This picture
of the sun was mesmerizing as we started out this morning for Saskatoon in
Saskatchewan. The photo doesn’t do it
justice; but it gives you a glimpse of this orange ball in the sky. There was smoke in the sky from the wildfires
in the area again. The smoke in the air acts as a filter, scattering the
shorter wavelengths like blue light and leaves behind the longer wavelengths
of the colors like orange and red. The view may have been pleasing to the eyes; but
I’m sure that smoke has not been good for the lungs.
As we
entered the province of Saskatchewan, we noticed that farm fields and oil
fields… just got bigger. Oil tanks line
the horizon and train tracks wait to carry the hundreds of oil cars to their
destinations. Thousands of acres of land
with idle machinery... waiting for the right moment to plant their leading crops
of wheat, oats, flax, and alfalfa.
Grain
silos empty,
waiting to feel full again.
In some of
the crop fields, we saw some mysterious, blue, plastic domes. The domes looked like they were placed evenly
apart; but at some distance. We didn’t
know what they could be so I googled it and found the answer. They are shelters for the alfalfa leaf-cutter
bees! These bees build their nests out
of alfalfa leaves. Leaf-cutter bees are the bee of choice when it comes to
pollinating alfalfa. One shelter is used
for every 4-5 acres. That was a mystery...
I was glad I could solve.
After
traveling over 7,000 miles… we thought this would have happen sooner than our last
1,000 miles. A chip in our windshield
from a rock! It was kind of funny
because when it happened…neither Bill nor I said very much. It was almost like we expected it... since the
last two times we went to Alaska we came home
with chipped windshields.
Glad we kept our low deductible.
Not much of
a mystery going on in these pictures;
but of interest to me.
Traveling on
a fairly straight highway that goes through a flat prairie for about 8 hours
was enough for both of us. We decided to end our journey east at Saskatoon and head south to Moose Jaw. The highway is a two lane that will eventually
take us to the border of the U.S. into North Dakota. It will take a little longer; but we need to
see some different scenery. Also….gas
will be a lot cheaper!
Sounds pretty fancy...any place with full services is fancy to us. However, when they say the WiFi isn't strong...that means it doesn't work!
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