Wide Load

Leaving Swift Current on Saturday morning we drove for a few miles at 70 mph behind this rig

Wide Load

We spent nearly the whole day driving by field after field of freshly rolled hay and tractors working on making more.  There appears to be several methods of securing the rolls, the most common ones I saw were a  mesh wrap around the outside or a couple of string bands around the roll.  Some rolls are completely wrapped with a white fabric-looking material. 

Passing from Manitoba into Alberta didn’t make much difference in the scenery.  There were still fields, one after another, filled with yellow blooms – canola or mustard -- and grains.  As we progressed northwestward, however, there were more hills, richer colors in the sky and trees.  Every imaginable shade of green and yellow, red roofs on white buildings, and the sky.  I haven’t seen such a sky, stretching from horizon to horizon, brilliant blue with white clouds, since we lived in Colorado.  There were more farms with cattle and ponds, houses surrounded with high stands of various trees.  In between those farms were miles and miles and miles of wide open spaces.  You could be “alone” out here.

Alone

I drove off the road, stopped and got outside to take this!  What can you say?

The railroad track follows the highway for a lot of our miles.  Trains are long and often have engines in the front, somewhere in the middle and at the rear.   They appear to be carrying grain from the huge and very photogenic elevators.  Some of those look like sailing ships with complex rigging when you see them from a distance. 

On this divided highway traffic rolls along at around 70 mph (110 kph.)  What keeps you from getting hypnotized by the miles and the scenery is the fact that this isn’t an interstate with controlled on and off ramps.  There are frequent access points for the local cross roads and rarely are there signal lights.  It’s disconcerting to be watching ahead and see a double-trailer coming across your lane as you approach at that speed.  You stay awake!

Crossing!

One of the rest stops had three markers describing the history of ranching in the area.  Here is the text of one of the markers:

The "76" Ranch

The "76" Ranch took its name from the brand it used by the Powder River Ranch in Wyoming. When Sir John Lister-Kay bought the ranch's entire herd of cattle for his land development, he kept the brand and took the name "76."

This was the site of the Crane Lake Farm., one of the ten such farms that together made up the "76" Ranch. In 1890 it was made the cattle operations headquarters.

Each farm had a two storey house, a bunk house, stable and machine shed, granary and windmill, blacksmith shop, harness room, cattle shed, sheep shed and piggery.

The "76" survived the winter of 1906-07, but lost two thirds of its cattle, its British owners sold it to Gordon, ironsides and Fares in 1909. In 1921, the "76" ranch was permanently broken up and the brand passed through a number of owners before returning to this area in 1945.

The Rest Stop

We saw a site along the highway with stacks of metal pieces that reminded us of the Erector Set of our youth.  After a few miles of speculation on whether it was something going up or something that had come down we got our answer.  A new set of high-wire poles is going up.  It really is a life-size erector set!

Erector Set

Last night at 9:15 the sun was still high in the sky.  Being this far North makes a huge difference in the length of the days.  We’re in the same time zone as my parents in Utah and at 9:30 p.m. when I talked to them it was dark there.  I had just been outside taking a great photo of the buildings behind our motel to illustrate the level of daylight.

9:15 p.m. from our back step

Today, Sunday the 22^nd, we will stay a second night in a really nice chain motel in Airdrie, Alberta doing laundry, taking Diva to the park where she can run and chase her ball and generally chilling.  Tomorrow we will head to the Banff National Park just West of Calgary, find a campground and pitch the tents for a couple of days.  There won’t be any internet access there so think of us up in the gorgeous mountains hiking and fishing and exploring.  We’ll be back with photos and updates when the internet signal goddess smiles on us again!

Waldo

Waldo

Canada has a reputation for oversized attention-getters.  We found one Thursday the 19^th in Upsala, Ontario:  Waldo the Great.  He was hanging on a post near a gas station where we stopped.  I caused some hilarity among other customers as I took several photos and tried to decipher the vandalized plaque describing Waldo.  You can see that he has had unfortunate attention from passersby.  Online I found a little detail on his history:

·         He was built in 1997 solely to draw attention and visitors to Upsala

·         He is made of steel, styrofoam, paper mache and fiberglass

·         He is 4 feet high and 12 feet long

·         A story was created for him as follows:  "Legend has it, that in 1788, Governor General Sir Jigmore appointed Marechal to capture "Big Waldo", the fish of all fish. The battle took place on the 3rd Saturday of May, 1888 and "Waldo" met his match. For many men and many ships, who dared sink a hook in Waldo's lip met their fate at heaven's gate on Lac Des Mille Lac."

