This quiet little town gets even quieter in the summer. We're right on the highway and the call to take a trip is deafening. There are beautiful lakes and campsites within an hour's drive and when the sun shines it is a shame to waste the weather doing housework or yard work.
This is the first neighbourhood I have lived in where lawns are cut and gardens are weeded while it sprinkles outside. The houses on our street aren't fancy but in almost every drive there is a trailer of some sort, a bed on wheels ready to hook onto and go at a moment's notice. There are those who win the lottery and get a seasonal spot at a provincial park and those who like the adventure of getting into the truck and finding new places to park and explore.
Word of mouth and maps help get people to where they want to go whether they enjoy golf, fishing or just sitting in a quiet site without electricity, cell phone service and rumbling motors.
We follow friends' directions, road signs, and highway maps most of the time, but sometimes we use GPS directions or maps downloaded off of the Internet. Getting there can be half of the fun but at times sophisticated technology isn't as accurate as "make sure you take a right at the red barn and follow the curve for three miles."
I've been lost in Regina with the aid of a GPS and on the weekend, while following a detailed map and instructions I found online, I'm glad I trusted the small signs in the ditches rather than the technological guidance. I should have used common sense when looking at the map to the destination I printed out.
While approaching Fort Pitt it told me to drive north farther away from the river for the last several kilometres. It was a trading post for over 80 years and I'm sure the folks on the river wouldn't have walked that far with their goods or even bothered to find it if it was situated where the map told me it would be.
I take pride in being able to find locations I want to visit and sometimes I act like my father did refusing to ask other people for directions unless we got really lost. I love the technology that lets me be independent but I realize sometimes it is better to ask someone who walks and breathes for old fashioned directions instead of trusting a box with fancy lights and buttons, but no driver's licence.
