Leg 12—Toronto to Edmonton: May 9, 10, and 11, 2006

In excess of two days and nights, VIA Rail’s Train 1, the Canadian, travels across Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, through the following cities: in Ontario, Toronto, Sudbury Jct. and Sioux Lookout in Manitoba, Winnipeg; in Saskatchewan, Saskatoon; and in Alberta, I detrain in Edmonton. The Canadian crosses the lake lands of Northern Ontario, the western plains of Prairies and through the Canadian Rockies. I travel the entire route except from Edmonton to Jasper. Leg 13, 14, and 15 are bus trips for a closer view of the Canadian Rockies. On leg 16, I rejoin the Canadian.

Because leg 12 lasts two days, I try to purchase a lower bunk rather than sleep on the seats, but all lower bunks are sold. I don’t mind the seats—they are wide and have plenty of leg room. During May, the cars are not as crowded, making it more comfortable to sleep in the seats.

Out of Toronto’s Union Station, we back up 16 miles before going forward. When we start forward, the train guide says, “Look out to the left of the train, a man will be standing by a group of apartments and waving at the train. He has been waving at the train for the past 20 years. Wave at him and make his day.” Sure enough, we pass the apartments and there he is waving and smiling. Most of the people on the left side of the train are waving back.

The Canadian has service similar to Amtrak with dining for coach passengers and no car service by attendants. For lunch, I eat a Bison burger out of the train's snack bar.

May 9 is a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. I enjoy the scenery rolling by my window. Occasionally, I watch the landscape from the dome car. We enter Washago, the gateway to the Muskokas lakes. The trees have more green leaves than in the Atlantic region--partly due to the days are nearing the summer months.

Parry Sound marks the eastern edge of the Canadian Shield, a region of billion-year-old exposed bedrock that covers half of Canada and part of the United States. Parry Sound is the home of Bobby Orr, hockey great. Parry Sound is the 150-mile marker from Toronto. It takes 4 hours 15 minutes to get to this point, which is about 35 miles an hour. Patience is a virtue in train travel.

Sudbury is blessed with an abundance of mineral resources. The city is known as the nickel capital of Canada. Alex Trabec was born here. Many of the trees were killed by acid rain, but many were replaced by a group of volunteers in a campaign to plant trees. Most of the trees are less than 20 years old.

The sky gets cloudy later in the evening as it begins to darken about 9:15 p.m. Four of us retired gentlemen have dinner together—two from the railroad, an executive and me, a banker. We can see a few patches of snow out the train window. This is a fun part of riding the train: relax, eat, drink and talk.

One of the gentlemen told a joke I couldn't forget. If I remember right, it went something like this.

A zebra died and went to heaven. When he stopped at the pearly gates, he asked St. Peter if he was black with white stripes or white with black stripes  St Peter said, "You are what you are. Go on in"

He didn't understand what this meant so he asked someone else what St. Peter meant  The angelic being said, "St. Peter is intimating that you are white with black stripes."

"How do you know this?"

"Well," he said, "if you were black with white stripes, St. Peter would have said, 'You is what you is.'"

On May 10, I awake at 4:00 a.m. to shave and to beat other passengers before they occupy the bathrooms. There are only two bathrooms available in this car. Amtrak has several bathrooms in their Superliners. While riding coach, it is a good idea to plan ahead for bathroom in the morning. The Canadian has entered the Central time zone during the night. I have gotten my eight hours sleep. The sky is cloudy. Lakes, lakes, lakes: This part of Canada is full of lakes.

When I eat breakfast, I again sit at a table with four gentlemen. One gentlemen seems to dominate the conversation. When asked what his job is, he responds bullsh___er. Come to find out, he sits in the same coach car I do. You can hear him talking throughout the coach talking with people, getting their name, address and telephone number (in case he wants to send them a birthday card). Amazingly, many people give him their personal information. He claims he will get a contract with VIA Rail to turn the company around. He puts on a suit and barges into the sleeper cars and diner cars that are off limits to coach passengers. I later learn that he is a salesman.

The train stops for about forty minutes in Sioux Lookout. The passengers detrain to breathe fresh air and smoke if they so desire. About one hundred yards is a drug store where many of the passengers buy goodies. I buy a package of trail mix. I learn there is much history in this city.

Legend claims that late in the 1700s, a decisive battle was fought between the Ojibway and the Sioux at Pelican Lake (one of the many lakes near this town). The Ojibway reached the high peak of land above Pelican Lake and camped there and posted a lookout. One summer morning, a young scout spotted several war canoes in the distance and ran down the mountainside to warn the camp. The Ojibway ambushed the intruder Sioux tribe and all of them were killed. The Sioux boy became an Ojibway chief. When the railway bridge was built over Pelican Narrows, downstream from Sioux Lookout, many skeletons and skulls were found and identified as Sioux remains—thus, substantiating the legend.

