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“Pic of the Week”, January 17, 2020: Moose Jaw’s, “Mac the Moose”
Situated just off the TransCanada Highway, besides the city’s Visitor Information Center, is a massive statue of a moose know as Mac. Mac the Moose was built in 1984, stands 32 feet (9.8 m) tall, and for a long time was the largest moose on Earth. Mac has become somewhat of a roadside landmark for those who enjoy visiting such sites (I admit to this guilty travel pleasure).
Moose Jaw is very proud of Mac. Then, horrors of horrors, a larger moose was constructed in Stor-Elvdal, Norway. That moose — known as Storelgen — was completed in 2015 and is a polished stainless steel structure that is 30 centimeters (about a foot) taller than Mac.
The good news is that Moose …
Jan 16, 2020
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“Pic of the Week”, September 6, 2019: Grenfell, Saskatchewan
I spotted this interesting Tourist Information building while driving across the prairies on the TransCanada Highway. Grenfell is a small town in Saskatchewan that cleverly made its TI look like a prairie grain elevator. As we’ve previously pointed out, the real counterparts of this structure are disappearing prairie icons. I enjoyed the row of smaller grain elevators behind the TI, which you can see better in the photos below.
As I’d pulled off the highway, I though I’d drive around the town to see what’s there. Nothing much, really. A nice historic mural on one of the buildings. A small museum featuring pioneer artifacts (open only during summer months). And it being the prairies, no town would be complete without a …
Sep 5, 2019
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“Pic of the Week”, August 2, 2019: Saskatchewan Sunset
When I was driving across Saskatchewan last summer, I saw darkening clouds on the distant horizon which got progressively closer with each passing mile. It was dusk, and I thought the light of the setting sun quite lovely against the storm clouds. I stopped several times and snapped some photos along the drive.
Fortunately it stayed dry into the early night, until I’d checked into my hotel. After that, the heavens opened for quite a downpour.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
Aug 1, 2019
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.All Trips / Central Canada / North America / Saskatchewan
Murals of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
The Canadian province of Saskatchewan and its city of Moose Jaw are hardly on most tourist maps (though I recall as a kid I thought it very cool that a city was named after an animal’s mandible). As with many things in life, when you scratch the surface you’ll find something interesting underneath.
So it was this past summer when I was driving between Calgary and Winnipeg. Having passed through Moose Jaw many times through the years, without stopping for more than gas, I though I’d head into the city and look around for a few hours. It was an enjoyable break from the day’s driving.
Capone’s Hideaway, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
The city has an interesting array of large outdoor murals depicting its history and development …
.All Trips / Car Culture / North America / Saskatchewan
Great Cars Along the Highway: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
One of the more unusual vehicles I’ve seen in years was this Mazda SUV, spotted in the parking lot of a hotel I was staying at in Saskatchewan, while traveling between Winnipeg and Calgary this summer.
The vehicle itself is a generic SUV, but the paint job captivated me. The vehicle belonged to an Army Medic and pays tribute to some of those in the Canadian military who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. A rather nice touch and moving tribute to these fallen comrades, and something unusual for Canada.
I think the photographs are self-explanatory.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
Tagged Afghanistan, Canadian, military, Moose Jaw, SUV
“Pic of the Week”, August 24, 2018: A Disappearing Prairie Icon
Grain elevators, prairie sentinels, prairie cathedrals — all synonyms for the large structures that have dotted the Canadian prairies for more than a century. I recall when traveling across the plains as a boy, you could spot these wooden towers at great distances — often 20 or more miles away — providing welcome relief to the otherwise flat landscape. Each elevator was a storage facility that marked the location of a prairie town; the larger and more plentiful elevators were in a given location, the larger and more prosperous the town.
The business of the prairies is agriculture and mechanisms needed to be developed to get the bountiful grain crops to world markets. After some experimentation with bagging the grain, it …
Aug 23, 2018
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“Pic of the Week”, September 1, 2017: Canola field, Saskatchewan
I had a pleasant drive across the Canadian prairies this summer with my father. While the landscape is flat and lacks relief, it was a great time to do the trip because the canola and flax were blooming, adding a lot of color to the landscape. And the first cutting of hay was being bailed, putting a fresh pleasant scent in the wind.
Canola has become a popular crop in Canada these past few decades and canola fields are everywhere. The plants are about a meter high and produce beautiful small yellow flowers that ripen into bean-like pods. Black seeds from the pods are harvested and crushed to create canola oil and meal. Canola seeds contain about 45 percent oil …
Aug 31, 2017
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