End of the Road… for now

We did it! Made it safely ‘home’ (to Peter and Shane’s house in High River) on Saturday, finishing our summer road trip in 27 days and 3000 miles. We found a whole lot of wonderful country on our journey and crossed a few places and sights off our ‘must-see’ list, including but not limited to: Flin Flon, Thompson, Churchill, polar bears, tundra, train travel and most of Manitoba.

Under a prairie sky

Now for the catch-up story. When we reached Thompson after our 17-hour train ride south from Churchill, Jim was not well. His summer cough had returned. So we booked another night at the Best Western and he stayed bundled up, resting for 24 hours. That seemed to do the trick. However, the delay meant we had a 375-mile drive to get to Winnipeg and needed to do it in one day. If you’ve followed our summer blogs you’ll know that an 8-9 hour drive doesn’t compute for us – but we did it and we’re proud of it.

            Winnipeg is under construction. We found The Forks – where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers converge, the reason Winnipeg is where it is – and had a lovely hour biking around and lunching. Then we made the mistake of trying to find the museum. Downtown is under construction; every street is torn up and those that aren't are one-ways going the wrong way; no parking except reserved; traffic is backed up to Toronto; and it was hotter'n'hell out there. It took us an hour to get the heck out of Dodge and make it back to the hotel.

Monument to a paper clip

            Two days in Winnipeg was enough for us so we started our trip westward, staying a night each in Brandon, Regina, Swift Current and Lethbridge. When possible we took the small, two-lane roads and were well rewarded for the extra time involved. In particular we enjoyed Highways 48 and 393. On 48 we discovered Kipling, the town that had a large part in the true story of Kyle MacDonald, who started with a small red paper clip and – in 14 online trades – ended up with a house in Kipling. Really. Google it. The house is now a quaint restaurant where we had lunch and, of course, we stopped to admire the world’s largest paper clip in the town park.

            Highway 393 was much longer, narrower and in pretty rough shape, but it delivered us to Old Wives Lake and the long-abandoned schoolhouse on a lonely hill. We stopped for a picnic lunch and listened to the wind in the willow bushes. Did you know there's a Coyote Capital of Canada? There is: Hodgeville Saskatchewan. Then it was on again, anxious to see our first glimpse of the Rockies in Alberta. We were sad but glad to be back in our home province once again.

            We stopped in Claresholm to visit Mom and I’m so happy to report that she’s doing well, smiling as usual and looks great.

Old school house near Old Wives Lake

Wild Game Report

Not much. In fact, from the time we left Prince Albert we didn’t see any game at all – if you don’t count the polar bear and beluga whales at Churchill – until we were south of Grand Rapids where we spotted a lonely deer at the side of the road. Then nothing until west of Swift Current and a herd of 30-40 antelope upped the count. I think we’ll have to get back to the ranch to see the animals.

 End-of-Road Syndrome?

            Jim and I seem to have a penchant for seeking out the ends of roads. Examples: This summer we drove to Thompson, then traveled by train to Churchill. There are no roads much beyond Thompson and nothing at all beyond Churchill. In past trips we’ve been to Inuvik (end of the Dempster Highway), the end of the road past Yellowknife, Kukal (a tiny village in south India at the end of a mountain road), Prince Rupert B.C., Homer Alaska, South Point on the Big Island, Polipoli on Maui, Tofino on Vancouver Island. Long drives. Abrupt stops. Incredible memories.

            We have another month here in Alberta; we plan to spend most of it at the ranch. Thanks for coming along for the ride.