Soon after leaving Sioux Lookout, a sign on the north side of the steel rails denotes the Ontario-Manitoba border. I thought we would never leave Ontario—it is huge. On the Manitoba side of the border is the undeveloped forest and lakes of Whiteshell Provincial Park, well known for its canoeing and fishing. Some of its 200 lakes were formed by meteor craters and offer some of the best northern pike, perch and lake trout fishing in Western Canada.

Originally, I scheduled a stay in Winnipeg, which is the next big town on my trip but could not find much to entertain me. If I would have had time, I could have taken a train to The Pas and Churchill. I have been told that this is beautiful country to see.

Winnipeg, Manitoba’s capital was originally the hub of Canadian fur trade, given its strategic location at the junction of the Red, Assiniboine and Seine Rivers. The forks has been a meeting place for thousands of years. The Forks includes Restaurants, shopping and entertainment. The train station is within walking distance from the Forks. One of the passengers suggests I eat one of the hot dogs at the Forks. I shop: I buy a key chain, brandy and a hot dog. It was a nice break from the train ride.

As we cross the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border, The Canadian is near the mid-point of it transcontinental journey. We make a stop in Saskatoon, named for purple berries that are found along the banks of the Saskatchewan River. The train does not go through the capital, Regina.

During the night we pass the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, which also marks the division between Central and Mountain Time Zones.

In the morning, the Canadian stops at Edmonton, where I detrain. Edmonton is Alberta’s capital and is regarded as the gateway to the north, given its role as the staging point for explorers and adventurers from the early days of fur trading to the Yukon gold rush and the Alberta oil discoveries of 1947.

In each of the cities, I look for transportation to the hotel or Bed and Breakfast. When I arrive early in the morning, I look for a place to leave my luggage. On this particular morning, many of the Canadian passengers detrain. I wait until most of them have gone before I call a cab. The cab driver has been a cabbie in Edmonton for 33 years. I ask him if he had ever driven for Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee for the Edmonton Oilers now the General Manaager with the Phoenix Coyotes. He had and he had transported several other hockey greats including Mark Messier and Grant Fuhr.

I stay at the Glenora Bed and Breakfast Inn. This 1912 Victorian era, City of Edmonton landmark has been renovated to reminisce of times past. Each room is furnished with antiques. The B&B is located in the heart of the Glenora district, within a neighborhood that offers art galleries, restaurants, and upscale shops for a variety of tastes. It is 12 minutes by car to the famous West Edmonton Mall and a ten minute walk to the Alberta Provincial Museum. I learn that one should ask how many blocks from the point of destination since each of us walk at a different pace—mine is slow.

There are twenty (21) guest rooms, suites and apartments with queen or twin beds. The Inn is smoke-free and caters to tourists like me. A full breakfast is served on the first floor at the Glenora Grill. Thank goodness, coin washers and dryers are available once housekeeping has completed its daily duties. It’s time for me to wash clothes. I take enough clothes to last a week before it is time to wash again.

Since I arrive early at the B&B, the desk clerk cordially places my bags in the manager’s office until time for me to check-in. I look around the Inn and head for an Internet café, The front desk clerk directs me north about seven blocks away from the B&B. I check my email, write more on my blog and walk back towards the B&B. It’s time to have lunch. I walk to Rosie’s Bar and Grill and eat a Pepper Jack Bacon Burger and a salad a couple of Canadian Beers. I return to the B&B and launder my clothes.

I have depleted my cash and need to locate an ATM, but there are very few banks in the area. Many of the businesses have ATMs, but these ATMs do not accept my debit cards. Hopefully, I will be able to find a bank before I leave in the morning.

I return to Rosie’s Bar and Grill for dinner and eat a Philly dip with a salad and a couple of Canadian Beers. I sit at the bar and strike up a conversation with a young male customer. It turns out that he is the chef for the Glenora Grill. I told him that I was staying at the B&B and will see him in the morning. I do not have a ticket for the next leg of my journey so I go to bed early tonight.

The bar customers are watching a hockey game. Edmonton is the only Canadian team still in the Stanley Cup playoffs. One of the customers will be going to the game tomorrow—Edmonton vs. San Jose. (Eventually, the Edmonton Oilers make it to the finals but lose to Carolina Hurricanes.)

In the morning, I have breakfast at Glenora Grill, see the Chef that I met the night before, and walk out into the rain to wait for my cab. He takes me to the Greyhound station.

I arrive in time to purchase my ticket and try to get cash out their ATM but with no luck.