Step 19- Follow the lights.

One of the big complaints about living in Fort McMurray is that there is nothing to do but drink. And while local establishments do provide ample opportunity for one to find oneself briefly in possession of alcoholic refreshment, I just don't get how anyone can complain of boredom. What does anyone expect of any city? How is one city "more fun" than another? We have a movie theater and everything (yes, I realize how pathetic that sounds). Granted, coming from Abbotsford, my standard of an "interesting" city is quite low. A city is what you make it. If you are a boring person, you will be bored. And if you aren't...

It was only a matter of time before a bunch of us got into our trucks and drove around for hours trying to spot the northern lights. One of the benefits of having friends who are tourists is that they are not afraid to be tourists! They'll say “let's go drive northward!” And we'll say “okay!”

It started at Tim Horton's, with the necessary pre-adventure provisions. It was the usual suspects.

To the cars, gentlemen!

Our first stop, in hopes of seeing the lights, was Fort McKay, about an hour out of the city. For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to get out of our trucks en route and take pictures in the middle of the road. Yep- it's a four lane highway. And yep- we are this bad at taking co-ordinated photos.

We carried on right into McKay, which is a reserve. The Germans thought it would be interesting to see where First Nations people live. Once they saw it was just houses, they weren't very impressed. At the end of the road we got out and enjoyed the novelty of being in the middle of NOTHING. Here's the view towards the end of the road.

Time for some impromptu shoe-ski practice. I haven't quite mastered this one yet.

After tromping in the snow and freezing our toes, while technically trespassing, we carried on to Syncrude. Is that bitumen I smell? Learn it well; the odor of money!

The site is so impressive at night. The lights made everything glow. We drove right into sight. Security doesn't pay a lot of attention this late at night. We took turns in Nick's hard hat, pretending we had real jobs.

Ahhh, nothing like having our own photographer along for the ride. One of the benefits of keeping tourists on retainer.

And back on the road! No lights yet, but we decided to make one more stop at the Wood Buffalo turn off before we headed back. The turn off had little walking trails with undisturbed snow. Pretty nice stuff. The guys decided to troop around while Jess and I stayed by the cars- you know, unless a bear came and we had to drive away quickly.

In some places the snow gets really deep...

Throwing snow? Really, guys, that's inspired.

Once reunited, we discovered that you can blow snow back up! When it is falling heavily and you face upwards and give a mighty puff, it just goes back up! Not shocking, but still cool too see. The only problem is that constant puffing makes you a bit dizzy, hence:

So no northern lights before the Germans left us all too soon.

The irony is that two days after our Germans left us- without getting to see the lights- we saw them outside the Germans old house. Just a quick passing glimpse, but still pretty amazing. It's a dream of mine to really see them, when they are bright and active and shimmering about. It's such a beautiful phenomenon. I'll let you know how it goes!