May 16, Day 7, Across the Canadian Plains

randolf50
May 16
4 min read

Updated: May 18

An map view of our journey to date. We will stop in Edmonton briefly about midnight tonight, but we are not likely to be awake to document it (smile).

Map overview of our trip thus far. We'll be in Edmonton by midnight tonight, but not likely to be awake to see it.

Most of the experiences of riding “The Canadian” consist of viewing the scenery in between reading books, eating meals, and meeting fellow travelers. We share tables with other travelers, due to the limited space in the dining car and the observation car. However, this sharing invites you to meet other train riders whose stories are interesting, but also familiar in the human connections you make.

Today’s blog entry has a lot of photos, but the stories are more about the people we’ve met rather than the scenery itself. So far, we have met Ian and Farah from the U.K., Dace and Michelle from Australia, and Neal from Winnipeg (by way of Trinidad), and John from Quebec. Here are photos and brief anecdotes about them.

Farah (left) and Ian (right) from the U.K.

Ian and Farah live in a small town about 20 minutes west of London. Ian is retired; a disability retirement brought on by a head trauma incurred when they were touring Kruger National Park in South Africa. Farah is an accountant who works for Bally’s. She and Patrise briefly discussed their respective accounting backgrounds. The two of them love opera, Ian also likes classical music, while Farah loves Broadway musicals. They have been married for 36 years. They love to travel and have been to Japan three times. Ian loves doing the cooking and loves to cook. He and Patrise discussed that common interest.

Michelle (left) and Dace (right) from Melbourne, Australia

We met Michelle and Dace in the observation car, where we sat and watched the country scenery, before heading to lunch. They are from Australia, and they are on a 7-week vacation through Canada. Their first time visiting Canada, but they’ve been to various parts of the U.S. over three separate trips over the years. It was clear seeing Dace, that his appearance had been altered by something. It so happens, he has suffered from cancer twice: first colon cancer, then throat and jaw cancer. He has lost over 100 pounds and has had surgery to reconstruct his jaw. Still, the two of them have a wicked sense of humor and a determination to live their lives to the fullest, as long as his health will permit. Before his medical retirement, he worked as a plumber and HVAC technician. She works as a logistics director for an international beauty products supply company.

John (left) is from Quebec; Neal (right) is from Winnipeg, by way of Trinidad and Tobago.

We met Neal and John at lunch time. Although seated together with us, they were not traveling companions. Neal works from a company that does horizontal drilling. He lives in Winnipeg, but is headed to Edmonton to meet up with his crew for their next job assignment. Neal in a native of Trinidad and Tobago, but migrated to Canada for job opportunities. John builds log cabin homes, which he has had a passion, for since he learned as a teenager growing up in British Columbia. He moved to Quebec to be closer to his mother as she has aged. Currently, he has been back to B.C., to continue a specialty project he has been doing for a homeowner there. Now he is headed home briefly.

As to the scenery part of the travel. The day started out overcast and chilly, in the mid-high 40’s, but by early afternoon, it became sunny and warmer, in the mid-high 50’s. The scenery changed from more rolling hills to flat prairies the further west we gone. Most of it has been largely rural. We have seen small settlement; we stopped briefly at basically a small rail station in the tiny settlement of Melville, Saskatchewan. After lunch we stopped for about 30 minutes in the city of Saskatoon, the most populous city in Saskatchewan. The name “Saskatoon” comes from a Cree word that translates to “the fruit of the tree with many branches[1]” namely the saskatoon berry bush. The name Saskatchewan is from the river of the same name and the original Cree word means “swiftly flowing river.” Frequently along the way, we have to slow down or stop altogether to let freight trains go by, and there are a lot of them. So some of these photos are of some of those train cars passing us by.

Here are many photos from scenery of today’s journey across the hills of Manitoba and the plains of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.