roadside distractions   7 comments

Posted at 12:32 pm in Uncategorized

It will come as no surprise that my journey has gotten ahead of my blog posts. Life’s like that. I’m in Oregon – just preparing to continue on my way into California. More about that soon.

Last post, I was in the last leg of the trip across Ontario and about to reach the prairie region of Canada. The crossing took about three days as I did not push myself too much as I was fighting off a head cold that had been attempting to bring me down. I knocked off early and tried to get as much sleep as possible and that seemed to do the trick. The other reason for not driving so far each day was that I found it surprisingly difficult to spend many hours behind the wheel while crossing such flat terrain. Where the drive around Lake Superior was demanding, it was stimulating because it demanded most of my attention. On the prairies, I spent a good deal of time struggling with drowsiness — no doubt partly due to the head cold. As a coping strategy, I began pulling off the Trans Canada highway to visit and photograph grain elevators any time that my alertness began to flag.

Here in Canada, the familiar wooden grain elevators such as that above, are fast becoming a dying breed. Many have been demolished and replaced with new concrete and steel structures such as the installation in the next photo. It seems something of a loss to me as most of the older elevators are quite individual — in shape, construction, and paint. As you can see them from miles off, they are an identifying mark on an otherwise seamless landscape.

Leaving the highway, I would drive to the elevator to shoot a few photos, then make a small tour of the town before heading back onto the open road. Often, there were old trucks or buildings, or some type of industrial structure — objects which have always been of interest to me.

In the town of Indian Head, Saskatchewan, there was a tall chimney that rose like an obelisk on a side street. It seems that it must be the remnant of a power plant.

Leaving town, I came upon one of those large and rather peculiar roadside attraction sculptures which are so often found in small towns around Canada and perhaps beyond. Well, I am back on the road again as of this morning, but will try to write more soon.

Written by bev on November 5th, 2008

7 Responses to 'roadside distractions'

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  1. […] is a new post up at my travel blog Journey to the […]

  2. That old wooden grain elevator looks like a work of art to me. Yet the steel and concrete silo has its own sculptural qualities and must catch the light in its own particular, and at times beautiful, ways. I wonder, therefore, why I struggle so hard to see the new steel one as being just as much a work of art as the old one? Perhaps the wooden structure is more human, less technological?

    Thanks for taking the time to post these photos and thoughts, Bev.

    pohanginapete

    5 Nov 08 at 2:07 pm

  3. The grain elevators in the US Midwest are like gigantic gravestones marking where little towns used to be. My wife and I drove out I-70 to Denver a couple of years ago. On the plains the grain elevators are visible for miles. We got off to look at one and drive around the town. I expected to find stores, because the nearest city was many, many miles away, but there was virtually nothing left of the “town.” There was a school, a bar occupying an old gas station, houses, a church and the grain elevator. Anyone who needed more than a beer or a prayer had to drive an hour to the nearest store.

    Mark

    5 Nov 08 at 3:36 pm

  4. It is a pity that many people’s view of the prairie provinces are framed by the view from the Transcanada (although it does have some spectacular views, some of my favourite are the grassland vistas around Maple Creek.)

    Might I suggest a trip along the Yellowhead next time, through the Parkland where I grew up, and perhaps even further north into the lakes of the shield. The prairies are not all “flat terrain”.

    And as an aside, Inglis Manitoba (just south of home) has preserved their Grain Elevators as a heritage site. It is a glimpse into a view that was once ubiquitous but has now all but disappeared.

    Keep of the great posts Bev, always looking forward to more.

    Clare

    5 Nov 08 at 4:48 pm

  5. Bev, I really loved the picture of the two trucks. They look like two old codgers sitting on the front porch debating politics and talking about life back in the day. Fun post.

    DougT

    6 Nov 08 at 9:04 am

  6. I’m glad you came up with such a rewarding way to fight off the drowsiness… I also find photos of some buildings and other structures to be fascinating (though I doubt they would ever replace my primary interest of photographing wildlife!). That chimney you photographed appears to be the same chimney shown in the historical photo of the power plant on the site you linked to — that is very cool — to see the “before” and “after” shots, as it were. I also have been thoroughly enjoying browsing through the photos on the site dedicated to Canada’s large roadside attractions — what a hoot! So far, I especially like the cow-shaped lookout platform in Quebec and also the restaurant in Ontario that is modeled to look like Noah’s Ark (I wonder if you have to order TWO of everything?).

    Harsi

    6 Nov 08 at 1:38 pm

  7. A friend of mine from small-town Alberta has always described the size of a town, not by the population, but by the number of elevators.

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