One Life to Live: Females in Fernie

My partner in crime, Lee, and I took to the highways of Alberta on a Girls' Getaway road trip to her friend's place in Fernie, British Columbia. Some pretty varied scenery as we left the foothills of the Rockies to travel along the alluvial plains and then back into the Rockies in B.C. Lee loved seeing all the wind turbines happily churning away out there. Wouldn't Don Quixote be perplexed?

This is Frank's Slide, taken by me from the car as Lee's banana boat, I mean car, zipped by. In 1903 an entire Canadian Pacific Railway/ coal mining town was engulfed in a giant rockslide/avalanche. It's like an unexcavated Pompeii. Nearby is Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, so you can see that Southern Alberta has some wild stuff happening. (To protect the innocent, no photo of the 6 of us descending on the Frank's Slide liquor store will be included.)

This is where the Females in Fernie weekend began, along the Elk River outside beautiful downtown Fernie British Columbia. Fernie is a unique and colorful town with a rich mining heritage. Fernie, now a world-class ski destination, was named after prospector, William Fernie. Reputedly, Fernie went back on his promise to marry the local Chief's daughter, so the Chief placed an Indian Curse on the town which was only lifted many years later after the smoking of a peace pipe. Fernie also had a reputation as The Whiskey Gap during Prohibition in the '20s and I believe the girls we are traveling with are doing their best to revive that rep. We're pretty colorful and unique ourselves.

This is the view outside the condo - a little misty along the Elk River. Weather is no concern though as Lee and I brought enough provisions for ourselves and perhaps a few elk just in case we have to hunker down in a snow storm.

But look! No snow up on the mountains yet, so we did what any reasonable people would do ...

SHOP! Here are the co-eds-on-the-go in downtown. Me? I was sooo restrained..just a little something for my sister in New Zealand and some purely functional items from a really cool local potter and her cat, Princess Lilly.

And showing more self-control here, we ordered just a smidge of whipped cream on top of that low fat, part-skim, skinny, double foam decaf...la la la , incredibly decadent mocha frappuccino. Then we joined up with the rest of the shopping divas who looked completely famished from hauling their bags over the mountainous, er hilly? well, completely flat but nonetheless arduous, terrain.

Here the hungry hikers found their way to a fusion cafe where what to our wondering eyes should appear but a beer named Thirsty Beaver! Thirsty Beaver? Why, YES..thanks for asking.

After slaking thirst and hunger, the now not-so-thirsty retreated back to the condo to be sure that our Frank's Slide adult beverage purchases didn't go to waste.

But look who got into the liquor cabinet while we were gone? Hillary's Baba Noir, who snuck into my overnight bag and who has been naughtily drinking his namesake, Black Sheep Ale! BaaBaa... slow down with that big bottle! Oh dear! BaBa has not heard of "everything in moderation."

See? This is what happens to frat boys who party too hard, BaBa ... there's always a consequence to be paid. We shall not divulge what happened to any of the others nearby.