Back on the road again!

I think it’s been a while since I last updated the blog.  But then, who’s counting?

So …  Through lots of diligence, patience, and adequate amounts of sunshine, we finally managed to melt all the snow in the yard, and get the trees and grass greened up!

That usually means one thing. Time to hit the road somewhere again! 

But before that happened, the new UAV (drone) that arrived soon after I got home had to earn it’s keep.  One of the local Counties called me up and wanted to survey some ice jams and the river flooding situation.  Luckily, the ice jams had all disappeared, but there were was some overland flooding in some areas.

Both campers were sitting there, and Hailey couldn’t decide which one she preferred!

Eventually, after a fight, she agreed that the truck camper would be the best bet!

Hailey and I jumped in and headed east.  We hit a few of our favourite spots along the way, but the weather was not cooperating, so we didn’t really take any photos till we reached Saskatchewan.

There we were able to find a nice spot overlooking the North Saskatchewan to enjoy the scenery and the spring warmth.

In the morning, large flocks of geese would rise up off the river and circle, climbing, before eventually continuing their journey on north to their preferred nesting grounds.  Mourning Doves and Common Nighthawks were also announcing their presence in the area, as well as some Mule Deer and the occasional coyote.

At another camp spot on the edge of a lake, beavers were out for an evening swim, and were actively talking back and forth as they swam along!

In Saskatchewan, this is one of the more common signs you will see.

I think they lost their ‘road repair’ manual or something?

Stick to the main roads, and it is a bit better, but I usually like to take the less-traveled ways.

After that, we continued on to the east, watching a large column of smoke get larger and larger as we approached.  It was the ‘Rally’ fire that had ignited just the day before a bit west of Prince Albert.  Within a day or two, it had jumped across the North Saskatchewan River at that point.

We sat and watched from a distance as the bombers circled, lining up to drop retardant along the edge of the fire under the direction of the ‘bird dog’ aircraft.

After short visits with friends and relatives in Prince Albert, we headed north into the bush to the National Park of the same name.  It turned out that there was also an ‘out of control’ fire burning in the south western portion of the park, but by continuing further north we were able to avoid camping in the smoke and ash falling from the sky.

As usual, the bears were out on the roadside, taking advantage of the first things to green up.

It was still prior to the long weekend, so the campgrounds had not started to charge, and better yet, we were the only ones in the campground!

After a couple of years of closure due to construction and repairs, the road on the north side of Waskesiu Lake to Kingsmere Lake was open again, so we headed up there next.

There is a small narrow guage rail running along the river to assist small boats making the portage up to Kingsmere lake, and some shiny new bridges and staircases as well.

Clearly, there was a ‘government’ beaver working on this tree.  I assume he/she had been sent away for ‘sensitivity training’, language training, or perhaps just on an extended coffee break.  I hope to see this tree down on my next visit!

On a hiking trail closer to the townsite, we came face to face with a friendly Otter, but I was a bit too slow on the draw to get a usable photo.  Another bear was not so shy however, and tried to approach me on a raised walkway with railings, till I convinced him that would not be a good idea .

I found an old fire lookout tower in the park, but it had obviously been ‘re-purposed’ for some sort of communications role.

Heading back south again, the smoke had cleared or at least the wind had changed directions, so another great little lake front campsite was again smoke-free.After returning home for a very few days, and to mow the grass, we were back on the road again.  Who would have guessed?  Back to Saskatchewan again!

But that will have to wait for another blog post – hopefully before August  .