July 19,2025

Our last day in Stettler was domestic tasks day: laundry, grocery shopping, tidying up trailer. We also had the 10,000 km maintenance done on the truck.....more on that later.

And a bit of exploring. We went to the Stettler Museum which had lots of information and artifacts about the  development of Stettler. It’s easy to tell that this town cares about its history, as well as its future.

Model Tractor Collection in the Stettler Museum

After a morning swim on Tuesday, we headed out to Hanley, Saskatchewan, passing blue fields. Ms. Goggle says it’s flax.

We stayed at the Rosedale Bison Farm (a Harvest Host). This was an amazing place to hang our hat for a night! Les and Kathy were very welcoming and we had many chats about bison (they have been farming >200 bison for over 30  years), fundraising (Kathy’s organizes a ‘Read and Run’ where kids get  medals for reading and running 10, 21, 42 books or km), family life in a small town (500 people), and life in general. Mike and I spent some time watching the bison, who spent some time watching us. Not sure who was smarter! They got bored first and moved on. Les had lots of stories to tell about bison: they can jump >5 feet; bulls may fight each other to the death for the chance to be the dominant bull; a matriarch cow leads the herd and many more. And this was the ALS connection for the day: a school buddy of Les’s has ALS.  Thank you, Les and Kathy, for your support and keepsakes, including a ‘herd’ of bison stress balls!

Are you lookin' at me?

Our Bison Herd

Wednesday morning I ran through Hanley, checking out the businesses (bakery, insurance, bank, grocer, hardware) plus library, ice rink, murals, a curling rink and a golf course (with sand greens). Everything you could want!

Then it was off to Wolsley, Saskatchewan, about 3 hours away for our next night stop at Burchill Farm, another Harvest Host. The farm was peaceful, with Icelandic horses who eventually let me pet them, birds tweeting away, a few flies irritating us, and a peacefulness that regenerated us.  

In the morning we went into the town for some breakfast treats at the Garden Club Café. The young lady who owns it, Elizabeth, recently finished her degree in business and decided she wanted to buy this old building and make it into a café. She opened up last fall and her and her mom make all the food. The rhubarb muffins were fresh out of the oven and were amazing! She is hoping to expand to include a garden out back with fresh herbs and veggies to use in the kitchen. We chatted with the locals having their morning coffee. Drop by if you’re in the ‘hood!

A lot of buildings were built in 1906, many from rocks.

Elizabeth, in front of her cafe.

We’re in Winnipeg now and spent the day at the Assiniboine Zoo. The Dinosaur exhibit was my favourite…the dinosaurs were kept in the middle of the forest and growled or moved as we went by. This format definitely gave the perspective of what it would have been like to come across one.

The air quality is expected to get really bad today, from 3 this morning to 10+ by the evening. Of course, we had a day of biking planned. So instead, it’ll be indoor swimming and museums.