(This is a reading heavy post at the beginning. Those of you who prefer pictures can skip ahead. I’ll never know. Unless I see you sometime and ask you probing questions about the drive I took from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Yorkton, Saskatchewan, which is highly unlikely to happen).

The plan for Friday was simple: head from Winnipeg to somewhere in Saskatchewan (specific destination TBD), with a stop at Riding Mountain National Park along the way to look for wildlife and take a hike. Things did not go entirely as planned (for example, someone is going to be getting the screen on her iPad replaced for the 4th time this year).

After spending a nice late-morning and early-afternoon at the Park, Choppy and I headed to Saskatchewan, continuing our westward trek.

And now for some randomness. First, I always think Manitoba (the province in which Winnipeg and Riding Mountain are located, as an aid to my geographically-challenged American friends) sounds like a random animal. In my mind, it’s some sort of moose-like creature. I have no idea why I think this. Nor do I know why I felt compelled to add this random bit of information into this post.

Second, in terms of the names of the provinces, Saskatchewan is easily the province with the most amusing name. Also, I kept seeing small roadside stands selling saskatoons while I was driving on Friday. It turns out, Saskatoon is not just the name of a city in the province, but a berry. I’m definitely going to see if I can find some while I am here. The Internet informs me that they have only recently become a commercially-viable crop, suggesting that I need to get in on the potential future acai craze that may be in the making here while no one knows about it.

Neither of those things has anything to do with the story I intended to tell at the start of this post. That story involves my stop at the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, to drop by the Visitor Center and see about potential places to stay. The helpful woman at the Visitor Center immediately informed me that there were no campsites along my proposed road, as this is a long weekend in Saskatchewan and apparently everyone uses it to go camping. She helpfully suggested I get a hotel room in Yorkton, just down the road, as my other option would likely be sleeping in the car at some truck stop/gas station between the border and Saskatoon (the city). I was happy to use this excuse to get a hotel room.

However, her mention that this was a three-day weekend in Saskatchewan piqued my interest, and so I turned to the always accurate Internet to figure out what sort of holiday goes on that allows Canadians to take a seemingly random day off in August. It turns out, this “holiday” is really not much of a holiday, but, as I suspected, is just a random day off. Here in Saskatchewan, they call it “Saskatchewan Day,” a holiday when everyone in the province apparently goes camping. In other parts of Canada (I’m looking at you, Northwest Territories), they don’t even attempt to justify taking a random day off in August. Instead, they just call it a “civic holiday” and, apparently, come to Saskatchewan to go camping.

Relatedly, I think Indiana needs “Indiana Day” where everyone gets an entirely random day off of work. I’m thinking the Friday before the first ND game would work best for me. And, speaking of football, much thanks to the CFL for some Friday night entertainment. It’s like American football but with highly random differences (I’ll never get used to those three downs. Or all that running around in the backfield).

And now, some pictures.

Manitoba: It's flat. Though this makes for beautiful, giant skies, so there is that.
Manitoba: It’s flat. Though this makes for beautiful, giant skies, so there is that.
Gladstone, Manitoba is home to the Happy Rock. Get it? Glad Stone = Happy Rock. Note: I totally didn't realize this at the time. I just thought someone was eccentric and had built this as a wonderfully random tourist stop.
Gladstone, Manitoba is home to the Happy Rock. Get it? Glad Stone = Happy Rock. Note: I totally didn’t realize this at the time. I just thought someone was eccentric and had built this as a wonderfully random tourist stop. I only realized this when I was thinking about what to write here.
And, if you haven't stopped for a while, this is what will make you truly happy while visiting the Happy Rock.
And, if you haven’t stopped for a while, this is what will make you truly happy while visiting the Happy Rock.
As if the giant, smiling rock was not enough of a reason to stop, there was also this cut out of the rock. Choppy failed to cooperate for the picture. And she certainly wasn't happy with what I was doing.
As if the giant, smiling rock was not enough of a reason to stop, there was also this cut out of the rock in which you could pose with your own happy mug. Choppy failed to cooperate for the picture. And she certainly wasn’t happy with what I was doing.
One of the attractions at Riding Mountain National Park is its bison herd. This was the first sign I saw of them. In case you can't tell from my awesome photography, that's bison poop. That someone had stepped in.
One of the attractions at Riding Mountain National Park is its bison herd. This was the first sign I saw of them. In case you can’t tell from my awesome photography, that’s bison poop that someone had stepped in.
We did find the bison eventually. Here is Choppy looking at them. I'm pretty sure she thought they were odd-looking cattle. No barking was involved.
We did find the bison eventually. Here is Choppy looking at them. I’m pretty sure she thought they were odd-looking cattle. This is what I guess, solely because no barking was involved.
The name of this town is Waywayseecappo. And here I thought place names in Wisconsin were odd.
The name of this town is Waywayseecappo. And here I thought place names in Wisconsin were odd.
Having mentioned the need to plug in your car during winter in the last post, I thought I would take a picture to illustrate what I meant. These things only become more common the further north I get.
Having mentioned the need to plug in your car during winter in the last post, I thought I would take a picture to illustrate what I meant. These things only become more common the further north I get. This doesn’t bode well for the warmth (or lack thereof) I am going to experience when I find a province where there are actual, available campsites.