Manitoba and Saskatchewan

The prairie states were rightly named. At first Manitoba seemed like Ontario, hilly with a lot of trees and lakes. After an hour of driving on Inter Canada Route 1, it was clear that Manitoba is a flat farmland paradise. Trees either mark property boundaries or fields and protect farmland from freeway winds. Trees were around but the difference was that they were a small piece of the picture, whereas before they were the picture.

Winnipeg, the capitol of Manitoba, looked great. It seemed to be a vibrant town. It was only after we walked around downtown after work hours that we found that was not true. The downtown area had a lost town atmosphere, there were no restaurants outside of the hotels. The street corners held sad, lost people. A charming free-loader was trying to pick us up (get us to buy him some drinks). He chose the wrong folks.
The hotel we stayed at, The Marlboro, was a historic building. The detail work in the dining room was impressive. Here was a picture of the small dining room. There were other more elegant rooms. In its day it must have been quite the place to stay.

On the road west, we stopped at an advertised fruit stand. The man running the stand was very friendly. We learned that the four fields nearby had flax, wheat, sunflower, and canola, respectively.





In the distance the yellow canola fields were vibrant. The fields displayed their colors proudly. At a local grocery store we found flax seeds in all different forms. We purchased some of the local flax products. The roasted flax seeds were a wonderful addition to our breakfast cereal. (The natural flax seeds are now being ground up and enjoyed on my cereals in California.) We both enjoyed purchasing these local products. It was a treat to see the plants in the field and then see the finished products (from Manitoba) on the store shelves.

We tasted a new berry pie, it was a saskatoon berry. It is similar in size to the blueberry and also grows on bushes, but the color is reddish. We were not able to find the berry itself; the identifying markings stated above came from folks who have picked and eaten the berry. The purchased pie was too sweet.


The roadside symbol for Manitoba was the buffalo. Here is a sign from Highway 1 listing some province roads (note the buffalo on the provide road sign).



Saskatchewan was much the same as Manitoba, though Sandy and I felt it was not as prosperous. That does not make sense since both are dominated by farmland. More fields were fallow in Saskatchewan. We did see some trees and hills in this Province.

The speed limit in Saskatchewan is 110 km/hr, their gas price is higher than Manitoba. We by-passed Regina, the Capitol of this Province. Our destination was Moose Jaw. Somewhere I read this was the largest moose in Canada. The statue did not have any signs clarifying it was the biggest.

Moose Jaw was nicknamed "Little Chicago" in the Prohibition years. All the gangsters came up here to purchase their alcohol. This farmland was rich in producing the grains needed to manufacture the booze. We almost stayed in Capone's Hideaway until a girl in the tourist information center told us folks had reported blood stained rugs and pillows in the place. Not sure if the blood was for affect or if folks felt this dive warranted criminal behavior. We ventured away from any adventure at Capone's place. Moose Jaw is a pleasant town. Downtown had a variety of restaurants to choose from. We stopped in several stores of interest. Murals adorn many of the buildings. We ate at a Greek style restaurant. It was not advertised as being Greek food but the menu gave away its origins.