Thursday, 7/20 – Yorkton, SK to Lloydminster, AB

You may have noticed yesterday that we didn’t stay overnight in Manitoba. We rode clear through to Yorkton, Saskatchewan.

Today we crossed the rest of Saskatchewan and stopped just over the Alberta line.

Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administration.

Wikipedia

The day started with clear skies and cool temperatures. We noticed a difference between Manitoba and Saskatchewan – SK has a bit more scrub growth. It does, however, have a lot of Canola fields. Canola cooking oil is a low-acid variety of rapeseed oil developed by Canadians. The name “canola” is a condensation of Canada Oil or canola, much like Mazola is a condensation of maize (corn) oil..

We took our coffee break at Wynyard Bakery and Cafe in Wynyard, SK. We noticed an Orthodox church and signs for various Ukranian activities, so we assumed this is a Ukranian community. There was a Ukranian flag in the bakery. The Ukrainian woman owner was quite congenial and her pastries were yummy.

As we were getting back on the highway, I saw a motorcycle cop hiding behind the Century 21 sign. Across the street I saw several police officers pulling cars over into a parking lot. One of the officers signaled the motorcycle cop, “Get this one,” and the motorcycle cop took off in pursuit, blue lights flashing chasing a car that didn’t pull over. A little farther down the road we saw a cop with a radar gun hiding behind another large sign.

We had lunch in Struthers Park – a neighborhood park in Saskatoon.

Afternoon gas and coffee were at Tim Hortons…of course! Friends in Pittsburgh reminded us that Tim Horton played hockey for the Penguins at one time.

Our campground, CampnRV in Lloydminster, was excellent. It is well-maintained and clean.

Friday, 7/21 – Lloydminster to Valleyview, AB

We left the campground this morning at 7:58 – a new record for us. It was cool and sunny. The 4-lane divided highway was smooth – a huge contrast from yesterday’s road.

We got gas and had coffee at the Coop in Vegreville, AB.

On the way in we saw signs for the world’s second-largest Pysanka (Ukranian Easter Egg–Wikipedia), so we back-tracked and took a picture. We couldn’t get closer as they were re-building the access road.

We had lunch on the run at a pull-off along the road near the intersection of AB-43 and AB-33.

The late afternoon ride was sunny and hot. Along the way we passed a long stretch of forest that had burned. A couple of things were very interesting. Many of the young trees survived the fire. The other interesting thing is that workers had mulched a path about 10′ – 15′ wide at the edge of the trees and parallel to the highway. We have no idea why they did that. Fortunately, our trip has not been affected by recent wildfires in this region.

We got to our campground in Valleyview, AB about 4:30 p.m. That’s early for us. The temperature has cooled, and the sky is now overcast. I just heard some thunder. I think we’ll take everything inside and prepare for rain.

Tomorrow is a short day. We are only 150 miles from Dawson Creek and the start of the Alaska Highway.