June 2, 2019 - Wabamun Lake, AB to Saskatoon, SK

June 2, 2019

Well, it was quite the night at Wabamun Provincial Park campsite. Turns out, it’s a party campsite for some and there was a group of young folks celebrating a birthday.... until 4:30am. Very loudly. And by that I mean with very loud rap music coming through thumping speakers and lots of drunken yelling. Suffice it to say, we didn’t get much sleep although I was grateful for my earplugs. 

We headed out towards Edmonton and skirted the city on the ring road which turned out to be a quick way to dodge traffic. We continued through the prairie and, in the distance, translucent storm clouds began to accumulate, melting into the horizon haze in deep hues of bruised purple with electric pink and orange edges. The air became increasingly sultry - that hot, humid, thick air that smells like storm and you can sense some static in the air. It was far away but we wondered when it would catch up to us... 

At one point, we passed an ENORMOUS Ritchie Brothers auction site and there were literally acres and acres of no end of farm equipment all line up and ready to go; tractors of all sizes, combines, trucks, trailers, swathers, tillage equipment, seeders - the list goes on. Lynn rubber-necked until I thought his head would pop off, trying to see it all. It was a good thing we didn’t stop or I swear he would have tried to tie *something* onto the bike rack... :) 

Eventually, we started to see a big coulee and realized it was the North Saskatchewan River which led us into North Battleford. It was really pretty - the coulee was so lush and green, like a garden of Eden in the bottom of the river valley. Up and out the other side, the ground gained some elevation and became more hilly. There are a ton of waterways in this area - everywhere you look there are little ponds, lakes, marshlands... and even more water birds. Geese and ducks dominate but also, blue herons, white egrets and shore birds along with predatory birds circling above. 

We pushed on into Saskatoon and stayed at the Gordon Howe Municipal Campsite. Of course, with a legend like Gordie Howe being a hometown boy, one can imagine that almost everything is named after him. This is a stunning little campsite with “bathrooms as luxurious as the Taj Mahal” according to Gordon the manager (no - not THE Gordon...) I haven’t been to the Taj Mahal so I can’t confirm his comparison but I will say they were very new and clean.

We talked to a few neighbours and turns out, both of them are only from an hour away. One couple come every year for a couple months as a “get away” and the other couple came for a month to be closer to their grandsons so they can get to their baseball and lacrosse games. It seemed kind of funny to only travel an hour and then stay for 2 months! We’re on the opposite schedule. We travel 8 hours and only stay a night! 

Random Things I Forgot Until Now:

1. The sheer JOY of a really good shower when camping. 
2. Never pass up an opportunity to pee  when on a motorbike trip (thanks to Annikki Egolf for this one.) 
3. Always wear sunscreen even in a full-face helmet.
4. It always takes longer than you think. (This applies to absolutely everything.)