Jenny Smid: the Gopher Slayer OR Moose Jaw to Drumheller and the Badlands of Alberta

OK, so last night ended with a bit of bang.  As you know we were a might underwhelmed with the delights of Moose Jaw.  The city that did a pretty good job of killing it's downtown and moving its retail businesses into shopping malls on the outside of town.  Kind of a doughnut with a sad face filling.   Lot's of potential, and the hotel we stayed at was doing it's best,  but when you move out all the shops and move out the people what is going to happen?   So we were feeling a little sad, but decided to eat at the chinese restaurant next door.  A bit of a risk,because it didn't seem to be attracting huge custom,  and it seemed to be in a repurposed steak and seafood restaurant that had gone out of business.  As many people know I am a fan of Hakka Chinese cooking,  and the cook at this restaurant served us the best Chili chicken I think I have had, along with a pretty decent shrimp/chicken stirfry.  The chicken was moist and crisp with a nice slight sweet sour spicy sauce lightly incorporated into the dish.   Super amazing end to our Moose Jaw idyll.


Next, onto the road.  Turns out that Saskatchewan is a lot more bumpy and hillocky than I thought.  At least until we got north of Swift Current an then things started to flatten out.

So here we go.  A Saskatchewan view with  the long horizon and "fluffy clouds".

This is the South Saskatchewan river with some  scrubby looking trees and some "fluffy" clouds.

 A minor road that we took across Alberta was kindof interesting for the intensity of it's straightness.  It did not deign to touch on any inhabited towns for the 200km that we followed it, and went through one deserted ghost village called Mantorio.  You may well ask what was going on there.  

This is the road where Jenny exterminated at least four possibly six Richardsons Ground Squirrels aka Gophers.   In a kind of ritualized suicide dash the cute little rodents would throw themselves under the vengeful tires of  Jenny's chariot.  Quite affecting,  though I was worried that Jenny's futile attempts to avoid squishing them would endanger my own precious life.  (yes I know,  a very self serving interpretation of some quite tragic events}.


At last Drumheller and the sight of a faithfully reproduced Albertosaurus that dominates the downtown.  A lesson to us all.  My name is Ozymandias.....