For one St. Albert woman, 2010 will forever be remembered as the Year of the Big Things.
Bronwen Strembiski spent months planning what could only be described as a family odyssey combined with personal obsession. Originally set on a single extended vacation in the United States, circumstances arose that forced her to stay closer to home.
"We were originally going to do a San Francisco and Seattle drive this summer but my husband's father was ill so, we decided that it was best to stick around a two-hour radius around Alberta," she said, recalling the birth of the idea. "So I said, 'Nobody ever does the big things. How many people really travel Alberta?' We get all these brochures and things look neat but then we all go to the beach. That's what people do."
So she put Plan B into place and inspiration was just down the road. St. Albert is, after all, home to the world's largest badminton racquet on one of the city's busiest strips. She wondered what other big things are there to see? Vegreville has the world's largest Ukrainian Easter egg. Mundare has the biggest sausage. Strembiski made a list of all of the statues, installations and other manmade constructions that pay tribute to various objects or animals and then she started plotting them out on the map.
"I said, 'OK, we're gonna go look at the big things.'"
It turns out that there are lots and lots of them. Strembiski wanted to have a big adventure, and she did without travelling outside of Alberta. Apart from visiting more cities, towns and villages than most people get to see in their entire lives, she also wrote about her experiences on her blog and caught the attention of many travel writers.
Somehow, she managed to accomplish something so singular and extraordinary while keeping her family sane and together. Her two sons might have just been along for the ride, but what they got was a summer vacation unlike anything their friends experienced.
The passengers
Willing or unwilling, Strembiski's sons got to see some amazing things like the world's biggest pyrogy. Damon, 12, and Sebastien, 11, got to ride in the back seat for thousands of kilometres as their mom drove to places they'd never heard of.
When asked what his summer was like, Sebastien replied with aplomb. All he told his friends was that he visited almost all of the small towns in the province. Even that must have tickled his fancy at some point though.
"It was good because we got to camp. I really liked the pyrogy. Too bad the restaurant wasn't open," he said.
Sebastien wasn't really into the mission like his mother, who checked each big thing off her list like she was collecting items on a scavenger hunt. What he liked most, he said, was just being on the road.
"I didn't like always having to get out of the car to get my picture taken," he admitted, saying that there is an inherent thrill in merely travelling somewhere. "Some of the big things were cool and others just weren't." He referenced the Mars or Bust Rocket in Rossington, the Francis the Pig statue in Red Deer, and Depression Pete (with flamingo) in Legal.
His older brother Damon said he had less fun sitting in the family van than he did finding the objects of their obsession.
"It was more exciting seeing the big things."
At least there was something for each to enjoy. Strembiski's husband, Jon, wasn't able to go on many of the trips. It added pressure to him at home but, in the long run, the crazy summer was worth it.
"I was stressed about the others being on the road alone, but I think that everyone had fun," he said. "We will talk about it for years to come."
Interesting stops
Even before they picked up their final report cards from school, Damon and Sebastien were on their way to see the world's largest statue of a real pig. As it turns out, it's just the regular size of a pig but that still qualifies it as the largest in the world.
"We drove and there's no pig. In the bushes, you look and there's a bronze statue of a pig but it's just life-sized," Strembiski said. "I was expecting something … big. That was a little disappointing."
Her research led her to discover that the province had more than 200 different attractions to check out. Who knew that there was a pair of big potatoes named Sammy and Samantha in Vauxhall? She does, now, and she put them all on a spreadsheet. If you ask her, this list and the map are the two most critical tools in her vacation planning kit.
That doesn't mean that it was foolproof, however. The first item on the list (organized alphabetically by town name) was the large heart in Alberta Beach. She couldn't find it. Unfazed, she eventually catalogued more than 100 stops and she's still going at it.
The end of the line
Even though Strembiski is still fervently crossing more items off the list, the travel schedule has slowed down considerably now that school is back in full swing. She is still out there, though the boys are missing out.
Sebastien said that he'd be happy to tag along but only if his mom would let him miss school, otherwise he has to wait for the next holiday. For Damon, there are other pressures keeping him tied down. Asked if he was joining his mother to Hay Lakes for the big hay bale lifters, he replied with brevity and humour.
"I can't. I have hockey," he laughed.
Regardless, Strembiski is proud to have given her family the kind of experience that they won't soon forget.
"I think that they'll have wonderful memories down the road even if they won't admit it now."
On her website, she wrote, "My boys may not have travelled the world, but they have certainly travelled Alberta."
She added that she plans to visit all of the small towns in Alberta next year. One must wonder if her kids know about it yet.
You can read all about Strembiski's summer and her continuing adventures at albertaroadsideattractions.blogspot.com.
