Monday September 14, 1998 - BC

Grand Forks - sunny and warm.

I crossed Alberta and reached the mountains by early to mid-afternoon. I stopped in Castlegar around 7.00pm to try to locate Josh. I talked to a lady living in his old house, then tried to get a hold of the police. The Police Office was closed but there was a phone at the front door. After hours everything is routed through Nelson, which means long distance; and because of the new long distance plans, all circuits were busy. Some of the guys at the Fire Department next door were watching from their second floor lounge and offered to help. I went in and they called the Nelson police from their phone, I guess they had a better number to call. I made my report, they said they'd be in touch.

I got gas and made a quick supper—I was starving at this point—and continued on. I pulled off the road for the night at a rest stop somewhere past Grand Forks.

Sunday September 13, 1998 - Saskatchewan

Gull Lake - sunny and warm.

I got on the road early again and drove through to a rest stop on the side of the road at Gull Lake. I've been there before so I was looking for it. It was mostly prairie driving. Once again the CD player was not working properly. If there is anywhere you want to listen to music it is driving across the prairies.

Monday July 20, 1998 - Manitoba

Ste Rose du Lac - cool, windy and rainy.

I got up early and had another shower on the theory that it was best to take advantage when you could, and then headed into Saskatoon. I got another Canada map at the CAA office and gas (expensive at $0.56 but I had Domo 4 cents off coupons), and then headed out on a back road to Manitoba, north of Dauphin. I took photos of canola and flax fields, the huge fields of yellow and blue flowers were pretty amazing.

I stopped for supper just north of Dauphin and then continued on a while and spent the night in a roadside rest area. This part of Manitoba, west of Lake Winnipegosis, is referred to as parkland. It's flat as prairie and where cleared it looks like prairie, but its natural cover is aspen and cottonwood.

Manitoba parkland

Where I ended up spending the night was in a free municipal campground on the edge of a small town east of Dauphin. Next to the campground was a large religious grotto.

Most of this part of Saskatchewan and Manitoba is largely Ukrainian with churches with cupolas and Croix de Lorraine. But the Dauphin area is French.

Sunday July 19, 1998 - Saskatchewan

Pike Lake Park - sunny and hot.

I arranged the cab of the truck so Yohan could sit in his old spot behind the bench seat. It is better shaded and gives me a little more space in the front, but means more packing and unpacking of the back of the truck. We went to see hoodoos east of Drumheller, but they weren't as interesting as the ones in Dinosaur Park.

More hoodoos

The scenery was rolling hills, short grass prairie, and beef cattle, some of them long-horned. I drove quite a long way along gravel roads before getting back onto the highway to Saskatoon. What can I say, a prairie highway. I like listening to country and western while driving this kind of highway.

I stayed at Pike Lake Park on the Saskatchewan River. It was expensive: $5 just to get into the park and then $13 for a campsite. But showers were free. I went swimming in the lake, briefly, but it was reedy and not really that nice. The showers have electric eyes that make them turn off and on automatically, and they were nicer than swimming in the lake. But I had to wait a long time in line for a shower. When I finally got back to my campsite it started to rain with thunder and lightning, so I went to bed early. But the mosquitoes bugged me all night, I have to figure out how they're getting in because I thought I had screening over all the windows and gaps.