Canadian Vacations

[urbandreamer]

Ha, I'd still consider moving to Alberta. I really liked the friendly blondes in Calgary, the beautiful ranch country between Turner Valley and Hays AB, the cheap historic housing stock in Edmonton, U Alberta is so nice vs that eyesore U Calgary; I did find mountain towns in BC like Fernie and Revelstoke much nicer than Jasper, Canmore, Banff and Pincher Creek. I found the Yellowhead Highway between Edmonton and Neepawa MB extremely boring and cursed myself for driving across Canada without AC, although I met some friendly folks in Foam Lake SK, enjoyed sitting on the old tractors at the farm museum in Vegreville AB, walking around southern SK towns like Wolseley & Maple Creek; the rustic beauty of Lake Superior - Red Rock being my favourite Northern Ontario town. I can see why alcoholism and drug use is rampant in the North/West.

I got lost on Indian Reservations (white ppl not welcome here I had no idea), almost got stuck in a Western Alberta cattle guard, went on many enjoyable walks around North Vancouver and Burnaby and East Sooke; went to Stampede and was surprised by the "uniform" everyone seemed to wear. I'm going to piss people off by saying Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg overall are third world ****holes.

I can see why the Okanagan is so expensive - it's lovely and perfectly situated for exploring the Rockies and Coastal Mtns.

Outside of Calgarians, the friendliest Canadians are from Ontario!

(This was my second cross Canada trip, my first being in 2003-04; having my own car this time certainly made it more enjoyable/extensive. Next time I plan on spending more time in Saskatchewan and Alberta.)

I look forward to sharing my thoughts on Quebec, NS, NB & PEI when I get there, hopefully within a year.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

those are always the kind of conclusions i try and draw when relaxing on vacation and enjoying other places.

lol

[JHikka]

Driving 17,000km sounds less like a vacation and more like a chore, to say nothing of the rest of the user's comments.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by esquire

In Halifax it felt like it receives very little attention. If I hadn't pointed it out to my family, they never would have been aware of it.

I think the history itself is not valued that much and so it often registers as a small-ish building and the legislature of a small province. But it's the oldest one in Canada (buildings like that from the 1810's in North America are very rare) and the seat of the oldest democratic government. It is a bit like Philadelphia or Boston, but for Canada.

There's a big disconnect between the level of history around there and how it is promoted or preserved. For example, the "burned down the White House" guy is buried in a cemetery with a small plaque. The Great Pontack, James Wolfe's base as the British prepared for Quebec, also has a plaque and was torn down in 1920 for a modest Imperial Oil building. There was a 1970's building named after it too but it's just a generic modern looking structure. There's nowhere you can visit to get a sense of what it was like. In the Halifax section I was complaining about the naval clock, which doesn't look like much (80's or 90's era installation on the waterfront) but the clock itself is from the 1760's or so, one of the oldest if not the oldest working ones in North America. The preservation of it reminds me of what small towns do with their town hall clock towers after the buildings are torn down. In theory, something better could eventually be done with it, and maybe if the city grows there will be more appetite for that.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Canada is best for its outdoor amenities - I hiked up mountains, trails etc especially in BC, Alberta and Manitoba; its cities outside of the big 3 are disappointing and rundown.

Though you said you found many of the small towns and cities appealing. Odd.

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

To conclude, I found Western Canada incredibly isolated, rundown and trending towards extreme poverty, rampant racist attitudes and filled with fifth-wheeling pick-up truck driving rednecks from Manitoba to BC. BC and Alberta are closer in outlook than Ontario and Quebec. Northern Ontario should separate, possibly joining Manitoba.

Now were the 5th wheels camper trailers or farmers hauling cattle trailers, hay trailers or flatbeds with equipment strapped down? You know, folks making a living!

[urbandreamer]

^Indeed it was exhausting. I do have a trip to Quebec planned for mid August that I'm somewhat dreading. When I go back to work I'm looking at jobs within walking distance....

[urbandreamer]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Though you said you found many of the small towns and cities appealing. Odd.



