Today we made several short stops on our entry to Saskatchewan.
We started with a stop in Elkhorn Manitoba. There is an elk to greet you at the town marker. There is also an antique car museum that has won some civic pride awards.
Rocanville Saskatchewan is the site of the biggest oil can in the world. It is there not because we are in oil country, but because there is oil can factory there.
Yes, there is oil here. We saw a dozen wells or so on our way to Rocanville. We also saw several wind turbines. These are the first we see since leaving Ontario. I am not saying there are none in Manitoba, just that there were none on our route.
Somewhere along the way, we stopped at a level train crossing. We were first at the gate so I could count all 178 cars go by. Ah all those train memories coming back again. Some time later, we were running parallel to a train. The train was going about 90kph and we were going 95. Though it was a very long train, we almost had time to pass it from end to end before a turn. This gives you an idea how long the roads are straight here.
We stopped for lunch in Wapella. Nice little town with a centennial project park. It had a few picnic tables and the weather was suitable to an outdoor lunch. In the last 2 days, Saskatchewan has broken 100 year old high temperature records. You will find this nicely decorated park just off SOUTH RAILWAY DRIVE. I say that because most towns on the tracks have a North Railway street and a South Railway street.
Our next stop was Indian Head . . . We had to see the big Indian Head. Take the turnoff for SK highway 56 and the head will greet you.
Keep going down that road (sk 34) 3km to find the bell historic circular barn. No more details here. You will either have to visit or ask Google.
We then proceeded North on that same road (sk 34) through the Qu’Appelle river valley. This is a must scenic route. You drop about 200metres in elevation and travel about 20km on a winding road along the river. A good drive in any season.
From there, we headed to Regina to plan our trip to the Big Muddy Badlands. As I am going over my notes, I see we missed an attraction. We failed to stop in Kipling to see the “TRADE A RED PAPER CLIP FOR A HOUSE” . There are some things we need to reserve for the next cross country trip . . . Guy