We took our leave of Alberta just over a week ago and entered the prairies of Saskatchewan by way of Swift Current, where we parked for a night at the Living Sky casino despite them being still closed for business. It was kind of interesting and eerie at the same time, being parked in front of this opulent-looking building with Caesar’s-style torches outside and the lights on but no one home. Staff kept coming and going, too. It felt a little Oompah Loompah-like.
Prairie Beauty:
We left Swift Current pretty quickly though, (because honestly, nothing really to see there, please move along) and made our way to Moose Jaw, aka “Canada’s most notorious city”. Moose Jaw was home of the OG underground parties, hosted in a series of underground tunnels that the city tried to keep under wraps until some poor soul sunk his car in a pothole in the road not that many years ago. Chinese immigrants first fled to the tunnels about a century and a half ago as a result of prejudice and persecution, when white Canadians decided that they were stealing their jobs (amazing how some things never change and history just rinses and repeats). Ottawa imposed a head tax on Chinese would-be immigrants, which they were never able to pay. So their one way to escape beatings and persecution was to dig a bunch of tunnels that they could hide out in until things improved. These poor people were literally living out the movie Parasite in real life. But by the 1920s, the Chicago mafia took a liking to the area and turned it into a kind of Catskills for mobsters. They worked with the Chinese during Prohibition to maximize the tunnels’ potential as they orchestrated an entire bootlegging operation, holding underground gambling parties and running subterranean brothels. And that’s how Moose Jaw became a bootlegging hub known as “Little Chicago”, run by the likes of Al Capone and Diamond Jim Brady. You can find remnants of the history all throughout the town.
Because we were short on solar power after a series of overcast and rainy days (damn Vancouver weather just seemed to follow us wherever we went, even halfway across the country), we splurged on another campsite so that we could plug in and recharge - both literally and psychically, since you can only do so many days in a row of box store parking lots before you start to climb the tiny walls of your tiny home. It was perfect. We got to shower, ooh and aww over the prairie dogs (basically, gophers. They’re tiny like squirrels, fast as lightning and they scurry across lawns and then dive headfirst into their holes in the ground before you can even snap a photo. It’s like a live cartoon reel of whack-a mole, minus the whacking). Xiaozhang got really excited about them, which facilitated his first outing on his leash. And that's how we officially became people who walk our cat on a leash. We were so excited that we finally busted out the cherry wine we picked up from Penticton (which turned out to be every bit as good as it looked).
Prairie Dog Hole, I almost stepped in a ton of these
Happy campsite kitty
Our campsite was also about a minute’s walk from Mac the Moose, aka “Canada’s tallest moose”. So of course we schlepped across the highway to say hello. Oh, Canada.
Day two was Canada Day, so we checked out of camp and decided to stick around because we heard that they were still putting on a fireworks show, albeit a social distancing/drive-in theater-style version. But first we explored downtown, where there was a vintage car show (basically, a bunch of fancy, vintage car owners parading their vehicles around Main Street for several hours).
We checked out the murals and history around town, then strolled over to the river park. The park was really beautiful, and we even came across yet more deer - a doe and a buck. It was again one of the moments where you feel like you’re living inside some kind of fairytale.
Afterwards, we stocked up on beer and headed to Hamilton Flats to claim our spot for the fireworks, which happened to be right in front of a dirt bike park. So with three hours to kill, we kicked back in the truck, sipped cocktails, made a salmon dinner, and watched the kids pop wheelies on the dirt mounds. The best part was a lady who was parked next to us timidly poking her head into our truck because, as she said, she saw the cat. “I told my husband, there’s a cat in there. And he just stays there.” Lmao. I told her yeah, we have one special little boy in our midst. (It’s completely true, by the way. We can leave the back door wide open and little Xiao Meow never even tries to run outside.) And then we watched the fireworks from the top of our truck, which really was a treat. Vanlife so far has had its (mostly) ups and downs, but a definite perk was watching all of the vehicles try to rush out of there once the show was over, only to get gridlocked. And yet we got to stay put and spend the night there in the field, just because we could. Which is so worth even the lack of regular showers during some weeks (since we still haven’t waterproofed the shower stall and still rely on the outdoor shower in the woods or the odd campsite). All in all, this was the best Canada Day that I think that either of us has had in awhile.
We were originally going to just next head straight to Regina (Saskatchewan’s capital, for those not familiar), but then I came across an article of things to do and see in the area and found out about the lakeside resort town of Regina Beach. So we made the 40 minute detour to have ourselves some sun and swim time. Little did we know, however, that the road to Regina Beach was paved with nothing but gravel and mud, which made for a hairy 30-minute part of the journey. Aaaaaand we left the window opened a crack in the back, so absolutely everything was covered in dirt road dust by the time we’d arrived, as if we’d been to Burning Man and back. Live and learn.
