# 4 Cochrane to Le Duc.....Alberta

#4 Cochrane to Le Duc   6/8/18

Canadians established the village of Cochrane in 1903. The village grew and gained “town” status in 1971. The town we visited in 2018 looks like a bedroom community for Calgary. Cochrane lies about 11 miles west of Calgary, population 26,320.  The 2017 census ranks Cochran 12^th in population for Alberta. The historic village has expanded to a series of modern strip malls clustered to form a downtown area.  Our RV Park map listed all of the new neighborhoods, by name.  Derrille walked 4 miles the next morning and viewed some of the neighborhoods up close and personal.

The RV Park sat on the shores of the Bow River next to a huge sports complex. Canadians take sports and health seriously.

Rows of houses perch on the hilltops surrounding the downtown.  We ventured into town to use the ATM to get Canadian money and then dined on 6” personal pizza at Pizza Hut.

We went to dinner at the Half Hitch Brewing Company.  The restaurant had a cowboy flair.  The windows used burlap for window shades.  Our food tasted delicious.

We chose a lazy start and left Cochrane around 10 am. The exit to the park sits at the river’s edge. The climb up Trans-Canada Highway 1A ascends sharply and rapidly.   The panoramic view we experienced showed all the houses we saw from below were really parts of subdivisions with hundreds of homes.

As I looked down on the sea of houses, I noticed a small oval playfield. Each end had a goal net, and two little boys were engaged playing field hockey.

We drove Highway 1-A straight, (the only way in Alberta), east into Fort Macleod. We passed this mass of houses coming into town.    Check out the architecture used on a Metro Station

Highway 201 allowed us to bypass Calgary.  Around the city of Calgary highways go by trail names first and numbers second.   When offered the choice of Crowchild Trail or Stoney Trail on the signage, Derrille wants me to tell him which road exit to follow. My response, “I haven’t got a clue!”  Those names aren’t on my maps.  Fortunately we did find route numbers off to the side of the signs.

Minimal set-back construction seems to be the norm here as in newer construction in the states.

Yea!!! Cell towers!!!

Heading north on TC-2, the Queen Elizabeth 2, or the QE-2 highway, the straightness of the roads remains striking to people who live where a straight road remains an anomaly.  Once in a while you get a wide bend in the highway. 

Farms and ranches continue to line each side of the highway.

 Riddle Road Barn sports the words, “established in 1930”.

  Cattle grazed in the pastures.

Grain elevators look like small skyscrapers against the flat plains.  Taking photo of grain elevators may be looked upon as silly as people in our area photograph seagulls.

Several of these emergency exit signs were spotted along our travels. I suspect they have something to do with winter road conditions.

Another phenomenon we observed was once you exit the highway, the road turns to dirt.  Most of these roads form a perpendicular line from the highway and travel directly in an east or west in a straight line for as far as the eye can see.   Sometimes a dirt frontage road parallels the highway.  Home owners may need to travel the dirt road for up to a half mile to join with the paved highway.

A series of pick-ups passed us.  Well, almost everyone up here passes us, even when we are traveling the speed limit. Not unlike the states.  The trucks were hauling what looked like mobile irrigation machinery.

Notice the flags!  The wind blows hard across the prairie.  

BIG farm equipment dealerships pop up along the way. The huge fields need huge equipment. Something you don’t see around Puget Sound.  Kind of like pictures of the seagulls, as we go along.

Alberta not only has BIG machinery, it also grows BIG BUGS!  Thought I showed you some who splat against our window, and interfered with my photography.

In Red Deer, Alberta the 3^rd largest city, a massive freeway construction project is underway. What we found interesting was that both sides of the freeway had identical services for food and gas stations. No need to cross to the other side.

Saw a cute RV Park advertised:  RV There Yet    (no photo)

As we pulled away from Red Deer, Derrille notice the big dump truck in front of us had a missing mud flap in back.  He slowed down to increase the distance between us, but not quick enough. Ka-pow!

A jet-like propelled rock flew deeply into our window. Now a ding joins our bug splats!

We called Novus glass upon our arrival in Le Duc, but they did not offer mobile service.  Fortunately we carry the handy-dandy Novus patches that will hold until we can get it repaired.  You may see it in more photos.

Also saw a herd of Elks lounging in a field next to the highway.  Didn’t see them quickly enough to get a photograph.

Hello Le Duc, Alberta!

We found the Lions RV Park and set up by 2 PM.  This is quite a park with about 140 sites for tent campers and RVs.  Our friends live just down the road. We met Heather and Joe Corra at Pacific Beach years ago. We like to meet up with them in Arizona and when we are both traveling the Oregon Coast.  They took us to dinner on Friday…thank you very much!  Then we had a delightful visit at their house afterward.  We returned to their house Saturday afternoon, and met their son Jordan and his family.

They prepared a great dinner.  We really enjoyed our stay.

Wild jack rabbits folic through their neighborhood and drive the dogs crazy.  Notice how light it is outside at 9:30 pm.  Like all northern areas, darkness falls after 11 PM right now and daybreak occurs around 4 AM.

After a most enjoyable visit, we returned home and a prairie storm blew in.  Strong wind, heavy rain, thunder and a bit of lightening ended our stay in Le Duc.