From Lloydminster, AB, we crossed into Lloydminster, SK.  That’s right!  The Provencial border goes right down Meridian Ave and divides the city almost in half.  It’s an interesting story.  They were originally 2 separate cities when the border was established in 1905.  They were incorporated into a single municipal town in 1930.  I didn’t realize this until I googled to find out which Providence Lloydminster was actually in!  Imagine my surprise! 

Anyway, we passed through not knowing its uniqueness and headed a little north to the town of Meadow Lake.  I had picked it as a stopping point without any real reason except it was in a good stopping distance and had a lake.  It turned out to be a small town and a quiet RV park. 

It was just planned as an overnight, so we got in, set up, and a neighbor RVer recommended to try a Boston Pizza for dinner.  We had not heard of this chain until our Canadian travels even though it has its US headquarters in Dallas and is named Boston’s Pizza there.  It has a much bigger menu than expected with more than just pizza and we decided to try the fall off the bone BBQ ribs.  And it was good.  Maybe not Texas or even Miami’s Flanagan’s versions of good, but still good!!

The next day we were up early and decided to check out the Meadow Lake Regional Park but realizing that beyond the visitor center it was going to be an unpaved road, we decided to just head back to the RV and go to our next stop.

After a short hop, we arrived at Big River.  Again I had no expectations but selected this town for its location and it had a river!  We got settled and went out for a walk downtown and to the river park.  The town is smaller than Meadow Lake and located right on Cowan Lake which is about 30 miles long and is fed by the Big River.  There was also an RV campground at the park. 

Also in the park on display was the “Beth Kaye”, the last log tug boat used on the lake to move log booms down the lake to Big River where the mill was located.  It was used until 1969 and after sitting in disrepair, it was donated to the city for restoration and the display.

Next to the tug was a mile marker post with various cities and distances shown.  The most interesting was the sign for Salt Spring Island where we had met up with our friends Howard and Lynn!  And showing how far we had come since then.  For you non-metric readers, that is just over 1100 miles!  Pretty cool.

We had two days in Big River and had seen pretty much all to see.  So the next day we went into relax mode.  We slept late, had our special pancake Sunday breakfast, worked on the blog, cleaned up email and then walked to the post office a few blocks away to post a birthday card to our great grandson, Draven, before calling it a day! 

And then to our surprise, we rechecked our schedule and realized our flight to Miami was a day earlier than we had planned.   What that meant was we had one day to get to Saskatoon, get settled, get packed and find a way to the airport! 

We drove the 150 miles to Langham, SK early the next morning.   In looking for routes, there was really only one way to go that was fully paved.  However, when Gail checked if it was paved, the answer was yes, it was, but that it routinely rated in the list of worse roads in SK.  And it lived up to that!  But we did see lots of Canola fields and also some Bison!

The RV park is outside of Saskatoon and located about 20 miles from the airport.  The location was good.  But we needed a way to get there or decide to drive the Jeep and pay for the long-term parking.  We tried Uber and found there was no service from Langham. And we couldn’t get a taxi either. 

Then we met Axel!  He lives full time in the park all summer and just happened to walk by.  We talked about the park and the area.  Then I asked about how to get to the airport.  He started to give me directions which I already knew.  Then I asked about rides and he said, “I’ll take you”!  I didn’t want to impose and said I’ll see about any other ways.  At the laundry room, Gail met the park owner and had the same conversation about getting a ride.  When she mentioned Axel’s offer, everyone said “take it”!  I went to visit Axel at their RV and said I would accept his offer if 1) he would also come pick us up when we got back and 2) let me take him to dinner as well as a thank you!  He agreed to both and we had a plan.

He was at the door at 5:30 the next morning as we were just getting dressed!  So, he waited while we finished prepping.  We had packed everything already and didn’t take long to get on the road.  Axel knew just where to go and got us there earlier than planned but better than late!

We made our 3 flights and after 12 hours of travel, settled into our home for the first time in about 10 weeks.  We had some business to attend to, some medical things to get done, and of course meet friends.   Gail was also happy to see some of her orchids in bloom.

So, this is a good place to finish, and we’ll see you back in Canada in a about a week. Caio!