Wednesday morning, we had everything packed up and were ready to hit the road at 8:00…right on time! We found our way to the Flying J Truck Stop where we were meeting Gordon and Esther (Steve’s Uncle and Aunt)…they are coming with us to Reed Lake, Manitoba.
Alberta is oil country and has one of the few refineries in Canada. It also has the roughest city streets we've experienced in our 8 years travelling around North America. How about spending some of that oil money on roadway improvements Alberta!
Downtown Edmonton in the distance...
We were waiting for them in Denny’s when they arrived…a little late after taking a wrong turn. We enjoyed breakfast and then hit the road around 10:00.
This is the route we will be taking over the next two days...
We headed east on Trans Canada Hwy 16…it was looking like it was going to be a great travel day with lots of sunshine. As usual, I took a bunch of pictures along the way...
Elk Island National Park...Bison herd...
Beaver lodge...
Kenilworth Lake...
We crossed into Saskatchewan in Lloydminster...the poles mark the provincial border in which the city is in both provinces...
At North Battleford, SK we took hwy 40 northeast…
North Saskatchewan River...
Sorry about all of the bug splatter on the windshield!
Our destination for today is Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Overnight RV parking is allowed at the Northern Lights Casino…perfect for us and Gordon and Esther had booked a hotel not far away.
We needed to fuel up…not easy when you are towing and there are no truck stops in the area. But we came across a Co-op with lots of room…there were also truck pumps behind the station but it was a Cardlock. We must find out about joining…it would have been perfect!
In the meantime, Gordon and Esther had found their way to the hotel they had booked and as soon as we had finished fueling up both tanks, we continued the short distance to the casino. There is a huge parking area where there were already a few RV’s parked, so we made our way there and found a spot…level front-to-back, just off a bit side-to-side…good enough! For such a small casino it sure had lots of parking.
The sign on the light pole said you must get a parking permit from customer service inside the casino, so that is where we headed. In order to get the pass, one of us had to get a ‘player’s card’…which also included 10% off in the restaurant.
Once that was all done, we went back out to the rig to put the bedroom slide out…that is all we will be needing for a quick overnight stay. The sun was blazing down on the door side of the trailer and it was hot!
Gordon and Esther arrived and we all had a little happy hour (a beer), standing in the doorway before we walked to the casino for dinner.
The casino is small compared to others that we have stopped at…and had a small restaurant with a very limited buffet. You could also order off of a menu…Esther, Gordon and I decided to go ahead with the buffet while Steve ordered chicken fingers and fries.
After dinner, we decided to check out the slots for a bit….I started with $10 and came out with $20.45. Steve played $5 and came out with $0.15…for a change, I was up and he was down…that doesn’t happen very often!
Thursday, after a peaceful night in the casino parking lot, Esther and Gordon picked us up just before 7:30 and we drove to the Smitty’s Restaurant, just a short distance away. One thing we hadn't noticed, but Uncle Gord pointed it out to us, was that we were parked across from the Prince Albert Penitentiary...
By 8:30, we were back…time to hit the road again! We made our way north back through the city, crossing the North Saskatchewan River...
And then hit hwy 55 east. That's a float plane taxing on the river...
At Smeaton, we took hwy 106 which goes north, then curves around down to Flin Flon, Manitoba.
We stopped at a pull off on the left side of the road for a break…next to a beautiful lake. You could see fish swimming in the shallows...
And a few more pictures along the way...you could see forever!
We drove for miles through an area that appeared to have had a forest fire the previous year...
There are many fishing lodges along this highway...
Just before crossing over the border into Manitoba, we went through the town on Creighton, SK...
(I think we squashed a few bugs on our windshield!)
After almost 5 hours on the road, we arrived in Flin Flon, MB. That was 327 km of very, very rough highway for us. Gord and Esther saw our trailer bouncing all over the place as they followed but didn't experience the same ride as us in the comfort of their car. Just like our trip to Alaska many of the bad spots were flagged so you had a warning to slow down.
Time to fuel up with diesel again, $1.30 per litre. Once done, we met Gordon and Esther just down the highway at the Walmart…and then we were off on our last leg of our trip.We took hwy 10 south...
Many of the highways in the prairies don't go around the lakes but through them...
Bakers West Channel....
Mistik Creek...
Otter Lake...
About 65 kms south on highway 10, we turned east on highway 39 towards Reed Lake, one of many lakes in
Grass River Provincial Park...
There is a thunderstorm in the forecast so we are hoping to get setup before the rain starts...
At about 4:30 (3:30 Alberta time and 2:30 BC time) we pull into Reed Lake Campground, in Grass River Provincial Park. It had been 2 very long travel days but we were so happy to finally be here!
We stopped at the park office, chatted with the operators…”You must be Dave’s brother, go get set up and you can pay up tomorrow." Cool, so we carried on into the campground to find a site.
Dave and Kerry (Steve's brother and soon to be sister-in-law) are in a seasonal site #38 and there happened to be a site next door (site #40) to them which would be perfect. As we were starting to maneuver back into it, Kerry and Dave came out from a site just down the road where they had been visiting. After big hugs, we got ourselves backed in, levelled and unhitched. We quickly got ourselves set up and then joined the others next door.
Dave had a campfire going and we sat and chatted…had a wonderful dinner (thanks, Kerry and Dave!) and then hung around the fire having a great visit.
Uncle Gord...what's in that drink...you shrunk!
We also had a big thunder and lightning storm…finally! I love watching the sky light up and then listen to the thunder boom!
At North Battleford, SK we took hwy 40 northeast…
At Smeaton, we took hwy 106 which goes north, then curves around down to Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Just before crossing over the border into Manitoba, we went through the town on Creighton, SK...
About 65 kms south on highway 10, we turned east on highway 39 towards Reed Lake, one of many lakes in Grass River Provincial Park...
