Road Trip 2010: Days 8 & 9Regina to Edmonton, AB

We left Regina early Wednesday morning and found our way to Highway 16 heading northwest to Saskatoon and on to Battleford. Along the way we managed to see several pronghorn antelope, many hawks and ducks, several Western Meadowlarks, a couple of hummingbirds up on the telephone wires, and—what Terry identified as—a Greater White-fronted Goose. (The latter, according to Sibley’s is easily confused with a domestic barnyard goose. But the nearest “barnyard” was at least a mile away. And we were traveling at 60 mph.)

We did find a scenic overlook of the Saskatchewan River at which to have our lunch. It was the ONLY place designated for a pull out along the road from Regina to Battleford. There were no rest rooms, but we had our own in the trailer. And the place was a mess despite a historical marker erected by the local society and a pair of huge plaques: one about the Whopping Crane that passes through the area during migration and the other about the boats devised for use in commerce up and down the river in the 1800s. Although the site needs some TLC, the view was excellent.

We camped in Battleford, SK on Wednesday night at the Eiling Kramer Campground. The original town was the capital of the northwest back in the days before the railroad came out this way. Then things shifted south as did the industry and almost everything else. Before that, however, there was a bit of a to do in the 1880s when the First Nations, which had signed a treaty (thick with promises, short on substance, and long on greed, political, nepotism, and greed—sound familiar?) after the buffalo were virtually eradicated from their range, became disillusioned and held a mini civil war. At that time, Battleford became the center of action with the Northwest Mounted Police attempting to establish just who was boss with the backing of the Canadian military and Fort Battleford—or what little remains of it—commemorates the men and events involved in that action. The guided tour Terry and I took with our own personal guide was well worth the entrance fee. The young man really knew his history and presented it in a pleasant enough way.

The First Nations and Metis turned out to be the boss in everything but desire to succeed. They whipped both the Mounties and the military; who were still fighting like it was a Napoleonic force—red wool coats, single shot rifles, stand up in rows, wait to be shot. Only the First Nations’ leaders’ peaceful nature prevented a massacre similar to that suffered by Custer in the states. Only, the Metis had just 50 warriors on their side while the Canadian force had 350—and a commander who believed he was outnumbered. When the First Nations’ leaders finally came in to talk about the situation, they were held prisoner and sentenced to 3 years in prison despite doing everything in their power to prevent bloodshed. Still, that was better than eight of their number who, refused the food and help promised them in treaty, killed an Indian agent and several towns people. They were hung in mass at Fort Battleford--the one and only mass hanging in Canadian history. Two additional leaders of the Metis uprising had very disparate fates. Louis Riel, who had run afoul of the authorities previously and escaped to Montana, wasn’t so lucky this time around. He was found guilty of treason and hung in Regina. Another leader, did make his way to the states where he signed on with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show as a sharp shooter.

Day 9 Battleford to Edmonton

We followed Highway 16 northwest out of Battleford and headed to Edmonton early on Thursday morning. Along the way we came upon the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, a living museum dedicated to the men and women of the Ukraine who came over to Canada at the urging of the government to homestead Alberta early in the 20th Century. Their passage by boat and train paid for, 160 acres of land awaiting them, they left the old country to make a new start. The Village is a living museum with buildings from all over the province arranged to give a depiction of what it would have been like between the 1860s (sod house) and 1928. Folks dressed in the garb of the day answer questions about their homes and livelihood in this new land. Participants ranged from new immigrants (only here for three months) who can speak no English to third generation storekeepers and blacksmiths who are quite fluent in English and adapted to their new land and an even newer century. It was an enjoyable walk and we had a good time interacting with the players.

A short distance further along Highway 16 was Elk Island National Park (fee for entrance) which had a huge, sturdy fence along the highway. Not necessarily for elk, either. There was a herd of bison lounging on the other side. Probably in the neighborhood of 200 animals including bulls, cows and calves. (Sorry, the camera had been put away and traffic was moving at 60 mph anyway.)

Earlier in the day, Terry noticed a bad spot on one of the trailer tires. I drove on and succeeded in making it to the Glowing Embers Campground on the western side of Edmonton with the tire intact. I was going to attempt to put the spare on, Terry won’t let me try because the owner’s manual recommends that you have a professional do the job and, I think she’s afraid I’d screw it up somehow. (The manual doesn’t even supply any instructions on how to change a flat--nothing beyond, “call your road service provider.”) But there is a guy a short distance down the road that will make the switch—tomorrow. Which means, I’ll have to hook up the trailer in the morning and haul it over to his shop and then back again to the campground. Why can’t he do the change here? He says he doesn’t have a portable jack and he works on RVs and motor homes more than trailers. You can bet I’ll be paying attention to where he jacks the trailer up.

Right now, it’s time to go out for dinner and fill the Tundra with expensive Canadian gasoline…again. So far we’ve paid between $0.87 CA and $1.02 CA per litre. Which translates to between $3.60 to $4.00 per gallon. The last two days, I was able to average 8.8 and 8.9 miles per gallon which was an improvement over what I was getting in the states. I may have slipped some non-ethanol gas in the tank or it might just be that things have been pretty dang flat! Today I didn’t fare as well, but that’s because I was battling a wind that was quartering out of the NNW as I headed NW—about as close to a head wind as you can get. As a result, the Tundra/trailer combo only got 8.1 and 8.2 mpg.

After we get the tire taken care of and the trailer back in its slot at the campground Friday morning, we’ll have to see about getting a new spare. THEN we can go over to Fort Edmonton Park—Canada’s largest living museum.