May 8, 2005

May 8, 2005

Dunmore, Alberta to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

DAY 325

 

Today was cloudy and cool.

After doing regular preventive maintenance this morning I climbed up on the roof and finished repairing the two spots on the roof. We prepared to leave, drove over to the one water spigot in the campground, and refilled the freshwater tank. We ran out of water this morning just as I was finishing my shower. We've never run out of water before. The limiting factor has always been the shower holding tank capacity. It always fills before either the toilet holding tank or the kitchen holding tank does, or the fresh water runs out. But Joanne used a lot of water cleaning the dust in the kitchen yesterday, so we ran out of water before any of the holding tanks filled.

We drove from the campground 6 km. down a gravel road ( very slowly ) back to Hwy. 1, then headed east on Hwy. 1. As we approached the Saskatchewan border, we passed the Alberta Tourist Information Centre on the opposite side of the divided highway, and noticing that there was a trailer dumping station, we made a u-turn, and went back to empty the holding tanks. We continued, heading east on Hwy. 1 again. We crossed into Saskatchewan. We switched drivers for awhile. Joanne drove for the first time in a very long time. She's only comfortable driving on relatively straight, relatively flat, divided highways. While she drove, I reclined the passenger seat back to snooze for a short time. When I woke up, the seat back mechanism had jammed, and I couldn't get the seat back to return to the upright position. < sigh > It was really difficult to sit upright with no seat back. The next time we stopped, I was able to fix it. We stopped in Swift Current, buying hardware at Canadian Tire, groceries at Co-op, supplies at Wal-Mart and a Dollar Store, and to refill with diesel. We ate a late lunch in the Canadian Tire parking lot. We considered stopping for the night in Swift Current, but it was a bit too early to stop for the day, so we decided to try for Moose Jaw. Back out onto Hwy. 1, eastbound.

We detoured off the highway again at the town of Herbert, just to take a peek at the town. The township has a billboard on the highway advertising serviced lots in town for $1.00 ! HA HA HA HA HA ! We had previously been told about this by another RV'er. Apparently some full time RV'ers have taken advantage of this opportunity, just to have a permanent fixed address in Canada. I took the phone number off the billboard, and will phone tomorrow and get more information. There must be a catch of some sort. I guess the township makes this offer just to get rid of town lots and increase the town tax base. It makes sense. Herbert is a small town, 50 km. / 30 miles from Swift Current, with not much going for it, at first glance.

After driving around Herbert, we got back out on the highway, headed for Moose Jaw. We drove quite a bit more today than we usually do, but driving across the Canadian Prairies is quite easy, and very boring. We made it to Moose Jaw, stopping at Prairie Oasis Motel and Campground. It's a large motel, and large campground, and entertainment complex with indoor swimming pool, waterslides, hot tubs, restaurant, mini-golf, etc.. We might stay here tomorrow and get caught up on laundry, e-mail, blog, and other chores. We need to give Bo a bath before we get to Winnipeg. He stinks ! I barbecued huge beef ribs for supper, served with baked beans, coleslaw, and a barbecued beet. Barbecuing a beet was something I wanted to try. It was great ! I let Bo gnaw on a beef rib bone after supper. I thought if he was going to get his chin all greasy chewing on a bone, it might as well be just before I give him a bath. WOW ... he sure can clean a bone !

DSK