For two days we have felt like we were following the yellow brick road, but it was a beautiful crop of yellow something that stretched for acres. It looked remarkably like mustard, so that’s what we thought it was. We found out tonight from our wonderful waitress that it is canola. Yellow and blue canola is one of Alberta and Saskatchewan’s main crops. File that away in the memory bank for future reference! It was still a beautiful sight today on our way to Regina.

We started the day with a short walk through Medicine Hat. A quaint town with great shops, restaurants and public art work. It was a bit warmer than usual, so our walk was rather limited. We stumbled upon the Inspire Cafe for what we hoped would be a late breakfast, but it turned out to be an early lunch. Mom had tomato garlic soup and a curried egg salad sandwich on raisin bread. I had curried lentil soup and fried egg and cheese sandwich. We got there just before the lunch crowd arrived, and they were doing a very steady business when we left. Great art work on display and for sale around the cafe, and artists’ studios/work areas beyond the cafe.

We finally stopped at the stop light near this hotel so I could get a picture. We passed it at least 3 times on our back and forth to various places yesterday, and it made me smile. I can just picture the 1940’s – 1950’s, maybe even 1960’s, when this would have been one of the top spots in the area.

We crossed into Saskatchewan a little while later, and decided a stretch break was needed as we approached Swift Current. We parked the car and began walking down Center Avenue when I spotted a gift store. We meandered the store for a while, and I found perfect mementos for several on my list. It was early afternoon, and a rather warm day for these parts, so we opted to hit the car and continue our drive.

A bit west of Swift Current we spotted what initially loooked like a herd of goats on the side of the road. As we got closer, we both did double takes, and it took us a moment to realize it was a herd of alpacas. Given it was still 80+ degrees fahrenheit, we opted not to stop and check out the alpaca goods for sale. A short bit later as we approached Lake Chaplin, we saw what appeared to be mounds of snow. I knew in this heat it definitely was not snow, but neither of us had a clue what the piles of “white stuff” were. I surmised salt or lime as a small tractor to my left was making its way up a pile. Mark that down as something to research when we get to the room tonight…

We stopped at the Tourist Information location outside Moose Jaw for a rest stop and information on Regina. Canadian tourist/information stops are such fun. Each one we have stopped at has information about the surrounding area (think school project, state fair type displays), and a variety of local goods for sale. A great place to get a feel for the area, decide if you’ll stop and for how long, or just sample the local fare and keep going. We learned the piles of “white stuff” by Lake Chaplin were potash. Canda is the world’s largest potash producer and exporter, and the bulk of the industry is in Saskatchewan. Potash is one of the main ingredients of fertilizer.

We each picked up a few gift items, and decided it was time for a bit of local gelato. We both opted for Saskatoon berry. I still need to taste an actual Saskatoon berry before we leave – it looks a bit like a blueberry, but the gelato was definitely sweeter than that. Not sure if that was due to added sugar, or if it really is that sweet. I did buy a rather pricey jar of mustard believing that the yellow fields we were passing were, in fact, mustard. Oh well. I can make a lot of mustard sauces over the coming months if needed! A stop here is not complete without a photo of Mac the Moose.

We arrived in Regina early evening. The hotel had glasses and bottles of wine 50% off, so we opted for an elevator ride to dinner tonight. We shared a bottle of montepuliciano and a charcuterie plate, reminisced about the past 2 weeks and many decades, and had fabulous conversations with our waitress. Definitely a day and night for the memory books.

Before we head out of town tomorrow we plan to tour the Legislative Building and Queen Elizabeth II’s Gardens. We will cross into our 4th Canadian province sometime tomorrow.