Day 3: Kenora to Saskatoon

We finally made it out of Ontario (at about 6AM this morning)!!! We were worried last night about our early morning drive as the weather forecast called for anywhere from 2-10cm of snow overnight and into the day today. We woke up to a VERY light dusting that didn’t even cover the entire car. With this great surprise, we headed out on the road. We got a quick and dark glimpse at Huskie the Muskie (a giant fish statue in Kenora) on our way out of town - sorry for the lack of photo.

We crossed over into Manitoba (and only managed a very blurry photo of the border in the dark) and we still hadn’t hit the snow. We did though, soon enough. Just before Winnipeg, it started. I doubt it accumulated to much, but the blowing across open highway makes for one of the 2 lanes to be unusable (as all the snow accumulates in it). The highway also had very faint lines painted which made it hard to even know if we were on the road for awhile! It was not the best conditions for us inexperienced prairie drivers in the winter, but it didn’t last too long and when the sun came up, it was easier to navigate.

The snow let up before Portage la Prairie - where we turned off the official Trans Canada Highway and onto an unofficial Trans Canada Highway - The Yellowhead Trail (fun fact: this highway, and the pass through the Rocky Mountains with the same name, was named after an explorer, Pierre Bostonais, who had streaks of yellow in his hair - thanks, Wikipedia!). It is from this point that this is all new territory for Rashaad - exciting! This is weird to me because I have travelled these roads twice before and for some reason assumed he was with me… Oops! We will now follow this highway until just past Edmonton tomorrow, where we will turn off and head due NORTH!

The sun came out shortly after our turn off onto the Yellowhead and remained out all day! The prairies are still beautiful in the winter. The blue skies contrast nicely with the crisp, shining fields of white. We crossed over into Saskatchewan just before lunch (the prairie provinces are so quick to pass through in comparison to Ontario!) and grabbed a bite to eat in Yorkton, SK. We drove straight through to Saskatoon from there (with partially snow covered roads most of the way). We rushed straight to Mr. Lube for a quick oil change. We were not QUITE due for one yet, but with limited locations (and time) to get one between here and Yellowknife, we jumped on the chance. We grabbed some store bought salads and fruit for dinner and checked into our hotel (which has a very similar feel and decor to last night’s Comfort Inn…).

Tomorrow we hit the road for big ol’ Alberta! We plan to make it north to High Level, our last major stop before our final day of driving to Yellowknife! Day 3: Done.

Wildlife sightings update: MAGPIES, magpies, and magpies. Some cows (big black bulls - anyone want to buy one? They were for sale…) and horses.