Saskatoon to Thompson

So my schedule got thrown off again - this time due to a snowstorm that hit Saskatchewan and closed the roads to Manitoba. I took a quick side trip to North Battleford and was lucky to get back to Saskatoon cause of the storm. So I spent an extra day on my aunt and uncle's farm, trying to walk through snowdrifts that came up to my thighs. Reminds me of the snow they used to get when I was a kid. I remember winters when the tractor would be almost completely covered.

So this morning I was off to Manitoba. This is the first time I've deviated from the Greyhound routes - I wanted to head up through Swan River and The Pas so I ended up on the provincial bus system. It was worth it, got to see some different places. Though staring out at the flat prairie fly past, you lose track of where you are, and how far you've come. And I was so itching to see some kind of variation in the horizon, I coulda swore there were distant hills to the east and north as we crossed the Manitoba border. But it mighta just been my eyes.

Though I must admit I love being able to walk out into a field and see nothing but sky, it's a very humbling experience.

Travelling up to northern Manitoba makes me once again rethink the size of Canada. Maybe it's just me, but I tend to not think about the landscape past the horizon. Out of sight - out of mind. But now I'm continuously travelling through the landscape beyond, and hours go by and the sun rises and sets, and the road isn't ending, and I really have no idea where I am or where I'm going - cause the map is crammed too far into my carry-on bag for me to bother - and this is when I realize just how huge Canada is.

It is a little unnerving, arriving at 1:30 in the morning in a place I know nothing about, staying with people I've never met before. Though by the time I get there, I'll be too tired to worry.