Thursday June 27th

Started out the day at the fabulous coffee shop and bookstore just south of the park with a great coffee, a warm welcome, and wifi. Determined that I would stay in the Qu’Appelle Valley at the provincial park.

When I returned to the truck to set the GPS with my destination I discovered that the highway construction I’d encountered had left me a gift – a cracked windshield. I had heard something hit – but assumed it was my paint job, and thought that Brian Hoffman would probably rather work on a nice new truck that my poor old Subaru which had been parked under a black walnut for too long. But then I saw the crack, growing from the side of the window behind the GPS for about 5 inches and then turning up towards to top for another 3 inches. It was currently about 1 cm above a squashed bug, so I thought I’d keep track of its progress, if any. Later in the day after a particularly bumpy road I congratulated myself that it was still 1 cm above a squashed bug, but then realized it was a different bug and my crack had grown to 9 inches in length. There are about 9 inches to go until it reaches to top of the windshield. Does anyone want to start a lottery on when it will reach the top?

LONG drive – GPS calculates time of driving but does not tell you about time zone changes. I did cross a time zone on a secondary road – there was no notification. Half my electronic devices changed automatically, and the other half didn’t. Since I had to contact people on both sides of the continent when I stopped, it really hurt my head to figure it out I’m sad to say. Should be simple, I know, but it has always caused me grief. Anyway, I’m an hour earlier than the coast and 2 hours later from home. I think.

I arrived at Echo Lake PP and BACKED the trailer in and LEVELED IT like a pro. 

And of course, there was no one watching. Sigh. Went for a 3km walk to check out the flora and fauna. No fauna. The ‘valley’ is not much of a depression as you can see in the photos, but it feels like a lot after all that flatness. I laughed out loud when I saw the skill hill – shorter and less steep than the telemark hill on Cypress I used to ski. The same reaction I had to Glen Eden in Ontario – I declared in front of native Ontarions – Oh look – a cross country hill! They were not amused.

But the lakes are pretty and the park is very nice – gearing up for the big long weekend. Wild roses everywhere and these white flowers – not sure what they are, but they look very familiar. Bloodroot?

 

Turned in early (I think – don’t really know what time it is yet). My leg decided to entertain me for a couple of hours – not sure why, but we got a rain storm in the night so perhaps I’m becoming like the old folks who feel the rain in their bones. Sigh.

Then the neighbours entertained me by arriving late and having a very young baby and a disagreement (don’t those things always go together?). Anyway, I did end up sleeping and now I’m up and getting ready to contact the insurance company about the windscreen and heading out through Regina to my weekend at Buffalo Pound PP.

PS. As I pulled out of the valley this morning I felt a rise in my spirits - I think I've fallen in love with the huge prairie sky.