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Canada has it's fair share of unusual town names, Moosejaw being the first that I've hit. Whilst sitting on the Greyhound from Alberta, the image of a goofy looking horse with horns talking non stop on the seat next to me kept popping into my head. Of course it never came to life, which is clearly a good thing as I don't really want to be that crazy on my travels. After a not so restful sleep rolling along the flatlands through the night, I thought my eyes were having some colour issues when I managed to pry them open. The horizon in front of me was such an intense blend of orange and red, it managed to bring me to my senses rather quickly. I suppose the license plate statement, 'Land of the Living Skies' is really true then. I reached into my bra for my camera (protective habits die hard) and began clicking away. The bus driver to my left was alerted to an awake passenger and we began talking about the riches of life on the prairies. And it was still barely 6am.

Moose Tales Under the Saskatchewan Skies

Coffeecat
2006-08-12 14:08:06

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the wall and any town can become classy!I was enlightened with more statistics about the base (approximently 15% of the troops are women and the average age is 26), my attention was drawn to a few grunts. It seems as though pushups have remained as a form of punishment, and are still a pleasure to watch.

For my final day in town, I called up an 'old' friend with hopes of seeing more than the average tourist. My former bus driver Duane was happy to oblige and just as I sipped the last of my latte, he stood in front of me. Eva and I were quite glad that he wasn't driving the Greyhound to show us the sights, although his car did have the decal of a loyal employee. We drove out of town to an area called Qu'Appelle Valley. This might be the only area in the province that isn't flat, so it's an ideal spot for a dayhike. We tightened our shoelaces and began the trek as the outdoor adventurists that we are. Within a few minutes we found a resting bench, and a few minutes later we found the end of the trail. I kind of like the hiking style in the Prairies! What I've bumped into a few areas around the world where my grandpa's name has remained, but it seems the one in Moosejaw knew I would follow... a coffee shop!!we also found at the end of the trail, was a stunning view of the charming town of Lumsden below. Who needs statuesque mountains when there are rolling wheat fields to level out the complexities of life.

I think Duane was rather amused that two girls such as Eva and myself, found the flat feature along the drive back into town, so intriguing. We laid on our bellies trying to get the perfect photo, and then burned off more energy running in circles and doing cartwheels. I obviously don't do cartwheels everyday (I pulled a muscle within the first 5 seconds!) but I couldn't think of any other way to appreciate the prairies as the wheat wasn't long enough to start chewing on it. Once we had used up all of our energy we continued our drive back into town, and stopped at Wascana Lake.

The provincial legislative buildings came into view as we walked around the pedestrian path circling the lake. Chunks of ice were melting at such a rapid rate in the sunshine, it sounded a bit like an icy gin and tonic sitting under a heatlamp. Everybody in sight was enjoying the sunny skies after the downpours earlier in the week. Even the Canada geese were happy to pose for pictures. Our conversations defined regional tastes as we discussed the love for country music in the prairies compared with Madonna and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in other parts of the world. Before long, the walking loop lead us back to the car and we said our thanks and farewells to Duane before continuing our touristy tour and approaching the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. The museum was very well presented, but as it was such a sunny day, we skimmed the info panels. Although my favourite sight certainly deserved a few extra moments of study. With shoulders standing at seven feet high, the moose wasn't the cartoon character I had imagined talking in a Walt Disney voice. Moose are not common enough to be walking down the main street in most Canadian towns (as depicted on tv) so I was brought back to a thought I had had when visiting Moosejaw. How exactly did the town get its' name? Well...apparently the name Moose Jaw comes from a Cree name for the place, moscâstani-sîpiy, meaning "a warm place by the river". The first two syllables, moscâ-, sound remarkably like "moose jaw". So there you go, my moose tale under the Saskatchewan skies, are finally complete.

The bus will next be pulling over for a quickie in Manitoba. No police officers were involved.

And my intense blogging catch up has truly begun.

Cheers all,

Fiona