Once the Cromptons all headed off to work, we said farewell to the pets and re-traced our steps to the Perimeter Highway. By-passing the morning rush of Winnipeg after a long weekend, we filled up on gas and coffee before jumping off at Highway 2 to diagonal across southwestern Manitoba.
We stopped for a lunch break at the Rendezvous Cafe in Deloraine, near the border of both Saskatchewan and North Dakota. My grandmother used to talk about relatives she had in this area, so we felt it was worth a visit.
Jane took over driving after lunch, as my back had started to tighten up with the long days of driving early in the trip....a harbinger of things to come! We motored on into southern Saskatchewan and Estevan, before angling up to Weyburn to follow Highway 13 across the southern plains.
Late in the day, we made our turn at Cadillac to head straight south to Val-Marie and our destination for the night, Grasslands National Park. One of the main goals of the trip was to visit as many national parks as we could, especially with free entry throughout 2017, and this was the first park of many on the itinerary.
We also figured we would just get there and then eat, rather than stop earlier. Of course, we could not know that this road in particular went from bad to horrible....to stopped completely waiting for a pilot truck to lead us through a crazy construction zone.
By the time we reached tiny Val-Marie, boyhood home of NHL legend Bryan Trottier, the scant local options were all closed. We drove the scenic gravel loop around the national park, highlighted by a stop to enjoy the prairie dog colony. After some difficulty and in growing darkness, we managed to find our accommodations for the night - a grasslands tipi under a full moon.
Having missed dinner entirely, we cobbled together a meal of what we had on hand....namely "hot dogs" consisting of pepperettes and mustard on some stale buns! We then hunkered down in our tipi and fell asleep to the mournful howls of coyotes.
Iconic prairie elevators
Rolling plains of southwestern Manitoba
Welcome to Deloraine, Manitoba
Prairie gold
The "road" from Cadillac to Val-Marie, SK
Prairie dogs!
Deer wander the grasslands
Beautiful day for a drive
By-gones be by-gones
Artistic flair in Weyburn
Prairie dog colony in Grasslands National Park
Jane falls in love with the rascally rodents!
Mmmmmm....dinner!
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