Now were the 5th wheels camper trailers or farmers hauling cattle trailers, hay trailers or flatbeds with equipment strapped down? You know, folks making a living!

I was indeed stunned to see real cowboys, ie old men in F150s with cowboy hats hauling cattle trailers through western Alberta and SK. I doubt the Stampede crowd with their Hollywood-style costumes were authentic. (I noticed mature folks tend to drive F150s while childish aggressive men drive GMC/Chevy and the absolute worst, RAM drivers are a real menace.)

I enjoyed small town Canada the most: eg $10 to camp in Hays AB with the rooster waking me up at 4am!

I camped in a tent and noticed the class divisions are roughly 1) 5th wheelers - working class trash; 2) vanlifers - young construction workers and laptop/Instagram brigade 3) tents - young single women and more of a BC thing vs Ontario etc 4) sleeping in car - new Canadians and the homeless 5) RVs - rich entitled Canadians and Americans - the bigger the RV, the more obnoxious.

Overall, campgrounds across Canada are mostly Stuff White People like doing; I was surprised because closer to Toronto, many South Asians like camping.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Canada is best for its outdoor amenities - I hiked up mountains, trails etc especially in BC, Alberta and Manitoba; its cities outside of the big 3 are disappointing and rundown.

Hmm... That's a rather sweeping statement to make after not liking a few cities out west. There are plenty of cities outside the "big 3" that aren't disappointing and run down. QC, Victoria, Halifax, St. John's, Fredericton, Sherbrooke, Kingston, Charlottetown, etc. are all just as strong pound for pound as their larger cousins. And you positively commented yourself about Saskatoon and Regina.

[urbandreamer]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Hmm... That's a rather sweeping statement to make after not liking a few cities out west. There are plenty of cities outside the "big 3" that aren't disappointing and run down. QC, Victoria, Halifax, St. John's, Fredericton, Sherbrooke, Kingston, Charlottetown, etc. are all just as strong pound for pound as their larger cousins. And you positively commented yourself about Saskatoon and Regina.

Overall, as housing gets more expensive, Canada is resembling American cities more and more: the rich in their vertical gated communities (condos) and gentrified old neigbhourhoods, the pretend rich in their new suburban homes, everyone else kind of hanging on or in decline.

New housing from Winnipeg to Victoria is very disturbing: the cheapest materials from stucco to siding to grey and beige concrete blocks sold for top dollar. It dawned on me real estate developers are using immigration much like colonial industrialists exploited the land: strip mining anything of value and leaving behind blight, then building giant mansions for themselves; meanwhile SJW and politicians, enablers of the former, patting themselves on the back for "advancing mankind."

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I can see why the Okanagan is so expensive - it's lovely and perfectly situated for exploring the Rockies and Coastal Mtns.

It certainly is amazing... in the summer. I could not tolerate the winter climate nor the prospect of being cut off from other areas. Not such a concern in Kelowna, but some of the smaller communities.

I love Penticton too, going back in the next few weeks.

Nanaimo is a hole. The proper nickname is "Surrey by the Sea".

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I camped in a tent and noticed the class divisions are roughly 1) 5th wheelers - working class trash; 2) vanlifers - young construction workers and laptop/Instagram brigade 3) tents - young single women and more of a BC thing vs Ontario etc 4) sleeping in car - new Canadians and the homeless 5) RVs - rich entitled Canadians and Americans - the bigger the RV, the more obnoxious.

Overall, campgrounds across Canada are mostly Stuff White People like doing; I was surprised because closer to Toronto, many South Asians like camping.

LMAO really loaded up the shit cannon for this one. Not out of ammo yet?

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I was indeed stunned to see real cowboys, ie old men in F150s with cowboy hats hauling cattle trailers through western Alberta and SK. I doubt the Stampede crowd with their Hollywood-style costumes were authentic. (I noticed mature folks tend to drive F150s while childish aggressive men drive GMC/Chevy and the absolute worst, RAM drivers are a real menace.)

