Seven Days in Saskatchewan

One car, two explorers, too many small towns, one tent, six nights, multiple targets, and 2575km of roads travelled. This website is a limited account, through photos, of the journey Reduxzero and Nancy Drew made into the province of Saskatchewan during the fall of 2005.
Pages Sunday through Friday feature photos and captions from Reduxzero; Saturday features photos and captions from Nancy Drew. All content on this website copyright 2005.

End Notes:

• Gas is too fucking expensive. We joked about this being a "last gasp" roadtrip, before the price of fuel made such adventures prohibitively expensive. Filling a 50L tank more than 6 times, with gas hovering around 1.04 a litre, made gasoline the biggest expense of the trip.
• Fuel stations and amenities can be few and far between in rural Saskatchewan. Our measure of a big town is defined as; "when you can buy gasoline and coffee from two separate businesses".
• We managed to completely avoid going to Tim Horton's the entire trip. Which should come as no surprise, since many of the 'towns' we went through didn't even have a gas station.
• Saskatchewan is a beautiful province. It features much more than just endless, rolling farmland under the most amazing skies I've ever seen. But the stereotypes are true: The land south of Regina has to be the flattest place in Canada. You can see the entire length of freight trains and count their cars as they crawl across the landscape.
• Always have toilet paper in the car on long road trips.
• The mysterious white powder we encountered so often on this trip is in fact a harmless, naturally occuring substance. It is mainly used in the manufacture of powdered detergents. Reassuringly neutral and non-hazardous, it does tend to coat your shoes/clothing/skin while you explore, and don't eat it.
• Remember: Always Research before Roadtrip. Detailed maps are a good idea, too. There's stuff to explore in Saskatchewan, but you better know where it is, and realize that it will require at least one hour of driving.
• Camping in the fall can be cold. So. Cold.
• On some stretches of highway, abandoned farmhouses/barns were so common I considered them distance markers. Every five kilometers, another tiny abandoned building in a field.
• Saskatchewan has so many empty roads that I wanted to drive as fast as possible, all the time. Didn't even see any RCMP on the highways. I suspect they keep people from speeding by rarely fixing up the roads (see next point below).
• Saskatchewan has some of the worst highways I have ever driven on. Signs stating "Broken Pavement" and "Rough Road" seemed the norm, rather than the exception. Large potholes or other hazards were marked by tiny red flags on the roadside, which made for a fun game of "dodge that hazard" while doing 114km/hr.
• Until you have driven past and seen that much farmland, it's hard to believe it actually exists. The land just goes on and on, endless rolling fields slowly being crawled by combines. This is a province that feeds the nation.
• Avoid the chinese food in small towns. Beware any $30 pizza, it's never worth it. Avoid all the chain restaurants. Truckstops can be surprisingly good, but watch out. Tip well if the service is good. Find the little Mom 'n Pop locations, and order the burger.
• Yeah, I'd go back again.