With the drive from Regina
to Calgary being fairly long we decided to get moving at a decent hour this
morning in order to arrive in Calgary in time for dinner at my Uncle Jon and
Aunt Leanna’s house. As per usual when
my alarm went off I didn’t want to wake up but I had to get out of bed because
I had plugged my phone in across the room.
Sarah was a little more
insistent on not getting up than I was so Cam piled pillows on top of her. Apparently when they were housemates this is
something Cam and their other housemates did to Sarah more than a couple
times. I thought it was pretty funny.
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| Sarah's under there.. somewhere. |
As whole I felt like
today’s drive was long. Time seemed to
drag by. Hopefully the same won’t
happen again tomorrow since our drive will be 4-5 hours longer.
The most memorable moment
in today’s journey was when we met a father and son who picked up a hawk from
the highway. Here is Sarah’s account of
the experience:
“Today 23
km east of Piapot, Saskatchewan we met the most adorable father - son duo of
road kill collectors.
This is
how it happened... We stopped for a quick highway side break. Then I
noticed a dead hawk in the middle of the road. I started taking pictures of it.
Then a big dirty pickup truck pulled over. Out stepped a man wearing an army
print hunting cap and vest, foo man choo and cowboy boots. A boy whose baggy
cropped jeans were held up by a shoestring jumped out of the passenger seat to
check out the hawk that was now in his dad's arms.
The
excited pair noticed I was taking pictures of them and walked the hawk over to
our van. They told up that this was the best one they have found in a while.
Given that the bird was in perfect condition, except it's feet we're
burnt. They think she was electrocuted.
The father
said they we going to rush home and put the bird on ice, then take it over to
the taxidermist. There they would pick a pose, likely with the wigs expanded,
and have it freeze dried. Then they would mount it in their living room with he
rest of their collection.”
Other highlights of
today’s journey… We experienced bright sunshine, torrential rain and everything
in between, we stopped for some delicious frozen treats from DQ, I tried to
sleep in the van for the first time this trip– the results were poor, and we
encountered real traffic for the first time while entering Calgary.
We arrived at Uncle Jon
and Aunt Leanna around 5:40pm, which was perfect timing since Uncle Jon gets
home at 5:30. They had prepared a lovely
turkey dinner for us. It was really nice
to visit with them and catch up. Uncle Jon and Aunt Leanna are my godparents and actually my name was derived from a combination of their names Jo from Jon, anna from Leanna and add an h for good measure - Johanna. Sadly
After dinner we went for a
nice stroll around their quaint neighbourhood.
It was nice to be out in the fresh air after spending almost all day in
Stan the van. When we returned we did
the dishes and then Barb, Cam, Sarah and I played a game called Citadels. I had never played before but I enjoyed it. It is quite a strategic game but there is
some luck involved. Cam ended up
winning. He beat Sarah by one
point. She wasn’t too happy about that.
Below are some of the
random pictures I took throughout the day.
Check them out.
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| Reflections are fun things to play with! |
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| We only killed a few bugs along the way.. |
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| Sarah making a phone call right before the hawk incident |
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| Straddling the border between Saskatchewan and Alberta |
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| This little guy was munching on the grass in Jon and Leanna's front yard |
Nice pictures. I loved the story. Poor creature! I'll be glad when you are safe at home! Keep having fun.
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