Map of route through Saskatchewan

Long Gone to Saskatchewan

Day one in Saskatchewan was interesting. It started to sprinkle rain first thing in the morning as we left our friends’ house and headed out of town. I was going to walk for a while then come back in and walk through town with Family. By the time we drove for 20 minutes and just got out of town and parked, the clouds opened up and the rain was really coming down hard.

For whatever reason today, I had a very difficult time trying to get motivated to get up and get moving. After being up a little later than planned the night before visiting with some friends, I was tired.

Knowing that we had TV and newspaper interviews at 9 a.m. in Lloydminster and family meeting us to walk we decided to sleep and rest until around 8:00 am, then head back to our meeting point on the AB – SK border.

Had a really interesting head game playing with me today—the motivation was not there, the drive was not there—I still wanted to continue but had a really hard time getting up. I wasn’t sore or hurting at all, just unmotivated by being tired with the early mornings and lack of sleep the last few days, which caused me to be aware of the amount of rest and sleep I need to get from this point on. It is crucial to making sure this train keeps on walking and rolling. I only put a 25 km dent into our first day in SK.

Decided to end the day early and head back to Lloydminster. Wanted to do something fun and reward the kids so we took in the ew Avengers movie Infinity War with Loreal and Isaiah. It was a fantastic movie however I was not super impressed with the ending. But it did leave the door open for another movie.

Saskatchewan SceneryFirst full day into Saskatchewan, the landscape was rather nice with a lot of Rolling Hills and grain elevators everywhere. It was interesting to see about 60 to 70% of the vehicles coming into Saskatchewan on a weekend with Alberta plates. They must be heading to their cabins I guess, there were very few campers that passed us, as from what I have been told this is Cottage country with all of the lakes in the area.

Kristie’s Dad decided to come out and join us for the weekend and stayed for a few days to walk with us since he was not able to when we went through Edmonton. It was great to have him come on the walk. It was eating him up and not being able to be there with us on the road, so he got to experience it for himself.

The landscape is starting to flatten out now but the sun rises are absolutely amazing unfortunately the camera does not do them Justice.

Had to use the truck as a Windbreak a few times as the head wind was just overpowering and had me pushing just to keep moving. Had an interesting discussion with Dylan while walking about how we attract money and how money loves to come to people who know how to use it constructively and help others however, it has a way of running away from those who try to hold on to it too tight and smother it and try to keep it for themselves. She seems to be an incredible magnet to money as each time it is her day I find Dollars on the side of the road rather than just dimes, nickels and Quarters for the boys.

One interesting gentleman stopped to see if we were having troubles. Turns out he was on his way to go see his brand-new triplets that his wife just had that morning. He asked about the walk and we got chatting.  Turns out his wife had leukemia at the age of three and his dad had lung cancer ten years ago and may now have bladder cancer.  His new triplets were all boys, adding onto the three children they already had, (I thought we were a big family with four kids, six kids…yikes).

Got to walk across the old arch bridge at Borden with the kids which was really cool!Saskatchewan Scenery

I had a great early start on the walk into Saskatoon. Kristie’s Uncle Lauren and Aunt Helen came to meet us and walk with us for a while which was excellent. I always love having company on the road. The conversation really helps to pass the time and km along.

I asked Kallyn what his goal was for the day (I get the kids to set a time goal when they walk with me, learning the habits of setting goals at a young age!) for time and instantly he said 87. As it was a bit of an odd number and more than he usually walks, out of curiosity I asked him why he chose 87?  “It is one of my favorite hockey players Dad, Sidney Crosby.” Did I mention that my boys are hockey crazy?

That was absolutely fantastic. I asked him what his goal what might be for tomorrow because some of the other hockey players that he really enjoys watching only have single digit numbers which would allow him to have a much easier day. So we put our heads together and it took some doing but we added up a bunch of players for tomorrow’s goal.

We had an interview with global Saskatoon today on the side of the road to get the word out.

Montessori School Our old neighbor in Valleyview runs a Montessori School in Saskatoon, and we had the pleasure of chatting with the kids. It was a lot of fun talking to them about what we are doing and why, and answering their questions.  They made us a beautiful banner as well with a very realistic looking picture of me, beard and all 🙂

After a tune-up in Edmonton at the Chiropractor, I was in need of another re-alignment in Saskatoon and it felt great—all straightened out again.

Some of Kristie’s cousins as well as aunt and uncle came for a visit and it was excellent to catch up. We had our most successful day with finding roadside change at $4.50.

Kristie’s cousin Deon came walking with us for a while today and made 20 km which is a lot for anyone. Again some interesting conversations and a lot of fun—he is an interesting guy.

After all of the people that have stopped to see if we were okay I finally got one named Jimmy…It’s the simple things in life 🙂

Have you ever been out walking for a while and when you sat down for a few minutes you notice the feeling that you developed blisters on your feet? Have you kept on walking only to feel them pop at some point? It’s quite an interesting feeling, however, it relieves a lot of pressure and pain when they do pop.

