Edmonton to Swift Current, SK

We made a weekend stop in Edmonton, AB as we headed Southeast from Dawson Creek, BC. The main attraction in Edmonton was the West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in North America. With nearly 800 shops, if you can't find what you want, apparently you didn't need it anyway. The Mall is an interesting entertainment center also with an ice rink, a huge wave pool and Galaxyland amusement park with numerous rides that will test even the strongest stomach. We weren't brave enough to try any of them.

From Edmonton, we headed East across the prairies into agriculture land that started to make us feel more at home. We observed large fields of wheat, canola, oats, barley, lentils and field peas. The peas reminded us of soybeans although they were smaller. Our destination in Saskatchewan was Swift Current where RV park friends from Arizona, Harvey and Marilyn Braun, have a permanent residence. We had warned them we were coming and they stayed home anyway. Harvey and Marilyn treated us royally with couple of delicious, home-cooked meals. They also acted as tour guides for the area, taking us to their farm to show us the Bison herd owned by their son, Trevor. Trevor was on hand to explain the ins and outs of raising bison. The Brauns also directed our tour to Cypress Hills Provincial Park near Maple Creek Southwest of Swift Current. On the way, we stopped at the Cypress Hills Vineyard and Winery for lunch. The Provincial Park features Bald Butte, the highest point in Saskatchewan, at 4172 feet. We survived our hike to the top of the butte. From the Provincial Park, we drove to Fort Walsh, an historic Northwest Mounted Police post that was acted in the mid to late 1800s. We arrived just in time for the last tour of the day which included a re-enactment of a trial, before a magistrate, in which Jim was chosen to play the part of one of the bad guys. Even though he pleaded not guilty, he was convicted of public drunkeness and fined $200.00. Since he was unable to produce that much cash, he was hauled off to the brig. The Fort is quite well preserved with much restoration still in progress. Docents acted as tour guides giving excellent details as to life as it was at the Fort.

We left Swift Current Tuesday, August 24th and will be back in the lower 48 sometime Wednesday following a visit to the International Peace Gardens on the Manitoba-North Dakota border.