The Canadian Civil Defence Museum And Archives is once again offering tours of the RCAF/CFS Alsask Radar Dome just outside Alsask Saskatchewan. This Victoria weekend coming up and select weekends after. Contact them for info.

The dome is the last of its kind and an amazing look into the Cold War mindset of the 1960s-1980s period. The world was on edge and nuclear war one everyone's minds. It's not if the bombs would drop, but when. This radar building was one of many in a network and which scanned the skies for approaching enemy aircraft or missiles. The Soviet Bloc was the main enemy and if they came, it'd be up and over the pole. That put Canada in between two hated foes.

Thanks to Coinoath Sarsfield for helping with this shoot! If not for his lighting experience, we'd have never pulled it off.

Link to more history and photos in the comments. 👇

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2023. Posted by Johanna (Connie).

The Chinook Motel, Crowsnest Pass Alberta, about fifty years apart. It was operating back when the original was captured, but long closed on our visit (on what happened to be one of the coldest days of the year) although the main building and one little cabin remains.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 1960s and 2015. Posted by Johanna (Connie).

The old tramway tower at a Drumheller area coal mine. Rosedale Collieries was in production for just over forty years starting in 1912 and produced over three millions tonnes of material in that time. It was a large operation with a company town and little bits of it still remain. The owner let us freely explore the site but was adamant that we not venture up to the tower, which we would have done in a heartbeat if we could.

This tower helped with removal of waste material brought up from underground - coal fines and shale. This includes the red-ish material you see below the structure. There was a mountain of it here once, but most of it was shipped off in recent times to be used for ball diamonds and civic pathways. Had we stood at this point in the 1960s, we'd be buried under the material.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2022. Posted by Johanna (Connie).

One day a few years ago, on a crazy notion I guess, we decided to walk the entire length of Centre Street North Calgary in search of sidewalk stamps. From new to old, Beddington to Downtown, so about nine or ten clicks. We began in the 1990s and went all the way back to the 1920s before they petered out. No ones older were found and this is likely due to redevelopment in downtown obliterating any trace. Still, we looked.

Here's one from '62 and later that day that very same bus would later take us back to our starting point.

Back in time with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2016. Posted by Johanna (Connie).

Another Beer Parlour Project moment. Rob Pohl's view camera always draws attention and between shots he's kept busy showing it off to curious bystanders. It's easy to be confused by the image displayed on the back panel as it's both backwards and upside down. Here's a behind-the-scenes from our visit to the The Greenhill Hotel in the Crowsnest Pass and we'll be posting about this visit soon on our website.

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2023. Posted by Johanna (Connie).

Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned." We got it bad!

Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie.
Photo: 2022. Posted by Johanna (Connie).