The Prairies End

I awoke in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan this morning.  Yup, you read it right.  I awoke with a new focus: that of on getting on to Seattle.  Now, I hadn't yet decided whether or not to continue on through the Canadian Rockies on out to Vancouver and then down to Seattle, or to head south for The States - and then on through eastern Washington over to Seattle.  I made that decision later in the day as I crossed into Alberta where I was encouraged by a young man in the greeting center there to go through the Canadian Rockies.  Seems his family makes the trek regularly in order to see kin in British Columbia and he was quite exuberant about it. So that's the plan as it stands now.

Saw plenty more prairie today.  At one point I looked up to see a prairie dog in the middle of the road looking straight at me!  I hadn't to time to swerve (had I, I may have landed in the ditch - more about that in a minute) and was sure I had decapitated him. I looked in the rear view and there he was poking his head up from a retracted position.  Go figure! And all that at 80mph.

Later in the day while taking a wonderful suggested detour I discovered I was running out of gas.  With growing concern I went off the beaten path (it was all off the beaten path where I was) in search of gas.  While making a u-turn I discovered I had no power steering and the wheel was binding as I turned. I had good control at speed with small inputs.  It's dangerous but I couldn't afford to freak, where I was on a Sunday.  So, I did my best and made for another 150 miles it into Calgary.  And, yes, I did find gas at an Indian reservation outpost and had to pump it from a big tank.  Ces't la vie, as they say in Montreal.

Seeing these guys far away from anyone or anything does great things for the soul

Here come the Rockies!

No two ways about it, Lamas are odd

Those little dots on top of the center are cattle

The cities are beginning to make me nervous as I have grown fond of the prairies.  That said, it's nice how the anticipation builds with the sight of the the foothills to the Canadian Rockies. I had wanted to blow through Calgary but I have to stay the night in order to go to the Ford dealer first thing in the morning.


Good Night,


Chris