F-150's are too light of a truck to haul a fifth wheel full of cattle or equipment. F-250 or 350 (same with the Chevys, Rams and Tundra's) are the trucks of choice. True working folks will have a dirty Cowboy hat or ball cap, dirty shirts and the jeans will have rips that are from catching a barbed wire or actually the pants have worn through not the faux rips that women are paying $150.00 for. 99% of the folks you saw in Calgary are dressing up.

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I enjoyed small town Canada the most: eg $10 to camp in Hays AB with the rooster waking me up at 4am!

There are gems if you get off the main highways. Some towns have done a good job at retaining the brick building erected during the times of growth. But sadly places like my hometown of Killarney have lost all charm on its main street

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I camped in a tent and noticed the class divisions are roughly 1) 5th wheelers - working class trash; 2) vanlifers - young construction workers and laptop/Instagram brigade 3) tents - young single women and more of a BC thing vs Ontario etc 4) sleeping in car - new Canadians and the homeless 5) RVs - rich entitled Canadians and Americans - the bigger the RV, the more obnoxious.

Ha ha about the 5th wheelers, working class trailer trash eh? So I'm going to make a sweeping generalization here. I'm sure they'll wear a drive by smear of their life by a latte sipping vegan Torontonian with pride.

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

Overall, campgrounds across Canada are mostly Stuff White People like doing; I was surprised because closer to Toronto, many South Asians like camping.

In Regina (and I noticed in Brandon as well) that the south Asian communities love to go to the parks that have the BBQ pits and spend an evening there with their families and friends. I'm sure that's a regular occurrence across the country.

Don't take the latte sipper to heart. You made me laugh with your generalizations.

[urbandreamer]

No problem. I'm generalizing by saying that most of Canada is filled with rednecks and canola.

Yes I get the difference between F150 & Super Duty etc. I really enjoyed seeing the farm implement dealers - hundreds of new combine harvesters in stock vs the handful to dozen you see in Ontario. I feel Saskatoon is the most Western city in Canada: isolated, surrounded by barren farmland, a city that goes from rough prairie town to beautiful historic downtown. I wasted an entire tank of gas driving around many of its streets, shady residential and university campus etc. Friendly beautiful locals. I stayed at the Gordon Howe campground.

I don't drink lattes - I prefer Tim Hortons decaf instant coffee, especially tasty made on my camp stove fending off the mosquitos.

[le calmar]

I was wondering just the other day where urbandreamer went. I missed the wtf-inducing comments How about mennonites though, how are they faring over there?

[urbandreamer]

Oh the Mennonites! Like in Ontario they look like the most prosperous, clean and organized rural folks across Canada. The Hutterites look like they could be Royalty. Coming back through Northern Ontario, I stopped at the Iron Bridge farmers market and took a longer route through Lee Valley from Massey to Espanola just to check out the horse and buggy crew!

While ugly, Steinbach MB has a prosperous vibe to it that reminds me of Perth, Oxford and Waterloo County towns vs the rundown Ukrainian and Scots-Irish towns of MB SK AB; it could be a combo of Tilsonburg, Elmira and Listowel.

In BC, Creston and Grand Forks, while the latter certainly had its collection of roughnecks, felt safer thanks to the plain people. Even the Okanagan vineyards are mostly run by modern Mennonites. On the Island, the Mennonites control the organic produce markets; Comox area has the tidiest farms on the island: go spend your sabbath at Black Creek United Mennonite Church.

Back in Ontario, yes I've been hanging out with the Mennonites again and it's interesting to compare them to what I saw out west. It looks like I'm getting married at either Langham SK Mennonite Fellowship, Prairie Rose Evangelical Mennonite Church in Landmark MB or First Mennonite in Kelowna!

