May 30^th, 2004:

Overcast  and calm this morning, but +12° at 6:30. There was 4/10ths of an inch in our gauge this morning - ideal, because Doreen put out her bedding plants Friday evening. This should be just what they need!

On the Road Again! We went to Tisdale Tuesday for the Parkland Photography Club meeting. We took the motorhome to get a bit of work done on it, and stayed overnight at Tisdale’s very nice campground.

Wednesday we went to Prince Albert for a doctor appointment and to visit my sister, Cathy. From there, we drove to the Crooked Trees, north of Speers. To minimize the gravel we would have to drive over, we went to the Alticane Road, about three miles east of Speers, then ten miles north, two west, another two north and about a quarter mile west. The copse of crooked poplars is right by the road, likely less than an acre, and surrounded by a nice gravel drive. Inside the copse, there are good board walks, and visitors are asked to stay on the walks and off the trees. Though the last two miles of gravel are marked as not all-weather, they have done a good job of gravelling them, and making the area accessible.

The trees are incredible! Old and young poplars are twisted in tortuous shapes, some looking like dancers, others like snakes. Some people are superstitious about the place and won’t go there under a full moon; they say cows will not go near it despite there being no fence. Fifty feet away is another copse of poplars, and they are normal. Along the road, trees growing where the ditch has been scraped out are normal; two feet away, trees growing on undisturbed soil are twisted and crooked. Nobody has come up with an answer. The “Friends of the Crooked Bush” have done an admirable job of protecting the site at the same time as making it accessible. They deserve a lot of credit!

We went to Redberry Lake Regional Park for the night, our first visit to that park. It was pretty quiet, and of course the lake level was very low. We would like to visit it again when the water is up to normal. It is mineral water, but there is a trout pond for fishermen.

Next morning, we went back up to the Crooked Bush and got some photos in sunshine (it had been cloudy the evening before).

After some business and visiting in Saskatoon, we went to Wakaw Regional Park for the night. Impressive! Either 200 or 240 sites, depending on which tourist brochure you believe, and a large number of them are on annual leases. The Regional Park is on the north side, and we could see non-stop cottage development all along the south shore. There are an awful lot of people getting their recreation at that lake!

Ever since we left home the weather forecasters talked about cold, wet weather. It was cool for a day or two, but we got lots of sunlight, and Friday morning it was +12° when we got up. I think it reached about 24° in the afternoon.

The trees finally started leafing out this week. All it took was a couple of nice days and they just popped out. The tamaracks along Highway #23 are lovely at this stage, fresh green and lacy.

There was a different bird at our feeder yesterday - an oriole, but the colors were wrong. Doreen looked it up and our National Geographic’ Birds of North America called it a “Baltimore – Bullock’s Intergrade” which I assume is a cross between a Bullock’s and a Baltimore oriole. How colorful! We have several orioles visiting regularly plus lots of goldfinches and chipping sparrows.

We went over to Marean Lake yesterday; had a very pleasant lunch and visit with Lana, June, Derek and Hunter Woulfe at the golf course. Of course nobody was golfing since it was drizzling steadily, so they had time to visit.

Then we went to Friends & Neighbors Greenhouse where Jan was holding a tomato plant for Doreen. Pat was out fertilizing the lawn in the rain and looked mighty happy, and so did the plants! They have a fascinating fountain and fish pond in the yard, worth a trip to see.

We wound up the day by going to Wadena to attend the Official Opening of Jenny’s new store, Crawford’s Family Fashions, and to take a few pictures. It’s a good-looking store, and Jenny reports a very busy two days, and an excellent reception. Looks like a good move! After the store closed, we went to Chauncey’s Lounge & Grill, just two doors down, for a very nice supper. We also watched the Calgary/Tampa game (Go Flames!!) on their wide screen TV.