MOOSEJAW AND REGINA AND THE CANADA GAMES

MOOSEJAW

We have traded the cool mountain breezes for the blistering hot plains. There were acres of same looking rolling green hills. As we approached Calgary, it was a strange sight to see miles of the same roofs on developments. We passed three ski jumps left from the 1988 Olympics.We headed quickly to our favorite dinosaur museum at Drumheller and the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum. The exhibits of dinosaurs are overwhelming and they are still finding more in Alberta. There was even some right on the Tyrell grounds. The hills were made up of weathered cones of dirt of different colors.

We have enjoyed chuckling at some of the towns we have been to: Medicine Hat, Swift Current, Moosejaw. Medicine Hat was named for a battle between Native American tribes that was lost because the medicine man on one side took off and lost his hat. Moose Jaw was named, according to one source, because of the resemblance to a nearby bend of the river.

When we found out there was a boat ride in Moosejaw, of course we had to go. Captain Jack gave us tidbits of river lore as we cruised this small muddy river. It was a very relaxing ride and we caught an idea of life growing up on the river. Moosejaw is a rather charming town of 32,000. They have an interesting old downtown and parks everywhere, especially along the river. All of Canada seems to be doing pretty well because of the oil. In fact the Prime Minister of Canada has just announced a 3.1 billion dollars surplus in the treasury. We have done our bit to add to it with diesel at almost $4 a gallon.

The Canadian Summer Games were being held in both Moose Jaw and Regina. We decided to move to Regina because the Moose Jaw park only had 30 amp in 90 degree weather and we couldn’t run our air conditioner. We attended a Canada Summer Games girls basketball between BC and New Brunswick. BC won. We were impressed by how hard all of the girls played. Zoe’s hairdresser later told us that was because this was the time all of the scouts were out. If you didn’t get picked by age 16, your chances weren’t good to go on in sports.

We were also very impressed with First Nations University for Canadian Native Americans that was on the Regina University Campus. The beautiful building represented the Sun Dance Ceremony. A ring of tipis had been erected in celebration the summer games with drumming, crafts, dances and demonstrations. It was a wonderful display.

We left Canada with the forecast for a frost on the weather station.