(This is obviously a “fish story;” Canada has never had a Governor General named Sir Jigmore.)

Waldo in better days

 

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Canadian farmers are like many American farmers in the way they stack broken (?) equipment around the edges of fields and let it rust away. Saw a farm with seven old dump-style trucks along the edge of a field, all heading the same direction, at different stages of “overgrown.”  Are they for sale?  Does one get a better price if the vines are completely covering the cab inside and out?

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We left Ontario and entered Manitoba toward Winnipeg late Thursday, July 20.  After days of mountains, trees, lakes and two-lane undivided highways the road changed to a divided highway with two lanes in each direction.  In some places the directions were so far apart that we couldn’t see the lanes on the other side.  It also got flat.  Very flat.    

 

The Longitudinal Center of Canada:   96 degrees, 48 feet, 35 inches – is 10 miles outside of Winnipeg.  We didn't feel the bump but we saw the sign.

 

Thursday night in Winnipeg we “settled” for a Motel 6, having never stayed in one before and with pre-conceptions.  We were delighted with it.  Simple, clean, well-designed room;  very friendly and helpful staff; special treat bag to welcome The Diva; a huge sports complex right next door where we walked this morning.  Behind both was a perfect field of wheat bordered by the Assiniboine River.  The price was even reasonable.  They deserve a plug for that!

Wheat

Assiniboine River, Winnipeg



 

FLAT!

Canola



Flax

We drove all day Friday with unbelievably flat fields of wheat, strawberries, canola, corn, oats, barley and flax stretching to the horizon on both sides of the road.  How do I know what was growing??  LABELS!  The yellow canola and the blue flax were a great combination when they were planted adjacent to each other.  It’s hard to capture even a hint of the effect when snapping from a moving vehicle.

 

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This is the land of BIG tractors and farm equipment.  On one stretch of road in Portage lá Prairie we saw dealers for New Holand, Massey Ferguson, Case, John Deere, Cat, Kabota, and Allis Chalmers.  They all looked prosperous.

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There are bear-proof trash cans everywhere since we got to Canada.  After a few seasons in the weather some of them are nearly human-proof as well because of corrosion. 

We are meeting the nicest people.  Today we talked to a couple from Eastern Ontario who are driving to Vancouver on nearly the same path we are using, will be gone one month, and are returning home the same route in Northern US as we are.  We discovered that we spent the last two nights in the same towns.  She took this photo of the three of us!

5:37 p.m. Friday.  No “Mom & Pop” motels in Moose Jaw.  We’d decided to hold out for one and try it tonight, so we drove on westward hoping that one of the half-dozen small towns between Moose Jaw and Swift Current would have the perfect one.  It needs to be the 50s drive-to-your-door style, clean, have wireless access and take dogs.  Not too picky!  We found none in Caron, Mortlach, Parkbeg.  Chaplin had one for sale. None in Uren, or Morse.  Herbert had one.  As we approached it SRD was saying “YES!” while Token Liberal was shaking head “NO.”  It did have a router for wireless, peeling paint, enough space in the room for one bed, one chair and a very small table with a dorm refrigerator under it.  All looked like they had been in use since the 50s.  Token had to be “bad cop” and disappoint nice lady and SRD.  No dice!  Off to Swift Current – 20 km.  We did find a perfect one here and booked it.  It is just fine.  Whew!

Random Observations

Photos do not record VASTNESS well enough

Today was the first day of the “Mosquito Patch.”  We knew there would be mosquitos nearly everywhere we were in Canada so we did some research and found a couple of products to try.  This is one of them.  Based on a very limited data set I have to tell you that so far, it is working great.  This is a vitamin B-1 patch which gives you the protection that two weeks of tablets would provide if you use it two hours before you meet the mosquitos.  Each patch lasts about 36 hours.  We were exposed to enough flying, biting insects today to give a reasonable test and neither of us got any bites.

·         Usefullness of AAA:  Not very.  Last night we reached Smooth Rock Falls and the only motel was full.  We referred to the AAA book for Ontario. Kapukasing (the next town) had only two listed…both “name brands.”  It was getting late and we didn’t want to be on the road all night so we called ahead and reserved one.  This morning as we drove out of town we saw about five others;  more modest but perfectly fine. 

·         Standard speed limit:  90 KPH (55 MPH.)  Two-lane, undivided roads.  Most people drive the limit and it seems pointless to pass or try to “make time.”  You just end up behind a different big truck.  Use yoga breaths and enjoy the scenery.

