I was so excited on Wednesday night when I touched down at 10:30 p.m. and it was still daylight out. I was back in my hometown of Fort McMurray. Born and raised in Fort Mac, I haven’t been back in 13 years and when an opportunity to work up there came up, I jumped on it.
This is what 10:30 pm looks like in Fort Mac in the summerI was contracted by a company called 11-11 Marketing to help them plan and run the 1st Annual Fort McMurray #468 First Nation Golf Tournament and the 2015 Treaty Days.
We spent Thursday trying to finalize details and I couldn’t believe how little the City has changed. Everyone I know has moved away and they said wit was so different and I would hardy recognize it and yes there were a TON of apartment building n places that used to be empty fields but for the most part, all the old buildings were the same. Timberlea was bush when I left and is now a full residential community, but downtown, Beacon Hill, and Gregoire were the same as I remembered.
Anyway, Thursday night I headed back to the Sawridge Hotel to get some sleep as I had to be up by 5 to be at the Miskanaw Golf Course on MacDonald Island by 5:45 a.m. I ALWAYS take the stairs if I’m going up just one story and this time around, I really wish I wasn’t.
One Bad Son (a band that we booked to play at Treaty Days) was walking through the hall with their guitars when my toe got caught on the stairs and I went down HARD. I let out a squeak and was in so much pain I couldn’t move. One of the guys yelled up “are you ok?” Although I was in a lot of pain, I yelled back “Yeah I’m fine! Just embarrassed!” I limped back to my room and when I took off my pants to see my knee I knew I needed stitches.
I drove myself to the ER and 3.5 hours and some tears later, I limped back to my room at 2:30 a.m. My alarm was really early at 5:00 am.
I worked hard at the golf tournament and put in 17 hours on Saturday working Treaty Days and it was hectic but also satisfying (I love a good event).
Because of the swollen and painful knee I didn’t get to hike all my old trails and visit the backwoods spots I loved as a child. But I did go to the Hangingstone River at Lion’s Park and collect a few fossils for myself and the step kids.
It felt so good to go back because Fort McMurray is the only place that truly feels like home. I left in 1999 when I was 14 but it was where I was born and raised and where my dad was raised. My family had a history in that community and for the first time since I left, I truly felt like I was back home.
Sorry I don’t have a ton of pictures- Fort McMurray is sooooo beautiful in the summer too. But I was too busy working and when I wasn’t working I was too sore to move. I have to go back with Ryan and the kids on an actual vacation so I can take them to see my childhood home and all the dear spots in the woods I love!
In the meantime, my sprint training is on hold for two weeks until I get these stitches removed. I can do light jogging but with my limited range of motion weights, sprinting, and softball are out. Blah!
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