By now you know the story. Pack up camp, coffee, ball play. Alberta flew by. Medicine Hat was located near the border of Saskatchewan. It was Sunday and we still needed to get the tire repaired or we would be spending loonies galore at gas stations filling it up.
We went to the Western edge of town and found the tire repair center that Jesse had mentioned the night before. It was early and the Sunday of a long Civic weekend. It was closed. We figured we would forge ahead and find a place along our route. We filled up the tire with air and headed Eastward.
We got into Saskatchewan in a short amount of time and stopped at the information area not a moment too soon. "Low Tire Pressure" beeped on the dash again. The tire was turning from a slow leak to a not so low leak.
Tom took care of the dogs as I went into the office to pick up a map and check out there wares. They had a nice array of Saskatchewan schlock but one clothing line stood out:
I regret not buying a cap but I was more concerned about that tire. I checked with the aide at the counter about getting a tire fixed on this long weekend. She quickly gave a call to a person in the next town over. He agreed to meet us in 15 minutes at his shop about 10 K away in Maple Creek. Perfect.
We arrived quickly, so we drove around town and checked out Maple Creek. We drove down one road and took a left. Drove down that road and took another left. One last left and we had gone through town. We headed back to Southwest Tire and waited for our tire repair person.
He arrived and opened the garage door. Tom took the dogs to play ball in the field next to the building. I drove the car in and the repairman hoisted the car up. The tire was off in a flash. A few minutes later he handed me a broken screw which he found in the tire.
It was repairable and he started to work on it. I went outside to find two spent dogs. It was already getting hot and they were hanging in the shade.
The oddest thing happened while I was outside. Somewhere, someone was watching the dogs play ball. In the distance and what seemed from all over, a voice was heard, "I like yer dogs." Tom and I looked around but never found where that voice came from. I figured that it must have been the man inside, but I asked him and, through a really strong accent, he said no.
The tire was fixed and paid for (no receipt needed) with a $20 bill. Yeehaw! On the road again!
All was great. We headed West again and traveled for about an hour when, "Low Tire Pressure" came on again. Ughh! Fill with air. What to do now?
Regina (sounds like vagina) was a few hours away. There would have to be someplace open. We found a Canadian Tire and proceeded to get the tire fixed again. Estimate, $30.
Canadian Tire is like a cross between Home Depot, Sears and Costco. It was going to take over an hour or two so Tom took the dogs to the front of the store along the median of the main road. He tied them to the tree and set up a small seating area. There were lots of sticks which entertained the dogs while I paced the store killing time.
It only took an hour and the tire was fixed. It seemed that there was more screw in the tire which Southwest Tire did not see. Hopefully, this time the repair would stick. We headed out of Regina towards Manitoba. Thankfully, the map of Saskatchewan listed the Reserves across the Province. There was a tribe located within an empty tank of petro. We had to travel off of the TransCanada and down a very rugged road. At the end of the road was a bridge that took us over a grand river. Along the banks and on the side of the road was a brilliant yellow flower. I tried to capture the brilliance.
We got to the gas station, filled up and headed towards Manitoba. We were still leery of the tire and as always, the battery. We arrived in Brandon about 8 PM and found a nice campground off the highway.
We set up camp at Meadowlark Campground. It was pretty full due to the long weekend, but there was room for the two dudes and two dogs. They had clean showers and it was a great opportunity to clean up. They also had wifi and power, both which I utilized.
We were a bit tired form the long day, so we decided to splurge and eat out. There were a few local restaurants and a few chains. I headed towards Clancy's in the downtown area. To get there, we had to pass through major detours. It seems that the flooding we heard of in South Dakota also affected the rivers in Manitoba. The flooding really affected the town of Brandon.
We got Clancy's and found it to be closed. They did have wifi at the tavern, so I logged on and found out where the other places were. I headed to the local steak house which was closed too. We ended up at Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar. I've been to a few while traveling with work or while visiting my parents. I never particular found their food tasty. Too much sodium and too little food. I did notice that as a "neighborhood" restaurant, they wanted us to like them on facebook. Hard to do without wifi.
The meal was consistent with my previous meals. It filled the hole, though.
We went back to the campground and slept. Full and clean. The dogs were used to the routine by now and simply climbed in the tent and took to sleep.
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