Covering Miles to Stay on Schedule

We started day 5 by figuring out where we wanted to be the next 2 nights. The goal was 

to make Grande Prairie by mid afternoon on day 7 so we had some serious ground to 

cover. This was the first of 2 very big travel days. Up until now we had been driving about 

8 hours a day and then resting. On this day and the following one we would be driving 

closer to 12 hours. Our target tonight was to be north of Regina. We crossed back into 

Canada late morning at a small border crossing in Western Manitoba. It was odd crossing 

at such a small port and not having to cross a big bridge. Again, we fully expected to be 

pulled in and searched but we answered the standard questions and were done.

One notable part of this journey was that the towns had become further and further apart 

as we crossed the northern plains. When we stopped for lunch and gas just before the 

border and noticed they had a mobile vet clinic and grooming service. They stop at a 

specific location in small towns and people bring their pets to them. Picking them up 

at the same location if a stay is required. We saw 1 cat get picked up and a very happy 

owner carrying it to their car and another young girl taking hers in. She did not look very 

happy when the cat had to stay.

I was also very surprised to see Pump-jacks almost immediately after we crossed the 

border. All the trips to Texas and I never really got a good look at one and here they were 

right beside the road. They were an unusual color (black and orange) and a bit of research

told me they were most likely water pumps not oil pumps. I would see some of those, but 

not until we were in Saskatchewan. We also started to see natural gas pumps dotting the countryside throughout Saskatchewan. They seemed to be pretty random and all over the place.

We hit construction delays in Saskatoon but after that it was pretty clear sailing. With 

such a long day on the road it was disappointing to not have rest stops along the Trans 

Canada Highway. They are along most roads in the US and we relied on them heavily 

to take a little break along the way.

One of the towns that we drove through had a McDonalds - not just any McDonalds. It is one of the original stores with the exterior from the early days.