Spending the night in Davidson, Saskatchewan on our way to Regina. I appreciate all of the overcast days as it keeps the heat of the sun off of my back which is really nice. It’s still nice and warm but at least takes away the heat of the Sun.

It has been a challenge up to now to try and be as efficient and effective as I can with getting work done. I haven’t been overly effective at it or efficient at it up until now, realizing that I need to make a few adjustments to the program. How I’m doing things and how I’m working has been an interesting eye-opener but as with anything else we learn as we go, so I have made some timing adjustments to my schedule of when I do certain things and it has been absolutely fantastic. We can only solve problems when we have challenges to overcome!

Small communitiesAfter 25 days on the road walking on the right side and a right-angle chamber I had to do something as my knees were giving me some grief so I decided to add an extra insole into my right shoe to try to offset the height difference however, in short order that made things WAY worse, rather than better, throwing off the angle of my feet and ankles and knees causing some serious knee issues. Scrapping that idea, I decided to walk on the left side of the road for a while with a left-angled chamber for some time to try to allow my hips, knees and ankles to adjust back to normal. It took a little while to get used to and allow things to adjust but after that it felt fantastic as my left knee had been terribly sore. I only did this for a few days as one day I had to have a very nice conversation with an RCMP Officer. Kristie had stopped to make the kids breakfast and I was on the left side of the road. The motorhome stayed back a ways when we did that because I didn’t want to bottleneck traffic with both of us on either side of the road.  Well apparently with the distance of the motorhome and me, one truck driver thought it was a hazard and called the RCMP to complain. When the officer stopped me we had a conversation as to what I was doing and why I was on the left side of the road and why the motorhome was so far back (which I didn’t realize). He was very concerned and wanted to ensure my safety, which I appreciated very much and he strongly recommended that I stay on the right side of the road. I gave him one of our cards and he took my information. Turns out he had spent about eight years in the Summerside area and was very familiar with PEI. He was quite a nice man. When he understood what we were doing, he thanked me for doing it, but to stay safe.

Dylan and I had been talking about going camping for a few days after we get back and have not finalized where we’re going, but have decided it will be a 3-night trip. I am doing some training with the boys preparing them for hockey season and keeping them in shape while on the road.

It was very windy with a cross-wind today and as I was walking with Kallyn, he fell behind a little. The wind blew his hat off his head and was taking it across the road. Without too much thought he ran after it. Kristie laid on the horn in the motorhome to flag me down. As I turned around and seen what was going on, I hollered at him to stay put. That scared the ever-loving snot out of me for a few minutes. I got him to come back across the highway when it was safe to do so and rather than giving too much heck I just give him a great big hug and told him that next time if the Hat blows across the road not to worry too much about it and rush after it because we can replace the hat but we can’t replace the Kallyn. His quick reaction was due to him leaving his hat at the restaurant the night before and him and I having a discussion about how we have to take care of our things.  Whew, that one scared me.

We have seen a few good thunder and lightning storms over the course of the trip through Saskatchewan. One particular storm was early in the evening while I was resting. The wind picked up and the thunder clapped. Mom, Kristie and the kids were out at the store and got caught in the rain storm and weren’t able to come home until the storm let up slightly. Then it was a mad dash to get back to the motorhome. Unfortunately the ground was a little wet and Mom slipped in her flip-flops and landed in a puddle and wound up getting a little wet.

We were passed by two bikers that we’re heading from Victoria, British Columbia to Newfoundland raising money for ALS. They stopped and chatted with us for a few minutes and got a picture. you can check them out at Skyler travels.com

SunriseA few days later we met up with another group of four cyclists who also left Victoria, British Columbia and were heading to Newfoundland. Two were from England, and the other two were from Nova Scotia. They had met up in Golden, BC and were riding together for the majority of their Journey. None of them were doing it for any particular cause other than a personal challenge, which was fantastic to see some young individuals taking on such a massive personal challenge.

We have encountered some amazing sunrises so far on our journey. I’ve tried to capture them on my camera but unfortunately the camera on my phone just doesn’t do them the justice they deserve (insert some Sunrise photos)

Welcome and hello to you too June. The first day of June was rain, rain, rain. We still had a productive day and we’re pushing and getting closer to the Manitoba border.

Manitoba borderAfter walking in the rain for a day, coupled with the lower calorie intake that I was operating on, caused my body to not be able to fight off a little bit of a cold that I caught. Realizing this, we made a few adjustments. I had a little extra sleep the next date, increased the calorie intake, spent some time adjusting the mindset and I was feeling much better within a day or two.

The trip through Saskatchewan was interesting after always hearing the comments of how flat it is and you can see your dog running away for 3 days. I was quite impressed by some of the areas and also by all of the little communities and towns that were sort of in the middle of nowhere that were just fantastically well done and all kept nice and clean and just beautiful little places.

We noticed beautiful ball diamonds in almost each and every one of the little towns along the way in Saskatchewan!

Next Stop Manitoba!

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