Lilies and lousy roads.

Kelly Acreage (2 stars)

This was our long anticipated drive to Otter Rapids and Stanley Mission. It did not disappoint. As we drove north we were delighted by the abundance of Tiger Lilies in the ditches. And, many had the attention of Tiger Swallowtail butterflies.

The road north of La Ronge is, dare we say, a piece of crap. The first stretch is paved but is pockmarked by tremendous pot holes. The gravel roads past that were not much better with tremendous washboard sections. Are we ever glad that we didn't pull the Schooner up this far.

Past Missinipe we hit a tremendous rain storm that we think included hail. It was a mud fest for about 15 minutes, but as Lez pointed out, it really cleaned up the windshield. Pretty soon we arrived at Otter Rapids and the Churchill River Bridge. We reflected for a bit as this is where Lez's dad's ashes were strewn.

Then it was a slight backtrack and another similarily washboarded road to Stanley Mission. That settlement is a quintessential native community. We had hoped to catch a boat ride over to the Anglican Church which is the oldest standing building in Saskatchewan but none were available. Our camera long lenses did a great job of photographing the church however.

All in all, a great day. And as it turned out a great day for Chuck the truck. This day's travel resulted in the highest fuel economy since we started our Roads Less Gravelled in 2020.

Speaking of our pets, Hobbes was stuck inside today, because we headed out to see Otter Rapids and Stanley Misssion - another 385 km north of Bob's place. About 10 hours later and 138 photos later, we arrived home, back at the Schooner safe and sound, and still in daylight. A LOT of driving for my man!

Hobbes appears to have slept most of his day, bits of food left in the dishes, so we know he ate well. We also leave lots of water for him - LOL - a dog dish size of water is always there for him. There was quite a demand for a brushing from our little "boy" when we greeted him. Yes, a brushing is a ritual and he is very expressive (vocal) about wanting one.

We finished our day sharing our photos with Bob who is very familiar with the places we saw today. He and my dad had travelled those areas by canoe since the early '70's. This northern country was dad's favourite solitude. In 2011 the Worel clan including all our children and mom and Lee travelled to the bridge over the river that dad canoed on many an occasion. His ashes were strewn into the Otter Rapids, where they joined ashes of other Historic Trails Canoe Club members over the years.

In spite of a day of lots of cloud and a heavy downpour, our time at the bridge was sunny. We could not have asked for a better day.

Tomorrow we are off with the Schooner in tow - on to more new adventures further east.