Regina, Saskatchewan...Day 31

After spending a night in Yorkton, Saskatchewan (not much to see here, folks), we made our way through the Qu'appelle Valley en route to Regina. Stopped in Fort Qu'appelle for lunch and felt like we were in an episode of Corner Gas, but it was a really cute town.

You know you're a redneck when the elk in the back of your truck weigh more than the truck....

We could see this teepee from far away. It is at the Treaty 4 Governance Centre and is the largest inhabited teepee in the world, measuring 70 ft in diameter and 111 ft high. The 13 poles represent a spirtual or ethical value: Obedience, Respect, Humility, Happiness, Love, Faith, Kinship, Cleanliness, Thankfulness, Sharing, Strength, Good Child Rearing and Hope.

The valley vegetation consists of green shrubs, yellow grass, and trees, so the hills are very different looking.

Very unexpected after all the flat terrain, and as soon as you drive through the valley, you are back into flat land again.

And then we arrived in Regina with clear blue skies...

Regina has been built up around the 2300 acre Wascana Centre, and the lake and surrounding park areas are all manmade. Thousands of hand-planted trees make this huge green space a beautiful part of the city, and there are art galleries, live theatre and the Saskatchewan Science Centre. Of course with the water come tons of different birds, ducks and geese. It would be great to see the city in the summer.

Not much smog here...

On a side note, the Kijiji website is alive and well in Regina. We had purchased tickets to the Just for Laughs festival on Friday night and then realized that we had mixed our dates up. Unless we wanted to spend a week in Regina (which isn't a bad thing!), we would have to sell the tickets. So I put them on Kijiji and faster than you could say "kijiji" someone was at the hotel to pick them up. Love that website!

We went to the gym in the hotel this morning and then headed over to the RCMP Heritage Centre. What a beautiful place!

They have so many displays and some fun interactive areas. "Can you solve the mystery?" (You can, if you make the mistake of going through the display backwards and reading the answer before you start.) It was really neat though. They show you a crime scene and you try to figure out who committed the murder from the evidence you're given.

The RCMP began as the Northwest Mounted Police in 1873 on the advice of Sir John A. MacDonald, and a large group headed west to bring order to the chaos created by the American whisky traders. Here are some modes of transportation through the ages. This is how they would have made their way out west in 1874.

Some useful methods of transportation in the north...

They say they are really working hard to get new recruits...

The Centre is really well done and makes you appreciate the work done by the RCMP over the years.

We really enjoyed our time in Regina. Tomorrow we are heading to Alberta. We are overnighting in Lloydminster before we go to Edmonton the next day to spend some time with Joanne.

Here is the trip odometer so far...6673 km to date...