3 Ginger Snaps

One of the tough realities I grapple with while traveling is that you just can’t do it all. Time and money constrict. Such was the case in Saskatchewan. We nearly catapulted straight across the province. We marvelled at the potash operations at 115km/hr. We craned our necks as the sped past tremendous marshes.

On the homeward leg of the journey, knowing that we had just enough food to cobble together a picnic, I pulled the car over at a barely marked rest stop. Two picnic tables. A dumpster. Two flagpoles. Two outhouses. Train tracks.

My traveling companions objected immediately. “There’s nothing here!” Which was precisely why I stopped of course. I was desperate to experience the prairies. If only for a lunch stop. They did not disappoint.

The winds blew hard across the plains for us. Having just visited the Barr U ranch, I found it possible to imagine a time when there were no fences here.

Just moments after stopping, while I was still putting the picnic together, this happened. I missed the first 45sec of the event on the video. But enjoyed the thunder, force, and rumble of the entire experience. After having watched epic trains roll by for two days on the way out to BC and two days on the way back I was delighted to experience this one front and centre.

Then it was time for the picnic. We held on to the cracker box and the cutting board.

Against better judgement, and defying every lesson my kids have ever been taught about safety in school, and with stories of fools who have died taking selfies ringing in my ears, we talked about the danger of trains and then we waded through the grass to the tracks.

I vow to return to Central Canada.