Recently, we have had some friends visiting from England.
Phil, is an old friend from mining college and had visited me many years ago, when I worked in Yellowknife. His wife, Mandy, had never been to Canada.
They were only here for a week, but made the most of their time with trips to several areas, including Lake Louise, where they enjoyed a two-hour hike and Banff. As with all our visitors from England, they were impressed by the might and beauty of the mountains and stunning views.
We took them to Winsport (Canada Olympic Park), where they watched a game of hockey, saw ice skaters train and observed athletes competing in skeleton. They also enjoyed a tour of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, which was established in 1955 to “preserve the record of Canadian sports achievements and to promote a greater awareness of Canada’s heritage of sport.”
We saw a play at The Pumphouse Theatre, Calgary called Silence and the Machine, which featured brilliant, local actor Greg Wilson and, on Saturday morning, before leaving for the airport, watched novice riders put their horses through their paces at the Extreme Cowboy Alberta event, at the Agriculture center.
Locally, we walked the trail to the RancheHouse and along to the Men of Vision statue. In downtown Cochrane, they were amazed by the choice of flavours at MacKays Cochrane Ice Cream, including Nanaimo Bar, Rocky Road, Root Beer and Haskap Berry and were fascinated by the cowboy gear at Lammle’s Western Wear and Tack. Later, we all enjoyed a lovely meal at the Greek Plate restaurant and a game of pool at the Rockyview Hotel.
Two places, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, certainly made a big impression on them. The first was Dollarama, where Mandy bought a selection of Halloween crafts for her granddaughters, some “slipper” (non-slip) socks to put away for Christmas gifts and a selection of colourful journals, which were a steal at $3 or $4 each.
We then crossed the road to Canadian Tire, which Phil had specifically asked to see, as he’s very keen on DIY and wanted to check out the tools section. We ended up spending over an hour in the store. Mandy was taken with all the Halloween decorations, especially the huge ones for your yard and Phil was very impressed by the wide selection and price of the tools.
Coming from England, they were, needless to say, surprised to see guns and ammunition for sale and had a long chat with the guy behind the counter, who patiently explained you couldn’t just go in and buy one and how you have to acquire a licence etc.
Another section that intrigued them both, was where all the fishing gear is on display, with the different rods, reels and colourful lures and baits, some of which, Sue explained to Mandy, she had purchased, in the past, to make jewelry, minus the hooks, of course.
I must confess, I had never thought of Dollarama and Canadian Tire as “tourist destinations,” but I’ll bear it in mind, in future!
Mandy and Phil can’t wait to come back and I look forward to their return visits, when we’ll be able to share with them the joys of the rodeo and pow-wows during the summer, and the skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Having visitors certainly helps to remind you of different aspects of our community that are interesting and unique to both our local community and Canada.
So, next time you’re out and about, take a few minutes to really appreciate all that Cochrane has to offer and look at it through the eyes of a visitor.
