ACROSS THE PRAIRIES

Thursday 3rd October
We spent an extra day in Montreal as the load was'nt ready until today, we did'nt mind, the weather was lovely and we found a park near the river.  The load was yogurt for Rocky View in Calgary.  It was noon when we picked up trailer from the H&R yard.  We took H417 through to Ottawa, because of the time difference it was rush hour here, LA all over again!  At Arnprior we were on H17 upto North Bay.  And then on H11.  We stopped at New Liskeard for the night.  Dave had driven into late evening as we had a long way to go and he did'nt book on until 11am this morning.

Friday 4th
Oh so bleak now after all the colour we had had, just fading yellows against the firs now.  We were headed for Nipigon tonight, we had to do about 650 miles each day to reach the calagary delivery.  There were moose and bear warnings along the roadside reminding me that winter was coming.  It was definately alot cooler today, just yesterday we were in Montreal with brilliant sunshine, but i was starting to think about my socks and boots put away in the case.  There was so much sky, it was pale blue and grey with a sheet of dimpled cloud.  The sun was shining across the tops of the yellow trees.  Just before Matteson there was a large, very pretty cemetry next to the roadside (i've been corrected apparently i should'nt say graveyard) Now most of the homesteads had stacks of logs outside.  It was halloween at the end of the month but already people were decorating their front doors and porches with pumpkins, dried flowers and lanterns. The houses here along the highway were rundown but some had massive solar panels in their gardens.  Hearst looked completely different from the last time we were here, then it had been really cold, snowing and the roads slushy, today it was sunny and clean.  Just past Hearst on Carey lake was a small airport, the planes were landing on the lake. Only a handfull of properties between Hearst and Longlac, hardly any traffic.  This part of the highway the countryside was eyecatching, the road stretched ahead lined with firs with just a few yellow trees peeking through, large groups of boulders with creeks and lakes between, the forest floor was covered in bright green grasses, bullrushes and creamy headed thistles decorated the roadside, everything sparkled in the sunlight.  At Klotz lake we stopped for photo shoot!  We refueled at Nipigon, it was dark already, decided to drive onto Thunder Bay.

Saturday 5th
Raining.  Up at 5.30am.  We were parked in Walmart carpark so were able to get a few supplies before we hit the road again.  7am we were off on H17.  So glad we had the satalite radio, during the week "mash up" was on early with chat, celebrity gossip and chart music.  Hugh Jackson had been on and said he listens with his kids, his favourite record was "blurred lines" yes!  It was still raining off and on but seemed to inhance the landscape here, there was nothing but sky.   Passed into Manitoba, the flat lands! Around Winnipeg on the perimeter H100 hoping the get to Brandon for the night. We fueled up at Headingly and then onto H1.  It got so dark, we listened to first part of Lee Evans biography (a christmas present from sophie).

Sunday 6th
As the sun came up the horizon was streaked with colour, from cool aquas to bright blues, pink engulfed the cloud and covered the sky all around us.  The landscape might be boring but the sky continued to amaze us. There were alot of geese flyng around this morning, some were just sat in the fields. Into Saskatchewan. Through Regina stopping at Moose Jaw to refuel.  We were making good progress today, i suppose because the roads were so flat and straight.    Into Alberta, it was 3.30pm, the sun had become hotter, the prairies were a bit more interesting, farms with cattle and horses plus backyards to peek into, still alot of sky and flat land though.  Medicine Hat was quite big and ran into Redcliff.  We only went around the outskirts but apparently it has the biggest shopping centre in Alberta. The sun went down behind the Rockies as we drove towards Calgary, the cloud looked like honeycomb, it was amazing, it was as if there was another world up there.