Since Canada also celebrates Labor Day – this year on
September 7th, we decided that we had better find a campground where
we could stay put and not have to drive on the holiday weekend. We picked Maple Creek, as there seemed to be
plenty of things to do and also because we couldn’t find a place in Moose
Jaw. A lot of the campgrounds are full
with oil workers and road construction crews that take up a lot of the camping
spaces that are normally open for tourists.
It’s great for the campground owners to have a full campground, but not
so great for those of us passing through.
The campground we ended up in was very nice, but not what we expected in
the middle of the plains in Canada. They
had a tropical theme complete with palm trees, tropical colors, parrots,
etc. Wish I had taken pictures, but I
didn’t – darn.
Maple Creek is a charming little town with lots of small
shops that are trying to make it. We
were in one shop visiting with the shop keeper and she told us her husband was
the town mayor. The community is working
very hard to make their small town a tourist destination. They have several excellent restaurants and a
Farmers Market on Friday that we just made in time to buy a few vegetables from
two darling young girls with polka dotted scarves. We later found out that there are several
colonies of Hutterite people in the area.
After inquiring about them at the library, one of the patrons told us a
bit about them. They are similar to
Amish, Quakers, and Mennonites, but also different. I found a book in the library and later
purchased it to find out more about their life style.
After the farmers market and the library (to catch up on
email) we headed to the Rockin Horse café for a late lunch and early
dinner. Our friends from Medicine Hat
had recommended it and we were glad we took them up on their suggestion. They had the best beef barley soup we have
ever tasted since my Dad passed away. It
reminded us so much of Dad’s that I asked the chef for the recipe. He sent the info with the server and I can’t
wait to get home to try it.
On Saturday we decided to visit Fort Walsh. It’s the site of the Cypress Hills Massacre
which took place in 1873. Because of
this event, the Dominion Government sent enforcement to the west sooner than
planned. The NWMP marched west in 1874
and fort was built in 1875. It is now a
National Historic Site. We had a
wonderful tour guide of the site that made that part of history come alive for
us. We only wished we could have been
there when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical took place there this
summer. We definitely are going to try
to plan a trip to seem them in the future.
Buffalo coat - looks like it would keep just about anyone warm
Quilt in museum
The next two days it rained and we were pretty much hunkered
down and glad that we had gone to the Fort on Saturday.
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