Saskatoon

I extricated myself from Edmonton with much difficulty on a Monday afternoon. After saying goodbye to my friend David and his sons, I headed downtown for a last few errands. I stopped at the new location of Earth’s General Store, then met a friend for lunch at Veggie Garden. Afterward I picked up a last batch of locally raised honey and finally left town, heading east.

Just outside of Sherwood Park I picked up my first hitchhiker, a young man named Chad who was traveling to Saskatoon. I was only going as far as North Battleford, which  was fine with him, so we rolled along together, exchanging small talk and our mutual life stories. We stopped in Lloydminster for coffee, then eventually arrived in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, around 8pm. I left Chad on the highway and parked at the Walmart nearby.

I had some food and was just relaxing in my van when there came a knock on the door. Chad was back, holding two cups of coffee. He couldn’t flag a ride so a friend was coming to get him from Saskatoon. We walked down to Tim Horton’s as the van was getting hot and outside was swarming with mosquitoes. 

As we sat at Tim’s, I was accosted by a man behind me who had noticed my t-shirt supporting the Palestinian cause. He was a strongly religious fellow who proceeded to lecture me on the Bible and related fairy tales. After Chad left, I went back to the camper and had an uneventful night.

The next day I drove to Saskatoon, about 2 hours further east. I parked at a Walmart, as is my habit, and set about exploring this smallish city.

Saskatoon is intersected by the South Saskatchewan river, which I at first mistook for the North Saskatchewan, the river that flows through Edmonton. I imagined I could have continued my canoe trip from two days prior and ended up in Saskatoon, which of course was inaccurate. One of the colloquial names for the city is Bridge City, the reason being that despite its small size, it has 7 bridges crossing the river, and I believe a new one is being planned for the near future. 

I biked along the river through the University of Saskatchewan campus, enjoying the views and cool breeze. The first thing I did after reaching downtown was to get a library card and borrow two books, though I had to lie about having a local address. I suspect this will become commonplace for me as I travel across the country. Afterward I set up my slackline at a scenic spot in Kinsmen Park, and watched as people streamed by on their way to see Shakespeare in the Park.

That evening there was a couchsurfing meetup, at which I ended up meeting four other CSers, two locals, one traveler, and one man whom I’d previously met at a CS meetup in Edmonton and who is currently studying in Saskatoon.

Over the next week I explored the city and its environs, taking my bike out for a trek to Wanuskewin Heritage Park, through the downtown core, along both shores of the river, and in and around the university grounds.

I met two other people from couchsurfing during my stay, one of whom invited me to the Mendel Art Gallery coffee shop and the other treated me to a delicious Korean supper.

I also picked up a few hours of work helping set up a pop-up Halloween store, operated by Gerald and his partner Shiloh, who requested to be named in my blog :)

Once the weekend was over I knew it was time for me to move on, and I had arranged to go to a farm just north of North Battleford to do some wwoofing, so after lazily packing up my encampment on Tuesday morning, I set out to try my hand at farm work and horseback riding.