Alberta
Red Deer -- 1. I live in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, North America.
2. Red Deer is located in what is called Central Alberta. The main Highway #2 goes directly by Red Deer and connects us to the Edmonton and Calgary National Airports. We are exactly midway...it takes 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to either airport. Our capital city, Edmonton, is the oil capital of Alberta and Calgary is the oil capital of Canada. Edmonton is known as "the City of Champions" since Wayne Gretzky was a member of the EDMONTON OILERS hockey team for many years. Edmonton is home to the largest shopping mall in the world, WEST EDMONTON MALL. That mall is going to be expanded even more. It is also owned by the Ghermazian brothers, who built your large MALL OF AMERICA in Minneapolis. Calgary is known for the world famous CALGARY STAMPEDE. We are not far from the CANADIAN ROCKY MOUNTAINS, with world famous JASPER National Park (west of Edmonton) and BANFF National park (about an hour west of Calgary). The world W8 SUMMIT MEETING is due to be held soon in KANANASKIS country...between Calgary and Banff. Calgary has a beautiful view of the Rockies...and they say their city is in the foothills. We can also view the Rockies on a clear day from some locations in Red Deer.
3. The province was named for one of Queen Victoria’s daughters, Alberta, and she was named for her father, Prince Albert. It is called SUNNY ALBERTA, as it receives more sunshine a year than any other province. We are the westernmost of the 3 prairie provinces, Saskatchewan is directly to the east of us, and Manitoba farther east. Our climate is extremely unpredictable, and "they say" the average temperature for the year is 35F. South Central Alberta (which would include Calgary) is known as one of the worst hailstorm belts in North America. At one time our rainfall average was 17 inches. Drought like conditions have been a problem of late. Snowfall can also be unpredictable. Often of late we have had "green Christmases." One day last winter we received 12 inches of snow. We are on the metric system in Canada. Snow has been known to fall in every month of the year. About three summers ago we had a big snowfall in mid-July. Of course that didn’t last, but the children were making snowmen. Our temperatures rarely get above 90F, but can go as low as 40 below (which is the same number for Centigrade and Fahrenheit at that frigid point.) Alberta is blessed with "Chinook winds" (pronounced shinook) which are warm winds coming over the Rockies...and that gives a break in a cold spell.
4. Red Deer is in the rolling farmland area, and is lush with trees.
5. We have different wildflowers, but the most common sight is the PRICKLY WILD ROSE, which is the provincial flower. Central Alberta is known as "Wild Rose Country"...and these flowers can be found in late June in the ditches all over the country. We have many wild animals...mostly deer, moose, coyotes and foxes and occasionally bears wander around.
6. We grow barley, wheat, and canola, but we have gas wells and other industries are constantly moving in. We have a great location for new industries who wish to be centrally located between our two largest cities.
7. Gas/oil wells are the greatest natural resource. We are free from smog. The rich soil makes our crops superior (when they get enough rain.)
8. There are many rodeos in the summer time in nearby towns such as Benalto and Ponoka. We are also close to DRUMHELLER which is THE "DINOSAUR CAPITAL" of North America. It has a beautiful museum. Red Deer is the home of Jamie Sale, who won that hotly debated PAIRS FIGURE SKATING gold medal at the winter Olympics (with her partner David Pelletier—unsure if his name is spelled correctly.) A young skier also won gold at the Olympics. Jeremy Wetherspoon, the speed skater, also comes from Red Deer. Kurt Browning comes from Caroline, a little town not far from here. KD Lang went to Red Deer college. Ron McLean, a famous hockey commentator who appears with Don Cherry, is also from Red Deer. Our city has the most beautiful walkways through the city. You can watch beavers at work in ravines, geese nesting and other wildlife.