Finally, my first house in Cold Lake was right here, second house on the north side of this street. That's where I learned to ride a bike. That's where I learned to skate...
THE END
The west side of this field is a soccer/football field. You can't see the nets/uprights on this map, but they're there. On the east side is a baseball field. There's lots of space here, so a lot tends to happen here. I once was playing outfield here and was almost hit by a golf ball, ha!
This is where Martineau School used to be. I went here for kindergarten and then it was closed the next year. I remember the swing set here being monstrous when I was little. Came back ten years later and I could almost high jump over it *sniff*
West of Martineau is Tin Town. Well, it used to be Tin Town, now it's just a good place to walk your dog. But back in the day, this used to be a neighbourhood of mobile homes.
In the winter, this is an outdoor ice rink. Good times were had playing keepaway with my friends who could barely skate. And friendly games or just free skating. You know how it goes with a long night on the outdoor rink. Your feet will be frozen and you won't even care. I even remember skating here with my kindergarten class!
This is Martineau Hill. If you had a sled, a GT, a Krazy Karpet, or any of that, you knew what the deal was. And at the bottom there was a pretty large bump if you wanted some air at the end of your run. Great hill.
I had a friend who lived right on this corner, it's a pretty nice location.
We used to steal take advantage of a couple of the yards in unoccupied PMQ's for backyard wrestling purposes. Good times for sure, but that's a whole other story in itself.
This is pretty much the perfect venue for road hockey. It's a one-way street and it isn't too busy. (Although cars come by - but this is essential for the perfect road hockey game.) The street is the perfect width and the street lights are just right. The street doesn't plowed that well, but this is a positive for street hockey. Just wait until it's minus 10 and the street has that thick, packed down ice... PERFECT.
This is Martineau. Most of my friends lived here so I was around a lot.
Right at this corner there's a little dugout that lets you hop in to the southwest forest. And while that forest is dense at parts, it is navigable. It's great for a game of guns - too bad guns is never as fun as it sounds. Another great place to explore is south past the trees. Walking along the creek is quite nice. And it can be messy too, if you get down like that. There are a few places where you cross by hopping on rocks, that's all I'm saying.
This bridge is a good place to hang around if you need some time for yourself at night. You're guarded from most of artificial lights and the sky is wide open, so it's great for stargazing. But when the moon is out, it lights up the entire area. When it's not frozen you can listen to the creek. And in the spring, you can listen to the beavers working.
I travelled on the gravel road A LOT. It's essential for getting from Mackenzie to Martineau and back.
We're going to Martineau and the best way to get there is to cut through this guy's lawn and take the gravel road.
This is The Loop. I lived in the second duplex from the northeast for three years. On one of the lawns in the south end of the loop, you can see large tree. It was huge! And somehow they put Christmas lights on it every year.
In the empty space to the north, my there is a small square area that gets becomes a backyard-type ice rink. I learned how to get some air on my slapshot there... Too bad the boards were about a foot high. All the pucks would end up in the surrounding snow. Half I could find easily, the other half I'd find in the spring.
This is also the spot where my Dad and I played catch.