Western Road Trip – Hiding out in Saskatoon

July 2, 2021

In the end, I decided to head straight to Saskatoon instead of trying to camp because the forecast was calling for 35 degrees on July 1st, and 39 degrees today. I would rather be camping, but decided that it was better to err on the side of caution and stay cool in an air-conditioned hotel room!

For the past two weeks I have been travelling mostly on secondary highways and gravel roads, and have often been the only one on the road except for a few local pickups and work trucks, so it was a change to drive the busy and fast freeway between Regina and Saskatoon. I was happy though as the scenery continued to delight me and I saw my first field of blue-flowered flax and several beautiful hawks soaring. I was also entertained for a time by the radio and enjoyed Jack FM’s, Sherry & Woody’s Canada Day Countdown of the “Greatest Canadian Artists of all Time” (“more Canadian than a heritage moment” said Sherry). I don’t necessarily agree with the countdown line-up, derived from listener votes on social media platforms, but it was very fun to listen to some classic Canadian tunes while zooming along in central Saskatchewan! Here is the Countdown playlist in case you’re curious!

10. April Wine – Sign of the Gypsy Queen

9. Loverboy – Everybody’s Working for the Weekend

8. Kenny Shields (Streetheart) – Under my Thumb

7. BTO – Takin’ Care of Business (very big when I was in Junior High!)

6. Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know

5. Rush – Closer to the Heart

4. Burton Cummings (Guess Who) – American Woman

3. Neil Young (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) – Ohio

2. Bryan Adams – Summer of ’69

1 Tragically Hip – Courage

I made one stop on the two and a half hour journey when I saw a grouping of American Pelicans on a sand bar at the south end of Blackstrap Lake. They were preening themselves happily in the sun and I was very excited to watch them for a few moments.

Upon arrival in Saskatoon, I initially got a bit lost on their crazy system of freeways where multiple highways converge and split and there’s a freeway ring road with multiple names and I had to exit more than once to reorient myself!

One missed exit though meant that I drove over the Gordie Howe bridge for a stunning first view of the wide, curving, sparkling, and tree-lined South Saskatchewan River. Wow! What a river! A long, roaring train, with some double-decker cars, was running parallel to me on the adjacent train bridge as I drove along, adding to the excitement. A picture was impossible of course!

Once turned around, I successfully found my way to my planned destination, Saskatoon’s Western Development Museum – Boomtown. Largely geared to the early settler experience in Saskatchewan, this was a massive museum and very well presented. The first section was an entire fictional town, circa 1910, where you walk along on wooden sidewalks in “Boomtown” peering into more than 30 various homes and business to see artefacts from the era.

Here are some interior shots of the one room school house, pharmacy, and clockworks.

At the end of Main Street there was a beautiful old locomotive engine on tracks, and a full-sized train station with someone on the platform waiting for a train! Interpretive boards explained that the railways were critical to the existence of prairie towns and villages. It brought settlers and their necessary supplies, and transported their agricultural products to distant markets. On my travels in southern Saskatchewan I saw how many small towns have been adversely affected in recent decades with the closure of rail lines.

I spent quite a bit of time reading about the Metis and I admired the artistry of the embroidery and beadwork in these Metis garments, rifle cover, and bags. In the next few days I will be travelling to historical Metis villages and to some of the battle sites of the Metis Rebellion.

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There were old photographs and personal accounts accompanying many of the displays throughout the museum, and I spent a lot of time reading about the Depression and Dust Bowl years. This quote really caught my eye,

“In the pioneer days we were all like little boats tossing on the prairie ocean of dry land, taking a chance on success or failure in an unpredictable adventure.” C. Evans Sargent, 1955.

There was a huge gallery filled with early tractors and farming implements. This is just one small part of it!

And, finally, there was one more gallery filled with classic cars which I almost skipped (having already been in the museum for more than two hours, and thinking that I wasn’t all that interested). But, I am very glad that I didn’t skip it. What a great collection of gorgeous machines!

Now, it is too difficult to choose just a few favourites to show you, and I know several people who would love to see them all, so please just scroll through to the end if you’re not that into cars!

Now, my Highlander doesn’t quite compare to some of these beauties, but I love it anyways! It helped me to brave the Saskatoon freeway system once again and after only one misstep I found my hotel and retired for a quiet afternoon of rest and then a nice swim. Unfortunately, today I have a rather loud family beside me in the hotel and all of their noise is coming through the connecting door so I’ll sign off now and go for a short walk to see what 36 degrees feels like! All my love and best regards to friends and family in B.C. and elsewhere.