Moose Jaw, SK, Canada to Williston, ND, USA

We left Moose Jaw on a very dreary rainy morning. The visibility was poor and the prospects of taking scenic pictures and enjoying the view were slim at the moment. We headed down Hwy 2 with the hopes of seeing some of the historic parks in the southern part of the province.

We refer to these roads we have been using as secondary roads but are in fact not considered that on the map legend. I don’t think the map writer has been on these roads. I am not complaining because we are wanting to avoid major freeways so that we can better see our great country. In many cases, we need to use these roads to get from one place to another as they are highways, but for the most part do not even have a shoulder to move onto.

That being said, the road we chose today is a major highway but has very little traffic on it which makes it easy to travel. We would go miles without seeing another vehicle, and then miles and miles before seeing another. With the prairie road being fairly flat, that meant we could see down the road a ways and were then able to move off the yellow line should anyone come, we needed the space on the narrow road, our lane was barely the width of our RV.

Hills of southern Saskatchewan

South of Assiniboia, Sask. we began to see some hills. This was all we would see of the historic parks but it was a pretty scene, even with the rain and clouds.

We would pass the occasional access road to a farmhouse but that wasn’t real often. I sure wouldn’t want to be travelling these roads in an unreliable vehicle, it could take hours to get help ! Cell service is not always available, either.

Roadside flowers

All thru the prairies, I had noticed pretty flowers that follow along the road’s edges and the edges of the crops also.. I do not know flowers well but they look like Blackeyed Susans. There is also another smaller yellow flower seen all over as well, and I am sure they’re not being planted but I decided they were there to welcome visitors. Very nice.

Black clouds over farmhouse

We were now in Montana and were seeing scenery very similar to Saskatchewan, although Hwy 16 was noticeably better at the moment. The sun was trying to shine but we saw some very threatening clouds ahead. The background for this farm was a large very black cloud.

Medicine Lake Conservation Park

Medicine Lake Conservation Park was on both sides of the highway as we passed by with beautiful but dark clouds in the west. We haven’t been able to hear a local weather forcast but only hope the clouds open up for us and clear the way south.

Welcome to North Dakota

The roads of Montana were no longer good. We were now on Hwy 2 and came upon road construction that went on for miles and miles. I would guess it was about 10 miles of dirt road, parts of it very muddy from the rain and slow going pulling the 5th wheel. We were to follow the pilot car but that was impossible, he was going too quickly for the road conditions. The pilot car was only for the first couple of miles, and it was Sunday so the road crews weren’t working so we were on our own for the rest of the construction site and that was fine.

It was a great site to see the sign welcoming us to North Dakota and the construction ending here.

We’re nearing Williston, N.D., USA and will spend the nite there.

Follow us on our 2480km (1550mi) detour, into Williston and beyond.

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