Know how everyone always says the drive across the Prairies sucks? Well they are lying. I really liked this aspect of my drive. It’s true the roads do straighten out, you are looking at a whole lotta fields, and it can be rather flat – but there are lots of beautiful things and scenes along the way. I saw so many things that I thought about pulling over to capture, but when you are driving 7 hours a day – you just keep pushing on. Maybe that is one reason why it’s good to drive with a buddy: you can agree together to pull over and look at cool stuff. When it’s just me, I tend to push harder and try not to stop. Ever. Except for gas. I made up a lot of time on the road between Thunder Bay and Calgary as I didn’t stop much.
I sort of forgot to take photos in Manitoba. Sorry Manitoba. Not fair of me at all!
This is what most of my drive looked like through Manitoba & Saskatchewan:
When you get bored on long drives you take self pics and send them to your friends that you wish were jobless and could talk (I am a horrible person – at times I was hating on all my friends for having jobs and not being available to chat for hours with me while I drove).
I bunked down the night in Swift Current at a crappy RV campground as there wasn’t much else going on in SC… I set up camp beside this cool little river.
Passed the time planning my trip with an old school map (no internet service in Swift Current!), snacking on almonds and drinking beer. It was pretty sweet.
My view from the truck.
Alongside of the highway were cool, super long trains – I loved how they looked beside the highway.
Now that I have made it out to Calgary, I have promised myself that I will make more stops on the way back. I was just so excited to get going and to see my friends that I powered through the drive. Driving alone has been a great experience for me – a little lonely at times but I love it. It doesn’t feel like stressful, tedious city commuting. The long hours pass quickly with music and beautiful scenery.
One of my favourite sights along this part of the trip was seeing mother cows bringing their calves in from the fields and through water. Large, large herd. So cool. Another cool part was about 45 mins from Swift Current – there are lakes that surround the highway – water all around you on either side. I am definitely stopping there on my way back to Ontario in August.
So far so good for the female gypsy travelling solo, for those wondering. No weirdos, no car problems (yes!), and nothing out of the ordinary. 
