Lacombe is Alberta's sweet spot
Dec. 2nd, 2008 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_lotus13Lacombe's city slogan is "Alberta's sweet spot". I find this slogan rather disturbing because it sounds sexual to me. Then again, I'm a dirty pervert.
Yesterday I drove out to Lacombe to visit the Crop Research Station. That turned out to be pretty interesting. I had a good interview with a crop scientist who helped breed a new strain of malt barley. I learned all about plant cross-breeding, and how you create new genetic species. After this, the scientist took me around the research station to show me various work stations, including the area where the crops are processed, where seeds are stored and where they keep the cross-breeds. I also learned about the new shocu project. Shocu is a type of malted liquor that is brewed for the Japanese. Alberta Agriculture is currently working with a Japanese brewing company to make and market this liquor, which is pretty interesting.
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After my tour, I checked into my hotel. I would not recommend the Lacombe Country Club Inn. The room was clean and inexpensive, but there was a fly buzzing around and the front room of the hotel reeked like bad cheap cologne. It took a long time for my room to heat up, which was frustrating. But I sat in my hotel room, and read and watched tv and called [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] on my cell and talked to her for a while.
***
This morning, I got up fairly early and drove to the downtown for breakfast at the Hidden Bistro, which was pretty cute. The town of Lacombe has a population of about 11,000 and reminded me a lot of Moose Jaw. The downtown has been redone and there are a lot of cute little stores. Their cultural complex is a bit odd; it's called the Lacombe Memorial Centre and I actually thought that it was a funeral home the first time I drove by.
The meeting was in the Memorial Centre and I sat through a bunch of lectures on barley and canola. At one point, I ducked out to take a break and refresh my mind and energy. I was done by about 3:00 and drove back this afternoon to snowy Edmonton. I saw a few people skidding on the way home, and was happy that I had put the winter tires on my vehicle.
Yesterday I drove out to Lacombe to visit the Crop Research Station. That turned out to be pretty interesting. I had a good interview with a crop scientist who helped breed a new strain of malt barley. I learned all about plant cross-breeding, and how you create new genetic species. After this, the scientist took me around the research station to show me various work stations, including the area where the crops are processed, where seeds are stored and where they keep the cross-breeds. I also learned about the new shocu project. Shocu is a type of malted liquor that is brewed for the Japanese. Alberta Agriculture is currently working with a Japanese brewing company to make and market this liquor, which is pretty interesting.
****
After my tour, I checked into my hotel. I would not recommend the Lacombe Country Club Inn. The room was clean and inexpensive, but there was a fly buzzing around and the front room of the hotel reeked like bad cheap cologne. It took a long time for my room to heat up, which was frustrating. But I sat in my hotel room, and read and watched tv and called [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] on my cell and talked to her for a while.
***
This morning, I got up fairly early and drove to the downtown for breakfast at the Hidden Bistro, which was pretty cute. The town of Lacombe has a population of about 11,000 and reminded me a lot of Moose Jaw. The downtown has been redone and there are a lot of cute little stores. Their cultural complex is a bit odd; it's called the Lacombe Memorial Centre and I actually thought that it was a funeral home the first time I drove by.
The meeting was in the Memorial Centre and I sat through a bunch of lectures on barley and canola. At one point, I ducked out to take a break and refresh my mind and energy. I was done by about 3:00 and drove back this afternoon to snowy Edmonton. I saw a few people skidding on the way home, and was happy that I had put the winter tires on my vehicle.
