Canada here we come

Monday June 16th We got up early Sunday morning and drove from Minot ND to Turtleford Saskatchewan making it in 12 hours!! That was 552 miles! Because we were driving west we entered another time zone and were now 2 hours different from Michigan. We only made 3 stops. The first was customs with no problems at all whew, the second stop was for fuel and then refuel ourselves with a sandwich. The rest pulloff had a LOT of what I think are prairie dogs. They are bigger than a chipmunk, but smaller than a groundhog. They were fun to watch as they ran in and out of their holes and started wrestling with each other as puppies or kittens do.

With the time change and all we got to my cousin Joan and her husband Ralph’s house in time for supper. We stayed up til the wee hours of the morning (our time) visiting with her family, there was her son Steven and his wife Paula and their two sons, Mark and Konrad. Evelyn, Joan’s daughter was also there. I have only met Joan and Ralph once and have never met their kids. It’s really funny how families have the same sense of humor and just click together as if we’ve always known each other.
Steven took us on a tour of the farm in the truck. On their 1000+ acres they raise beef cattle and have some Clydesdale horses. I don’t know how we didn’t get lost – there were no road signs lol. I love the pictures of the mama’s and babies.


Monday morning we were treated to a lesson on tractor tire repair. Those tire are huge and of course it had to be an inside tire. MM got a shot of the supervisory staff.

Once the tire is off and Fred repaired the inner tube he found the culprit in the tire.

Putting the outside tire back on was no easy task.

Removing the last of the blocks and jacks after a job well supervised.

We spent much of the day with Paula and Steven. In the evening we went to Evelyn’s home and met her husband Glenn and son Jeff (earlier in the day we met their daughter Cary). Glenn raises registered Angus bulls.
I felt I had a special bond with Evelyn in a lot of ways. I found we had a mutual interest in gardening and even had many of the same plants around our yards.
All three couples were very gracious and welcoming. Canada is such a beautiful country. There are so many wide open spaces and the sky is mammouth. The vistas that my family enjoy daily are breathtaking.
We had another late night and wanted to get an early start for Betty and Al’s place in Alberta.