Getting there....

     Wow, the last week has been a whirwind in my life! But ok, I'll start with yesterday. Arrived at London airport around 6:15 a.m., driving through intermittent fog. I thought, wouldn't it be great if the flight was delayed, since I had a 4 hour layover in Calgary (more time for breakfast in London, less time twiddling my thumbs in Calgary). As it turned out, they rushed us on board, only to have the fog worsen and us sit on the runway for an hour. Anyway, flight to Calgary was approximately 3 1/2 hours and the on-board TV system wasn't working, so I finished a whole novel :)
     The wait in Calgary wasn't bad, I had free internet so could surf the net, and I had lunch. Then on to Ft. McMurray, another hour in the air. Arrived at the airport there (very small...smaller than London airport) and now had to search for my ride in to camp. All I had was that his name was Mark, he was fairly tall, wearing a cap and a red safety vest. After sitting out front and texting/calling Aimee at camp, Mark arrived and off we went. The drive to the camp is about 50-60 minutes from the airport. I got a bit of a glimpse of "town" as it's called....apparently it's around 70,000 population, and has a Wal-Mart! We passed by several other sites, but you can't really see much from the road. The area is densely forested, with many rivers snaking through. And dusty!!! You couldn't really tell the colour of most of the vehicles that we passed on the road for the dust and dirt. Mark was an excellent tour guide, and answered all my questions readily and had lots of his own input. So if anyway wants to place where I am on a map...go to google maps, type in Ft. MacKay, Alberta and that will get you within about 10 km or so of this camp. I'm not sure how to place it any more accurately than that, but if I figure it out, you can google earth the area and see it.
     We arrived here at camp around 4:30-ish, and of course Aimee had to leave for the airport for her ELEVEN DAYS OFF right away at 5. I was quickly introduced around, and got my room assignment and towels, and a very brief tour around my work area, Aimee made a mad escape back to the airport and I joined my new co-workers for dinner.
     The dining room holds about 1,100 people, and is set up very much like the dining areas on cruise ships, (for anyone familiar with that set up). There are several different stations, self serve for salads and the "fast food" items, and stand in line for service on the hot food specialties of the day. Last night the offerings were roast turkey, beef stew with dumplings, fish cakes, and all the trimmings such as dressing, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, gravy, and I just forget everything else. I didn't check out the other lines, and didn't have room for salad or anything on my plate either (haha). There were also a decent selection of desserts, which I did not partake of either. There are also several drink areas, and pretty much anything you could ask for is available. Milk, juices, pop, coffee, tea, etc. The dining room is kept very clean and they have strict rules about no work clothes or boots, no cell phones, laptops etc. At the one end of the dining room is what they call the lunch station, and there they have anything you could want for late night snacking or lunch, since the dining room is not open for lunch.
     I was exhausted, and headed back to my room after dinner. I got unpacked, and was in bed by 8 pm (local time.) I'm in Mountain Time here and all the times I mention are local time, so that's two hours earlier from you Eastern Standard Time people. The bed is very comfortable, and I did wake up a couple of times but went right back to sleep and didn't get up until almost 6 am. And no fire drill in the night!
    I would just like to state that I was a bit nervous about being in a remote camp where the men outnumber the women about 13:1 or so, and Aimee leaving right away, but since I've arrived I've felt totally safe and comfortable. The people I'll be working with are very friendly and I've never felt uncomfortable, even this morning going to breakfast alone. I'm off to start my training this morning, and I'll catch up and hopefully add some pictures later on.