Happy Trails To You

Friend J (who from here on in will be referred to FJ) and I went horseback riding today. It's been years since I've been on a horse. When I was a kid I used to ride all the time (albeit English, not Western). My first job, actually, was mucking out horse stalls. I had (well, leased) a bunch of horses in my riding years, but my favorite was Aspen. She was a beautiful bay colored thoroughbred mare who loved to jump. She also had asthma. This didn't stop her, though the first time I pressed her into a canter, she just about pulled me right over her head with her hacking coughs. As I got to know her better, I learned to anticipate her coughs, and loosed the reins in time, and it became one of my favorite quirks about her. Man, I loved that horse.
But anyways, I digress. FJ picked me up this morning and we drove out of the city into the country towards this stable. It was in the outskirts of this little town called Gibbons about 45 minutes north of the city. The town has a population of about 2500 people with twice as many hair salons as there are restaurants. Apparently the town was started by a pioneer family, named Gibbons, who settled the area in 1889. I had a look at the town web site. One thing of note...there's a lot of people in the town whose last name is still Gibbons. I guess people don't tend to move far away from home. The town was one of the first stops on the Athabasca Landing Trail - one of the well trodden fur trade routes utilized by the Hudson's Bay Company around the turn of the century.
We rode for about 2 hours in the valley of the Sturgeon River. It was a nice ride - not enough running to thoroughly satisfy me, but it was soothing. I love the smell of horses, as only someone who grew up around them can. I said this to FJ and she said, "yeah, like oats and shit." OK, point taken, but also like grass, and dust and like horses. I have to say though, that area is so ugly...so flat...so brown...so barren. I'm just on an I-am-dissatisfied-with-Alberta kick right now, and pining for the beauty of Vancouver.
After our ride, we decided to drive into town to grab a bite to eat before heading back to the city. We pulled into Sal's - home of the famous gourmet burgers. And as we're walking up to the door, I nudged FJ, "What do you think the chances are they have a vegetarian-friendly menu?" Sure enough, the menu is predominantly meat - burgers, and pizza and pasta. I order a mushroom burger, thinking about the promised fame of these burgers that I had read on the window. And for FJ we try several options. FJ: "I'd like the fish and chips," waitress: "We're out of fish," FJ: "OK, what about your pasta sauces, do they have meat in them," waitress: "Of course", Me: "What about the Chicken Club Pita, Can you do the pita without the meat", waitress: blank stare, me: "I assume there are veggies on the pita as well - lettuce, tomato - could you just do a veggie pita", waitress: "I don't know", me: "Ok, is there anything on the menu that does not have meat in it?," waitress: "well, no - it's all burgers 'n stuff," FJ: "Ok, I'll have a cheese pizza," waitress: looks at us as if we have a screw loose or something, "D'ya want drinks with that?", FJ: "a 7-up", Me: look in the cooler, not a single sugar free soda...it's all full sugar, "I'll have a coffee"
Oh, and then the food arrived, and let me tell you - famous...not quite...more like infamous. I swear that they took a single mushroom, cut it up and cooked it, and then dumped an entire can of mushroom soup on the burger, and slapped it on a cold un-toasted bun. Oh it was gross. I tried scraping the soup off...I tried eating the patty alone (totally tasteless). In the end, I wound up abandoning the burger and having a slice of cheese pizza...which...truth be told, had a great crust.
We decided that it was time to head back to the city. It's not all small towns that I dislike...some are just lovely. But this one...hmmmm. I'm not sure I ever have a reason to go back and I'm not sure I ever want to have a reason to go back.