Day 15 - Friday June 02/17

Today we were ‘ticked off’ and ‘bugged’: Ticked off, as Michael discovered a tick burrowing into his thigh upon awakening. We were successful in removing it using the ‘thread around the head’ removal technique we found on the internet; Nancy mastered the technique (with some considerable trepidation); using the internet again, after a magnified view of the critter which we preserved live in a baggie, we identified it as an ‘American Dog Tick’, not known to be a carrier of Lyme Disease. (Sorry, no photos)

We were ‘Bugged’, as we continued to find masses of tent caterpillars infesting our lawn furniture, wood box and trailer!

The tick removal delayed our departure, but we still got underway by about 11 am. Temperature was 27 C.

Our big touring adventure of the day was in Kipling, SK - Home of the The World’s Largest Paperclip according to the  Guinness Book of World Records (photos) 

Kyle Macdonald of Montreal, who ‘traded up’ on the internet, starting with a single red paperclip, and after 14 trades over the course of a year ended up with a house in Kipling (see the Town of Kipling, Saskatchewan website for the best explanation) 

In the forecourt of the Paper Clip  is a ‘celebrity star’ for Corbin Bernsen, an actor in ‘L.A. Law’ in the ’80’s - we don’t know why he is commemorated in Kipling! (photo)

In Kipling we also stopped at the Post Office to mail Michael’s registration for Society for Learning in Retirement programs in the fall (study group on Architecture and Engineering - Michael plans to offer a presentation about about Frank Lloyd Wright) and the “Seriously Unrehearsed Choir - a fun singing group. Nancy got to do a good deed - retrieving the mail for a woman who is diabetic and didn’t feel up to going into the Post Office to get her mail! 

As we travelled, we saw ‘classic design’ Grain elevators - first an older one seemingly not in use (photo), but then many others seeming to be in operational (photo), as opposed to Manitoba where there are no ‘classic’ elevators in use. 

There seems to be far more cattle ranching in this part of Saskatchewan than grain farming.

We also seemed to be again travelling ‘uphill’ a lot, and/or battling headwinds, as we travelled west - as the truck often needed to run in 5th gear just to maintain 85km/hr.

We got off the highway looking for a picnic spot and drove all through the town of Kendal - four blocks by four blocks, on dirt roads - small, neat houses, with no apparent reason to be there - perhaps a typical Saskatchewan prairie town?

Arrived at Buffalo Lookout RV Campground about 5km outside of Regina around 2pm, our first private campground on this trip; a windswept, treed parking lot of small sites just beside the Trans Canada Highway (but with ‘full service’ - electric, water, sewer).

Had a restful afternoon, including nap and reading, and are having grilled pork chops for supper. Looking forward to touring in Regina tomorrow!