The open road had been calling me for some time. There were many reasons why it had been on the back burner but now at last I was good to go! I picked Sunday morning, August 17, 2019 to be the day. My goal was to leave around 6:00 a.m. and I was out of my home on time. Construction of the SW Ring Road in Calgary has been in full swing the past year and although the speed limit was reduced along Glenmore Trail I knew there would be no workers involved on Sunday. With very little traffic I was soon heading south on Stoney Trail to Highway 22X. A short stint from there on #901 and I was on the Trans Canada Highway #1 headed for Medicine Hat. A pit stop at the Alberta Information Centre and BINGO I was in my home Province of SASKATCHEWAN!

Party cloudy skies and with my own choice of music (Eagles) from my CD player I zoomed along and before I knew it I was in Swift Current. I always thought that Swift Current was named because of the South Saskatchewan River to the north some 31 miles. However, there is a creek called Swift Current Creek that meanders through the city. This creek runs from Cypress Hills 100 miles north until it joins the South Saskatchewan River north of Waldeck. I crossed over this creek just as I turned south on Highway #4.

ln about three miles I saw red flashing lights ahead. I slowed down for the emergency vehicle. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officer had stopped a car and was speaking to the driver. Not me!

As I drove south I could see the expanse the valley of the SE to SW direction and I stopped to take a picture.

You can see there are not many trees in this area except in the farm yards but coming into the village of Cadillac I had to stop and take a picture of the trees on both sides if the highway.

I turned east and my destination was in sight

By 2:00 p.m. I was in Assiniboia at my friends Irene and Eugene Clermont’s home, Big hugs all around as I had not been there since 2013.

Assiniboia is so fortunate to have an art gallery that would usually be found in a large city. I had not been to the gallery as it had been closed when I was last in town. Knowing that on Mondays it is not open, Irene and I were quick to head over there as it was open Sunday afternoon.

The Shurniak Art Gallery covers at least half a city block and was built and furnished by Bill Shurniak. He had grown up just a short distance away at Limerick, Saskatchewan. I believe he has two other galleries one in White Rock, B,C and one in Hong Kong.

It wasn’t surprising that after the tour of the gallery we sat down to a delicious baby back rib dinner with Irene’s special sauce. And to top it all off was Crustless Coconut Pie.

I had such a good three days visiting with Irene and Eugene. It didn’t seem like six years since I had been in Assiniboia as we keep in touch all the time. That doesn’t stop us from burning the midnight oil rehashing days gone by.

Tuesday night we were lucky that Nick’s Restaurant was serving Roast Lamb and the three of us really enjoyed our evening there.

More of my road trip to come….