Day 5 TCH - Regina, Saskatchewan

Manitoba sign. What can I say? We were happy to leave Ontario.
The main (& I think only) street of Austin, MB
Buck & his favorite puppy (a gift from Grandma N)
Austin Bake & Coffee shop. It was awesome!
The 2-lane road becomes a 4-lane highway! Rejoice!

We've made it to Saskatchewan!!! Please allow me to quote a song from one of my all-time favorite movies:

Send someone to fetch us we're in Saskatchewan -- moving right along.

Yes, that is from the immortal Fozzie the Bear & Kermit the Frog duet in the first Muppet Movie. If you haven't seen this movie - you should rent it. It has nothing to do with Canada -- but that's beside the point. Also, from here on out, Saskatchewan will be abbreviated to SK (the postal abb). And Manitoba will be MB. See, you get a little postal lesson with every entry!

We started today in Dryden, Ontario -- at 5am since Buck's body clock didn't mesh with the change to central time. This turned out to be a big help since he actually fell back to sleep around 8am and this let us cover more ground.

I've included a picture that RKZ made me take of the two-lane road becoming a 4-lane highway. This was cause for great rejoicing for my husband. We suddenly seemed to be going much more quickly as Ontario fell into our rearview (if we could see it, since it's actually covered with bags and baby toys) and we drove triumphantly into Manitoba (MB). This is where we saw the last of the stone men but we did see giant blue sky and the beginnings of the Prairies. Please look at a map. What I love most about MB is that it is described as "The West" of Canada. We actually passed by a sign that declares that it is the "Central point in Canada." But everyone (including the new good friends we love from MB) describes this Province as "The West." It's just one more thing to love about Canada.

We stopped for lunch at a bakery in Austin, MB. I am including pictures of the one street in the town. The bakery was the only restaurant we could see. We had Ham and cheese sandwiches with Miracle Whip (Pa joad would love them) & they gave us a free cookie as we left!! So nice of them! Every single person we met in MB (or conversed with) was so incredibly nice & friendly. It was even a little scary for a "hardened" West Coast of the US girl like me. It freaks me out having to say "hello" to everyone. Not RKZ & Buck, though. They have been living the good life waving and conversing with everyone they meet. We haven't walked into a room yet where someone hasn't said, "What a happy baby! He's so smiley!" We even spent about 3 minutes talking with a woman who passed us on the sidewalk in Austin. She was just taken by Buck.

After Austin, it seemed that the distance just flew past us. We were in and out of MB in a shot. Ever the conquering hero, RKZ proudly counted down the miles as we passed (no small feat since the signs are all in Kilometers - "Klicks"). By the time we reached SK, we had covered over 400 miles and as we drove into Regina, the odometer read 560 miles. Gotta' love those 4-lane highways. Even I drove for a bit today as RKZ braved the back seat with Buck.

On a side-note -- everywhere we looked today in both SK and MB, there was whole milk (3.25%). I read a little "Americans in Canada" blurb today and it said to "remember that whole milk is known as 'Homo' milk in Canada" based on the fact that it is homogenized. RKZ won't say it. He just says "whole" and said that "people will just have to figure out what he means." Poor Buck's brain it might never get the fat it needs :) .

Hi to Little O'Doyle (yes, you Cor), E, Wayne, YRT & Ma and Pa Joad who I know are reading this. Also hi to Grandy Grady & the beautiful Grandma N. Lastly, to our "Canadian Safari Guide," we will see you soon!