Saskatchewan and big skies

(Historic elevator at museum outside N. Battleford)

We had a great day crossing Saskatchewan from Yorkton to Lloydminster. The day started out dampish and grey, but we soon pulled out from under it into huge blue skies. Saskatchewan was a bit of revelation to us both, especially after the endless prairie of the day before. The landscape along the Yellowhead is a charming mix of fields, woods, sloughs and even some big lakes. And always the sky. You can see weather happening all over the prairie. It was charming and we would like to come back and spend more time exploring it.

For lunch we went right into downtown Saskatoon and ate beside the river. My good friends Wayne and Carol were born here, so it was nice for me to see where they came from. My sister-in-law's parents are also here and my brother and family come here often. It's a pretty city with a good vibe. Sitting on the banks of the N. Saskatchewan River, the prairie seems distant. I can see how two Saskatooners could settle in southern Ontario and feel quite at home. There isn't as much difference as I'd assumed in the two landscapes (at least not in summer).

As we approached Lloydminster, our destination for the day, a cold front was approaching, bringing big black clouds and heavy rain. For a while I thought we might dodge it. The highway would curve and we'd be heading right for the middle of it and then curve again and it would look like we might sneak by. But finally it hit. Huge amounts of water with a little planing happening as we hit inches of water on the road, which got the adrenaline flowing.

The campsite was on the far side of Lloydminster (the Alberta side). It was private and incredibly well maintained. They catered mostly to itinerant workers in the oil industry who lived in very large trailers. Five of them had even spent last winter there. We were able to have hot showers and even gets some laundry done (several notices above the laundry machines asking campers not to wash clothing covered in oil and gas). We pitched the tent on an enormous expanse of the most perfect lawn I'd seen since they banned 2-4-D — which I could smell wherever I walked.