Passing through Ponoka...

 I'm near Ponoka Alberta this week building a new oil well. Ponoka is a sleepy town a little east of Hwy #2 between Lacombe and Wetaskiwin. Hwy # 2 was rebuilt a few decades ago and it bypassed so many little towns in the area. You can really see it in the downtown cores. They are getting older and really only serve the needs of the local population. If not for a few wrong turns while trying to gather up a package I was expecting, I would not have even seen the downtown or knew it was there.

 The big box stores don't go to the little places like Ponoka although the Super 8 motel and the new  Extra Foods grocery store can be found on the outskirts... Ponoka it seems is suffering from its own form of urban sprawl while the downtown dies. Its actually a pleasure to work out of this town. No rush in the morning trying to get on the highway and its almost like they shut off the lights and roll up the streets at night

Ponoka would be a hoot in the summer I think. Its claim to fame is the "Ponoka Stampede" and it must be big if the size of the facility is any indication. Ponoka is also the site where the Alberta provincial mental health hospital is located...I got more than a few jibes from co-workers when I told them I would be going to Ponoka for a week. "Its about time" was just one of the remarks levelled in my direction.