Book: Last Picture Show-Larry McMurty (as yet unread)
Film: The Reflecting Skin
Daily km: 611
Caffeine & sugar units: 7
Soundtrack: ABBA, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Pink Floyd
The
government of Alberta thanks you for your stay with two levies including a four
percent Alberta Tourism fee. Thank-you
very much. I will not miss rolling into
a vast chasm every night and my comment card reflected my distress over the
mattresses. It is difficult to do a
province justice in four days. As stated
earlier, this was merely a reconnaissance trip and I was looking forward to the
quiet again. Vacations shouldn’t be
dominated by traffic (nor by rain).
Steady
drizzle along the route.
Drumheller-Dinosaur
Country. Unfortunately not enough time
to visit the Tyrell museum. Up at the
lookout, the major attraction was a little burrowing prairie dog. Everyone had cameras at the ready as they
thought it was a chipmunk.
Poked
about on various abandoned farms.
Cereal. An old train stop; now museum. The railway tracks have long disappeared and
the motels are closing one by one. Would
like to see a walking trail established along the old tracks (and revitalization
of the Mom & Pop motel).
Up
Highway #16 through Kindersley which I only know about because of a Foodie Pen
Pal exchange. I was on the lookout for
the truffle shop, but, it was too late in the day. Kindersley is thriving hotel-wise. It must serve as a way station for travellers-one chain hotel after another.
Lots
of abandoned farmyards; enjoyed the car which put me in mind of The Reflecting Skin.
Vampires on the prairie or a car load of thugs with a taste for murder? Remember
it primarily for the brilliant sunshine, wheat fields and the quiet.
As
you travel along, the road takes on a yellow brick road quality-narrow and
winding and in the distance what appears to be the Land of Oz. Turns out to be grain elevators; the grain
trucks off loading late into the evening.
Gassed
up in Rosetown; the last refuge before you hit the home stretch to Saskatoon. At
the next pump, a young man tried to get the engine turned over. Suddenly we were back in Anarene of Last
Picture Show fame; here the theatre had long since closed and there was nothing but
a gas stop for miles. The truck looked like it might even have been Sonny’s vehicle.
Rolled
into Saskatoon at 9PM. No wrong turns;
hotel just a few minutes off the highway. At last, a king sized bed. I turned to the comfort of tinned soup and a
little cable tv(not to mention a few leftover Lindt truffles).
Until next time. Exploring Saskatoon.