[JustForTheHalibut]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Hmm... That's a rather sweeping statement to make after not liking a few cities out west. There are plenty of cities outside the "big 3" that aren't disappointing and run down. QC, Victoria, Halifax, St. John's, Fredericton, Sherbrooke, Kingston, Charlottetown, etc. are all just as strong pound for pound as their larger cousins. And you positively commented yourself about Saskatoon and Regina.

omg, haha, out off all that urbandreamer had to say about Western Canada, it's the eastern Canadians taking his comments the hardest. I hope urbandreamers trip out east next doesn't get him lynched on ssp. haha

I for one found urbandreamer's comments comical at best and snicker worthy at worst.
At first I thought urbandreamer was just exaggerating but I'm kind of intrigued by Saskatchewan now.

Thanks for the levity in an otherwise boring thread.

[urbandreamer]

One thing I noticed about Saskatchewan in particular was their road construction equipment was ancient: 1980s John Deeres, rusty old paving equipment, old Mack dumptrucks etc. It felt like I was stepping back into 1980s rural Ontario. Thankfully the Yellowhead repaving project was almost completed so I only had to stop a few times. There's simply no traffic at all outside of the cities. Even between Edmonton and Calgary I found it very quiet: I explored Airdrie (Orangeville with more 4 storey flats?), Crossfield (rundown farm town), Didsbury (reminds me of towns around Chatham), Olds (depressing place, I thought with an agricultural college it would be more interesting), Bowden, I missed the Innisfail hailstorm by 2 weeks!; Red Deer at first glance looked interesting before it turned into a Brantford-style shithole ha; Blackfalds, Lacombe and many towns had country fairs on that weekend; Leduc had an arts fair - very diverse audience but the town itself rather bland. To the south of Calgary I had to go to SSP-favorite punchbag Okotoks (small old village surrounded by dreadful beige sprawl), High River (here I saw Confederate flags, fuck Trudeau and convoy supporters - interestingly the Confederate flags were in a truck driven by a FN public-housing dwelling guy), Black Diamond (tourist town), Turner Valley (absolute trash here, worst night camping thanks to a redneck who showed up at 11pm then insisted on chopping wood and having a roaring campfire until 2am unbelievable, meanwhile hacking nonstop from (likely) covid - everyone was sick it seemed from Manitoba to Vancouver Island.

SK & AB are basically interchangeable although the former is mostly flat dull farms except in the Qu'Appelle Valley and SW around Maple Creek.

You wouldn't believe Alberta was a wealthy oil & gas province judging by its rundown public realm, filthy ancient public washrooms/campgrounds, crazy FN homeless running rampant throughout Edmonton and Calgary, large gaping holes in its urban streetwall, horrid pothole laden roads, old cars and trucks (ok like BC I found these charming, although another symptom of poverty), bizarre gigantic Christian churches, dead street life in the office district, lack of cranes in the sky, rough and tumble hustler vibe of its suburban and rural citizens, etc.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by JustForTheHalibut

omg, haha, out off all that urbandreamer had to say about Western Canada, it's the eastern Canadians taking his comments the hardest. I hope urbandreamers trip out east next doesn't get him lynched on ssp. haha

I for one found urbandreamer's comments comical at best and snicker worthy at worst.
At first I thought urbandreamer was just exaggerating but I'm kind of intrigued by Saskatchewan now.

Thanks for the levity in an otherwise boring thread.

Disagreeing with a statement because it's overly sweeping is taking it hard? I hope you never see someone actually taking a comment hard because you'd be traumatized.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

