July 27th to 30th - Saskatchewan

July 27th – Tues – Watrous
Manitou Lake, very close to where we are staying, is full of minerals and is hyped as being very good for you as well as making you very buoyant. I went in the last time we were here but this time we decided to use the pool in which the scummy water is filtered. We went to check it out and unfortunately the pool has been closed since May 1st with no definite reopening date. We drove into Watrous to look around and get diesel. Driving past the post office reminded me of something I had to mail to Marg so we came back, packaged up Marg’s fishing item and loaded up the golf clubs.
There is a golf course right across the road and we purchased a discount golf package with our RV site so we hit some range balls and then played 9 holes in a cart which we normally wouldn’t do. The fairways needed mowing so it was hard for me to get any distance as I depend on the roll but that just gave me more practice hitting! There were thousands of little dragon flies on the course that stayed mainly close to the ground.
We had a snack and then went for a walk around the park which is quite large. I couldn’t talk Terry into walking the nature trail which we saw at the end of the park.
At 8 to 9:30 we went to a dance at Danceland. This is a large facility with a huge dance floor that has horsehair underneath to provide some give & spring. The local band played old time music and entire families attended. Some parents were teaching children to dance and other just let kids run around and have fun on the waxed floor. We danced quite a bit but haven’t mastered the swing waltz so we sat those out.

July 28th – Wed – to Moose Jaw
We left at 9 for the 2 ½ hour drive to Moose Jaw, almost directly south of Watrous and through typically flat Saskatchewan country. As we neared Moose Jaw, there were some bumps and gullies as there are some big lakes in this area.
We are staying at the Prairie Oasis complex – campground, motel, mobile home park, restaurant and large water slide/pool building. It was quite full but we got a pull through site with 20 amp (?) electric – 30 amp plug but they said it was 20 amps and would not run an air conditioner.
After lunch we had to find the local casino which is located right downtown. All the street parking is metered and the parkade had a low clearance but we finally found a meter and it actually had nearly 2 hours to go. The casino is very small. I sat down at a couple of machines and hit a bonus on the first spin but we both ended up losing our allowance.
Downtown Moose Jaw is very busy with lots of little shops on Main Street – different from a lot of downtown areas. However, our long truck does not make it easy to pop into a small parking spot on the street. We stopped for a few groceries including a steak for the BBQ. After dinner, we found a car wash to get rid of all the dragon flies & dirt on the truck. Then we sat outside and lit a buddy burner and had a few people stop to see what it was.

July 29th – Thurs – Moose Jaw/Regina
We were very lazy this morning and enjoyed fresh peaches and coffee (after Terry & neighbors reset a community electrical breaker many times) before going for a drive to Regina, about 45 miles east of here. Of course our main destination there was a casino which was in an old railway station and quite unique. Like Moose Jaw, it has paid parking but we were able to get into the higher clearance parkade and get our ticket validated after we gambled for a while. Our gambling allowance lasted quite a few hours so we just drove through the town a bit before heading back where we made a stop for diesel and found a liquor store.
Our site has some strategically placed little spruce trees which provide the perfect amount of shade to sit out to read & watch TV. A neighbor stopped by to check out our TV in the outside compartment just as we were dishing up dinner so we told her to come by later with her husband and Terry could tell him how he ran wires for it.
We lit our buddy burner again and had more people stop by to admire it and get instructions to make one. Our neighbors came by and joined us for a drink which made for a very nice evening even though Terry had to put out the awning because of rain.

July 30th – Fri – to Swift Current, Sask
We had another short (2 hour) drive this morning. We were early so we stopped at the casino in Swift Current where I was going to make a sandwich for lunch. But I had stepped in some tar somewhere and tracked it into the rig – including on the carpet - so I had to clean it up first. By the time I finished, Terry felt sorry for me so we went into the casino for lunch. Of course we couldn’t leave without trying our luck with $20 each. Terry finally lost his and I got back to my original 20 and was smart enough to quit.
We are staying with Gilbert & Grace who we met in Desert Hot Springs last winter. Grace is Cliff’s sister. They live on a large farm and share-crop where someone else does the actual farming and they get paid “rent” in crops. Gilbert is working for the summer but was home by the time we got here. Just before 6, Terry went with Gilbert to meet Cliff & Pauline and pick up Grace’s brother Glen who will be here for the weekend.
Grace had a huge ham in the crock pot so we had a great dinner and then played the card game Wizard.