Day 4: Portage la Prairie, Manitoba to the Dead Sea of Canada, Saskatchewan

The view for much of the day!
Originally I had intended to push through to Cold Lake today - but a friend reminded me I wasn't in a rush - so I decided to stop in Manitou Springs Resort and Spa - known as the Dead Sea of Canada to check out the pools and maybe indulge in a facial :) 

Day 4 by the numbers:

Km: 613

Time travelled: 7  hours (but felt longer as I am getting tired!)

Time zones crossed: 1 - and as I got close to the border the car's clock would switch back and forth between time zones... and it caused a panic a few times!

Provincial borders crossed: 1 - I have to say I am enjoying the prairie provinces!

Wildlife: again, a whole lot of birds!

Uturn for gas: 1 time

Time spent in mineral waters: 2 hours!

Some observations:

Saskatchewan and Manitoba drivers also drive slow: This might seem to indicate that instead of them driving slow, Quebec drivers travel faster than the ROC. 

The least ethnically diverse province/region: Northern Ontario by leaps and bounds

There is a lot more water on the prairies than I remember. 

Photo time.



Blue sky from the sunroof!

Shorter drive today...
Grain elevator filling up train cars. 
Cows with calfs

These birds were awesome, but I felt they were following me... 
Grain elevator (I love them for some reason) 
I think you know what this is
Potash in Saskatchewan 
Prairie hills, big sky and water.
Entering Saskatchewan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 3: Nipigon, Ontario to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba

Image
So today was a "short" nine hour drive that felt longer.... Ontario is just so big!!!! But made it to Portage la Prairie, where my Mom was born! Too lazy to go into town this trip... but I have done a driveway of the house where she lived in a trip a few years ago.... Day 3 by the numbers: Km driven: 906 Hours on the road: 9 and a bit Provincial borders crossed: 1 (and boy was I happy to hit Manitoba with a decent speed limit and divided highways) Time zones crossed: 1 (and my car updated automatically - fancy!) Wildlife: Canadian geese, 1 partridge, passed a deer farm Tim Horton's visited: 1 Number of times cursed the snow: once, when I cleaned the car off in the bitter cold with no mittens, socks or boots Some observations: Ontarians drive slow, even below the speed limit. I find that weird. Manitoba drivers of a certain age do not understand that if you are not passing cars you should stay in the right hand lane. All men of a certain age hate b...
Read more

Review of my 2017 Buick Encore AWD

Image
After driving 3,500+ km across five provinces and lots of different terrain - and a couple months in Quebec where I drove more than the average - I decided to add a review of my car to the blog. My car cleaned and ready for the trip! All my time in the UAE I rented - for the most part a Honda Accord - which was fine and good on gas, but not what I wanted for Canada. I had rented a Trax and an Encore last summer and knew I liked them... and my Dad has been pushing for the Encore for a couple of years (he loves Buicks). So with the help of an awesome broker (email for his name if you live around Rosemere, QC) I got a 2017 Buick Encore AWD - the Premium edition (because I wanted the bigger engine and heated seats). So first what I LOVE 💗 The heated seats - really it was on my list of "musts" after so many years living in the desert I know I have turned into a wimp! Also the lumbar support is spectacular - I wasn't stiff at all after 5 days of long days of drivin...
Read more

Day 5: Manitou Beach, Saskatchewan to Cold Lake, Alberta

Image
I finally made it to my parent's in Cold Lake, Alberta! This is NOT where we grew up (PArksville on Vancouver Island, the real West Coast), but my brother works in the oil fields so this is where they live now :) Day 5 by the numbers: Km travelled: 611 km Time travelled: Almost 7 hours (gravel roads do no let you drive very fast!) Wildlife see: 1 wolf running across the gravel "highway", Canadian geese, a pheasant (yes, I know what "eating" birds look like, elk (which got me excited until I saw 6 of them and realized it was an elk farm), a few hawks/falcons and cows and horses. Cost-Co pit stops: 1 in Saskatoon, also got gas and hot pickled green beans. Times a bit nervous: more than 1 as the numbered highway in Northern Saskatchewan was like a gravel road in the middle of no where!!! Observations: I have begun to like cruise control, which I always resisted. When you have a lead foot and open highways (and don't want a ticket) you really ...
Read more