August 19, 2025
Today would be a driving day. I would be traveling from NW of Calgary, near the western edge of southern Alberta province (though it is relatively narrow at the south end), to Moose Jaw, in south-central Saskatchewan province, which is much wider. Google Maps said it would take about 6 3/4 hours without stops, and would be all 4-lane highway. I don’t call it the dreaded interstate because I am in Canada. If anything it would be interprovince, but the highways up here have treated me very well so I have no reason to attach the “dreaded” moniker to them.
This going to sound crazy but I have wanted to go to Moose Jaw since 1977, when the movie Slapshot came out. It was about a fictional minor league hockey team with a bunch of misfit players, and included, what some might call above average hockey rough play which really drew attention to the team. It included the three Hanson brothers and another player whose name I don’t recall. At some point in the movie the fact that the brothers were from Moose Jaw and the other from Saskatoon (or vice versa) was mentioned. Ever since then I have wanted to go to those two places.
This was the view out my bedroom window during the night near Calgary- the moon and two planets.
When my Airbnb hosts in Golden and Canmore learned of my plan to go to Saskatchewan they told me – be prepared for prairie and farmland. Once you get out of the Rockies it will be flat as can be. No worries – the same is true in the US.
Not a mountain in sight.
I stopped for lunch in Medicine Hat, AB, which was about halfway to my destination. The first thing I saw before I got off the highway was the World’s Largest Teepee.
Well, maybe not authentic but it makes a good photo op. There was some indigenous artwork on display.
I stopped at the nearby Visitor Centre for maps and brochures and had a nice conversation with one of the workers there. He convinced me that there was enough here to see that I would add it to my itinerary later in the trip. Because of the possible air quality issues I had downsized my original plan which had included a stop in Medicine Hat.
I had learned of a small racetrack and r/c aircraft flying field north of town and set out to check them out quickly before I got back on the road. Before I got there I saw a sign indicating that neighboring Redcliff, Alberta is the Greenhouse Capital of the Prairies.
I found both the racetrack and the r/c flying field right next to each other but both were closed on the day I was there.
Spectators Welcome so long as there is someone here! I won’t even post a photo of the race track since I couldn’t get very close. For those of you that don’t know me, car racing is one of my interests, and I used to fly r/c helicopters for a few years and always stop in if I see a flying field somewhere.
I also learned that Medicine Hat is nicknamed “Gas City” because of an abundance of natural gas underground, and I passed a few businesses which process it for transportation by rail.
As soon as I crossed into Saskatchewan I started to see evidence that it was, in fact, largely farmland.
Huge silos and grain elevators. And to give you an idea how big this one is, here is a photo with vehicles parked next to it (way down in the lower left hand corner).
Further up the road, another one:
Before I got to Moose Jaw I came to a large lake and noticed a raised observation platform:
The signage indicated that Reed Lake is a seasonal stopover for migratory birds. It is the second largest saline inland water body in Canada.
When I finally arrived in Moose Jaw I discovered that one can even get poutine at McDonald’s in Canada.
Poutine is basically french fries covered with cheese curds and brown gravy. I tried it a few years ago when I was in Quebec (where it originated) but it is not something I should really be eating…
I arrived at my Airbnb in Moose Jaw in the early evening. It was located several miles out in the country south of town, and I was treated to a magnificent sunset and, looking in another direction, storm clouds. It had been a beautiful day but storms were moving into the area. They basically went around us but because of the flat terrain I could see storms far away from where I was.
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