The trip home was 10 days, and the return was the same 12 hours we had going to Miami but in reverse. Immigration in Calgary was easy with the Arrive Canada app already filled in allowing us to clear in with no lines! And there was Axel at the arrival to pick us up as planned. We were back in Saskatoon and ready to restart our travels.
Many people may not have even heard of Saskatoon. In fact, when I was working on our flight plans, I called American to ask if they had a partner airline in Saskatoon to connect to American. The agent on the phone admitted that she hadn’t heard of Saskatoon. I responded that it is one of the main cities in Saskatchewan to which she also admitted that she had not heard of that either. So, let’s go see what they are missing and educate everyone a little.
We still had two days in the schedule to see some of Saskatoon. And we had some advice about what to see.
Starting off, we took the extra time to sleep late and got up for breakfast of pancakes. With no milk in the fridge, Gail improvised with a coffee creamer and water mix. And it really worked. Up and about and full, we headed into downtown Saskatoon to do some exploring.
The first stop was at a local Farmers Market that had been recommended. We found some baked goods and fresh vegetables and fruits. Gail was happy to be able to buy a variety of plums as she always has a hard time choosing which type to buy. I got a carrot cake and banana bread for me!
Then on to the Meewasin Trail. This is a 65-mile-long trail along both sides of the South Saskatchewan River though downtown. It is mostly paved and available year-round for walkers, joggers, and bikers. And tourists! One of the main bridges across the river was closed and we saw major street closures as well on the google map. But once we got to town, we found it was only because of the bridge. And being Sunday morning, there was plenty of parking!
We headed first along the trail to the famous Bessborough Hotel. Our friends, Howard and Lynn (remember from Salt Spring Island), had gone to school at the University of Saskatchewan and mentioned attending lots of parties at the hotel. So off we went. But it was closed! It has been purchased by Marriott and is going through a full upgrading and restoration all summer. But the famous “castle on the river” exterior built in the 1930’s was still amazing with its gables and turrets.
We took some extra time to walk through downtown toward the train depot. Gail especially like the flower arrangements along every intersection. We saw the Canada Building which had originally been the tallest building west of Winnipeg when built in 1913, and it was enhanced with busts of buffalo along the second story buttress. Almost next door was Land Title building which was the oldest government building in Providence. And back at the trail was a time capsule from the 100-year anniversary of the city in 1982. And it had a reopening date at the 150th anniversary in 2032!
We continued along the trail for about another mile or so looking for the river weir (or low dam). One reason it was recommended was to see the local white pelican flock and a second reason for its engineering design to control the river. We had bit of trouble finding it since the apple map showed it about ½ a mile from where it actually is, but we finally reached the overlook. It was famous enough that Prince Charles (now King Charles) had visited the weir and overlook personally during a royal visit. We think we may have seen one pelican but definitely did see some Canadian geese, gulls and cormorants.
We walked back to the car by the Ukrainian Museum. We had been told there was a large Ukrainian population here. The museum wasn’t open, but the exterior designs were very interesting. Being late in the day, we headed back to the RV. But on the way, we spotted a small park overlooking the river and decided to take a look. It gave a larger and higher view of the river and a nice ending to our visit.
To end the evening, we took Axel and Roxanne to dinner as thanks for the chauffeur service. We walked next door past the gas station to a little place called 50 Shots. I wasn’t sure whether it was for guns or tequila!? Turned out it was the latter thankfully. We had a nice casual dinner and talked a lot about RVing and our travels. Thanks again!
The next day we headed back downtown. When asking Howard what to see (like we did last year in Swift Current), he gave us a few scavenger hunt places to check out mostly around the campus. While searching for things to do in Saskatoon, Gail had already found a reference to a Boffin Garden at the University of Saskatoon. So, we decided to combine our Bradbrooke scavenger hunt and also hunt for the garden. One reference said it closed at noon, which seemed odd. We were pleasantly surprised to find a small garden surrounding a Koi pond and it was open. There were some water hyacinths that we do not remember seeing before. A very nice reflective area. Gail felt that if she had been a student here, she would have spent a lot of time there. Nearby was another fountain and yet another new flower, a sacred lotus.
We also saw a small falcon, probably a Merlin guarding his catch. We couldn’t quite tell what he had, but he let us get fairly close because he was guarding it.
Then onto the Bradbrooke part of the scavenger hunt. He had not been back to the city for over 60 years, but he had given us a street corner where his grandfather lived. We found the corner but had to send pictures to confirm the house! The street was lined with large trees and nice homes. Then back to the campus with only the information that the dorm was a few blocks north of his grandparent’s house. Again, pictures helped. We took pictures of the only older buildings in the area, and we were all surprised that one of them was the dorm! Thanks for the fun, Howard.
A quick stop at Walmart on the way back to the RV and we settled in to get ready for our drive to Grasslands. This will be a long straight drive south so not much to see. But we ended up with two stops along the way.
The first was a bit of a surprise as we crossed the Saskatchewan River valley. This spot was famous as a river crossing back to pre-settlement times. The natives would bring their goods and possessions to this narrow crossing in wagons. At the crossing, they would convert the carts to rafts using the wheels as floats. Later there was a more formal ferry set up to handle the crossings until a bridge was built. The area now is a small park, so we decided to stop for lunch.
Continuing on, the road went through Swift Current again. And we wanted to report back on the city for our friends Howard and Lynn (it is their hometown) to let them know it was still there and in good shape. Took a photo of the golf club and sent it to him!! With that done, we headed to Val Marie and our check-in to the park.
If you remember, we were in The Grasslands National Park last year in the rain. We were excited to see the stars due to the area’s dark sky status. But along with the clouds from the rain, there was also a full moon. Therefore, no stars! So, this year I picked this specific date because it was going to be a new moon. And hopefully no rain!
We made it to Val Marie Visitor Center, got our pad assignment and maps, and headed into park. This trip was different without the rain although that made the last 10 miles dusty vs muddy. But the prairie dogs were definitely out and about. The RV parking is in the middle of the park with 20 electric only pads. And we were there with about 9-10 other campers including some with only tents or camping in their car.
We got “hooked” up and settled in for the evening. Gail whipped up a tuna casserole just for me, and we sat outside after dinner until it got too cool. We went to bed with an alarm to get up at 12:30 to check the sky. We got up and put on some warm sweats and stepped out into the dark night. But it was not really dark enough. There was a haze on the horizon from either smoke or a thin cloud layer that was holding in the light just a little. If you looked straight up, the major constellations were visible. Casseopeia was the brightest with the Big Dipper and hence the North Star also visible. But not really much else.
We went back to bed with a 2:30 alarm set! I got up just to check the things again and found that a cloud layer had completely covered the sky with nothing to be seen! Oh well. Next time.
Up and ready to go the next morning, we decided to drive the Back Country Loop and go to the Borderlands Lookout. We did not do this drive last year because the rain caused the park to close the road, so this was our chance. The drive is a loop south toward the Montana border through the park. We pulled off the loop, parked at the end of the gravel road, and then walked to overlook where there were 2 of the iconic Canada Red Chairs that you find in a place of great views. We sat and ate our breakfast banana bread with a nice coffee and enjoyed chairs and the view.
To me it is interesting to note that we were at 49 deg 1 min 45 sec North at this overlook. Knowing that the border between Canada and the US is at 49 deg even. Doing the math, that is only about 1.5 miles from Montana and we could see across the valley to the hills there.
We completed the loop along the high plateau with more great vistas and saw some wildlife; 3 deer, a rattlesnake, horses, cows, prairie dogs and lots of birds. Gail wanted some of the wildflowers, but they were covered with ants!
Back home and a quick lunch, we headed for a partial hike of the Timbergulch Trail. It is a normal hike of about 15 miles, but we decided to go out about 2-3 miles and look for the buffalo that had been sighted in the area. It was a good hike, and we did spot 2-3 buffalo with binoculars in the distance across the river. We did one more short hike and saw another (or maybe the same) buffalo and called it a day.
The next morning, we did a short walk just outside of the RV park and found 2 more red chairs. The view there was okay but many of the fields had been cut and baled which took away some of the real grandeur. Ready more adventures (and because the forecast was more rain!), we headed out. We stopped at the visitor center again and learned that there were about 500 buffalo in the park, but they normally try to keep it down to 350 or so. And they were currently up in the upper regions of the park and would not come down until the grazing there became insufficient for the herd.
And that was it for our Canada legs this year. We stopped at the Val Marie grocery to spend the last of our Loonies on some good muffins and a good BLT sandwich! Just a bit further south was the Immigration station, and we crossed back into the US and on to our next stop in Montana.
