I saw this book at the information centre/gift shop in Elk Island National Park, and it looked interesting so I got it out of the library. Clever title. Cute cover. Very local. Interesting topic. Couldn't be that bad, right?
Road Tripping: On the Move with the Buffalo Gals
By Conni Massing
2010
264 pages
The Buffalo Gals are a group of friends who take a yearly road trip around Alberta - but not to the big tourist attractions - to the quirky, off the beaten path, usually a bit weird attractions. Massing writes about where they go, but also how they got there )and especially what they ate).
The first chapter was interesting as it was about the Torrington Gopher Museum, and since I've been there a couple times it was quite nostalgic. [The Torrington Gopher Museum is quite epic and awesome and you need to go because you've never seen anything like it. Best $2 you'll ever spend. Stop at Peter's Drive In in Red Deer on the way and check out Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park while you're in the neighbourhood too.] Every trip encompasses a number of quirky and/or food stops in a small area of the province - as detailed on an annotated map at the start of the chapter. Also included are a number of stops at some of Alberta's "Big Things", which also drew me to this book because I have a secret dream to one day see them all.
So really this should've been a rocking good road trip read!
Meh. Too many inside jokes. Too much chatter about the people and not enough details about the neat places they visited. And a lot of the restaurants in the small towns they stopped at aren't open anymore so I was disappointed I couldn't recreate the perfect pie pitstop. Honestly, I got through the first half and then skimmed the rest. Should've been mostly interesting, but was a bit boring in the end.
Read this book if you want a tour of quickly Alberta "stuff", most of which you can still visit yourself. But skim through the van conversations if you want. They get to where they're going eventually.
Road Tripping: On the Move with the Buffalo Gals
By Conni Massing
2010
264 pages
The Buffalo Gals are a group of friends who take a yearly road trip around Alberta - but not to the big tourist attractions - to the quirky, off the beaten path, usually a bit weird attractions. Massing writes about where they go, but also how they got there )and especially what they ate).
The first chapter was interesting as it was about the Torrington Gopher Museum, and since I've been there a couple times it was quite nostalgic. [The Torrington Gopher Museum is quite epic and awesome and you need to go because you've never seen anything like it. Best $2 you'll ever spend. Stop at Peter's Drive In in Red Deer on the way and check out Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park while you're in the neighbourhood too.] Every trip encompasses a number of quirky and/or food stops in a small area of the province - as detailed on an annotated map at the start of the chapter. Also included are a number of stops at some of Alberta's "Big Things", which also drew me to this book because I have a secret dream to one day see them all.
So really this should've been a rocking good road trip read!
Meh. Too many inside jokes. Too much chatter about the people and not enough details about the neat places they visited. And a lot of the restaurants in the small towns they stopped at aren't open anymore so I was disappointed I couldn't recreate the perfect pie pitstop. Honestly, I got through the first half and then skimmed the rest. Should've been mostly interesting, but was a bit boring in the end.
Read this book if you want a tour of quickly Alberta "stuff", most of which you can still visit yourself. But skim through the van conversations if you want. They get to where they're going eventually.
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