In mid November, we headed north into
the great unknowns (at least to us). Our intentions were to zoom up
to Saskatoon Saskatchewan to visit Nancy, friends from Liz's
Susquehanna U days. We drove north but made sure to plan smart. Since
we were crossing the border the day after Trump became President
elect, we dropped the camper and non-essential gear in Malta MT at
Al's Mini Storage. It cost about $60 for a month of storage which was
fine by us; it gave us the ability to ease us through the border
crossing. The Canadian border patrol were still skeptical of our
travel plans since we don't have jobs or a house that ties us to come
back to the US. They searched our car thoroughly along with a search
of our cell phones (which is a mild invasion of privacy but what can
ya do). After two hours of friendly interrogations, we made it across
and met Nancy at her fiancee's parents house in Swift Current SK.
From there, we were welcomed with open arms from an amazing family. A
day trip to the Froslie Farm gave the doggo's an opportunity to
stretch their legs and for the adults to play with some fun farm
toys. Liz and Nancy operated the two seater while I worked the quad.
It was a blast zipping around the fields and orchard. And speaking of
doggo's, Ziggy and Timber got along great since the moment they met.
Lets go buddy!
Another Canadian adventure while we
were in town was to visit Prince Albert National Park. In case you
are unaware, Saskatoon and its surrounding farm land is incredibly
flat and lack of tree life. Prince Albert NP was a densely forested
lake in the 'hills' north of the city. We got to walk a few short
trails and climb a viewing tower which gave a nice vantage point from
above. Other activities we enjoyed while visiting our friends to the
north was the Saskatoon Zoo which was free and had pretty good
exhibits and a very friendly red panda. We also went to the Festival
of Trees which displayed a range of crafted Christmas trees on
display and for sale too. It was in a expo center which also had a
historic boom town recreation built in it including shops you would
walk through and see how life in the past was.
Prince Albert NP
A forest trail in PA NP
The best part of the trip though was
the ability to be with warm friendly people during the holidays. We
were able to celebrate Friendsgiving with Nancy, Jessie and a handful
of their close friends who could make it. For the event, the house
spared no expense on a beautiful turkey, all the fixins and a
boatload of booze that mostly went untouched. With Canadian company,
we played Cards Against Humanity with some of the card references
being misunderstood or under appreciated. Apparently they have a
Canadian version with things that probably would relate more to their
northern pop culture. The day before real Thanksgiving, we packed our
gear and headed south the border to reunite with the gnome in Malta.
We spent about two weeks in Saskatchewan which gave us a great
opportunity to meet with friends, make new ones and get our plans
straightened for the next leg of the trip down the Pacific Coast, a
venture which is currently turning out to be much different than the
plans called for. Read more about our Montana miscalculations and
other near disasters from the north in the next post.
Heading out of Saskatoon with frost nipping at our heels
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