There are a lot of BIG trucks carrying BIG machinery.  Today we saw one carrying a whole new rapid transit car.  There must be a lot of heavy industry in Canada.

·         General Motors has a “Cold Weather Development Center” in Kapukasing.  Hmmm

·         Lots of wood burning for heat leads to some prodigious wood piles and wood storage systems.  I have never seen home wood piles this big or this perfectly stacked.

·        Need to do research on what causes road mirage.

Visitor Center in Hearst, Ontario.  Hearst has a huge plywood manufacturing plant -- the main employer there.

We haven't seen any yet -- hope to.

Dogs are great travelling companions...no complaining, no backseat driving, easy to please.

Guys love the topper.  Don left the little store to see if we needed to buy ice before I paid for my stuff and I waited…and waited.  Went to see what the hold-up was and he had a stream of guys waiting to talk about and inspect the topper.  Lots of bear and fishing stories were exchanged as well!

·         On Highway 11, between Hearst and Longlac there is a nearly 200 km stretch of road with no towns.  It’s bounded by vast forests of pine and birch.  At some points we could see no vehicles in either direction.  At about the half-way point there is a dwelling with neatly-kept outbuildings.  That gets the imagination working…how to manage things like food, power, septic, gasoline, communication, human interaction?

       We spent Wednesday night, July 18, in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Cell service is BAD but everything else is good!  We took a long evening walk at a park called Prince Arthur's Landing along the waterfront of Lake Superior.   It has a number of art installations we liked but these aluminum droplets were appealing to my penchant for shiny things.  I did a little research and learned they are by artist Andy Davies, installed October, 2011 and are called “Traveller's Return.”  They are about 19 feet high.  

Prince Arthur's Landing 

Into Canada

We finally turned Diva loose from captivity.  She ran to the truck, jumped in and was ready to roll!  We made good time through New Hampshire, into the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and to the Canadian border at Derby.

It took the inspectors about a half-hour to decide we weren’t too scary and didn’t have any contraband before they let us cross.  We were allowed into Quebec, though, and headed to Montreal.  We arrived right at rush hour and a couple of creative turns allowed a little extra exploration.  We did eventually find the Trans Canadian Highway and turned to the Northwest.

We drove into the mountains and spent the first night at Mont-Tremblant.  It’s a world-class ski area but we stayed in a “down-scale” motel where we could park by the door.  Today we drove almost all day through a gorgeous reserve called La Verendrye.  We stopped for lunch at a beautiful campground and wandered through it admiring the unique way campers have decorated their sites.  It looks like the kind of place you could spend a few weeks or a summer on Grand lac Victoria.

We are sharing the road with a lot of logging trucks and other huge haulers.

As many trees as these trucks carry there are still trees as far as you can see in every direction.

Looking across Grand lac Victoria

View from our lunch spot

Through the rear-view mirror

Honoring the miners at the mining museum near Virginiatown, Ontario

Tonight we’re in Ontario after driving through mining towns that transitioned to farmland.  One of my favorite names was “Moonbeam.”  We’re in Kapuskasing…where you can walk your dog along the main highway at 9 p.m, half the town is out there with you, and its still daylight.

Happy Dog!

The Piles

This is two piles missing from the desk!

The last few days have been devoted to piles.  Some of the piles were my normally occuring piles created to hold items I'm not ready to deal with.  I can ignore those piles under normal circumstances until I am expecting house guests, on a cleaning spree, or looking for something I can't find and know I saved.  When you know someone will be staying in your house for a couple of months it's easier to see those piles and realize they look like "clutter!"  Most of those piles are gone.

Growing pile

The other piles are composed of the things that will go into the truck on Sunday night and drive away with us on Monday.  Today we moved and consolidated those piles to the garage -- staged for loading.  It doesn't look like that much until you get it all in one place!

One of us actually had a few moments of doubt about whether it would all fit.  SRD is excellent at puzzles, though, and eventually he got all of the pieces together. 

Token Liberal took photos and The Diva waited by the door worrying about the activity and concerned that she might get left behind.

It might not fit in the truck!

It's in!  There's room for even more if needed!  Tomorrow morning we roll...all of us.

Patience

The truck

A year ago, in preparation for this trip, we purchased a new truck.  After previous experiences with camper shells on pickup trucks SRD absolutely was not interested in having a heavy shell that needed to be removed or tolerated during the 95% of the time it wasn't needed.  He found an elegant solution in a soft-shell (called “Softopper”) that he can install and remove easily and independently. Today the topper was installed.  The truck has already had its routine service, so it’s now ready to go!