Sep 24, 2012 - Saskatoon

We drove from Drumheller to Saskatoon on Friday and set up in Gordon Howard Park. Yes, the park is named after hockey immortal Gordie Howe. It is a nice campground with the only drawback being no sewer. Saskatoon, a city of about a quarter million, has turned out to be a pleasant place to visit. I am especially pleased with the bike path that runs on either side of the Lower Saskatchewan River. I did a training run along the path and through the campus of the University of Saskatchewan. Sue had an opportunity to taste some Saskatoon berries...

Sep 23, 2011 - Final Countdown

Basically three days until we leave and i am JUST starting to feel like I am ready to go. The last few days I have spent gathering all my stuff in a somewhat organized pile and have attempted to pack and repack a few times. I am not so concerned that I will not have enough stuff while we are gone, but more so that I will over pack and end up lugging around unnecessary pounds of gear. I am trying to be very picky in regards to what I put in the backpack that is to become my home for the next 10 months. It is considerably difficult to know...

Sep 15, 2011 - Last Preparations

This last week I have spent trying to prep for the trip mentally and physically. Thordie and I decided that 3 days in Fiji was simply not enough time there. A few days ago we went to Travel Cuts and extended our stay there to 12 days instead of 3. We did this for a couple reasons; first of all, everybody we spoke to said we were crazy for spending so little time there and they suggested we extend it. Second, we realized that since the rugby World Cup in NZ was on, prices country wide have doubled as well as most hostels have been booked up....

Sep 7, 2011 - One last trip before the BIG trip...and wisdom teeth

On September 1st Thordie, Al, Carol and I drove to Kananaskis for one last whitewater kayaking trip. We arrived there Thursday afternoon and after doing some set up at our campsite, Thordie went for a quick paddle. We spent the evening there mostly alone, however a few groups from Alberta's slalom paddling group also made use of the campsite as they were holding their nationals there that weekend. The next day about 7 other people from Saskatoon's whitewater kayaking group joined us and we paddled a couple times. There are many reasons I...

Sep 3, 2011 - We're leaving on a jet plane...

The very first entry to the long awaited blog...woot woot Some of you probably thought we dropped off the face of the Earth b/c it's been a while since you heard from us. I spent a month is Saskatchewan and Jimmy was there for two weeks. We were really sad to leave b/c it was great to spend time with beloved friends and family. I want to send a special thanks to Jaime and Scott for including us in your special day - we had the greatest time and hope you have many wonderful years together. Thanks to everyone that made us amazing meals, we...

Sep 3, 2011 - Saskatoon, SK - A Drive Through the Breadbasket

(Ron Writing) Driving to Saskatoon was much like a drive across Kansas, Nebraska, or Iowa. The terrain is almost flat; it’s almost continuous farmland with many ponds and lakes. On the west side of the province we saw many oil wells but not many as we neared the central part. The weather was beautiful, the road was excellent and it was nice travel day but we didn’t find any interesting stops along the way. It appears the highway was built to bypass all the small farm communities in the area. We often drove for long distances between even...

Aug 17, 2011 - Thoughts, Opinions, and Reflections on Alaska

Written Aug 14, 2011 We are now in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in yet another Wal-Mart. We got an earlier start this morning, but stopped just 2 miles into our trip at the Saskatchewan Welcome Center. While there, we learned they had free WiFi and were able to log on from inside our rig out in the parking lot. I took the time to post the blog, but that’s all. Since before we arrived in Edmonton the terrain has been pretty flat and the scenery huge fields of crops--wheat or canola or whatever. We’ve seen the farmers out cutting, raking, and...

Aug 14, 2011 - Sauntering On To Saskatoon

We were ready to leave Lloydminster and roll on a little further south east to our next planned stop near Saskatoon. We were ready earlier than we needed to be but we do lose an hour today when we go into Central Time zone. We decided to drive to the exit before Joe hooked up the Jeep; it’s been wet and muddy here and, even though the Jeep looks like it should be condemned already, we didn’t want to add any unnecessary mud. Then, one last stop in Alberta to take advantage of the diesel prices at Husky……$1.139 / liter and we were full and on...

Aug 6, 2011 - Saskatoon Rowing Camp/Elena

Time with Elena has been a real blast. It is clear that she is having a very good time here and I am constantly surprised with how adventurous and willing to try new things she is. Within the first few days of her arrival, Natasha, Larissa and I took her to the strawberry patch to pick strawberries. For the first time in her life, Elena tried a strawberry and loved it. Throughout her stay I have taken her: for a boat ride in the coach boat during a training session, for a row on the river in a learn to row boat, out shopping with the girls,...

Jul 11, 2011 - As the summer flies by..

Since I last posted, I have done a fair bit of planning for my trip. Thordie, Barbi, my mom and I went to TravelCuts and organized some of the paperwork and such for the trip. Already I have looked into several different places, I have basically sent in my papers to get my working holiday visa for NZ, I have gotten travel insurance, a hostel international card, and many other tedious things. This past week we had a rowing camp where we raced the rest of the team for seat selection for westerns. I got second place just behind Natasha, while...

Jul 5, 2011 - Williston, ND to Saskatoon, SK

Forgot to mention that we had a Independence Day cookout at Williston, ND. The town had fireworks but we only saw it through the front window of the coach. Some tired puppies! One of the things that impressed us, besides the flooded fields, roads, etc., on the drive to Williston was the oil rigs and drilling activity. This continued from northwest SD, thru western ND, and on up into Saskatchewan. Oil and gas wells intermingled with crops and did not see one bit of oil spills or a blotched landscape. We crossed the border at Port of Oungre,...

Jul 3, 2011 - Rowing seat selection

This coming week I will be competing against the 8 other girls on the western Canada games team for seat selection for the games in august. The boys are all going to Regina and the girls are all going to pike lake for the races. I am very nervous because these races determine what each of us will be rowing at the end of the summer. Naturally, the top athlete will row the single, seeing as they have the best chance of getting the row club a medal. The single will most likely go to Anna Currie, Larissa Werbiki, Natasha Werbiki or I, seeing as...