Days 61, 62 63 - Banff, Alberta to Minot, North Dakota

Day 61
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Banff to Medicine Hat, Alberta

After driving one hour out of Banff, the Canadian Rockies disappeared. In its place we saw rolling fields dotted with bales of hay. After slow going through the center of Calgary, we were in cattle country. The longer we drove the dryer fields and the flatter the terrain until all we saw were the parched grasses of the prairie, interrupted by an occasional tree or oil well.

As we approached Medicine Hat, our destination for the night, I expected a treeless campsite in a sleepy little town. I was wrong on both accounts. Medicine Hat is big enough to have a Costco and our campground was a literal oasis with an irrigation system that provided water for the green grass and tall shade trees.

Medicine Hat’s claim to fame is that it is home to the largest teepee in the world!

Day 62
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Medicine Hat to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
The monotony of the straight highway and the endless brown fields made it hard to stay awake, whether driving or riding. The only trees or shrubs we saw were either clustered around the occasional houses or encircling a watering hole.

Moose Jaw is Canada’s main military flight training center. The area surrounding Moose Jaw has a high number of cloudless days, making it a good site for training pilots. The day we arrived, it was bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky.

This was our last full day in Canada, so we ordered pizza delivery for dinner and used the last of our Canadian money.
Day 63
Monday, August 21, 2017
Moose Jaw to Minot, North Dakota
The scenery was more of the same – cattle and oil wells, but a little greener than yesterday. We had no wait or problems crossing the border back into the US.
We reached Rough Rider Campground in Minot (pronounced MY-not), North Dakota about 3 pm. We had stayed in the same RV park on our way north.

Minot’s is known as the “Magic City”. In 1886, the Great Northern Railway had to stop laying tracks when winter set in. Workers waiting for the thaw to allow completion of a major trestle set up a tent city and it grew like “magic.” That tent city was the start of Minot. The local high school teams are appropriately called the “magicians.”
By now, the refrigerator was empty and the laundry bag was full, so we spent the rest of the day catching up on chores.