Jan 1 - addendum # 2

We're in Brandon. Sandy noted that we've now been in or passed through all of the major cities in Western Canada, save BC of course -- Winnipeg, Brandon, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary -- they've all passed by. Next up, we have to hit all the major cities in BC and the eastern provinces !

It was a very sunny day, hard on the eyes with a white landscape as far as the eye could see. The eye could see far in this flat land. Undulating yes, but over the long distance, not the short, the horizon is a long ways off.

In my blog the other day when I was talking about ups and downs, I missed the oil wells. They were the inspiration for my title and I then forgot to say something about them. Through Saskatchewan they dot the landscape, the most notable item. In the summer they undoubtedly would stand higher than the crops but without the largely white background, not as distinct.

Practically balmy here, we unloaded the critical items into the Comfort Inn, a very nicely appointed room. We love ground floor rooms where we can simply back the car up and heave items into the room. It's even nicer when you're not freezing your bippies doing so. This morning it's -4C, even warmer than last night. It's -18C in Thunder Bay right now but supposed to warm up to -1C by the end of the day, so this warm spell is following us, or vice versa. From the forecast, it will be pleasant at the cottage for the next few days ... here's hoping ! Also from the forecast, last night was the last of the frost in Florida. They have had devastating frosts for the past few days with pictures of ice hanging from fruit trees on CNN. I exchanged emails with Lisa who looks after our place and she says that she finally went out and bought closed toed shoes. Temperatures are supposed to be in the high 60's and low 70's by the time we get there .... good !

We drove into Brandon last night for dinner, having settled on The Keg. I created some amusement when I asked the waitress if they did any "meal sized" salads (none on the menu) ... she said "no, all the bowls are too small" -- so I said that what I wanted was three of the spinach salads but not three bowls on the table. They managed to do it, finding a big bowl / and I felt duty-bound to eat the entire thing. Since I had started off with a baked French Onion Soup, probably two of the salads would have been enough, but what the heck. Sandy had the prime rib, which was very good but a huge portion. She ate all the meat and veggies but left some of the enormous pile of mashed potatoes. We even got the VIP discount, since Sandy had brought the page out of the motel book ... saving 10% ... a whole $6 !!

Oh -- I have to mention the Saskatoon BMW dealer again. The service turned out to be cheaper than Calgary BMW had quoted. First of all, I expect that the Saskatoon labour rates are cheaper and second of all, it took fewer hours -- 1 vs 1.7. So even though I had more taxes to pay in Saskatchewan than Alberta (PST vs no PST), the bill was more than $100 cheaper. While I was there I also bought two 4-liter jugs of WW antifreeze. I've been going through almost as much of that as gas, and it's more expensive. Well, that's an exaggeration, but I will have used 6-7 jugs by the time we're done. The -35C version that I bought at the Husky station in Revelstoke was more than $5. The -45C versions from the BMW dealer were only $3.99 .... what a deal !

I drove away from the dealer in a clean car. It ain't clean no more. The roads were good yesterday, although sometimes the left lane was slick since drifting snow was sticking to the wet road in places. We were traveling Southeast to Regina and then due East to Brandon; the wind was very strong from the South. Drifting was at ground level, a fine shimmer of snow crossing the roadway.

Ok ... have to get moving ... Sandy's ahead of me. I still have to shower ...

Onward ... to Philip's in Thunder Bay.