by SHANNON LEE: Happy Accidental Detours on the Highway

DAY 5 on the Road to Nova Scotia

Saskatoon, SK to Winnipeg MB (should have been 786.4 km)
PLUS a small accidental but happy detour: 851.8 km

2932.8 km in total from Yellowknife

We left Saskatoon pretty late (about noon) because the kids were all playing together so nicely at Chris and Shawna's, but we knew that we still had several thousand kilometres ahead of us. We punched our destination in the GPS and took off.

About 45 minutes into our drive, I got a text from my friend Michelle. We worked together at the school and Yellowknife and she JUST moved to Saskatchewan (less than a month ago), and I miss her. "How's the drive?"

I reply that we just left Saskatoon and are heading to Winnipeg, and she says, "We just passed you then! Are you on the wrong road? You are headed to Regina." Holy... what???

So, sure enough, the GPS wanted to send us on the double highway to Regina, then Winnipeg, which we could have done, but I JUST PASSED MICHELLE? We turned around and had a mini reunion at an Esso just south of Saskatoon.

The girls were happy to see Miss Michelle and her family, and their new dog Hiro! Isn't he so handsome? I want to hug him and love him and squeeze him and call him George. Which, apparently, Kevin does!

So, we definitely added an hour onto our day, but if we hadn't left Saskatoon late, and the GPS hadn't sent us towards Regina, and if Michelle hadn't just stopped playing a game with her son and looked up to see our truck FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOUBLE HIGHWAY and texted us, we wouldn't have seen each other. Talk about meant to be.

We stopped at the Quill Lakes in Saskatchewan to stretch our legs, and the girls and I wondered down to see if we could find any birds in their habitat.

I was thought we were looking at whooping cranes, which would have been an absolutely amazing treat considering they are endangered, but I texted these pictures to my bird lady friend, Rose, who Miss G adores because she's a devoted bird watcher, and she told me that they are not whooping cranes.

Neither is this guy, but isn't he handsome?

These are Great Egrets, which were still totally amazing to see, and now the girls have them marked as seen in their trusty Bird Books (which go absolutely everywhere with us!).

Miss A skipping back to the truck from the bird habitat.

We noticed this beautiful old church on the prairies, and stopped there to stretch our legs.

The black birds sit on top of the cross weather vanes. Not as big as the ravens in Yellowknife!

Lots and lots of fields, crops, cows and horses, and some sheep.

And a saloon!!

We left Saskatchewan behind...

Sunsets are still strange to the girls in the summer, since they are used to the Midnight Sun.

Into Manitoba!

The sun sets behind us since we are driving east.

I stopped to take these pictures alongside a railroad track, originally, but I got very, very wet trying to climb through the ditch, so I gave up and took a picture on the empty road instead.

What I didn't manage to get a good picture of was the awesome lightning show we got ahead of us driving into Winnipeg! It kept us away, which was good, since it was after midnight when we arrived (the girls slept in the back).