Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Other Cool Stuff
/We got a late start from Medicine Hat due to ‘icky chores’… emptying the gray water, the toilet, cleaning both and then topping up our fresh water supply. Definitely some of the less attractive aspects of van life.
Saskatchewan has been dubbed the "bread basket of the world”. According to Wiki, this province of flatlands, prairies and wheat fields “supplies more than a third of the world's total exported durum wheat and is the world's top exporter of lentils and dry peas. In addition to being a world leader in agriculture, Saskatchewan is the fifth-largest oil producer in North America.”
Its motto, “Land of the Living Skies,” boasts about its magnificent views of blue skies, sunsets, and northern lights. We can attest to the blue skies and sunsets.
Flat, flat farmland is punctuated with grain elevators… lots of grain elevators with rail sidings and grain cars ready to be filled! Just what you’d expect from Canada’s breadbasket.
We stopped in the pleasant little town of Swift Current for a leg stretch and checked out their Centennial Plaza, erected for the town’s (you guessed it) 100th birthday in 2014. The brick murals depict decades in the town’s history and they were quite interesting. A little culture and history while getting in some steps.
swift Current’s Mural Walls at Centennial Plaza
A few miles out of town we spotted a bird. No, it was a plane. No, it was a helicopter weathervane! It’s a real Alouette III rescue helicopter mounted atop a 48’ tall (14.6m) pole spinning in the wind and acting as an active weathervane. Hmm… it definitely broke up the monotony of the flat landscape.
There are hundreds of little ponds and waterholes along the roadside dotting the farms and ranchlands. As we neared the town of Chaplin, we noted white sand dunes near the water and crusty-looking waterholes. It reminded us of salt pans, but we figured no salt harvesting in Saskatchewan. Wrong! Chaplin’s clever logo, ‘Salt of the Earth’, tells the story. Chaplin Lake is a salt lake. Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals Company produces 400,000+tons of sodium sulphate each year for use in detergents, paper, glass, and textiles worldwide. Who knew? Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the photo.
Rain showers began in the late afternoon and intensified as we neared Moose Jaw. Rather than sussing out a campground in the rain, we chose to ‘camp’ with the truckers at a Flying J Travel Centre. It was convenient, free and just fine for a rainy evening. The only problem encountered during the evening was when a cattle truck stopped in front of us. The mooing and the smell were a bit overwhelming, but short-lived. They were thankfully gone within 30 minutes.
Luckily, the cattle trucks didn’t stay long!
According to the town history, “The name Moose Jaw comes from a Cree name for the place, moscâstani-sîpiy, meaning ‘a warm place by the river’. The first two syllables, moscâ-, (moos-gaw) sound remarkably like ‘moose jaw’. In the early 1880s when the Canadian Pacific was building its railroad, a town was formed and the name stuck.
In the morning, we wanted to check out Moose Jaw’s mascot, Mac the Moose and the town. We managed a brief visit between rain showers. Since I don’t know any Moose songs, I adapted Mac the Knife tune and lyrics to Mac the Moose, much to David’s chagrin.
Meet Mac, the World’s Tallest Moose
Mac the Moose is 34’ tall (10.36m) and the ‘Tallest Moose in the World’. Actually, Mac was originally 32’ tall (9.8m) and was the world’s tallest moose, until the Norwegian town of Stor-Elvdal erected a 32.8’ (10m) stainless steel moose sculpture and captured the title. The Moose Wars ensued. Finally, a ‘Moose-arandum of Understanding’ was reached and Mac got a new set of antlers increasing his height to 34’ and recapturing the coveted title. Meanwhile, the 4-year-old statue named Storelgen in Stor-Elvdal, will "forevermore be known as the shiniest and most attractive moose in the world." And both ‘moose-ipalities’ were happy. The End.
Mac gets a new rack (Credit-Stephanie Taylor/The Canadian Press)
We drove around a bit in downtown Moose Jaw. The town is well known for the tunnels which run beneath it and boasts the motto ‘Notoriously Moose Jaw’. According to one story, the tunnels were started by Chinese railway workers about 1908, after several members of their group were attacked and killed at the CPR yards. The Chinese moved underground and lived there for years. Later, during Prohibition, bootleggers took over the network of passages. Some stories even claim that Al Capone was a frequent visitor to the city, going about his secret business under the streets of Moose Jaw. Themed shows are conducted regularly. Year-round theatrical tours of the tunnels are available, but none for the short time we were there.
Back on the TransCanada Highway (TCH), we gave a pass to the provincial capital, Regina (that’s pronounced (Rej-EYE-nah, by the way) and headed for Indian Head where we found a large Indian Head. There’s been some controversy over the statue, but the plaque nearby explains the naming of the town and the thoughts behind erecting the statue.
Continuing on the TCH, we saw a sign for Wolseley, ‘The Town with the Swinging Bridge’. We can always use a few steps… why not? But why build a swinging bridge in the first place? According to the info sign, “In 1902, the railway dammed the creek, creating a man-made lake (Fairly Lake) to supply water for the steam engines. In 1905 the town approved the expenditure of $300 for a suspension bridge over the dam to connect homes on the north side with the business section.” Well, that made sense. Today, the bridge is a tourist attraction and quite attractive to boot. We walked across as a Canada goose couple tended their goslings in the lake below. And, yes, there are still Canada geese in Canada and the bridge does ‘swing’ from side to side quite a bit as you walk on it.
Thanks to Roadside America, we took a detour to Kipling in order to see the ‘World’s Largest Paper Clip’. Really, how could we pass it up? Surprisingly, the ‘highway’ we took was gravel, so it was slower going than anticipated. Fortunately for us, there was farmland, small ponds and lots of bird life to enjoy as we bounced down the road.
Finally, we arrived in Kipling, Saskatchewan, named after Rudyard Kipling who passed through on a train in 1907. More interesting than its name is its claim to fame. We found the World’s Largest Paper Clip in a small park and once again asked why? Well, this giant red paper clip, 15’ tall (4.6m) and weighing ~3,000 lbs (1360 kg), tells the true story of how Kyle Macdonald traded a red paper clip for a house in Kipling. Read the story here… it’s very entertaining.
World’s Largest PaperClip
We couldn’t resist stopping by the Red Paperclip house to take a look.
The Paperclip House is now the Paperclip Cottage Cafe
Enough excitement for now. Next time, we’ll head into Manitoba, a new province to explore.
Check out the blue line on the map below to see our progress so far.