One thing I noticed about Saskatchewan in particular was their road construction equipment was ancient: 1980s John Deeres, rusty old paving equipment, old Mack dumptrucks etc. It felt like I was stepping back into 1980s rural Ontario. Thankfully the Yellowhead repaving project was almost completed so I only had to stop a few times. There's simply no traffic at all outside of the cities. Even between Edmonton and Calgary I found it very quiet: I explored Airdrie (Orangeville with more 4 storey flats?), Crossfield (rundown farm town), Didsbury (reminds me of towns around Chatham), Olds (depressing place, I thought with an agricultural college it would be more interesting), Bowden, I missed the Innisfail hailstorm by 2 weeks!; Red Deer at first glance looked interesting before it turned into a Brantford-style shithole ha; Blackfalds, Lacombe and many towns had country fairs on that weekend; Leduc had an arts fair - very diverse audience but the town itself rather bland. To the south of Calgary I had to go to SSP-favorite punchbag Okotoks (small old village surrounded by dreadful beige sprawl), High River (here I saw Confederate flags, fuck Trudeau and convoy supporters - interestingly the Confederate flags were in a truck driven by a FN public-housing dwelling guy), Black Diamond (tourist town), Turner Valley (absolute trash here, worst night camping thanks to a redneck who showed up at 11pm then insisted on chopping wood and having a roaring campfire until 2am unbelievable, meanwhile hacking nonstop from (likely) covid - everyone was sick it seemed from Manitoba to Vancouver Island.

SK & AB are basically interchangeable although the former is mostly flat dull farms except in the Qu'Appelle Valley and SW around Maple Creek.

You wouldn't believe Alberta was a wealthy oil & gas province judging by its rundown public realm, filthy ancient public washrooms/campgrounds, crazy FN homeless running rampant throughout Edmonton and Calgary, large gaping holes in its urban streetwall, horrid pothole laden roads, old cars and trucks (ok like BC I found these charming, although another symptom of poverty), bizarre gigantic Christian churches, dead street life in the office district, lack of cranes in the sky, rough and tumble hustler vibe of its suburban and rural citizens, etc.

Snort, now you’re just trolling.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

I just got back from a 2 month drive from Toronto to Vancouver Island. A combo of airbnb, camping and sleeping in my car. 17,000km of driving that cost $2600 in gas.

Overall, I felt Canada NW of Parry Sound is very isolated, rundown and has a sadly racist attitude towards the First Nations that I don't think can be solved without giving them millions of acres of arable land and space to build their own cities.

I spent 4 nights in Winnipeg (nice old residential 'hoods marred by a very rundown core with fast moving traffic and few pedestrians); I really enjoyed Brandon and think it's Manitoba's best city - historic downtown, lovely housing stock, great university campus. Winnipeg has more potholes than mosquitos!

Then I stayed near Regina - wow what an attractive city, although coming home I discovered Saskatoon is even better - my favourite Canadian prairie city by far.

Other cities I explored extensively: Moose Jaw (the best decaf coffee of my trip at Evolve), Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge (again, like Brandon, a city that surprised me by its tolerable downtown and residential stock), Red Deer (ugh), Penticton (my favourite Okanagan city), Kelowna (vibrant core but really reminds me of Calgary - fundamentally flawed by its suburban mentality), Kamloops (a smaller Saskatoon only not as nice), Nanaimo (nice setting but the city is gross), Victoria (surprisingly rundown) with dreadful grey and black new suburbs, Courtenay (not bad), Campbell River (ugly), Lloydminster, North/Battleford - very disturbing and depressing, Yorkton, Thunder Bay - very tragic situation here, Sault Ste Marie - nice housing stock, a shame the downtown is so rundown/vacant, Sudbury - what a strange place ha.

I also drove through over 500 towns and villages: highlights: Neepawa MB, Lacombe AB, Trail & Greenwood BC.

Canada is best for its outdoor amenities - I hiked up mountains, trails etc especially in BC, Alberta and Manitoba; its cities outside of the big 3 are disappointing and rundown.

To conclude, I found Western Canada incredibly isolated, rundown and trending towards extreme poverty, rampant racist attitudes and filled with fifth-wheeling pick-up truck driving rednecks from Manitoba to BC. BC and Alberta are closer in outlook than Ontario and Quebec. Northern Ontario should separate, possibly joining Manitoba.

Interesting views. I wasn't expecting you to like many of the mentioned places. I don't like how Timmins looks and it's where I was born and raised and still live. And most of those places you didn't like aren't exactly tourist destinations. Some of them may be attracting tourism more recently.

About Northern Ontario separating: While there are some people who wish we were separate, we would much rather be part of Ontario than Manitoba!