Shaving Kit Not Included, The 2015 Cross Canada Experience (Parts 5 / 9 )

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"Things to always remember while on the road: Bring distractions and their according accessories, never trust a fart, and never turn down a clean shower."

I've been lucky so far as to have followed these rules, but the campground we stayed at on Saturday night was a grim reminder of just how little attention some people put into their campsites. Molded concrete, rusted metal, broken toilet stall doors, a $1 per minute fee on the cobweb covered shower, this wasn't a cleaning complex; it was a high end jail cell.

And that was just the facilities, the overgrown brush all around and the mud that was the ground did an elegant job at keeping the earlier rains from being soaked in and absorbed. Ever wonder what it's like to sleep on mud? Yeah, me neither, but Minnedosa (I realize now I spelt it wrong last post) is always welcome to newcomers. Anywho, things did dry up enough for the tent to be pitched, which was fortunate on my part to say the least. The morning's breakfast came from a small cafe on the shopping strip called Cafe.

Huh.

Who knew these people were gifted with the best creative minds the world had ever seen? Despite the bland name and entrance area, the food was pretty good. White bread toast, crunchy bacon, over-easy eggs and hashbrowns were that morning's delight, plus a side of chai tea. Then it was off onto the road again. But this time, things were going to get... Funky. Today's travels would yield some very interesting sights that I honestly wouldn't have expected.

Let's start with the terrain; most of it was still the unending flat plains for miles to come, still covered by the same farmlands but this time with 3%!m(MISSING)ore trees. Score! Well, that's what I could make out from the smoke at least. Yeah, smoke. See, up north in Saskatchewan there are these absolutely huge forest fires going on right now, and the winds are blowing the smoke right down south, all the way to Ohio, USA (sorry guys). It was pretty bad, visibility was reduced but nothing super serious. However, it was thick enough to block out the sun a good amount, so it couldn't be great for all the crops in the area.

The next event happened (well, more had happened a while before we arrived and now were just seeing the results) while we were passing the Quill lakes in Saskatchewan. Somehow, the lakes had flooded most of the surrounding areas pretty badly. We showed up much after these floods, and were lucky to be able to cross the rebuilt and elevated roads right through the flooded zones. Ironically, one of the dozers I assume was used in the patching of the floods was half submerged in water alongside the highway approx. 20m from the road. I had a small chuckle at the sight.

Event three happened just up after that, as we were leaving said flood zones. Ahead, as well as earlier on the highway, we had passed a bunch of carnival vehicles, one of which was stopped on the side of the road due to engine problems (who's laughing now Bozo??), and were about to pass another when this white cloud of smoke started to drift from the front of the convoy. We couldn't identify it really until we came around this long turn, and spotted some silhouette of a truck just blowing out this constant stream of white and grey smoke from the exhaust. As as we approached, the smell confirmed that it was indeed oil burning and not some practical joke from the clown car. Upside, mystery solved. Downside, no hitchhiking clowns to chase around.

Finally, as the sun actually started to appear and the smoke lift, we pulled into Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. And then spent the next hour to two hours trying to track down the phantom RV park and campsite that was supposed to be our campground for the night. I kid you not, the instructions couldn't be less clear, and the GPS (named Therese by Grandfather) was playing the dangerous game of "Who can get on the other's nerves the fastest". Hungry and cranky, we eventually killed silenced her and used out own instincts and did eventually find our way (thanks be the the almighty power watching over us). Supper was at an awesome Italian restaurant called Chianti, from which we luxuriously dined on fried calamari, fresh pasta and creme caramel, all homemade. You could almost see the tears well up in my eyes.

Also, the campground was another one of those kinds that was very well taken care of. Real toilet paper, clean showers, groomed grass and no insects. Very much appreciated on my behalf.



And so, rejuvenated by a nice, warn shower and a good meal, we shall set out and see what tomorrow brings!

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