Where There's Not A Lot Goiiiin' Onnnn ♪♫

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

START:  Ross Creek RV Park, Medicine Hat, AB - 10:30 a.m.

STOP:  Buffalo Lookout RV Park, Regina, SK - 6:30 p.m.

WEATHER:  Another hotttt 'n' sunny one.

Mom:  "Hon?"

Dad:  "Yeah?"

Mom:  "Can you go spray some WD-40 on the tracks?"

Dad:  "OKAY."

Aaaactually, though.  Awful.  I feel like the trains ran constantly all night long, but I know it was just the two back-to-back ones at five in the morning that lasted and screeched for what seemed like hours on end that gave me good mind to go throw my body across the tracks in surrender.  So, feeling well rested and spry as a bundle of spring chicks, we pulled the pin outta that hell hole and hit the road towards Saskatchewan.

We crossed the border into the Skatch at a time unknown to me, as I was apparently in the bathroom, but Medicine Hat is relatively close to the border so it wasn't too long after departure.  Roughly an hour and a half from Moose Jaw, it was time once again for me to get behind the wheel (for only the second time thus far this entire trip.  I never did graduate to mountain roads) and give Dad a chance to catch a little shut-eye before trucking on.

Dad pulls over to the side of the road.

Mike, from the back bedroom:  "What's going on?"

Mom:  "Steph's gonna drive for awhile."

Mike, in a high, singsong voice:  "We're all gonna diiiiiiiiiie."

Again, with that confidence.  Thanks, Mike - FEELIN' GOOD.  We, in fact, did not all die thankyouverymuch and aside from it being windier than the windy part of Japan, it was relatively smooth sailing all the way to Moose Jaw.  Dad took the reigns again from there and navigated us down Hwy 39 South in search of Rouleau, SK, where they filmed on location for the TV series Corner Gas.  Needless to say, there was not a hell of a lot to see along the way, as Dad so eloquently suggested:  "What a place to live.  God, just pull the pin and get it over with."  Not his cup of tea, you might say.  (FUN FACT:  We passed the road to Avonlea.  Literally, a road leading to a town called Avonlea.)

That big grain elevator above is the first thing you see pulling into Rouleau and showcases the name of the fictional town of Dog River where the series takes place. I gotta admit, the theme song for the show, where I pulled the title from, is frighteningly accurate.  There wasn't a hell of lot of anything going on in town, or anyone aside from shop owners and barely a handful of other tourists to be seen.  I don't know who watches or has seen Corner Gas - and I'll admit that I've never seen more than one or two episodes myself - but Dad, Mom, and Mike are fans and got a kick out of seeing some of the buildings from the show.  Most of the interior filming is done at the Canada/Saskatchewan Production Studios in Regina, but Rouleau is home to the basic Corner Gas gas station set, the surveillance bush (which we missed), Oscar and Emma's House, the Foo Mart, the Dog River Police Department, the Howler, the Dog River Bar and Hotel, and the Dog River Liqour Store.  The Police Department is now a small cafe and souvenir shop, so we stopped there to check things out and load up on some souvenirs before heading out towards Regina.

After a quick stop at Safeway to pick up some essentials and dinner items, we had every intention of tracking down the same RV park we had stayed at on our way through west, Kings Acres Campground, but arrived only to be told that the only sites they had left didn't possess the capabilities we needed to run the A/C and not die a hot and steamy death.  So after some more wheelin' and dealin' (and a few noob moves on Dad's part) to get back on the highway heading east, we snagged the last available site at Buffalo Lookout RV Park and called it a day.

After an episode or two of - what else - Corner Gas, it was lights out.  Tomorrow the plan is to hit the road a little earlier than usual since our destination is roughly 550km away and we lose yet another hour of precious life somewhere along the way.

Letting the good times roll,