No matter, because we were able to make up for it all pretty quickly. Regina Beach is a lovely, little beachy spot with pretty trails along the lake. And we found parking right behind an RV, forming our own little camper compound for the day. Shane and I busted out the inflatable raft we’d picked up at Canadian Tire for exactly this moment. We set it in the lake and then paddled out, because we wanted to be a healthy distance away from the shore and the screaming kids. We diddled around with the GoPro and snapped some shots and then...whoa, we were suddenly very far out from the shore. In fact, we were all of a sudden in the path of speedboats. Whoops. So we did what we could, which was to try to paddle ourselves to shore using Shane’s sandals. That went about as well as you can imagine. After ten minutes of that (and us going in circles rather than getting nearer to shore), plus starting to worry about our safety out there, our savior came in the form of a local named Tyler, who brought his boat near to us and said, “Hey guys, are you alright? It’s not too safe out here”. And he offered us a lift to shore, which we were only too happy to accept. Turns out that between the time we put our raft in the water and then got picked up by Tyler, the winds picked up to 40 miles-an-hour gusts. (Which explained why we also suddenly saw inflatable swans and lobsters flying over our heads in the air, like something out of the tornado scene in The Wizard of Oz, having to be rescued by the guys zipping around out there on their Skidoos). He said, “I saw you guys paddling with sandals and thought that hey, they might really need help.” Understatement. And that’s how we got a free boat ride on Regina Lake. Tyler was a total sweetheart, he even tried to hook us up with a patch job for our raft (which ripped as we set it into his boat, double whoops) and pointed us in the direction of the mayor’s house, in case we wanted to knock on his door and ask for permission to park in the nearby lot.
Instead, the German family parked in front of us by the lake in their RV gave us a tip on free parking for the night, so we opted for that instead. But we couldn’t find it when we looked (although we stumbled across some horses on a go-cart track instead), so we ended up parking for the night by a neighborhood baseball field.
I was running laps the next morning by Kitty Kitty and as I did, I got to watch everyone from the neighborhood pass by and gape. I’m not sure what they were gaping at more, though: Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, which makes for an arresting visual on her own, or the sight of Shane walking Xiaozhang on a leash. Either way, the looks on people’s faces were absolutely priceless.
We wasted no time once we were up and at ‘em getting back to the beach so that we could nab a primo parking spot. Making coffee while staring at the lake before you is an incredible way to start the day.
Bringing a little piece of Medicine Hat to the beach with us:
After we had our fill of sun and swimming, we hopped in the truck and finally headed to Regina. We scored some parking by the marina in Regina’s Wascana Park, which is apparently bigger than Manhattan’s Central Park and is clearly the jewel of the city. First we had a patio beer to get ourselves oriented. This is where we people watched and noticed that Regina’s printed shirt game is strong. And I also noticed that Regina feels a lot like a US midwestern city. Actually, I often felt throughout the weekend as if I were in the States. We also noticed that there was a lot of diversity, which was great to see (it was the same on Regina Beach). And I heard a few different languages being spoken, which we weren't sure we'd find in the middle of the prairies.
Afterwards, we took a stroll around the perimeter of the lake, starting at the marina, traveling past the sights and the legislative building, and then back again. (But first, as I was waiting for Shane and taking pics, I was mistaken for someone’s Tinder date as this guy kept kind of circling me and weirdly smiling. Just as I was reaching peak discomfort, he asks, “Excuse me, are you Susan?” Of course, I’m like, “No, I’m not Susan.” (And promptly made the note to self that I’m Not Susan would make a great name for my next band.) The first thing we noticed once we got going was that on one side of the lake there were just SO. MANY. GEESE. I’ve honestly never seen so many in one place, we’re talking walking dead hordes. The rest of the park was absolutely gorgeous. And then you have the famous beaux-arts Saskatchewan Legislative Building, which is more opulent and European-looking than anything found even in Ottawa. It cost 3 million dollars to construct in 1911 (which is like $26 million by today’s standards) and is made of 34 different types of marble. Total stunner. Shortly after our tour of the grounds, a massive thunder and lightning storm hit and added some incredible visuals. We made our way around to the other side of the lake and back home. Only to find that our bumpy ride to Regina Beach must have dislodged some things on the roof, because we had a mini waterfall of water leaking onto our sitting area. Luckily, nothing was damaged, including the electrical. So new note to selves: must repair the roof underneath the solar panel when we get a chance to sprawl.
The next day was Saturday, so we got the bikes out so that we could do a little brewery hopping in the city’s Warehouse District. We made a pitstop on the way to the Italian Star Deli in downtown that’s been around since 1966, all family-run. We heard that the paninis were fab, and they were. And the family was really lovely.
Then we stopped at District Brewing, which surprisingly had Great Expectation vibes. The woman working the taps was really nice but she gave us the impression that the owner kind of abandoned ship at the onset of Coronavirus, leaving the crew to scramble without much direction. So it had this weird air of abandoned brewery, even though they’re clearly still making beer.
But next up was Warehouse Brewing, which had great beer and ambiance. And the owner/management was there, even asking us how our beer was and thanking us for stopping in.
Then we hit up the patio at Rebellion Brewing, which again served up great beer and had a really fun vibe.
And then we ended our tour at Bushwakker, which was a total revelation. They’re the oldest of the Regina breweries, and served us what we thought was the best beer of the day. Shane had their red Irish ale and I had a dry, cherry stout that was just incredible. We also shared a veggie pizza. Every dish is made from scratch and with lots of love. Our pizza tasted like perfect, doughy garlic bread coated with this to-die-for cheese and veggies. I don't usually go so hard into the food porn but this was just such unexpected amazingness. And then we were tipped off about the house cheesecake that was made with their own blackberry mead, and it was literally heaven in our mouths. (We shared a glass of the mead, also a winner.)
Afterwards, it was back to the park marina to walk the Xiao Meow and savor the sunset, which turned the whole lake a day-glo shade of pink. Plus, the smell of lily in the valley permeated the entire park. What a piece of paradise.
Overall, Saskatchewan turned out to be such a joy and we both enjoyed our time there so much. We have one more SK stop to make, where we’ll break up our drive between Regina and Brandon, Manitoba. We’re now Winnipeg-bound, so can’t wait to see what the road between here and there brings us next.
Cat van life:
