Fall 2023: The Canadian Prairies

  

Finally, after 1,700 miles through Ontario, we crossed into Manitoba, and the beginning of the flat farmlands of the Canadian Prairies.  The provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta make up the region called the Prairies, similar to the region in the US that called the Heartland.

Welcome to Manitoba!

Just some of the flat wheat fields of Manitoba.

Tuesday, September 12:  227 miles, Town and Country Park, Winnipeg, MB

The Trans-Canada Highway all the way again.

Town and Country is a very large park that was less than half full.  Many of the sites appeared to be long term campers.  It was nicely treed and the sites were generally large.  There was lots of room to walk the dogs.

Site 229.

Typical sites at Town and Country.

There was a large field of sunflowers next to the park that was nearly ready to harvest.  From Ag Canada, the sunflower crop is doing well this year, and of the 88 million acres of sunflowers in Canada, 77 million are grown in Manitoba!

Huge field of sunflowers next door to the campground.

The sunflowers are nearly ready for harvest.

Everywhere, the Canadian geese were on the move.

Wednesday 9/13: Checking out Winnipeg.

We spent an amazing couple of hours in the Canadian Museum of Human Rights today.  The young woman who checked us in wondered where we were from.  I told her NY and that we were driving all the way across Canada to Vancouver.  She was so jealous and said that was on her bucket list someday!

At the museum, not only did we learn about the struggle for Canadian human rights, including racism, religion, individual liberties, and gender rights, the architecture was STUNNING!! The museum’s mandate states: “As the world's first museum dedicated to human rights, we are centered around the idea that respect and understanding of human rights can serve as a positive force for change in the world.” I even found the energy to walk up all 8 floors to the observation tower. However, I did take the elevator down. I know, that sounds backwards, right?

Arial view from Wikipedia.

Museum at my level.

When I reached the observation tower at the top, I saw a building fire in the distance.  The Museum attendant said it had started only about 20 minutes earlier.  Judy Googled later and found that it was an unoccupied hotel.  A side effect for us was the traffic jam trying to leave the museum because so many streets were blocked off.

From here, I happily took the elevator down.

We followed up the amazing museum visit with a Walmart grocery run. This Walmart was very frustrating because for most of the products, the prices we not listed. You were supposed to download the Walmart app and scan the codes for the price. We didn't. Let it be a surprise when we check out.

We did buy some fresh salmon and grilled it to have garden salad topped with the salmon.

            

Thursday 9/14:  189 miles, Aspen Grove, Oak Lake, MB

Another day on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Aspen Grove, site 102.

On the way today we passed the Hemo Gold Mine, one of many operated by Barrick Gold Corporation.

From Wikipedia:  "Barrick is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has mining operations in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Mali, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, the United States and Zambia".

Friday, 9/15: 239 miles, Prairie Oasis Park, Moose Jaw, SK

We crossed into Saskatchewan today.  The drive was on the Trans-Canadian Highway all the way, and again we saw miles and miles of flat wheat farmland.  Here's a factoid:  Saskatchewan is the only province with borders that are completely defined by parallels and meridians. It is located between the 49th and 60th parallels North, and the 101°21’41″ and 110th meridians West

Sooooo, Saskatchewan is technically in the Central Time Zone.   However, most of the province does not switch to Daylight Savings Time.  Therefore, our clocks say we are on Central Standard Time, which happens to be be the same as Mountain Daylight Time.  Boy, this had us scratching our heads for a bit??

The park is is actually called Prairie Oasis Tourist Complex, made up of a campground, several motel units, as well as a mobile home section.  The campground sites were level and easy to navigate, by no means fancy, but great for a short stay.  There was a lot of room to walk the dogs.

Site 239.

Never let a good stick go to waste.

The Moose Jaw moose.

Saturday, 9/16:  252 miles, Gas City Campground, Medicine Hat, Alberta

On the way today, we crossed into the Province of Alberta, and even more prairies.

Gas City Campground is probably our nicest park on the entire trip so far.  It is city owned and very reasonably priced and, above all immaculate!!  You can find some neat chainsaw art here and there around the campground.  There are miles of hiking and biking trails, gorgeous views, and lots of dog walking places.  Adjacent to the campground, the city has a 10 acre off leash dog park that was constantly in use.  To sum it up, we really really liked this park.

Gas City Park Entrance.

Site 40.

Medicine Hat is host to the world's tallest teepee at 215 feet, and it's no gimmicky tourist attraction either.  The teepee was built in Calgary for the 1988 Winter Olympics and where, according to Mysteries of Canada website "It stood in Calgary’s McMahon Stadium, where it housed the Olympic Flame during the opening and closing ceremonies".   It was relocated to Medicine Hat in 1991 and now stands on the Saamis Archeological Site.

Monday, 9/16:  183 miles, Okatoks Lions Campground, Okatoks, Alberta

A gentle drive with more prairie than you can visualize.  

Mostly Trans Canada Rt. 1 until Calgary, then south on 2A.

This campground is owned and operated by the Okatoks Lions Club.  A $2.00 per dog per day  fee is charged.  The dog fees go to support training guide dogs for the visually impaired.  The campground is located adjacent to the City owned hiking and biking trail along the Sheep River.  The river is shallow and is a wonderful place to walk the dogs.  We saw many folks out using the trail.  It was a wonderful combination of campground, mixed use trail and picnic area.

Okotoks site 21.

Local residents.

 

Sheep River.

Mixed use trail along the Sheep River.

The morning star, Venus shining brightly over the camper.

Tomorrow our 850 mile trip across the Canadian Prairies comes to an end, and the Canadian Rockies will appear.      Stay tuned for our next travel blog update about the Canadian Rockies.

Next: The Canadian Rockies  

Previous: Ontario is HUGE