SASKATCHEWAN

I have gone through Saskatchewan many times both east and west and thought I knew what Saskatchewan looked like. What an eye-opening adventure lay before me. How many people like me are there I wonder, that crossed the province via Highway 16 or Highway 1, and said that they had seen Saskatchewan. I am here to tell you, 'you ain't seen nothing' til you get off the big east-west highways and begin to explore. It is an eye-opener. I know it was for me.
I have always felt that I had seen all the provinces in Canada and what they had to offer until I went on an exploring trip throughout Saskatchewan, Canada. A flat, endless horizon soon gave way to the beautiful river valleys of the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers. The Qu'appelle Valley is another eye opener.
Adventure lies awaiting the future as well. On the one hand there are dinosaur remains that need discovering, including a buffalo that roamed this area some 30,000 years ago. They have been found in different locations, sometimes by accident and other times 'in spite of' efforts to keep them unknown in areas that depend on the land for agriculture and could be set aside for excavation in some cases.
Diamonds. I still find it amazing that people are finding diamonds throughout western Canada, suggesting that the rest of Canada may hold wondrous discoveries. I find that I am already looking for telltale depressions in the landscape or hillocks where they don't seem to belong. They suggest ancient volcanoes and therefore the possibility of diamonds and gold.
It isn't unusual or odd that I get excited by this kind of thing. I spent a number of years looking for that sometimes elusive metal, gold. I never had gold fever although I saw some textbook cases. I simply liked to find it. After I found that I could witch for gold, it became even more exciting.
The country around the Battlefords is stunningly beautiful. At the other end of the province, about as south as you can go and be in Canada, there is amazing desert country. TRex has a home down there in Eastend. What an amazing creature he was.
Every part of this province that I have seen or explored a little bit is exciting and full of beauty of every kind. I am still in awe at seeing herds of deer, sunbathing in open fields by the dozens. Geese, by the thousands, make Saskatchewan their home from spring until fall, and ducks everywhere it seems, in pairs or small groups.
In the area of Monmartre, I saw and heard my first 'very large' groups of geese. The first time I experienced them was on a house hunting trip. I heard a very large group of geese, somewhere over a rise. I thought someone must be raising geese. Well there was, but it wasn't man but mother nature. There were literally hundreds in a single group, if not thousands.
Another area is Duck Mountain and the park there. What a beautiful area, where you are apt to see deer coming down a road or out of the trees at any time.
Yes, Saskatchewan holds as much beauty as any province in Canada, and in so many different ways. Oh yes, and the grains, canola, and all stretching forever it seemed, were something I was very glad I experienced. Now it is on almost every trip to another town, but I doubt I will be bored with it for the forseeable future. It is beautiful.
There are very friendly people living here, helpful and gracious. That

makes the picture complete. I am a very happy 'newbie' Saskatchewaner.




David C