Walking the line: Edmonton AM takes virtual road trip to Lloydminster

With COVID-19 keeping everyone close to home, Edmonton AM is hitting the highway with virtual road trips.

Every Friday, the CBC Edmonton morning show is heading to a new Alberta destination, making some interesting pit stops along the way.

With the pandemic cancelling spring travel plans, these soundscapes are as close as we can bring you to actually being on the road.

So just close your eyes and let us take the wheel.

This week, Mark Connolly and Tara McCarthy decided to walk the line between Alberta and Saskatchewan with a visit to Lloydminster, a city with the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border.

• Sounds like adventure: Edmonton AM takes virtual radio road trip to Jasper

Our first stop, we went to visit the bison of course. We didn't have to veer too far off course to check out these majestic beasts at Elk Island National Park.

And we arrived at the perfect time to catch a glimpse of some baby bison, also known as little reds.

Rachel McLaughlin, a communications officer for the park, said the calves along with flocks of returning shore birds are a sure sign of spring in the park.

From the archives: Mundare, Alta. gets its giant sausage

8 years ago

Duration 0:42

On April 27, 2001, the town of Mundare installed a peculiar roadside attraction: a 42-foot-tall Ukrainian sausage.

When heading east of Edmonton, we would be remiss if we didn't stop at one of Alberta's most beloved and bizarre monuments, Mundare's sausage statue.

Thisprovince has a particular love for giant things. We have an egg, a perogy, a softball, a beaver, even a bee, but the sausage is special.

This 42-foot-tall statue, weighing in at 12,000 pounds, is a tribute to Stawnichy's Meat Processing, a family-run sausage factory which has been operating for decades.

We pulled off Highway 16 and met with Mundare's MayorMike Saric to take a look. He said not everyone appreciates the fibreglass meat monumentbut we think beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

A couple kilometres down the highway, we swung into Vegreville. We couldn't resist a visit with Jagger Glowatsky, the owner of Young Farts RV Parts and, as always, he had some stories to tell.

He's famous in town for transforming his 5,000-square-foot warehouse into a massive, scream-inducing haunted house every October.

He's also been known to stage unusually punishing contests for his road-trip loving customers.

During one such contest, 70 people kept their hands on a Jayco trailer for as long as they could, to win it. The strong-bladdered winner lasted 44.5 hours without a washroom break.

Yikes.

Driving is hard work and the Mundare sausage really got us thinking about food.

We started to get a little peckish and decided to quell our hunger with cheese, takinga slight detourto visit the Old School Cheesery south of Vermilion.

Valerie Roberts, co-owner and head cheesemaker, greeted us inside her shop.

As you might guess, she is really passionate about cheese. Especially the kind that squeaks.

After travelling more than 250 (virtual) kilometres, we're arrived at the final stop on our virtual road trip.

After passing through the large red border markers that traverse Lloydminster, and checking out the city's oversized sundial, we decide it wastime for some caffeine.

We grab a cup of joefromTrayci Lepp. We found her grinding and steaming behind the latte machines at Timber Cafe, just a few kilometres inside the Alberta border.

Which Alberta destination shouldEdmonton AMexplore next? Share your favourite weekend hot spotsand roadside pit stops in the comment section below.