I drove into Saskatchewan early Monday afternoon and soon
learned the correct way to pronounce Regina. I spent the evening in Moose Jaw, solely
because it is called Moose Jaw, and it turned out to be the city I liked most.
It had a great downtown (actually, a lot of the towns I saw in Canada had
thriving downtowns) and seemed to be a place that takes its community seriously
without taking itself too seriously. I mean, just look at their crosswalk signs:
The rest of the Province wasn’t so inviting. Rest stops
aren’t as prevalent as in Ontario and I spent the night in a field next to a
salt mine.
Tuesday morning, I rolled into Alberta! At the visitor
center, I learned that I was officially cleared to start working at HMH (yay!)
and that I had a bunch training videos and tutorials to complete (boo!). On the
advice of the helpful lady at visitor center, I stopped in nearby Medicine Hat,
because they have a thriving coffee shop culture and lots of things for
travelers to do.
After an hour or so of working, I wandered around downtown
Medicine Hat. It was no Moose Jaw, but that’s not its fault. I ate lunch at a
place called The Olive Tap. Its walls were lined with barrels and bottles of
oils and vinegars. While I ate, I got the free entertainment of watching half a
dozen retirees being walked through an olive oil tasting. They took it very seriously.
That evening, I borrowed a free bike from the Visitors Center and rode around a few hours. I'd only been on a bike once since finishing that 100 mile ride last September and I really enjoyed getting back on.
Prairie and the Saamis Teepee
Where's Sonia?!
The moment I realized My Little Pony was MIA
I was really amazed by this lush, green valley.
Then I realized it's a golf course...
That night, I found a hotel and watched a few more training videos. The next day I'd be turning south to Montana and Glacier National Park.
