I believe I said in the post from Salt Lake City Utah that I'm not really that into Dinosaurs, but being at this amazing museum it is hard not to be enthralled and is 10 times better that what is at the University of Utah museum. They have some amazing artifacts and fossils of massive proportions:
In addition to the displays they have windows open into the preparation labs, where recently dug up fossils are being prepared for display in the future. Much of the work is done by volunteers and university students.
A few kilometers down the main road there is a collection of Hoodoos, stone columns remaining after the softer rock around them has been eroded by the weather.
My next stop was Kindersley, Saskatchewan. This was the first time I had set foot in the province of Saskatchewan and crossing through the province was an important part of this trip for me seeing as I had previously visited all the other provinces in Canada.
In Kindersley, I went to their small museum that had a number of large collections of small items like:
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| Match Books |
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| Manual Meat Grinders |
both items you don't see that much any more, so pieces of nostalgia for me.
That evening I had dinner at Boston Pizza. It was the trifecta for Toronto Sports fans. All three major sports franchises were playing on the same night and were on TV for me to watch at Boston Pizza. The Raptors and Maple Leafs were both in the playoffs (that in itself doesn't happen every year) and the Blue Jays were starting their season!
No campgrounds in the area were open, so I stayed in the parking lot at Walmart. It wasn't the most restful night because a car dealership nearby had audible music playing on their outside speakers, even though they were closed.
On my way out of Kindersley, I stopped at the Regional Park Community Walking Trail for some exercise. The well marked and maintained trail circles a pond. I passed quite a few other people using the trail for exercise. Across the street from one end is the local campground, which wasn't open for the season yet, but looked nice and may be worth a visit if I am ever passing through this way again.
My next stop was Saskatoon. I had a reservation at the Gordon Howe Campground. This is probably the nicest, most well run campground I have stayed at to date. The fellow who runs it has a lot of experience that other campground operators could learn from. It is located within the city limits, adjacent to some sports fields and the river. When the trees and shrubs are in leaf, the campsites would have a very private feeling.
A little outside Saskatoon, I visited the Wanuskewin Heritage Park in the Opimihaw Creek Valley. There was a large friendly looking soapstone bear to greet visitors.
It is an archaeological goldmine dating back 6,000 years in the lives of indigenous people and was a stop during the Amazing Race Canada 3, Episode 7 where the participants had to either build a t-pee or learn the hoop dance. Unfortunately the museum didn't have many artifacts on display. They had a display of really bad art. The outdoor area is quite vast and you can tour it on foot with some guideposts providing explanations, but compared to other sites I have been to this was was rather disappointing. Areas that had been buffalo jumps and buffalo traps had been excavated and then filled back in and were already grown over, so there really wasn't anything to see. Another example, when it comes to a medicine wheel:
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| Explanation of Medicine Wheel |
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| Just a few rocks on the ground. |
The things I found to be the most interesting, like these colorful ribbons tied to the trees:
weren't "interpreted" and when I asked about it back inside the museum, I was told it was because it was "to sacred." The highlight of my visit was the jingle dancer, unfortunately my video of her dancing didn't come out very well due to the lighting conditions. Click here to see a sample of jingle dancing. Sadly, at $8.50 for admission, this was the most disappointing side trip I have made since I started my RV adventure.
While I was in Saskatoon I took in the Humboldt Bronco's Country Music Tribute Concert at the Sask Tel Centre.
The place was a sea of green in honor of the Broncos and was rocking from start to finish, 3 1/2 hours in total. I'm not that into country music and don't really know much about the Canadian country music start, but they did put on a good show and I recognized a few of the songs.
For those that are unfamiliar with the need to have a benefit concert, the reason was that on April 6th, 2018, a 22 wheeled transport truck carrying packages of insulation collided with the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team en route to a game in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. Tragically sixteen passengers were killed and 13 others were injured, when they were ejected from the coach style bus, which was equipped with seat belts, but none of the occupants were wearing them. The driver of the truck was very inexperienced. He ran a stop sign and caused an unthinkable tragedy that deeply effected the small Saskatchewan town. There was an unprecedented outpouring of support from hockey enthusiasts around the world. I was prepared to volunteer there for up to a week. I though they might be able to use some administrative support or something I could handle, but as it turned out when I inquired it was too soon after the event for them to be organized enough to make use of my talents, so instead I stayed clear of the town and moved on.
The following night I attended a Rush National Lacrosse league game at the same venue. (I used to be a Toronto Rock season ticket holder.)
During my stay in Saskatoon, I also attended a sabbath synagogue service and went on a couple of bicycle rides along the river. I feel Saskatoon would be quite a livable city if I wanted to be situated more directly north of Arizona.
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