Having now crossed Canada’s middle prairie province (kind of like Middle Earth), we thought it was appropriate to pass on a few reflections. So in no particular order, here’s our top ten discoveries while travelling through ‘Rider Nation’:
- Saskatchewan is the most difficult Canadian province to spell. But on the flip side, it’s the easiest to draw (basically a trapezoid).
- No matter how much you scrub your windshield at a gas station, there’s nothing short of a firehose that can remove prairie bugs in summer.
- The Saskatchewan economy is doing alright – some farmers are actually quite wealthy. And the nice thing is that they all seem totally down to earth. EXCEPT that every single one of them owns a massive 40 foot fifth wheel trailer that they park at provincial parks for the entire summer, treating it as a cottage property. Come on guys, that doesn’t leave much room for the rest of us…
- Following on from no. 3, Saskatchewan campsites are mostly equipped with electricity. In other words, NO GENERATOR NOISE. Hallelujah! Sites also come with free firewood so we regularly enjoyed the all-day campfire as mosquito deterrent.
- Like many cities and towns across Canada and the US, there’s a lot of ‘big stuff’ tourist attractions in Saskatchewan. But we were really impressed that someone came up with a world record-setting piece of stationary.
- Make sure to keep your head up when walking through parking lots in Saskatchewan. Despite the laid-back image, farmers are always in a hurry when they’re shopping and they don’t seem to mind road kill.
- The summers in Saskatchewan are amazing – hot hazy days punctuated by one thunderstorm after another. And despite being in ‘big sky’ country, we rarely saw one coming until the sky went black, the radio broadcasted a severe tornado warning and we were being hammered with marble-sized hail stones.
- Saskatchewan has one professional sports team – the Canadian Football League’s Roughriders. As such, just about every provincial citizen dresses in Rider green on game day, has banners waving from houses and cars, and cheers on the home team like giddy teenagers at a Justin Bieber concert. Interestingly, this loyalty is unwavering despite the team’s performance – while we were there, the Riders were pounded 41-3 by the Montreal Alouettes. Ouch.
- The Cathedral in Regina was impressive. More impressive was their sense of humour.
- People from Saskatchewan are about as friendly as they come – it’s hard to beat Prairie hospitality. Worth a visit!
Bear's Groove 