Day 13 - Tuesday 6/30/26 - Islay AB to Bezanson AB

Happy Birthday Jennie!!!!

We were refreshed from our rest day, and after goodbyes and hugs with Tom

we drove 384 miles (our longest drive day to date) from Hidden Lake Campground in Islay, AB, to Moody's Crossing Campground on the Smoky River at Bezanson, AB. The weather has been cool and cloudy with a little rain, then sunny, then thunderstorms, and there are mobs of hungry mosquitoes everywhere 🦟.

Tom told us that along the way to Edmonton is a town named Vegreville, which has a large Ukranian population.  In their honor - the world's second largest Easter Egg was commissioned, and it is beautiful! It rotates and I'm sure if it had been a sunny day it would have sparkled like crazy.

The egg is located in Elks Park in Vegreville.

We passed Elk Island National Park and saw lots of buffalo and some elk from the road.  It looks like a very large and beautiful park. We drove around Edmonton, which is huge!  Go Oilers!

Alberta so far has been very lush and green from all the rain they've had lately.  There are ponds and lakes and rivers everywhere, and lots of parks and recreation opportunities.  We saw many signs to watch for moose, and we did, but.... nothing again. 😞

Favorite city/town names:  Sexsmith 😁; Demmitt 😎; Manly Corner 💪; Woodpecker Creek

Wildlife sightings:  coyote, buffalo, elk, deer 🦌🐺🐃

Tonight's homemade freeze-dried dinner: chili with cheese and sour cream.  Yummy - especially since the outdoor temperatures have now dropped into the low 50's!

Our site tonight is #9 at Moody's Crossing Campground:

 

Today's journey:

Day 12 - Monday 6/29/26 - Islay AB

So last night after the ER was repaired we headed 26 miles to Hidden Lake Campground.  We were exhausted and dirty and Mike was sore from all the lifting and work he did trying to figure out what the breakdown issue was.  We took today to rest, do laundry, clean, and reorganize.  The kitties needed a break too 🙀.

Hidden Lake Campground is located in Islay, AB and is a beautiful place.  Tom is the on-site manager and he is the best!  The grounds are beautifully maintained, and he took great care of us during our stay.  We had a couple of nice long chats with him and enjoyed getting to know such a kind and caring soul.  We miss you already, Tom! 

Days 10/11 - Saturday and Sunday 6/27-28/26 - Dundurn SK to Lloydminster AB to Islay AB

Well, yesterday (Saturday) was supposed to be a simple beautiful drive from Dundurn, SK to Birch Lake Campground in Innisfree, AB, but we only made it 203 miles to Lloydminster, AB and then our vehicle starter decided not to start anymore😯. Of course it was 9pm on a Saturday night, pouring down rain, and no local mechanics available. So we bloomed where we were planted, in a gas station parking lot near a Walmart where we had just filled up with diesel.  Thank you Didith!

It had stormed all day, but before the starter stopped we visited Canadian Tire (OMG - Wow - Love that place!) and spent a bit of money.  Then we had some burgers at the local Burger King, and picked up a few Canadian dollars at an ATM.  Met some real friendly Canadian folks in the parking lot there - great conversations!

We will be here at least until a local mechanic opens and can help to get us going again. We are counting our blessings that this happened in a larger town, where we can get some assistance.  

EDIT: MORE TO ADD:  (Sunday) The awesome, great, friendly staff at Cresent Auto Repair came to our rescue!  After much troubleshooting, we got fixed back up and back on the road again.  We arrived (exhausted) at Hidden Lake Campground about 30-40 minutes later.

ER-150 repaired and back on the road!

Much more to be added later on this part of our adventure...  Another huge shout-out to all the friendly local Canadians that offered us help along this part of our journey.  Thanks to all of you!

Our journey yesterday and today: 

Day 9 - Friday 6/26/26 - Weyburn to Dundurn SK

Today we drove 221 miles from Nickle Lake Regional Park to Blackstrap Provincial Park

in Dundurn SK.  Weather was windy and cool, some clouds and some sun.  Lots and lots of farmland and not much wildlife today.  At one point our hearts almost stopped when we saw this coming toward us - we thought we were in Star Wars or something!

