Mondays, Amirite?

 Monday, 2 August 2021 was a holiday here in the Province of Saskatchewan. We had a bit of a sleep in. I didn't have the greatest sleep, so it was late morning by the time I dragged my ass out of bed and got out for a ride... 

I ended up doing a 42Km ride Southwest of town. 

There are a LOT of forest fires in Saskatchewan right now - indeed all across Western Canada. Wind from the north has been bringing it all the way down to us - hundreds of kilometres away! 

Cows. 

Black-Eyed Susans along the side of the road. 

What a terrible name for a flower... 

Little "Summer Road" section of Township Road 360. 

Another "Summer Road" section of Range Road 3065. Some of this section would be pure mud - or even underwater if there were a lot of rain. Also further up the road there is a very loose section of sand and silt. Not so bad that I've ever had to walk it, or anything. But it's a bit squirrely riding through at times. Still, I like these summer roads. the feel a bit more "off the beaten path" and there is NEVER any traffic on them. 

More Cow. 

The Salsa - laid down by the side of the road so I could climb up and get a better shot of the cows. 

Lots of little wild roses all along the edges of the roads. 

Long roads. Distant haze. 

Hawk, of some sort...

MORE cow. 

STILL more cow. 

it's the beginning of August and some fields are golden and dried out looking like they are ready for harvesting. 

Others, just across the road are looking a little green - though also very dry. There has NOT been a lot of rain this summer! 

SON OF STILL MORE COW! 

Heading into Cedar Villa Estates - I was struck by the contrast of the fields on either side of the river. 

Nearing the Chappell Marsh Conservation Area. The water level of the marsh north the road is quite low - but there is still water there. 

The wetland in the Chappell Marsh Conservation Area was completely dried up!? No birds in sight! 

Power Lines. Golden Fields. Haze. 

This past week, progress has been made on the street in front of our house. The giant block-long trench has finally been filled in - but most of the street is still blocked off by fencing... 

So we still have to go out the back with our Kayaks. 

Because 42Km of riding wasn't ENOUGH activity for one day of vacation, Amanda and I went out for a paddle in the mid-late afternoon 

It was likewise very smokey and muted out on the river. 

There was hardly any wind at all and the river was so smooth! 

We didn't see a single motor-powered vessel the entire trip, which was nice for a change! 

Amanda approaching pelican who was chilling on a sandbar in the middle of the river. 

Pelican again. 

There were just swarms of stand-up paddle-boarders. 

Every woman we saw on one was wearing a bikini - made me wonder if there was a more stringent dress code for operating them than an Olympic event? Also about a half-dozen of the boards we saw had a dog on them. Every single one of those was also operated by a woman - even when they were out paddling with a male partner - which was about four of them. 

Made it to the south bridge this time. (last time we stopped just short of the bridges). 

Cool reflections

Distant haze. 

After a short stop on a sandbar in the middle of the river for a drink we started back downtown. 

Amanda, adding a bit of colour to an otherwise muted grey/brown landscape.

And the pelican again! 

Selfie Fail #1

Selfie Fail #2 

Probably for the best. Who wants to see a picture of ME!? 

So we can just float back, right? 

Lots of geese by the water treatment plant. 

heading back home, dodging road construction vehicles and piles of dirt and gravel. 

And into the alley behind our house. 

In all we paddled just shy of 6Km. 

Not the worst of Mondays. I was pretty tired by the end of it. 

Paddling Again

 Not cycling, but HUMAN-POWERED! 

AT the end of June, I got it in my head to get out paddling again and ordered myself a WIKE Kayak Cart and actually went out for a paddle! I had such fun, that Amanda decided we should order a second cart! It arrived within a week... and then it took us until the end of the month to actually get out paddling! 

We did have a great day though and have a number of other dates written on the calendar throughout August. Amanda was so excited, she's actually talking about doing an overnight trip later in August or September!? We shall see... 

Heading out through the alley. We rarely ever access the alley - almost always go out the front - but right now the front is almost inaccessible due to fences they've put up around the street for road work... 

Through the park. 

On the water. 

We headed upstream towards the South Bridge - much like my last excursion. 

Right off we were passed by The Prairie Lily - a river boat that does tours up and down the river - and creating big wakes.... 

Shortly after that there was a steady stream of jet skis - at least four groups of 3-4 vehicles. 

sometimes they sort of slow down when passing... 

But still create substantial wakes. 

Not as huge of a pain in the ass for us as I imagine it was for the dozens of SUP boarders and rowers and racing canoes and kayaks that were all out on the river training!

The water is so low and there are so many large sandbars in the middle of the river that there are relatively narrow passages through some sections - narrow enough that not only do you get hit by the wake of motor powered boats - but you also get his by the wakes rebouding off the shores and sandbars that go back and forth for a bit. 

If it had kept up, I probably would have called it a day and headed back... but then after about 10 minutes, we didn't see any more jet skis for the rest of the trip!? 

Heron on the shore in the shade. 

Heron flying away past another Kayaker. 

So many Stand-Up Paddle-Boards out on the river - like dozens of them! Though not everyone was standing up on them - lots of kneeling and sitting paddlers too. 

Like most olympic competitions, it seemed like the required uniforms for any women on a Stand Up Paddle Board was a bikini? Seriously - EVERY SINGLE ONE. 

Getting closer to the South Bridges. 

We stopped on a sandbar just short of them. Amanda was very, VERY tired. 

But not too tired to demonstrate some yoga stretches... or... something like that...? 

Heading home - so many gulls! 

Heading out we had a bit of a wind at our back - helping to push us up stream.  By the time we were heading back the wind had almost entirely died down. We could have floated all the way home. 

Downtown looking a long way off. 

Ducks and baby duck. 

More Ducks.

Downtown getting a bit closer. 

Back at the public dock. 

And hauling the Kayaks back home. 

Amanda's arms were so tired, I had to haul the two of them up the hill 

But from the top of the hill she hauled it the rest of the way home. 

Dodging roadwork and back into the alley behind our house.