Located here 49.334667, -109.705254

If you look off in the distance you cannot see the ranches listed on this sign.

Parkland County, Alberta August 30, 2021

 

Sometimes you cannot post

Sunday, yesterday, morning I woke up early with a headache. Some days you wake up and everything hurts which I discovered after I got up. This ended up lasting all day Sunday. Part of getting older I guess. Since I did not feel like doing much I thought I would update the blog and do some posts. Turns out the internet and cable was out in my area and did not get restored until late afternoon. It also turns out that there is not much in the post cupboard to do a post.

This might call for a road trip this weekend.

The Red Church

Located in very rural Saskatchewan.

Visited last month. When I was here I was by a carload of women that pulled up if I was a Stadnyk (the name on the bottom of the sign). I replied I was not, my only connection to the church was that I like to see churches in the middle of nowhere. Apparently at one time there were a lot of people in the area with the last name Stadnyk. They were Stadnyk's and here to revisit some family history.

They arrived as I was leaving. There was no entry to the church. The church is not brick, it is a kind of tarpaper meant to look like brick from a distance.

Bell tower.

Cypress Hills, Alberta

Eagle Butte Road.

No Hoss or Little Joe

Located here:

49.417984, -109.764875

This is where you can easily imagine encountering someone on horseback.

Not far from Govenlock, Saskatchewan

Is the ghost town of Vidora. Across the road from this is a house with a post office sign that looks like someone lives there and I have read that Vidora currently has a population of one. This is what largely remains of the town itself that once had a population of two hundred. There is one building and the town vault.

Ghost town Saskatchewan

Govenlock, Saskatchewan August 22, 2021.

This is the highway that runs by it. From here it is about twenty minutes to the US border. At one time Govenlock had a train station, a few grain elevators, two general stores, a service station selling Fords, a hotel, and various other business. It was thriving during prohibition. Four warehouses were filled with alcohol to supply bootleggers from the States. Over time the town dwindled down to nothing.

All that is left is the hall and some markers note the place.

There are post office boxes. If you look in every direction you do not see much civilization so someone has to do a bit of travel to get their mail. 

The horizontal line is the old rail line.

Some foundations behind the fence.

Just barely up the road is where an old school once stood. Nothing but empty prairie around.

Cypress Hills, Alberta

 

Robsart, Saskatchewan

Robsart is a ghost town and worth seeing. I posted it from prior visits. This is the old hospital building posted below.

When I was there I ran across some other people taking a road trip. One of them had parents that lived in Robsart many years ago and she was showing some of her family some family history.

I found out someone owns three buildings in Robsart with the dream of setting up a yoga retreat. Robsart is in the middle of nowhere so whoever it is I wish them luck. I imagine they got the real estate cheap.

Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan

I always see antelope in southern Saskatchewan. One was in a field and raced me while I was driving on a gravel road. It was doing about forty-five kilometres an hour and then changed direction and disappeared from sight.

Consul, Saskatchewan August 22, 2021

Saturday in Medicine Hat, Alberta it poured rain. This was fine with me as the next day it was supposed to be sunny and that was the day I had planned to explore the countryside. It worked out beautifully. Sunday was warm, clear, and perfect. Consul is one of those middle-of-nowhere places but sometimes you see interesting stuff off the beaten track. I saw this and could not pass it up.

I am sure someone can identify the car. I made sure to get a close-up of the restored pumps.

The door post

You were expecting bales?

Trying something different.

Abandoned Saskatchewan building.

St. Elias Ukrainian Orthodox Church 1907

Also known as Palamaryk Church, northeast of Rhein, Saskatchewan.

This had been on my must visit list for a few years because it is so unique. I saw it posted on the internet years ago with no information other than it was somewhere in the vicinity of Rhein. It took some sleuthing to track down the location. It was twilight when I got here and I was pleased that I managed see it in person. The church lies on the east side of a north/south gravel road. The first thing you see is the bell tower.

I have never seen a dome like this one.

I managed a few quick shots of the inside. I am sure it is home to birds and likely a few bats because I am sure a bat flew right by me. It did not bother me, it did make it interesting trying to get a photo. This is one of my favourite abandoned buildings.

Holy Ghost Orthodox Church, Insinger, Saskatchewan

Insinger is a ghost town right beside a major highway. I found the church interesting. It has been abandoned for years and is boarded up.

Road tripping

Had plans for the weekend, had to change them. It is raining where I originally wanted to go and will all weekend. It was raining heavily where I am now. Today should be clear. I am not complaining about the rain, we do need it. I could have stayed home however I felt the need to get out.

The post cupboard is a little bare. Maybe I can fill it. 

Avian condo complex

 

Kuroki, Saskatchewan elevator

The Stone Church

Stone Presbyterian Church built 1982 near Abernathy, Saskatchewan on a very hot August 1, 2021. Lots of great old stone buildings in this area.

Bad crack in the structure.

 

Gelowitz School 1907 - 1964

Kind of northwest of Grayson, Saskatchewan.

Long abandoned one room school. The inside is a mess. Good to see it still standing.