When my husband mentioned Grande Prairie and wanted to check the place out...I thought what a wonderful TRAVEL OPPORTUNITY...and nothing is too big or too small for me to conquer.
I have little doubt that I am the planner of our little group (Sarah, Serena and me). Serena loves fly by the seat adventures, I like planned adventures using an itinerary (that is made to be broken) and Sarah , my sister, likes any kind of adventures at all. So this eclectic group of travellers should make for a varied blog sight. My appreciation of structured travel means I do like itineraries so HERE IT IS!
GRANDE PRAIRIE ITINERARY, May 2011
Day One Head West on Hwy 37 then North/West on Hwy 43 arriving in Grande Prairie evening time. Find a hotel to lay our heads at.
Day Two Start our morning with a visit to The Grande Prairie Museum and then a walk around the grounds of Muskoseepi Park before taking a drive to the lookout at Saskatoon Mountain Viewpoint and then on to Beaverlodge to have my picture taken with a giant beaver! (totally excited to have a pic of me and a beaver to add to my picture archive ;) and after all this excitement...back to our hotel to swim and waterslide.
Day Three Leave Grande Prairie via Hwy 2 stopping in Sexsmith to take pics of the grain elevators, then on Rycroft turning East on Hwy 49 to McLennan, stopping off to explore the Kimiwan Bird Sanctuary, then following Hwy 2, detouring slightly to take a quick drive through Winagami Lake Provincial Park and back to Hwy 2 all the way home.
After a fairly uneventful day of driving to Grande Prairie, we arrived on the outskirts of town and were a bit taken aback by the suprisingly hefty hotel charges (Welcome to Oil Country)! But tired and in much need of stretching our legs and giving our ears a rest from a crying 5 month old baby, we were willing to fit the bill. Ramada had a fairly standard room with beds, tv, small bathroom and the Holy Bible. No bells and whistles but it did the job and we spent the night fairly comfortably. During a morning search for another hotel room in the heart of town, we discovered the Pomeroy where for only $10 more we got a larger room, larger bathroom with a kitchenette and pool with waterslide for the kids. Now this hotel was a Mothers Day treat for me and the family! After we were comfortably settled and had visited with friends for a Mothers Day brunch, it was off to see the sights.
First stop was the Visitor Information
(http://gptourism.ca/), where I tend to go first in every town I visit, if I can find it easily enough. This one had a downstairs museum with a moving dinosaur that my 3 1/2 year old son Isaac thought was pretty cool, especially when he figured out that he could make it move by standing infront of the sensor!
Then it was a short drive to The Grande Prairie Museum (http://www.grandeprairiemuseum.org/) which has indoor displays and a small heritage village outside. The indoor display housed an impressive seashell collection and Isaac, was suitably impressed with the puffer fish. It had a large room displaying different aspects of Canadian history and to me the most impressive display was that of the albino moose. By far my favourite part of the museum was the heritage village outside. It was a gorgeous day weather wise and I took some nice pics of the interesting architecture.
The Grande Prairie Museum is in the grounds of Muskoseepi Park (http://www.musko.cityofgp.com/)
and with baby in backpack and Isaac walking, we took a stroll through the park along the river and then had a play in the playground, getting some nice pictures of the river and gently rolling hills with the church in the distance.
Using Mother's Day as an excuse to see all that I wanted to see, we then took a drive down Hwy 43 to Saskatoon Mountain Viewpoint (http://www.albertaparks.ca/siteinformationaspx?id=502), the hightest point in the area and although the view was okay, it was a bad time of day to take pictures and I thought that the day use area with fire pits was of more interest than the view.
So our last stop for the day was further down Hwy 43 in the town of Beaverlodge (http://www.beaverlodge.ca/) where I got my pic taken with the town mascot...A GIANT BEAVER...and I think every girl should have their pic taken with a giant beaver at least once in their lifetime...if they possibly can!
After all these adventures it was high time to head back to the hotel for a swim and a waterslide. And no...the waterslide wasn't at all scary, I just screamed to make my husband laugh. ;) TRUE.
After a good night's rest we left Grande Prairie following Hwy 2 North, stopping in the town of Sexsmith to take some pictures of the impressive Grain Elevators 
(http://www.sexsmith.ca/pages.php?page=rhouse) , then on to Rycroft, there turning East on Hwy 49 to McLennan where we stopped to take a walk along the boardwalk at the Kimiwan Bird Walk (http://www.kimiwanbirdwalk.ca/) located on the wetlands near Kimiwan Lake. Although we only spotted two or three of the many birds that frequent this area,
it was quite pretty and relaxing in the late afternoon light and the fresh air gave us some courage to take the long drive home
with a somewhat loud and cranky baby, who was SICK AND TIRED OF RIDING IN THE TRUCK, THANKS VERY MUCH MUMMY!
Ah...and as much as I love travelling about the countryside, I do enjoy arriving home.
Stay tuned for more adventures in and around Grande Prairie, as we'll be back there for sure.
As for my next up and coming adventure, ROADTRIP THROUGH SASKATCHEWAN...well, it is already set to be a completely different travel experience to that of Grande Prairie. It will probably end up being something of a survival guide for women travelling with small children. Should be a HOOT so stay tuned!
By She-Devil trekker, Caroline Swinkels
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