Day 16 – Saturday June 3/17

A sunny, breezy day to explore Regina today.  Believe it or not we arrived at the RCMP Heritage Centre just before 10:30 a.m. – and the place didn’t open until 11:00! Being too early is a rarity for us. But rather than try to kill time for half an hour we decided would go to nearby Government House – the former residence of the Lieutenant Governors of Saskatchewan and have a quick look around. 

posing for a portrait with a caricature of the current lieutenant governor
of Saskatchewan, Vaughn Solomon Schofield

This landau carriage was used by the lieutenant governor
 and for royal visits until 2012

We strolled through the gardens and then went in.  We were snagged by a charming young guide who had us on a tour before we knew it.  With lots of passion for her job she escorted us through the building. She allowed us to explore on our own although she was always nearby to answer a question. The 1900 era furnishings and decorations were very well done. We were at the site for about 45 minutes and felt it was time well spent. Although the Government House had not been on our agenda we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed this diversion. It is part of our intention for this trip that we be open to the surprises that greet us along the way. Today’s venture to Government House was one example of such a surprise.

Back at The RCMP Heritage Centre (designed by Arthur Erickson - forgot to take photo!) we took time to explore the displays that detailed the formation of the force as the Northwest Mounted Police, through its history of keeping the peace as well as being the go-to support people for settlers in the west. We spent less time on the Mounties’ modern roll of policing across the country. But we did take the opportunity to try a 3-D virtual reality experience of what it’s like to be in the Musical Ride. WOW! We could have sworn we were seated on a horse in the middle of the formation’s ride. Very exciting.

 

We also took a tram tour of the actual training centre (Depot Division) where over 1000 cadets are trained to become Mounties every year. This is a secured facility, but we were allowed to go into the chapel which began as an Anglican church but is now multidenominational.

With only a snack of cheesies, cookies, coffee and chocolate from our stash in the truck we headed to a 2:30 p.m. tour of the Saskatchewan Legislative Buildings (photo)
For the second time today we had a private tour. As in Winnipeg, we were impressed by magnificence of the building. Columns of gorgeous green veined marble from Cypress are one of the highlight of the Rotunda.(photo)

The other highlight was a bust of one of our Canadian heroes – Tommy Douglas (photo). Douglas was premiere of this province from 1944 – 1961. He is of course the father of medicare which he first introduced to Saskatchewan in 1947.

We walked the grounds after our half hour tour which turned into a 50 minute guided delight. He saw a 2005 statue of Queen Elizabeth II mounted on her favourite horse Burmese. The horse was born in Saskatchewan and given to the Queen by the RCMP.

A quick stop at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum got us the small provincial flag we had been searching for all day (also some Saskatoon Berry Jam). We want to collect a flag from each province we visit this year. 

On the way back to our trailer we stopped for gas at $.95/litre. A trip to Canadian Tire got Michael some spare clips and bolts for the trailer and at The Great Canadian Superstore we got salad and butter tarts. 

A dinner of reheated stew and a conversation with a campsite neighbour who had recommendations for places to visit in Alaska rounded out another fine day.