Last January I visited Winnipeg and Saskatoon for work, in the middle of a severe cold snap. It was my first time participating in what’s become an annual work trip; this year I was on the roster for visits to Edmonton and Calgary. Luckily the weather worked in our favour this time: in spite of some bouts of snowy weather, it was above freezing pretty much the whole time.

It was my first time in Edmonton. In between all the work stuff I had some bites at the bar at the JW Marriott and coffee at Coffee Bureau, Obj3cts, and ACE. There was also a fairly random lunch at a place called Continental Treat Fine Bistro (one of our party is gluten-free and we somehow ended up a completely gluten-free Eastern European diner) and a team event at Ashford House Pub. There was trivia. My team won.

The next day we drove down to Red Deer (hitting terrible weather, and very nearly going off the road multiple times) and then on to Calgary. Only one coffee stop this time: a Monogram location.

With business concluded, we all left early the next morning. I flew Porter both ways, and my experience was great. Definitely becoming my preferred method of flying west.