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[Ron]

Week 41: Ending 08/24/03

Monday:
Fittingly, it is raining as we drive down the last part of the Alaska Highway and depart Dawson Creek via BC Route 2. We cross into Alberta and Mountain Time Zone. As we approach Grand Prairie, we encounter a divided highway. What a strange sight: we haven’t seen this since we were in Anchorage.

Rain changes to sun and wind, seems like 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Oil drills. Glowing Embers Travel Centre is Edmonton’s largest campground and seems one of its prettiest

Tuesday:
The West Edmonton Mall beckons us and we heed its call. What an incredible place! It covers city blocks.

Wednesday:
We awake to a gorgeous day
Fringe Festival in Old Strathcona: flame-throwing jugglers, sleight-of-hand masters, acrobats and street musicians are just a few of the entertainment choices we enjoy, The Festival actually runs for 11 days.
West Edmonton Mall again to capture it on film and video and try to view the balance we did not see yesterday. Two Arctic magpies.
Rain all night.

Thursday:
After two days of seemingly-nonstop walking, we decide to stay put for another day. It is a day of rest, reading and laundry.

Friday:
We are up and bright and early and on the Rte 16 East by 7 am. The sky is overcast, but the sun finally shines through. Our first sighting of it is as a fiery orange red ball in the hazy sky. Ron thinks the strange color is due to the wildfires raging in BC and possiblt also from those in southern Alberta.

All along Rte 16 in both Alberta and Sasketchewan, we are surrounded by farmland as far as the eye can see. Hay the color of gold seems to dominate the landscape while green and brown fields occasionally break up the monotony. These are the Prairies and the Plains of Canada.

Horrendous winds, sometimes to our advantage, but mostly a hard head wind. We later learn that gusty winds are a fact of life throughout Sasketchewan.
Sasakatoon 16 West RV Park

Wanuskewin Heritage Park

As we are leaving, Ron spots a prairie dog in the grass to the left side of the road.

Saturday:
We sign up for another night’s stay and head for downtown Saskatoon.

Sunday::
We break camp just before 12 noon and hit the road, southeast-bound for the United States. Ron has a long drive ahead of him: 357 miles to Williston, ND.

Sasketchewan is definitely Big Sky Country: the prairie seems to roll on forever on either side of us. About 50 miles before the US border, oil rigs pop up on both sides of the landscape

The last ten miles or so of SK35 is in terrible condition: frost heaves, broken tar. This is what we expected Alaska roads to be like! The Canadian customs officer tells us it is in good condition now, we should see it in the spring! Unfortunately, our American customs officer confiscated our newly purchased Canadian roast beef. We have been eating Canadian beef products throughout our stay with no worries. Joan purchased deli roast beef for the trip into the Dakotas, having heard that the US ban on Canadian beef was lifted, except on live animals. Such is not the case, at least our border crossing.