July 8

Got right into the shop in Winnipeg to get my oil and filter done.  Showed up a bit before they opened and they took me before starting work on other bikes.  Let's give it up for the fine folks at Wildwood Motor Sports!  Yay!  Yay!  Huzzah!  (Sounds of whistling, clapping and foot stomping.  The crowd is delirious.)

Left Winnipeg not knowing how far I'd go because, though I fell asleep at 8:30 last night, I woke up at 2:30 and never got back to slumberland.  Thought I'd go at least as far as Brandon, decided to push on to Regina.  Regina turns out to be a massive construction project, at least east of the city.  Hotels and shops going up, apartments, too, I think.  Anyway, I pushed on even more.  I am spending the night in Moose Jaw.  Surprisingly, there is no giant statue of a moose jaw.  Did a bit over 400 miles today.  I am pretty close to the 7000 mile point.  Should hit it tomorrow.

Driving across Manitoba and part of Saskatchewan gives new meaning to the word "flat."  I do not believe there was as much as 20 feet between the highest and lowest points I saw until I was near Regina.  The flat world was not oppressive, though, because the fields were green almost to brightness and the fields that were not green were yellow.  Hard to tell whether yellow or green predominated.  The yellow is, of course, rapeseed.

Weirdness:  Saw a sign off the road in Manitoba that read "Rural Crime Watch."  The sign was a good deal closer to a field of rapeseed than to the road and there was nothing in sight except fields.  I believe people will be watching for quite awhile before they see any rural crime in the vicinity.  Except there won't be any people either watching for crime or committing it because there aren't any people.

Stopped for lunch at a Subway.  The classic Italian does not come with provolone.  There is no provolone on offer.  You can have your classic Italian sandwich with white cheddar.  I begin to despair of the the Canadian palate.  Still, it is, as Mr. Twain remarked, difference of opinion as makes a horse race.  On the other hand, an honest difference of opinion is not inconsistent with despair.

There was Saskatchewan weirdness, too.  Driving along the Trans-Canada, which is not a limited access road with on and off ramps, I repeatedly saw signs announcing "Important Intersection."  So I guess all the other intersections feel like chopped liver?  I will say that no "Important Intersection" looked that important to me.

Saw license plates for Iowa, Arizona, Utah, Tennessee and a few others today.  No South Dakota.  Did all the South Dakotans move to North Dakota to get jobs fracking?  Did they all just die of boredom?  Where are these people?

A nice thing about Saskatchewan is the speed limit.  Yes!  It went up again.  110 kph, which I judge to be about 68 mph.  We are getting reasonable.

I don't know whether to push on to Calgary tomorrow or do an easy day and stop in Medicine Hat.  I will probably stop so I can say I stayed in a town called Medicine Hat.