My 14 yo really wants to visit another country. I'd been planning a long summer vacation that included a visit to Niagara Falls where we were going to cross into Canada. Once I got looking at the cost of everything, I realized I wouldn't be able to fund it.
He recently asked me if we could go to Canada for Spring Break. Spring Break is the last week of March for us. I could drive to Winnipeg in 14 hours, but I suspect there wouldn't be much to do. My guess is that it would be in early spring melt; too cold to be pleasant but winter activities (i.e. outdoor ice skating/hockey/etc) closed for the season.
I got to thinking about driving as far north as possible, getting a motel for a few nights, and hoping to view the Northern Lights. My first thought was Thompson, Manitoba, a nickel mining town at 55 degrees N. Now I'm leaning towards Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan. It's only 54N, but I've been looking at climate norms at Environment Canada, and it's considerably more likely to have clear skies. It also looks like a much nicer setting than a mining town and with less light interference.
Have any of you done anything like this? Clearly the best chance of an aurora payoff would be to fly to Fairbanks (a whopping 65N) and head out to the country, but I can't afford the plane tickets. I also like the idea of all of the time spent in the car with my son. He'll have to put down his phone (and his switch) at some point!!
He recently asked me if we could go to Canada for Spring Break. Spring Break is the last week of March for us. I could drive to Winnipeg in 14 hours, but I suspect there wouldn't be much to do. My guess is that it would be in early spring melt; too cold to be pleasant but winter activities (i.e. outdoor ice skating/hockey/etc) closed for the season.
I got to thinking about driving as far north as possible, getting a motel for a few nights, and hoping to view the Northern Lights. My first thought was Thompson, Manitoba, a nickel mining town at 55 degrees N. Now I'm leaning towards Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan. It's only 54N, but I've been looking at climate norms at Environment Canada, and it's considerably more likely to have clear skies. It also looks like a much nicer setting than a mining town and with less light interference.
Have any of you done anything like this? Clearly the best chance of an aurora payoff would be to fly to Fairbanks (a whopping 65N) and head out to the country, but I can't afford the plane tickets. I also like the idea of all of the time spent in the car with my son. He'll have to put down his phone (and his switch) at some point!!
