Time for a link

Glen has a great post up at:

glenbowe.home.blog/2020/06/30/an-old-alberta-school/?fbclid=IwAR2RgZ3QP8PuDNAvnycjMKRPJMAQWpMP4KdlfKITHQpH4pl9fTJVNCLV2ng

Further to previous

This was also at Richlea, Saskatchewan. There were a few vintage vehicles sitting in the grass. I forgot I took this one.

Abandoned Saskatchewan

Spotted in Richlea, Saskatchewan. If this place is not a ghost town it should be. I was not sure if anyone actually lived here.

Give this a look

I really like reading Michael Truman's blog. This is one of his posts that I have gone back to read a few times.

michaeltruman.blogspot.com/2020/06/sage.html

Ghost town Saskatchewan

I drove a ridiculous distance to get to Froude, Saskatchewan (especially since I live in Leduc, Alberta and went there and back in three days with numerous stops along the way) to see this church. It was a slight disappointment when I got there. Froude is a ghost town with zero residents and I think it is now all on private land. I looked around for someone to ask to get permission to get closer however I was unable to find anyone. I took a few photos from a distance and this turned out to be the best one.

Random thoughts

After owning my 2010 Ford Ranger Sport RWD for over a year I still like it. The gas mileage could be a bit better. The suspension is slightly too stiff, you tend to bounce on some uneven roads. It is a little on the small side. Other than that I have no complaints. The prairies have experienced a fair amount of rain this year and a lot of the gravel roads have been soft with high sports. The truck is much better suited for this than my car. It has enough power to pull out and pass someone on the highway which is great since I can tend to be impatient at times. If I am going on a trip I put my luggage in a Rubbermaid container in the truck bed under the tonneau cover. It is just the right size for my underground parking spot. I am going to drive it until it dies.

Probably the last time I buy a Suzuki product

It is almost six weeks and my motorcycle is still in the shop. It has a new windshield (the last one was so marred I could not see through it), a new gas tank door (someone damaged it), a new battery, and is still awaiting a rear wheel bearing. The shop I have it at in Leduc, Alberta cannot get a rear wheel bearing. It has been there for about six weeks. Not that I am missing out on much since it likes to rain all the time so far this summer. I had this problem about three years ago when I needed the exact same part and then it took a month to get it. Next year I will be shopping for a different motorcycle that is not a Suzuki. It is not in the budget for this year.

North of Oyen, Alberta

Abandoned Saskatchewan

Spotted this north of Claybank, Saskatchewan.

Lots of these in parts of Saskatchewan

I want to make damn sure the road is dry. A few of them look dry on the surface.

Shaken not stirred

From June 19, 2020 to June 21, 2020 I made a mad dash from Leduc, Alberta to a bit east of Weyburn, Saskatchewan and back. I needed a break and I wanted to see a few things that I missed on prior trips.

Roads in Saskatchewan can be . . . interesting. I would almost venture that highways in war zones are smoother than some Saskatchewan highways. With the many bumps, heaves, potholes combined with how stiff the suspension is in my 2010 Ford Ranger Sport that if I had cream in the back of the truck it might have been churned into butter by the time I got off some roads. The gravel roads were smoother. 

North Landing School 1914 - 1959

South of Kyle, Saskatchewan.

Willows, Saskatchewan elevator

Not sure if there ever was much at Willows. There is an abandoned one room school nearby. I stopped here for the elevator.

Ranch sign

Water Well Digger

I think this is an old water well digger truck.  Heavy duty!

Found this near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

"The sun beating down turns the red paint to orange . . . "

Line from a Murray McLauchlan song. I was never a fan but the line stayed with me.

Beaver Flat General Store

This store is nowhere near Beaver Flat, Saskatchewan. I turned east from Stewart Valley, Saskatchewan late in the afternoon on June 19 only because I had not been in that area before. I was starting to get squeezed for time to make my destination so I scrapped my plans to wander about and headed due south to Waldeck to get back on a main highway. On the gravel road to Waldeck I spotted this general store in the middle of nowhere surrounded by empty prairie. 

Prairie scene

South of Provost, Alberta. 

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, Delph, Alberta

For some reason a lot of these churches have insanely long names.

Badgered in Saskatchewan

I was driving down a rural road in Saskatchewan and found I was kind of on the  wrong road to get to my destination. I found a place to turn around and as soon as I stopped on the side of the road four young badgers came out of the tall grass to investigate. You can see the fourth one where the road meets the grass. They all came right up to the truck snarling and hissing then retreated back into the grass once they were sure I was sufficiently intimidated.

The whole episode was amusing.

Seeing the sights in Saskatchewan

Spotted outside Matador, Saskatchewan

New Brigden, Alberta

One of the few remaining old railroad water towers in Alberta.

Abandoned Alberta

Old abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Or south of Big Stone, Alberta where there really is nothing either. That is about as definitive as I can get since this is on a trail off of a rural gravel road.

I will let the photos speak for themselves.

East bound and gone

I have Friday off and I am on the road.

There may be a post or two in my absence. It depends on how ambitious I am.

Have fun.

The toys get better when you get older

Spotted this yesterday. Apparently it is a Tonka Special Edition Ford F150 made by Tuscany Motor Co. sporting a supercharged 5.0 litre V8 able to put out 700hp (I looked it up when I got home). There is a limited number of these made. The guy driving was nice enough to let me get a few quick snaps. There is even TONKA in large letters on the tailgate.

Fargo

A mid-50's Fargo stepside half-ton truck.  All things considered, it's aged quite well.

I don't run across a Fargo truck very often so this was a nice find.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Old ferry crossing

Located at 50.634618, -110.194393 north of Medicine Hat, Alberta. I have no problem posting the location because you would really have to be motivated to drive to this remote spot and there is nothing here for anyone to vandalize.

The road is steeper than it looks. No idea when the ferry last ran here. I would imagine that a lot of traffic had a hard time making it up the road even in the best of conditions.

The road on the other side is overgrown. I could barely make it out. This is the South Saskatchewan River.

There is cactus in Alberta.

Spring Valley Church

This is southwest of Oyen, Alberta and has sat abandoned since the early 1960's. Years ago it used to sit about a half mile south close to Highway 570. I wanted to get a closer look at this one and got permission to go onto the property with David McKinstry who lives near Oyen, Alberta. The church will likely be torn down later this year.

An old house and church are on the same property. The house was lived in until sometime in the 1970's.

Inside looking out.