First of all, our hearts go out to family and friends who have been flooded out in Calgary over the past several days. Shamir has had houses on the Bow River in the past and some or all of them may have been flooded out in this recent devastation. There, but for the grace of God ...
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It seems that most cities/towns begin on or near a river, lake or ocean, mostly because travelling by canoe was the way to get someplace fast... Plenty of water for drinking and farming. The beginning of a general store, a church, government building of some sort not far behind on Main Street (just like at home, always a reminder wherever we go) much of Canada got settled this way. But, then again, the towns start to look the same as we drive through ... hoping to catch a glimpse of something special here or there. Saskatchewan has the worst roads we have driven so far.
Instead of sightseeing, we found a quiet library where it was warm, lights to read with, electricity to charge things up. Comfortable chairs, maybe better than home. Great place to sit and reflect and write down our impressions so far.
Did people travel as we do for adventure, or did they travel to get away from the limitations of the time or difficult situations? Nowadays, if we really want something badly enough ... and we put our minds to make it happen ... dreams can come true.
Prince Albert is on the North Saskatchewan River, a wonderful quiet town, one of the gateways to the north. It is famous for having elected three prime ministers of Canada ... John Diefenbaker being the best known. Sir Wilfred Laurier was also elected there -- as well as being elected in Quebec during the very same election - you could run in two separate ridings at that time! He gave up the Prince Albert seat and served from Quebec. Mackenzie King was also elected there, and did represent the riding. The only one who actually lived in P.A. was "Dief the Chief," however. We toured the house he lived in for ten years and donated to the city to be converted into a museum. In the home were a sofa and a four poster bed which had belonged to our first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. It felt like we had touched our history and it became real, how Canada became a country.
Prince Albert National Park was a treat because we spent lots of time in nature watching wildlife ... including these amazing swarms of swallowtail butterflies. Again, we were quite lucky with the weather ... but the mosquitoes made our bug zapper (looks like an electrified badminton racquet) compulsory equipment! And in the van, if a bug did get through and bite us ... we had our amazing Therapik (which we got from Lee Valley) which took the sting out of the bites surprisingly quickly and naturally.
We had hoped hoped to hang around Good Spirit Lake, but the stormy weather drove us to Yorkton, our last stop in Saskatchewan. We were relieved to find a Walmart. Whaaat??? Well, you may or may not know that many (though not all) Walmarts allow recreational vehicles to park overnight in their parking lots. We have now used that resource in a few different towns and cities. Sometimes, it's a relatively quick, safe, and easy solution as to where to overnight when it's dark and we're tired. It's surprising how relatively pleasant some of the Walmart locations can be, such as this one, with a large open field on the other end of the parking lot.
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Saskatoon. A beautiful city indeed. From the obligatory classic CN hotel, the
Bessborough, to an unexpected statue in the middle of downtown … a huge bust of
Mahatma Gandhi!
Though not as severe as in Calgary, the rain was torrential at times, waves upon waves ... When we were leaving Batoche, a historic site NE of Saskatoon, we had to turn back from one of the back country roads, and instead take an even smaller one ... which then crossed the South Saskatchewan via a single crossing back and forth ferry.
Instead of sightseeing, we found a quiet library where it was warm, lights to read with, electricity to charge things up. Comfortable chairs, maybe better than home. Great place to sit and reflect and write down our impressions so far.
Did people travel as we do for adventure, or did they travel to get away from the limitations of the time or difficult situations? Nowadays, if we really want something badly enough ... and we put our minds to make it happen ... dreams can come true.
Prince Albert is on the North Saskatchewan River, a wonderful quiet town, one of the gateways to the north. It is famous for having elected three prime ministers of Canada ... John Diefenbaker being the best known. Sir Wilfred Laurier was also elected there -- as well as being elected in Quebec during the very same election - you could run in two separate ridings at that time! He gave up the Prince Albert seat and served from Quebec. Mackenzie King was also elected there, and did represent the riding. The only one who actually lived in P.A. was "Dief the Chief," however. We toured the house he lived in for ten years and donated to the city to be converted into a museum. In the home were a sofa and a four poster bed which had belonged to our first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. It felt like we had touched our history and it became real, how Canada became a country.We had hoped hoped to hang around Good Spirit Lake, but the stormy weather drove us to Yorkton, our last stop in Saskatchewan. We were relieved to find a Walmart. Whaaat??? Well, you may or may not know that many (though not all) Walmarts allow recreational vehicles to park overnight in their parking lots. We have now used that resource in a few different towns and cities. Sometimes, it's a relatively quick, safe, and easy solution as to where to overnight when it's dark and we're tired. It's surprising how relatively pleasant some of the Walmart locations can be, such as this one, with a large open field on the other end of the parking lot.
More on Saskatchewan to come, but since we're so late with this one, here's what you get for now!
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