Survey Markers .....

Giant Sun Dial

Travels Of Ken & Audrey Landvater......
Stop #4 July 16-17
Travel day from Prince Albert to Lloydminister. Left this morning, driving on Highway 3 west, large area burnt out by fire, looks like a couple years old, pine trees are reappearing, still pretty small, we are traveling with Don and Kathy McKelvey. We then turned south onto Highway 40, passing by, the largest Lily in town of Parkside, driving through farmland with canola fields abundent. Canola plants grown in western Canada reach 1-2 metres tail and produce bunches of yellow, four-petal flowers. A canola field in full bloom looks like a huge, yellow carpet. Insects and wind fertilize canola by moving pollen from flower to flower. As plants ripen, the yellow petals drop off and green pods about 5 centimetres long take their place. The pods are about one-fifth the size of pea pods and contain canola seeds. When canola plants ripen further, the pods turn brown and the seeds inside turn from green to a range of yellows and dark browns. Canola growers harvest the ripened plants for those tiny seeds, which contain about 40% canola oil. Each pod contains about 20 seeds. The seeds are crushed to extract the oil. Canola oil is used in a range of food products from salad oil and cookies and cake mixes. Canola meal, the part that's left after removing the oil, is high in protein and used in animal feed. We had stopped at Information Center in North Battleford, took picture of Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a Buffalo made from barbed wire. We continued on Highway 40 to Cut Knife, in 1885 the town was the site of several First Nations uprisings that were inspired by the Metis rebellion. The Battle of Cut Knife Hill, between the Cree tribe led by Chief Poundmaker and the North West Mounted Police under Col. W.D. Otter, ended in the retreat of the Mounties to Battleford. Poundmaker, who stopped his warriors from pursuing and ambushing Otter's troops, later surrendered to the authorities to help restore peace between the First Nations and settlers. In Cut Knife's horizon is the massive tomahawk in Tomahawk Park. The handle is a pipe 57ft. long and weighs 8,660 lbs. Arrived at Lloydminister shortly after 2 pm., no sooner got unhooked and a storm with pea size hail came through the area, the rest of the evening was damp and drizzly. This morning, we went downtown and saw the North America's largest working sundial, as far as I could tell it was accurate. Proceeded to Highway 17, which is the line between Saskatchewan and Alberta, they have the world's largest survey stakes as border markers, so you can stand in both provinces at one time. Went to Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Center, the center features a museum with regularly changing exhibits, the Imhoff Art Gallery, a science center, a wildlife exhibit, as well as studio space where you can take art classes. Berthold Von Imhoff, had lived in Reading for a while and is known for his painting in churches. This evening, we had our first cook-out and drivings meeting.