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Published: August 8th 2010
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agronomy - the science of soil management and the production of field crops.
O.K, so after leaving my parents in Lacombe on August 3, 2010 at 5:00 pm, we headed straight east, towards Saskatchewan. Went through Stettler and Castor. Mine and Rene's first home as a married couple was in Stettler. We lived in a little one bedroom apartment for only a couple of months before moving back to Lacombe. Roared through Castor. Mom and Dad owned and operated the Grey Goose Motel there for 5 years, so each of these places has some special meaning for us.
Just after we left Castor we became "Storm Chasers". We drove right behind this rain storm for a couple of hours. Through Coronation and Consort we could almost always see the storm right in front of us. At one point we stopped on the road and shared an orange while the storm moved ahead. We drove on wet roads, but not in the rain-------------until----------- just between Consort and Oyen. I guess we missed the rain and cold of Alaska, so drove right into this storm. We had lots of opportunities to stop for the night, but Oh No, not us.
We headed right for the eye of this ugly guy. It rained hard on us only for about 1/2 hour and then of course, just when I was about as mad as I could be, this "jaw dropping" rainbow appears. It was probably the brightest and closest rainbow either of us had ever seen. At one point it felt like we could reach out and grab the end. I looked for the pot of gold, but I think the gold is ummm, the view??? Anyway, no matter about the rain then. Rode on for just a bit further and the road was completely dry and not a drop of rain anywhere to be found. We camped in Oyen that night.
Woke up, August 4, 2010 to complete blue sky. Packed up camp and with smiles and much lighter, sunshined filled steps, jumped on the bike to explore Saskatchewan. Oh my the prairies are beautiful in the summer. Saskatchewan has huge fields of wheat, barley, canola, corn and even flax. Hay fields in all different stages. Some feilds of hay yet standing, some in process of being cut, some square bales and some round bales. Then in the middle of
Field of Flax
Blue\Purple field these huge fields was the farm yard. I don't know, but I'm sure it's true that one needs a degree in landscapping to have a big farm in Saskatchewan. 😊😊. Beautiful farm yards!!!! Some say that driving through the prairies can be painfully boring. I say they probably were not driving through in the summer. Absolutely gorgeous.
At some points on the road, we could see another vehicle approaching us from several miles away. After being in the mountains and never knowing what's around the next bend, it was kinda cool to see someone coming towards us from so far away. So there we were driving through all of this incredibly wonderful farming land and then-----we found Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park. This is a interesting change of landscape. We were in a valley with hills, ravines, a large lake and a golf course. Very pretty. We ripped through Swift Current and stopped for the day in Moose Jaw. I worked on my blog and Rene read. We weren't tourists at all, just did our own thing.
August 5, 2010 was another day on the prairies. In southern Saskatchewan we saw pump jack after pump jack, pumping that "Black Gold".
Saskatchewan Landing
Totally different landscape Neither of us realized there was that much oil in Saskatchewan. Seriously, an active pump jack very 200 feet or so.
Then suddenly, we were into Manitoba. Manitoba is very flat. Rene said it is as flat as "pee on a plate!!" Now that my friends is FLAT!! Manitoba has some different crops again. There we saw different corn crops and lots of soy beans. The crops in southern Manitoba appeared to be further along and some of the crops were being harvested as we drove by. Harvest is one of our favortie times of year and we knew that we would miss it at home this year, so it really was a treat to be able to watch, although briefly, the big combines moving through the fields. We both could imagine the entire busyness that goes along with harvest season. The early mornings, up to check how much dew was on the crop and if it was dry enough to get the day started. The bustling of the women in the kitchen making healthy , hardy meals for the "men" in the field. Bringing the meals out to the field and eating all together on the tailgate of the
long road
You can see someone coming from miles away truck. The ever so late nights of Gettin the crop in. Oh so many good memories of harvest. Camped that night in Brandon Manitoba
Those prairie days were wonderful sights, but Rene and I had a couple of difficult days in our relationship. Now we knew that this trip would test our relationship on some very different levels than being at home together and those 2 days certainly were our first test. We are together 24 hours a day and doing the same things, so when one of us has an "off" day we have no experience to help us navigate what needs to happen to make things better. Anyway, we duked it out, picked each other up, dusted each other off and carried on. Seriously we didn't do so well this time around navigating our anger, frustration and stress, but we know that next time (and we know there will be a next time) we will know better how to deal with the "off" days. Oh yes, we are still best friends.
And so we remain---In The Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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Peterand Christine Koch
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Canadian prairie
We enjoyed meeting you at Clausen's place, and we are enjoying your blog. While we were in Alberta, we also were impressed with the beautiful fields of canola and grain. Peter worked on a farm in Saskatchewan years ago, so he could relate to your comments about farm life. We attended Heritage Days in Edmonton and camped at the Leduc #1 Energy Discovery Center in Devon. The center is a fascinating museum explaining much about oil exploration history in Alberta and drilling methods, machines, measuring instruments, etc. We spent part of two days there.