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Monday Photoblogjammin'

The truth is. I have a love/hate relationship with Mel’s hometown. I love the people who live there, but I certainly ‘don’t love’ the city (aside from the local skatepark, which is awesome) Mel’s town is your classic, small Canadian city. The main exception being a large Military/Air Force base which occupies the northeast quadrant of the city. The base contributes a large percentage of the local population and adds a whole other transient nature to the city.

The downtown core is mostly vacant with big box stores littering the outskirts. There are however, some interesting buildings, a nice dog park and a long bit of history which involves both the city and the silent film era. Former Edmonton Oiler Steve Smith is from there, and the actor who played McGuyver almost hit Mel with his car when she was a kid. Apparantly he cottaged somewhere in Prince Edward County. The area also boasts a Fireworks Warehouse (A place I have stopped in at more than once)

For all the years Mel and I have been together, I have never ventured up to the observation deck on Mount Pelion, which is visible from Mel’s parents house. Yesterday, that all changed.

Before going up, Mel told me this place was always thought of as Date Rape Central… Mel’s sister added, Mount Pelion was the place where “murders happen” (A quick google search has revealed that last year the body of a 22 year old woman was found in the woods surrounding Mount Pelion)

In 1999, The local municipality put a great deal of money toward Mount Pelion. They replaced the old observation deck, erected a new flagpole, installed a British war cannon (not working), and an engraved stone which mentions how instrumental Mount Pelion was to Samuel de Champlain. The stone also notes the reason behind the naming of Mount Pelion has been lost to history.

This is a small glimpse of our walking tour of Mount Pelion. With a stop at the Military base near the end.