i go back to december, turn around and make it all mine

boy oh boy has it ever been a long time since i have blogged! did i tell you that i was planning on taking a spontaneous road trip? i think i probably mentioned it, but if not, here's a quick recap: kyle was working in Edson, only six hours from here, instead of the usual fifteen, so he suggests i visit -  i think excellent idea! a weekend away from home, and it gives me a real reason to take the extra vacation day i have floating around! the way it went wasn't exactly kosher with the way i imagined it... for starters: the weather was horrendous, but i didn't start to REALLY seriously worry until two lanes became one, and when there happened to be oncoming traffic, i was forced to maneuver my very summer oriented car halfway into the six feet of snow to my right that was apparently supposed to be a highway. so i thought that was bad, and then the lane disappeared and my car was basically just trying to slog its way along through fresh unplowed snow. apparently clearwater, barrier, blue river, avola and all of the other villages along the Yellowhead highway don't own plow trucks. go figure. so i just did between 50 and 65 kms the whole journey, the entire time telling myself that i could just stop or turn around at any point if i needed to. i eventually get to blue river and figure maybe i should gas up, but that was not an option because the entrance to all gas stations was like seven feet or churned up snow that only some sort of monster truck could maneuver without getting stuck in. i get to about 50 kms past blue river, on ice 6 inches deep and in washboard form, because this stretch of highway has literally NEVER been plowed, when i start fishtailing. i control it for what must be at least 100 feet but then i lose it, and i do a 180 across the oncoming traffic and end up backwards in the ditch facing the direction i'd came. woah. long story short, i eventually force my door open, get a ride back into town with some weirdos, and a tow truck pulls out my car: i'm fine, car is fine, and i decide that there is NO WAY i'm turning around now, so i trek on. i STILL can't believe i crashed! i was that annoying person doing like 60 kms in the 100 zone the ENTIRE trip! unjust! after 3 more hours of intense fog, snowstorm and broken windshield wipers, i make it to jasper, and kyle come to meet me, because the thought of driving another two hours to jasper makes me feel like passing out. in any case, the weekend ended up being lovely, and i got to spend a day wandering the shops in jasper! though by the time i did get to Edson, i had decided to live in Alberta forever because i was NOT planning on driving the Yellowhead ever again. my worries were groundless however, the roads back were beautiful! so beautiful, in fact, i got a ticket. yes, it was an expensive trip o_0

this guy was so close! probably only about ten feet from where i stopped on the highway, and he just chilled while i talked to him and took his picture! he was drinking from a puddle!