We finally made it to Canada! After leaving the National Park we drove north through the endless farm fields and oil wells to a tiny little border crossing. No matter how much you travel, border crossings are always just a little bit stressful. We were not overly worried and had our passports ready and our bear spray tucked away in the camper (apparently it can be considered a weapon). Our border crossing official was as nice as can be (in true Canadian form). She asked about alcohol but never asked about weapons. We met a couple later on who had Texas plates and apparently got grilled on guns and ammo. After a few questions about length of stay (which we could not totally answer) she asked about the camping. We had a nice conversation about our Harvest Host experience and then, with a smile, we were ushered on our way.
The Drive to Regina and Stay at Cedar Creek Gardens
It was a bit anti-climatic as far as the scenery goes. The farm fields continued and the wind was definitely relentless. We were staying at another Harvest Host just south of Regina. We were only able to fill our water tank about half before leaving the National Park so we knew we had to be very careful. This nights host had no potable water but our next nights had stated they had some so we just had to be very careful. On the positive side, we were lighter than usual . We arrived at Cedar Creek Gardens being chased by a storm. Cedar Creek Gardens is a small store with a mini-golf course, a corn maze and other attractions that bring the locals from the area. We arrived and parked next to a fellow camper, who unfortunately only spoke French. That was fine since we had just enough time to set up and cook dinner before needing to batten down the hatches.
Experiencing Thunderstorms at the Plains
A very cool thing about thunderstorms on the plains is that you can see them coming from quite a distance away so you have time to prepare. Jonathan and I both love storms so we were actually looking forward to it. It was quite the show. We did not get the big storm on top of us we were expecting (hoping for) outside of quite a bit of rain but we did get to spend time enjoying the lightening show. We were able to stand outside and watch the lightening coming and, once over us we got to spend about an hour just watching it go. It was quite beautiful, from a distance. Apparently all around us they got nailed with hail and very high winds. The morning dawned beautiful and after a game of mini-golf and a great conversation with our host (who gave us tips on what to see after Banff and where to stay) we were on our way North again.
Heading to Twin Peak Creamery
Our next destination was a dairy farm and creamery outside of Saskatoon in Warman called Twin Peak Creamery. It is a family run farm that sells ice cream. We were incredibly happy that they were able to provide us with potable water since we were basically running on empty. That was a load off our minds. We declined an electricity hookup so that we could park out in the field. A bit more secluded with a view. The farm was great and idyllic. I was getting a bit tired of the view if I was being honest but the farm hosts were so welcoming and the site was so pretty that it was a great spot (and the ice cream was VERY good). They also sold their own meat and I could not pass up the jalapeno cheddar sausages which we have not tried yet but I am looking forward to. We spent a quiet night wandering the farm, watching the sunset and just taking a breath. This was also the first place we encountered smoke from the wildfires. We had plans to move on west the next day but given the comfortable location we decided to stay an extra night for a rest and also to give us a chance to check out Saskatoon. I needed a bit of culture and civilization. It meant the next day was going to be a long 6-7 hour haul but it was worth it.
Ride and Food at Saskatoon
After a fabulous nights sleep and a slow morning where we decided to change our sheets (yes that is exciting these days) and hang out a bunch of things (in true farm form) we headed out to check out Saskatoon. We knew there was a river park in the city with a bike path so we headed there. Saskatoon did not initially impress and we were glad to see that the river park was very nice. The trail there is part of the Meewasin trail. This trail is over 150km long along both sides of the river. We were excited to get to use our bikes. It could not have been a nicer ride. After our ride we decided to head into town to try to some Poutine and Saskatoon berry pie! We found the streets to be fairly quiet and the town pretty easy to navigate though not overly bike friendly. We found the Raven and Rook pub and had some delicious Poutine. They did not, sadly, have Saskatoon berry pie but in hindsite it was a good thing because that Poutine had definite staying power.
Once we were back at the farm we settled back in and ended up having a great conversation with a couple who was also doing the Harvest Host thing but they were there with their three children and had been travelling through North America on and off for the past two years. They were a very interesting couple and we were able to share stories and also got some good tips that will definitely come in useful. We realized at that point that this farm was the northern most point in our trip. From then on we would be going west and south. We had indeed Driven North. What we did not know is that there was another thunderstorm coming and it was going to be an interesting night. On our last lap around the farm we saw some dark clouds in the distance and we went to our weather app and saw that the radar was saying we were in the crosshairs of a major storm. So we got everything in and secured and watched the lightening storm headed our way. Once the storm was on us, oh boy, was it a doozy! The camper was shaking with the wind, the rain was pounding against the side and the lightening! Yowza!! Our little camper kept us safe and sound and we settled in for a good sleep before a long drive. Then, around 2am we heard this click click clicking sound. We realized that it was coming from the refrigerator and that the pilot light was trying to light but couldn’t. Jonathan got up to check it out and realized quickly that we had lost all power. After 8 days of boondocking with not enough driving to fully charge our battery she had finally given out. Our biggest concern was the fridge and losing all of the food in it. Jonathan was my hero and went out in the dark and wet and hooked up our emergency little generator. We just had to make it a few hours to light and then we could deal with it. The generator did not last very long but long enough. We got up in the morning to also notice that one of our propane tanks was inexplicably empty. We switched to our second tank and got the fridge running while we got ready to leave. Luckily we were headed to a full service campground so, with no coffee, we headed out earlier than we expected for the long haul to a campground outside of Calgary.
The character of that trip was the wind. We had encountered wind pretty continuously for many days but this was another thing entirely. Jonathan had to keep both hands on the wheel just to keep us from getting pushed off the road. We ended up opening the windows in the camper just to let it go through. It was a long 7 hours but we finally made it to the campground. Definitely not our favorite stay of the trip…rows and rows of campers on top of each other BUT they had electricity, water, sewer hookups and laundry facilities. This was our re-charge and set up stop before heading into Banff. This seemed to be base camp Banff. We were exhausted from the ride and after dinner and laundry it was to bed early. Right before we went to settle in we heard a series of loud bangs and went outside to see a huge fireworks show in the distance. Apparently Calgary had a festival and boy did they put on a fireworks show.
Another beautiful morning and the smoke haze from the fires had cleared and we were able to get our first good view of the Rockies in the distance. We are almost there! Today was Gigi’s spa day and a trip into Calgary. After an oil change and bath for Gigi we headed over to a park called The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland and Fort Calgary we had heard of in the city. Calgary impressed from the get go. The city looked modern and clean. We parked and found out that the park was the start of a river trail. We had heard that Calgary was super bike friendly and yes it was. We pulled out our bikes and spent a fabulous day along the river and biking around the city. We fell in love with Calgary. We got to go out for an Indian dinner which we have missed and settled in back home to charge up all of our appliances and preparing for another several days of boondocking out in the wilds of Banff! We learned some lessons this past week and we are ready! Our goal is in site! See you on the other side of Banff!
