Day 75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thomson Lake RV site

 

 

 

 

Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park to Thomson Lake

ROAD REPORT: I returned to the Redcoat Trail (SK-13) by backtracking on SK-21. Road conditions were good between the 13-21 junction and Eastend. After that it was hit and miss, sometimes good, sometimes poor. The redeeming factor is that I'm just about the only one on the road so I can take my half out of the middle, thus missing most of the crumbling pavement at the edge. I was able to average about 80-90 km/hr on this leg.

About 7.5 km east of Cadillac there is a detour (something about a bridge being replaced) that takes you onto dirt and gravel roads for about 21.5 km, returning to SK-13 about half way between Ponteix and Aneroid. Due to the road conditions 50 km/hr is about tops until the last half km. That last piece is so badly wash boarded that you have to creep along at no more than 20 km/hr. I strongly recommend leaving SK-13 at Cadillac and rejoining it at Aneroid. You won't miss much except more farm and ranchland. The only community on this section is Ponteix and it's just like all the other farm villages built around some grain elevators and a railroad spur.

Once you get past this section the road is fair to good and 90 km/hr isn't a problem most of the time. Thomson Lake is north on SK-58 at LaFleche. The best place to shop is in Gravelbourg, another 9 km north on SK-58. So far I haven't found an internet connection in either village. I'm stopping here for 4 days because I'm ahead of schedule for my stop at Green Haven, about 4 hours away. I might pull out sooner and make a stop outside of Regina.

I won't say that it's lonely traveling across the SK prairie, but whenever a couple of vehicles cross paths, everyone waves. This is born out of the urge to reinforce your connection to the human race.

I saw, on the average, about 1 vehicle per 1/2 hour. Most of the time that was some kind of farm implements driving down the road. The tractors I recognized but everything else was a mystery to me. They were just big, green things with lots of tires, dangerous looking blades and knives, and “Deere” labels on them. Most of these machines take up a lane and a half.

When passing on these roads, make sure you're in a passing area because, even though it may look flat, there are dips and rises that prevent you from seeing what's coming. You will have to look closely at the center line because it's pretty worn off, but you normally can tell if you're in a passing area. The marking is the same as in the States, broken yellow line or solid yellow with a parallel broken yellow on your side.

Now I've got a new color to wonder about, some of the fields have a green crop with a lavender flower. I've no idea what that is. Also, some of the yellow crops are mustard, not canola.

RV PARK REPORT: Thomson Lake is a man-made lake and is a SK Regional Park. It is right on the lake and has a range of sites, from full to no hook-ups. The full hook-ups have small slots for your RV but the rest of the site is like someones back yard with trees, shrub lined, fire pit, and picnic table. There is also a large swimming pool, golf course, restaurant and 19 hole, canoes for rent, and large playground for the kids. The lake has Pike and Pickerel in it.

WEATHER REPORT: Although the weather is hot (32 ° C) and the sky's clear, there are “extreme” thunderstorm warnings for the southern part of the Province and thunderstorm and tornado warnings for the central and northern areas. A tornado touched down up by Saskatoon according to the radio.

Again I have trees blocking the 119 satellite but I'm not going to worry about it, I'm getting one broadcast channel (CBC) in English and I'll settle for that. I've got plenty of reading material and lots of good tunes on CD and tape.

I've decided. I'm going to go to Regina for about 3 days. Maybe I'll be able to get on line and set up my website. Then it's only a 45 minute drive to Green Haven
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