The 7th and 8th Province for my home on wheels

Calgary, Canada

It’s now Friday evening and I’m settled into my spot just west of Calgary on the hillside where the 88 Olympic ski jump was held and where there is still a training facility. The campground is in a lovely setting and it’s clear it used to be a KOA by the design of the buildings and site. It is packed to the rafters but because of the slope and trees it doesn’t feel crowded.

But backtracking just a little, yesterday I started in Brandon, Manitoba (did I mention that is where my Mother was born just a few years ago) and my first stop was a visit with the good folks at Pik-A-Dilly RV Centre. What great people. They had my plastic moulding fixed in just 30 minutes with minimal cost, and I was on my way. Got some great advice from them about some accessories I could buy at CamperWorld in the States.

Not long on the road I was already seeing my first oil pump-jack near Virden (where I got a massive speeding ticket once – I learned from that experience) and crossed over into Saskatchewan. People always think of Saskatchewan as being flat as a pancake. And in vast parts it is. But for long stretches along the TransCanada Highway the countryside is rolling with ever changing colours of green and yellow and browns with big blue skies. Some have said to me that it must be boring driving across the prairies, but to be truthful I love it and find there is always something to see. The farmers working the fields, cowboys moving along the herd using ATVs and working on the fences. Small towns dot the landscape and the odd elevator along the train line. Places like:

Indian Head, incorporated back in 1902, and which at one time was the largest point of initial shipment of wheat in the world. Today perhaps more relevant is that the television sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie which aired on the People’s Network (CBC) 2007-12 was filmed partly in Indian Head.

Chaplin, on Chaplin Lake, is home for huge numbers of shorebirds. The main business of Chaplin are harvesting the sodium sulphate deposits of Chaplin Lake through an evaporation method and another company catches and packages the brine shrimp that thrive in the salt water of Chaplin Lake. There is some synergy there because both of these industries help preserve the water supply to support the needs of the shorebirds.

Morse, nothing to do with Morse Code and not known for much of anything except this great looking elevator.

Many of the small towns boast their contribution to the NHL or the curling world. I heard on the radio that Saskatchewan contributes more players to the NHL than any other province. I don’t know if that’s true or has some qualifiers such as “per capita” but seeing as many signs as you do would indicate there must be some truth to it.

I stopped for the night in Swift Current, and I’m not afraid to admit I cheated a little. I stayed in a lovely motel last night. I had been without good wifi for so long that I needed to catch up on planning the next few weeks of my trip and getting caught up on some emails, etc. Also, glad to use a shower that you didn’t have to wear your flip flops into.

I didn’t get underway too early this morning, luxuriating in the simple motel amenities, and free breakfast. It was a great travel day, although it was brutally hot along the way which caused a haze rather than the usual blue prairie skies. As I got closer to Calgary, though, it got cooler and cooler and it was pretty dark and stormy when I arrived. I got set up just as it was starting to spit a little, and I expected to be spending the evening inside and not able to BBQ the steak I had planned for dinner tonight. Within about 20 minutes it started to clear and it’s now much later and I did BBQ that steak and veggies from brother Rae’s garden and I’m still sitting outside enjoying the clear, blue sky, and cooler air.