There was a sign to watch for moose, but we watched and.... nothing.

When we got to the provincial park, the nice young attendant asked if we were over 65, and said Saskatchewan seniors enter free.  She made us honorary Saskatchewan seniors for the day, so we saved CAD 11!

Favorite road sign: Wind Gusts.  Yes, yes it does.

In fact, just before we got to the campground we saw this poor house that was apparently a victim of those wind gusts. 

Favorite city/town names: Moose Jaw, Yellow Grass, Drinkwater

Favorite town slogan: 

Tonight's homemade freeze-dried gourmet meal was spaghetti with meat sauce, along with some homemade sourdough toast.  Life on the road is pretty good 😎.

Today's journey: 

Day 8 - Thursday 7/25/26 - ND to SK Canada

Today we drove 182 miles and crossed into Canada at the North Portal Border Crossing.  A Big 'Shout-Out' to our awesome border agent who welcomed us to Canada.  He was also an Earth Roamer fan - Thanks for a pleasant and easy entry into Canada!

We are spending the night at Nickle Lake Regional Park in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. 

The exchange rate from USD to CAD is 1.42, which means we get 1.42 Canadian dollars for every US dollar!  That should help offset the high fuel prices in Canada.

Favorite town slogan: Welcome to Kenmare, Home of the Honkers! 😄

LOL, they also have worms for sale 😁

Favorite city/town name: Bowbells, ND

Favorite birds: Hungarian partridge

and a Chukar

And Mike really enjoyed watching a male Ring-Necked Pheasant crossing the road right in front of us not scared of anything.  What a sight!  Wish I was able to get a picture of that.

Tonight's freeze dried meal was poppy seed chicken.  Yum!!

After dinner we went for a walk and startled a sharp-tailed grouse and saw nighthawks, Western kingbirds, a Northern yellow warbler, Northern house wrens, American wigeons, Eastern warbling vireos, and many more.  Fun!

Today's journey:

Day 7 - Wednesday 6/24/26 - SD to ND

Today we traveled 310 miles from Aberdeen SD to Minot ND, our last day in the US for a while. The weather has been partly cloudy and cool, which is refreshing.  Tonight's low at the Mellow Moose Campground should be in the high 40's!

 Favorite city/town name: Edgeley, ND 

Another favorite:  Anamoose, ND

Mike's favorite road sign:

North Dakota is known for a few specialty food items.  First is Knoephla Soup: A rich, creamy, and thick comfort food loaded with potatoes and small, chewy dumplings (knoephla).  Second is Fleischkuechle: A savory, deep-fried pastry filled with seasoned ground meat.  Third is Kuchen: The official state dessert. It is a sweet, traditional German yeast dough pastry with various fruit or custard fillings. We went in search of all three and found them at Kroll's Diner in Minot. They also had caramel rolls!

                    

Favorite bird(s) today:  Yellow headed blackbird, ring-necked pheasant, white pelican

Today's journey: 

Day 6 - Tuesday 6/23/26 - NE to SD

Drove 305 miles today from Stanton NE to Aberdeen SD.  Light rain in the morning, then sunny cool day made for easy travel.  Considered visiting the World’s Only Corn Palace

but decided to skip it.  We unfortunately missed the place with 114 varieties of cheese, that was a bummer since cheese 🧀 is our #1 food group (tied with fried dough of any kind 🍩).

Our travel companions include not only the kitties, but also this motley crew consisting of Mr. Moose, Tracker, and Aurora.

Mr. Moose and Tracker have been with us for many years, and Aurora joined for the trip to Alaska. You’ll be seeing them along the way. 

 

Found another cheese store YAY!  Stopped at Dimock Dairy

and got some local smoked cheddar and blue cheddar cheeses 🧀 and a SD lager called Firehouse Bell Tower American Lager. 

Another beautiful day of endless fields of grain, mostly corn.

Research showed that a specialty South Dakota food item is chislic, which is seasoned fried tenderloin bits with a dipping sauce.

We found some at Pounders

a local pub.  Yummy!  Tomorrow the search is on for the best South Dakota dessert, kuchen.  Will let you know what we find.

Favorite city/town: Redfield, SD - the pheasant capital. 

We nearly ran over two of them nearby!

Today's journey: