Greetings from Saskatchewan

Before leaving Alberta our last stop was a full afternoon visit at the Ukrainian Cultural Village. It has role players between 1890-1930 dressed in traditional Ukrainian costumes representing early pioneer settlement in the eastern central part of the providence. We enjoyed listening to various village folks in some thirty reconstructed buildings share about their trade and livelihood.

 Two gentlemen stopped their wagon pulled by a team of Clydesdale horses and generously gave us a free ride across the town site. 

 

It was fascinating at the village granary to learn about how different wheat brought in on wagons is qualified for value, weighed, and raised up for storage in one of 17 bins by an elevator shaft as high as 77 feet in the air until the train pulls in to receive and send it on farther a way. 


The three styles of Byzantine Orthodox churches in the village were each unique.


The five hour drive from the border town of Lloydminster to Prince Albert National Park was uneventful and rather boring across the green open prairie. JR drove eastward against head winds all the way. Arriving at Beaver Glen Campground in the park before Canada Day on July 1 secured us four nights. Blood-drawing mosquitoes had us pulling out bug spray for the first time on the trip. The good news was we were off the roads during Canada’s big four day holiday.

While at Prince Albert National Park we drove the two main roads and hiked at Lake Waskesiu. Wildlife sightings of a deer challenging the Toad (aka Jeep) head on with its rack, orange prairie lilies, clusters of wild daisies, elk and wolf tracks, exotic ducks at Narrows Lake, black crows, magpies, grouse, sapsuckers,elk, squirrels, a brown bear passing through our campsite, plus dodging mosquitoes and a zillion awful horse flies swarming down upon the Toad made for lots of excitement. 

Canada Day on July 1 found Yukon and us celebrating the Waskesiu townsite festivities with a noontime parade, Cree musicians, ceremonial flag raising , singing of the Canadian national anthem “Oh Canada” and the traditional cake eating for the nation’s 143 birthday.