Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too
Runnin' back to Saskatoon
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat
Sing another prairie tune
Sing another prairie tune
Yes, this is a verse from the classic Guess Who Song, "Running Back To Saskatoon". And I must say from what we saw of Saskatoon today, albeit briefly, it is a fine city. It is however a "city" and for this trip we are avoiding city life. Speaking of avoidance, did I mention Yorkton? Boy, now that was a disappointment. But I digress......
Saskatchewan. Tomorrow we leave this green province and slink ever so carefully through the back door into Alberta. Rachel, we promise to spend the minimum amount of time in your province. We will fill our tank with Saskatchewan gasoline, eat food we packed in Saskatchewan, drink wine from Europe, not that you make or bottle wine, and drink beer from Manitoba (I'll give a shout out to Farmery Estate Brewery, Neepawa, Manitoba). All that is left to do is breath and fortunately most of your fresh air comes from British Columbia. Boy, that's what I call going off on a tangent! Hold it. We have been away for a few weeks. Is the pipeline war over? But I digress....
Saskatchewan. To quote Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Before you organize a green posse and come lookin' for me, let me 'splain it for you, eh. Hold my beer for me, eh.
Our time in Grasslands National Park was near magical. We felt like pioneers when we drove across southern Saskatchewan, enduring flood, drought and tornadoes. Our return trip on Highway 16, the Yellowhead, began with an afternoon thunderstorm and driving rain. At one point we pulled off the highway to let the storm pass and view Black Terns flying acrobatically over a marsh only to be swarmed by mosquitoes who clearly had not been fed in over a week. Physically drained, and needing a transfusion, we rolled into Yorkton for Canada Day. Okay, disclaimer: I had never been to Yorkton. I suppose in retrospect that I had some weird and fanciful notion that it was a quaint prairie town where we would find a sweet mom and pop motel to get some badly needed rest and that we would find a nice country diner where we would enjoy a good local steak thick and rare served with local spuds and whatever seasonal veggies that the cook found in the garden out back. All washed down with a nice local beer, cold and endless..... Dorothy! Dorothy wake up. It was all a dream... Yes, but the nightmare of Yorkton was only beginning......
Yorkton. If you stood up, took both hands, reached behind you and grabbed what you found you would be close to Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Let me get to the good before I trash the place. The fellow at the motel was terrific. Very helpful and in retrospect he might have seemed a bit apologetic at the time we checked in. Little did I know that he was in all likelihood apologizing for what we would endure during our stay. The motel was dated, but clean and quiet. We arrived around 3 p.m. and before we checked in we drove down the fairly deserted main drag. In all my travel I have never seen so many traffic lights in so little distance. For about 8 blocks, and the blocks were about 100 meters in length, there was a traffic light. No "on demand" system and they seemed to be synchronized so that you only made 1 green before hitting a red. The light change was crazy long and every light had a left turn arrow even if there were no traffic turning left. We go to the end and went out of our way not to return the same way. After we checked in walked about a kilometre to the "Tapps Sports Bar and Brew House" thinking it would be good for 1) Beer and 2) Steak. Sadly we found a typical prairie cavernous bar, empty as most locals were at the Canada Day party. I could find no evidence of beer being brewed. Back to the hotel. We got in the 4Runner and drove the gauntlet of traffic lights to the Casino restaurant. Of course we had to walk through the casino to get to the restaurant. What a depressing trek that was. By the time we got the the restaurant we didn't feel like eating or staying. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant for what will forever, I am 100% positive about this, be the worst Chinese food I have ever eaten. The staff at the restaurant were kind and polite but that is the only redeeming quality of the establishment. In the morning we endured the rather "bland" free breakfast, which of course is not breakfast at all, and hit the road. Not so fast bucko! Yorkton had a couple more tricks up it's sleeve. In search of gas we got turned around twice with street names that did not match Garmin, Google Maps or Gracie. Of course it was a holiday Monday and nothing was open. We finally found an escape route and headed west hoping we would find a gas station before we ran out of gas. 80 kms later we found a Co-op that was open, kind of, and refueled for the day ahead.
Tonight we are in Rosetown, 110 k's west of Saskatoon. Rosetown, now isn't that a pretty name? Oh, oh.... I think I hear thunder... .......Running back to Saskatoon, sing another prairie tune..... Tomorrow it's me and Rachel.... Can't wait....
A couple of pics to share with you....
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| Yet another prairie thunderstorm. I shot this photo this evening from the parking lot at our motel here in Rosetown, Sk. |
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| Hard to do this scene justice with such a small photo. The contrast between the yellow Canola fields , the blue sky and the thunderheads is stunning in real life. This photo is from the Wynyard, Sk. area. |
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| Lesser Yellowlegs, Quill Lake, Saskatchewan |
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| Marble-Godwit at Wynyard, Saskatchewan |
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