaic? They were captured on a cheap snapshot camera, the light conditions were horrible, but given the place is now gone, we thought they were worth sharing again.

A few blocks away…
MacDonald Bridge Calgary ~70 Years Apart.
Doherty Hall @ Stampede Youth Campus.
Nobody’s Home: Ramsay.

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Date of adventure: March, 2015.
Location: Ramsay neighbourhood, Calgary Alberta.

At Black & White Grocery, Ramsay Calgary (2015).

It had closed after 60+ years a few months prior.

It’s gone now.

The post Black & White Grocery (Ramsay) in B&W first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

This one does have a little shock value though – the fellow in the scene has hair! Well, the photo is almost twenty years old. It also shows we’ve been at this exploration thing for some time and long before this website existed, we were out there wandering our world and snapping photos. Even back to film days we did it.

Incidentally, this shot was captured on our very first digital camera, some 3 megapixel thing and we still got it here somewhere I think. We famously don’t throw out reject photos (which would require work) and as it turns we’re pack rats when it comes to equipment too.

In the photo we’re looking at some odd abandoned bits found while exploring remains of a railway line (with permission) in the Alberta Badlands near Drumheller. Not a lot to see as it turned out and lots of the old roadbed had washed away over time, but there was these two things close to the line. It’s some kind of shed and the rear bodywork from a very old car. Thinking 1920s or so. Not a wow find, but we still pretty darn interesting and of course it gets us wondering.

Finger’s crossed the next random photo will okay. We’re bucking the odds here and it’s certain one will come back to haunt us. But we’ll post it anyway, if it happens, because it’s the rules of the game. Close our eyes, pick a photo not published before and live with the consequences.

From the area…When Coal was King (Mine Substation), Bridges of Cambria and East Coulee Alberta then and now.

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Date of adventure: August, 2005.
Location: Alberta’s Red Deer River Valley.

Random Pick: exploring the Alberta Badlands 2005…with hair!

The post Random Pick: Wandering the Badlands 2005 first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

These motorhomes were produced by GMC Truck & Coach Division in the years 1973–1978 and almost thirteen thousand were made. It’s estimated something close to two thirds are still out there.

GMC Motorhomes used a front drive set up (similar to an Oldmobile Toronado) and this allowed a low profile. A cutting edge design then, they oddly don’t look all that dated even today. At the time, boxy slab-sided motorhomes, built atop stiff truck chassis were the thing, but here they did otit all different. Sleek, easy handling, smooth riding, integrated, and refined…so totally different from any other. Big windows too.

This colourful one has clearly been done over at some point and looks striking with the snow falling about.

It’s rewards like these that makes these random walk-abouts worthwhile. The date is May 2021 and the location, the community of Inglewood. The easterly section of the community near the railway yards and away from all the gentrification. The raw and gritty side of the community.

From the same card dump (new tabs)…Meeting Creek Railway Station, Ranchman’s Cookhouse & Dancehall and The Yates House.

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Date of adventure: May, 2021.
Location: Calgary, Alberta.

A gorgeous GMC Motorhome and a late spring snow squall.

The post Gorgeous 1970s GMC Motorhome first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

The elevator’s a fairly modern structure as they go, but still somewhat similar in design to ones much older. Just bigger. This is the last in town but if one time travelled back only a few decades, you would see many more alongside this one.

Vulcan’s celebrated elevator row once numbered nine and held title as the largest on the prairies. By the time this elevator came on the scene, in the 1980s, it was down to eight. By the early 2000s it stood as the last.

We’re along the Canadian Pacific’s Calgary to Lethbridge secondary line (officially Aldersyde Subdivision) and catching a train along here is not always easy. There’s only a few each way, each day and this makes it all the more special. Thanks Vulcan Alberta for this little diversion – it was spectacular and soon we’re homeward bound again.

From the same card dump (new tabs)…Slocan British Columbia 81 Years Apart, Nakusp Rail Society and Brown-Lowery Perimeter Loop.

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Date of adventure: July, 2021.
Location: Vulcan, Alberta.

Sunset in Vulcan Alberta.

The post Sunset in Vulcan Alberta first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

Picture it – it’s not hard – cars, people, grain elevators, trains, a hotel and many open businesses. It’s a scene that could be repeated in most places across the prairies and not unique to here. The settlement period was a busy time and then things settled down. Really settled down and much of what was listed a couple sentences back is now history in Edberg.

Empty streets and store fronts today belies the fact there was once more happening here. Still, the farming continues and it’s by no means a ghost town but in a business sense there’s nothing really to speak of. There’s a post office and a bank outlet (according to Google – we didn’t notice it) but no stores.

It’s all quiet down here on Railway Avenue, near Main, in Edberg Alberta and tomorrow unlikely to be much different.

From the same card dump…Blue Bridge to Nowhere, Jumpingpound Mountain East Ridge and Miquelon Lake Park Big Loop.

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Date of adventure: October, 2021.
Location: Edberg, Alberta.

All quiet in downtown Edberg Alberta.

Perhaps a former business.

The post All Quiet in Edberg Alberta first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

This can only mean the the building already existed elsewhere and given its form perhaps as a school out that way?

Enrolment, as would be expected given the rural location, wasn’t much. About fourteen kids attended at the peak and this dropped to about half that about the time it closed in the early 1950s. Grades one through eight were taught and they also had a kindergarten.

In those years nineteen teachers founded employment here. That’s a high turn over, it was the nature of the business and not unique to Mayook. Other one room schools all over BC and the west had similar problems. What’s not to like about poor pay, long hours and soul crushing loneliness? Teachers usually roomed at a nearby ranch or farm.

Since closing it has functioned as a community hall and as you can see the building is well kept up. The plaque mentions use for church services, weddings, family reunions, ball tournaments, concerts, Christmas parties and even yoga classes. That’s great and isn’t it pretty as a postcard too?

It’s said the school bell came off a locomotive and we’d sure love to hear the story of how that came to be.

From the same card dump…Bellevue & The Frank Slide ~55 years apart, Kimberley Nature Park Myrtle Mountain and Coleman Alberta (Sam’s Service Station).

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Date of adventure: September, 2022.
Location: Mayook, BC.

The little one room school in Mayook BC.

The post Mayook BC One Room School first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.

We’re not complaining in the least and don’t just accept it, but embrace the experience. Glory be the dive motel.

Our subject first makes mention in phone books about 1970 and at the time advertised: “Modern Rooms in the Heart of Rose City.” The much older Windsor Inn (or Hotel) is located the next lot over and to which the Camrest is now connected. The motel sign says check in at the Windsor Office. We were actually here to scout that establishment for the Beer Parlour Project but it had yet to open for the day, so we’ll have to try again.

What can we say about that car, a forty some year old Dodge Shadow, other than it seems an almost perfect addition to the scene. If one were to guess, it’s probably run its last mile, or something close to that.

Dive: an endearing term for an old motel, hotel or eatery of character.

It was Beer Parlour kind of weekend…
It Continues: Thorsby Hotel Thorsby Alberta and It Continues: Tofield Hotel (Royal Alexandra).

Short Subjects: Reports that are brief in nature. Think silly little snippets, vignettes and things of that sort. You’ll be in and out in no time.

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Date of adventure: August, 2023.
Location: Camrose, Alberta.

Welecom to the the Camrest Motel and enjoy your stay.

The post Camrest Motel: In the Heart of Rose City first appeared on Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.