Is there anything better than a 9hr drive Boxing Day road trip to Winnipeg?
Well, that might be the drive back.
I regret not capturing the semi-trailer unit that had blasted themselves 60′ feet into the ditch west of Moosemin.
And we are home. I readily offer that this is little out of the ordinary for our prairie readers, but I thought the su’therners might find it all mildly entertaining.
At Christmas, we do an annual jigsaw puzzle. “Boxing Day to Winnipeg” would be tough.
I remember all this from my days living in Estevan. It reminds why I like living in Florida.
Glad you made it through safely.
16 years ago I was offered a job in Estevan, having lived in North Battleford for 10 years. A friend who had also lived in North Battleford the same length of time had moved to Weyburn the year prior. When I asked him what the area was like, he pointed out that the winter storms were nothing like we saw up north. Total whiteouts, and occasionally people getting stranded on the highway. He wasn’t joking. And last winter, he and his son ended up spending a night on an approach to the highway, just 20 miles north of Weyburn, because they simply could not go any further. He couldn’t see past his hood.
18 hours of driving in that is exhausting. Boxing Day sales in Winterpeg must be some special…
Proving, once again, why the film Fargo is such a cult classic. Because you just can’t even imagine such a place and people exist … but they do.
BTW … SMART highway planning to have a divided roadway with such a wide median
Ken Gee
So a tractor trailer can sleep on it’s side there, just as the one east of terana did when I was bringing my ‘new’ truck home!
Snow.
Blowing snow.
Ice crystals.
In Saskatchewan?
Really!
*Some folks may refer to this as “Tuesday” … and on the trip back as, “Thursday”.
*My Liberal sister would say, “you know there’s a weather warning, right?”
and I would say, “the warning is, it’s winter in Sask. until next mid March, you don’t drive (still) so just sit down”
https://x.com/JustBins/status/1859416226646151343
Well, hell. That reminds me of my daily winter drives into and out of Edmonton to Beaver County for 18 years when I lived on 40 remote acres but had to make my living in the stinking city.
I sure enough did love getting home, though, where we spent our best holidays in the sticks, loving the big skies and the distinct absence of neighbours, except for some cows and the odd donkey.
Now you’re just making me jealous
Its why I always enjoyed the drive down I-29 through the Dakotas and into Nebraska and Iowa more. In addition to the increased elevation, there was evidence via the various State Highway patrols that they actually cared and were populated.
“Is there anything better than a 9hr drive Boxing Day road trip to Winnipeg?”
A 7 hour flight to Maui maybe!
1. The best thing about Winnipeg is seeing it in the rear-view mirror.
2. Did 400 km of driving today going back and forth from Yorkton to Hyas, first to pick up Dad then take him home. Morning trip was fine. Late afternoon was getting dicey. Immediately turned around after dropping Dad off at his place and the return trip was one of the worst I’ve had in 30 years. Snow was caking on the back of vehicles so I couldn’t see the taillights in front of me and the guy following me closely likely could only see me when I had my blinkers or brakes on. Oncoming semis meant total whiteout for several seconds where I couldn’t see past my hood. Not fun.
I wisely stayed on the divided highway through Saskatoon instead of taking the wonders that awaited me on HWY 15 and CowPath 45 via Outlook.
Appreciate the reminders of what I left behind.
The only thing better is not going to Winnipeg at all. Born and raised there, I left 44 years ago. It’s an even bigger shithole now.
“We were born here, what’s your excuse?”
Simpson’s episode
Just what I was thinking.
Visiting as a kid, Winnipeg downtown was great. The Bay, Eaton’s, the bus depot, all those great small stores, similar to Toronto’s Yonge Street, which were kicked out to be replaced by the who cares Portage Place. Anything of worth closed or moved out. Now populated by low income and street bums.
Did that many a time during the ’90s…Winnipeg to Clavet and back for Christmas and other family functions…it’s why we live in the Okanagan now…
I remember driving from Calgary to Regina back in the 90’s, in the last years of the two-lane Trans-Canada across the high plains of Saskatchewan. It got pretty extreme. I recall it as the only trip I ever made where the driving actually improved when the sun went down, because you could no longer see the horror on the faces of the oncoming drivers.