SASKATCHEWAN

We are always asked "how did you overcome the boredom of the prairies ?".
Anyone who asks has never seen Saskatchewan up close. Beautiful  rollong roads (no, not flat) incredable skies, friendly people.

Day 22 June 17 Tompkins to Herbert 128km.

6:45 start . Biked to Gull Lake for coffee. It’s lovely getting on the road early. Very little traffic and lots of wild life. The road is lined with small natural ponds full of birds of many kinds. Also lots of deer who aren’t very timid. We are again taking the same route as the cross Canada railway and are very impressed at how important they must be to the Western Provinces. We stopped at Swift Current McDonalds for milkshakes (caution: very addictive). It was very hot again today and tonight there is a very stiff wind. The lady who runs the campground we are at raises apacas, a four-legged animal resembling llamas. Bob broke a brake cable today and we don’t have a spare.

Day 23  Herbert to Moosejaw    141km
Woke up early to watch the big red sun creep over the horizon.
With a little crosswind the going was a little tougher than yesterday. We stopped in Chaplin for coffee after 45km .  Another 42km later , we stopped in Mortlach for lunch. As we left the restaurant the skies opened and a great thunder and lightening storm started.We managed to shelter for the worst of the storm then donned our wet gear and continued on our way. After another 20km Jean got a flat tire. Instead of fooling around in this miserable weather, Bob decided to install a new tube. Being the rear wheel it took a little longer and being windy and miserable may have contributed to a flawed job that had to be repeated ten minutes later. Because of the unsettled weather, we decided to stay in a motel. After showering, we found out the restaurant was closed and had to get back on our bikes to seek out food. We biked down main street where a big parade was about to start and the street was lined with people. Had an expensive beer in a pub and went to a delicious Thai meal. Rained all night.


Day 24  June 19  Rest day in Moose Jaw
Woke up to a beautiful day so we moved to a campsite. Bob repaired his bike and Jean purchased a swimsuit. Bob bought a hot dog from a street vender who was very talkative and when he heard what we were doing he gave us each a bottle of water.We took a quick walk through Crescent Park before visiting the tunnels. The tunnels were a disappointment  and we returned to the campsite.

Day 25  June 20  Moose Jaw to Wayburn    152km

Woke up to dark clouds. It started to rain as we left the campground. We could see blue skies ahead and managed to avoid heavy rain. We left highway 1 today and headed south on highway 39. We encountered crosswinds which made the going tough.The road was long and straight, which made judging distances difficult. We each made a guess at how far a grain elevator was (Jean 3km, Bob 5km) and finally arrived there in 9.5km only to find out we had arrived at Dog River and the elevator and gas station accross the street were the site where Corner Gas was filmed (you have to be Canadian to understand).
The next 50km went quickly with a good tailwind. The next 30km were in cross and headwinds. By the time we reached Weyburn we were totally exhausted. We were going to stop at Yellow Grass but the campsite had no facilities, so we pressed on to River Park campground. Rained all night.

Day 26   June 21  Rest day in Wayburn  
Woke up to find out tent sitting in a puddle of water. The wind was still blowing and in the wrong direction so we decided to take another day off and dry out. Bob's running shoes were soaking wet so we visited Wall Mart to buy a new pair. Spent most of the day reading and sending E-mails. Chinese buffet tonight.

Day 27  June 22  Weyburn to Redvers    166 km
6:00 start today.

The wind has calmed and it looks like a  good day.Took highway 13 to Redvers.Although the road is long and straight it is far from boring. We passed hundreds of gas pumping stations. Marshland lines the way, teaming with waterfoul and birds. We did our first 100 mile day today. Finished our day on 45km of new road.

Redvers has a nice campground with a hugh statue of a mountie on a horse. There is a log cabin where one can buy pottery and Saskatoon pie.. The very friendly lady there phoned the local newspaper and we had our first of several interviews. The article ended up taking the whole of the front page and half the second. Fame at last.
(See article - page 1)
(See article - page 2)


Day 28     June 23   Redvers to Souris Manitoba  115km

Woke up at 5:00 to dark skies and favourable heavy winds. As we packed up it started to rain. We did 45km before stopping for breakfast in Reston. Crossed into Manitoba without knowing.

Highway 13 became highway 2 . unpaved shoulder but road not too busy. The crosswinds were so strong they made the wheatfields look like rough seas.

We camped in the nicest municipal campground (Victoria Park) of our whole trip.We were surrounded by geese, ducks and peacocks. We walked across a 102 year  old suspensoin bridge over the Souris river. A duck built her nest right next to our tent and promptly filled it with 12 eggs.That must have hurt !