Sign in with Facebook"Red Deer - One winter week living in Alberta" Top 5 Page for this destination Red Deer by Bwana_Brown
Red Deer Travel Guide: 64 reviews and 99 photos
In February, 2007, my wife and I had a chance to see what it was like living in Alberta for a short period. My youngest daughter was married in the middle of the month with a very enjoyable ceremony held in the Rocky Mountains (see my 'Canmore' page for the details). While the newlyweds were Honeymooning in Mexico, someone was needed to 'hold the fort' for eight days with their pets and new house in Red Deer!
First settled by Europeans with the establishment of a trading post in 1882 and about halfway along the Calgary-to-Edmonton Trail, where it crossed the Red Deer River, the city of Red Deer has grown to be the third largest in the Province with a population of about 83,000. The surrounding countryside is pleasing to the eye with its gently rolling hills and, on a good day, you just might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the snow-capped Rockies off to the west. Although the area originally focused on oil, grain, and cattle production, Red Deer now serves as a centre for oil and agriculture distribution as well as petrochemical production in the areas outside the city. Really, there are no amazingly spectacular sights to see as the layout is sort of like a long strip mall of stores and businesses streching along both sides of the highway between Alberta's two largest cities. To avoid this congestion, a bypass has been built around Red Deer if you just want to 'keep on trucking'.
We had a look around the city and its surrounding areas and were able to sample some outdoor winter activities in the pleasant weather, varying between 3 C in the daytime and -23 C overnight.
- Pros:Nice countryside, easy to reach Calgary, Edmonton or the Rockies
- Cons:Mostly one long street lined with businesses and malls
- In a nutshell:A small city serving the needs of this part of Alberta
Reviews (13)
Shops everywhere you look
Shopping
(1)
We are members of a customer-owned Cooperative store at home and we found that the 'save-on-foods' store located very... more travel advice
Bumpy snow-covered streets
Local Customs
(1)
Having lived in eastern Canada whenever I was actually in the country, this was my first extended winter trip to western... more travel advice
Loan of a 4WD
Transportation
(1)
Since we were going to be in Alberta for three weeks, even a small rental car would have cost us C$900 (US$770), not to... more travel advice
BBQ kebabs
Restaurants
(4)
Following the completion of the wedding in Canmore, my wife and I spent the weekend back in Red Deer with our eldest... more travel advice
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Comments (20)
Sounds like you had a great day on the ice with fishing and snowmobiling!
Easily the best buffet in town.
great holiday with extreme ice fishing and ice bbqing
Your 'frosty' pictures and descriptions made me think of past Polish winters with heavy snowfalls and temperatures reaching - 30 C. Luckily, nowadays such 'extremes' happen very rarely.
Thanks to the inventor of feeding the masses with a tasty and balanced meal on a skewer!
This page really fits my image of winters in Canada, Glenn. :)) Very enjoyable, reading it took me back to younger days (in different circumstances)! Hope you're having a great weekend.
Glenn, fabulous page with outstanding wintery photos. It looks like Red Deer still gets loads of snow. Have a lovely weekend. :-)
Man, I got even colder than I already was looking at your pictures of ice fishing!!! I think I need to go warm up in a Caribbean destination ;-)
Wow, that's cold!! I think I'm with you in preferring palm trees at this time of year, but the lake and the park do look pretty :)
What an impressive equipment, Dodge + snowmobile! The motorized ice-auger looka clever way to dig a hole ! I have seen that on the TV but never for real ! That must be amazing !