I am now writing from Regina, Saskatchewan where I arrived just a few minutes ago. The trip through the Yukon and British Columbia was much more scenic with a little sunshine. It had been cloudy/rainy on my way north. I took a bath in an ice-cold stream something like the one in the photo below. I wouldn't bathe in this one, it's a little too beautiful and fast moving.
I also stopped by Muncho Lake along the way.
Some bears were foraging along the roadside. I saw three in total. Around each bear RV's, cars, and motorcycles would gather to observe, but no one seemed to care about the beautiful mountain streams or lakes. No one stopped to take photos with me at these places for some reason.
As I came out of the mountains and into the plains, the most beautiful sites were the crops growing along the side of the road. Rapeseed, the plant that produces Canola oil, is a very popular crop here. Canadians are very proud of their Canola oil. A trucker at a truck stop told me that one quart of pure Canola oil would clean out all the soot inside my diesel engine... The blossoms are bright yellow and smell vaguely like roses. Driving on a highway surrounded by the crops with my windows down, the scent is overpowering sometimes.
Anyway I made it through the entire Alaska highway in two days. This time I didn't stop in Edmonton, but went straight through to Saskatoon. I checked out the University there on the advice of a girl at a visitor center who said they had a synchotron that I should see. Unfortunately everything seemed very closed for the summer. The town of Saskatoon also seemed troubled to me. In the downtown area a group of teenagers gathered around a bus stop and were being questioned by a man in a "SECURITY" shirt. Drivers there were also very aggressive, and there were no souvenir shops according to many people I asked!
I always ask people why they live where they live when I get a chance. In Alberta there was oil, but in Saskatchewan there was no obvious reason. A gas station attendant told me that the cost of living is much lower in SK, but I asked him what he meant since I had seen prices for food and fuel were both lower in Alberta. He explained that the cost of SK health insurance is much lower than that in Alberta... Hmm.
So I left for Regina. Hopefully tomorrow I will have better luck as a tourist.
No comments:
Post a Comment