Over the last few years, my family has been exploring more of Alberta with our annual camping trips. We pretty much pick a direction and go.
With forest fires and related road closures and smoky air, this year though, we had to adjust our plans.
Hearing about a salt water lake in Saskatchewan with reportedly half the buoyancy of the Dead Sea, we charted a course for Little Manitou Lake, Sask.
Having never been to Saskatchewan before, I didn't really know what to expect, but I'd heard all the jokes about our neighbouring prairie province being so flat you can watch your dog run away for three days.
While I'm not sure about that, it was still a shock to drive for over three hours and see nothing but farmland.
Whatever the case, our trip was certainly an adventure, with some mishaps and fun times exploring and appreciating nature and ultimately being glad to be back home.
We headed out on a Saturday afternoon, optimistic for the trip ahead.
Besides some much-needed family time, it was our one-year-old mixed breed dog's first camping trip and we were excited. Our first planned stop was to be in Macklin, just the other side of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
All the gear was loaded up in the truck and trailer and we were on our way ... two counties away from home, however, a trailer tire blew, the rubber stripping down the middle. Both tires had looked in good condition but apparently had aged enough to be brittle.
Thankfully, we were just 16 kilometres from Hardisty, which we discovered has a fairly nice municipal campground.
We limped into town, registered for our site and set up for the weekend, as we'd have to wait for a tire shop in Killam to open on Monday morning. We had a pleasant weekend and enjoyed playing in the water on our floaties with the pup and our three boys.
Upon seeing the Macklin campground we decided it was one we could afford to skip, and went on to Blackstrap Lake Provincial Park.
It was a long, boring drive of fairly unbroken farmland until we reached Saskatoon and the boys were getting rowdy. It also didn't help that a rock from a dirty truck passing us hit our windshield, spidering the glass and showering us all with small shards of glass.
From Saskatoon, we headed south for another half hour to reach Blackstrap.
Moods didn't improve when the first night was extremely windy, making micro-tears in the tent, the noise hard to sleep over. Adding to the noise was a bad cough one of the boys had developed out of nowhere.
We awoke the next day cranky and tired, and it showed. It was time for a family meeting. We talked about being kind, listening to each other and helping with tasks and attitudes improved. Unfortunately, dad missed the talk as he was snoring away in the truck; the boy's cold had claimed another victim.
We then decided to make a day trip to Little Manitou Lake.
Our GPS took us on a bizarre route right through farmers' fields on gravel roads that were barely roads, feeling like trespassers the whole time, but at the mercy of Google Maps, the carnage of grasshoppers on the front fender was disconcerting. We nearly hit a badger fighting with a hawk, and saw a herd of antelope crossing a field.
A kindly farmer redirected us before we became completely lost, letting us know the next road we were about to head down didn't exist and did not, in fact, go to the beach. He set us straight and we sighed in relief to be back on an actual highway.
After an expensive lunch at the beach front eatery we were ready to finally hit the water.
Full of little red brine shrimp, it was an interesting experience being able to just walk into the water until your feet no longer touched the bottom and just float there without treading water. Evidently, the buoyancy of the water makes it a popular spot for seniors.
We spent another day at Blackstrap, hunting for crayfish along the shore of the lake, the boys amazed at the wide range of colours we found, from bright blue to rosy pink.
After a nice dinner in Saskatoon we got a hotel room for the night in North Battleford as it was getting late. It took a few tries but we finally found a hotel with a pet-friendly room. Our dog was good as gold the whole time, taking each new experience in stride.
We enjoyed camping for a couple of days at Battlefords Provincial Park, amazed at the large park with three separate campgrounds, the huge lake and all the amenities. Perhaps it's because it was late in the season, or just because of the sheer size of the place, but it had a bit of an isolated, deserted feeling, even though we did see a few other people there.
It wasn't so fun being caught too far out on the water by the current, unable to row back, and having to walk almost an hour along the shore to get back to the beach, dragging the dinghy the whole way, but we survived.
We found the nearby town of Cochin charming with its lighthouse, riverboats and one-stop-shop convenience store. Picking up a local paper, I read an article about a book a former editor of mine had written, learning a bit more about the history of the area.
Though we'd had a good time, by the end of the week we were all feeling ready to be home and decided to head straight home, forgoing our final campsite in Alberta (even the pooch made it clear he was done, clinging close to the truck as we packed up).
With some stops dealing with a shredded tarp and other necessary breaks we were finally home late Saturday night. Our own beds never looked so good.
