A Fun Time Part Two

We left Saskatoon and proceeded to North Battleford, which was new Saskatchewan territory for me, sort of. Years ago I went there on a business trip, but it was winter, dark when we got there and dark when we left. We were picking up records, and the only thing I remember is the waterslide. The hotel had a pool and slide, and I’d packed a suit (because you never know when you might need one, even in winter), so I went for a swim and a slide. There was a sign on the door to inquire at the front desk if you were interested in water sliding, so off to the front desk I dutifully went. I no longer remember the exact words, but the gist of the situation was the front desk clerk thought it was “unprofessional” of me to want to water slide on a business trip. I said I wasn’t planning on meeting clients in the pool, the business was done and I wanted to slide. I got a few more snarky remarks about what REAL business people are like, and in the end she turned the slide on for me. Silly woman. (her, not me!).

So…new territory. May-B, who was going to see Aunt Coral (I think I got that right. Maybe it was Pearl? One of the organic gems, at any rate) somewhere beyond North Battleford offered us an overnight spot at the Church camp where her grandmother was staying. This was great, way better than sleeping bags on a living room floor. There were beds, and showers and other people and everything. The kids had a great time, and A. even joined in a game of football and took in a church service which is quite a big step for him. He is an extrovert with people he knows, but is very shy when he doesn’t know anyone. M. and I stayed in with the dog whilst May-B and A. went to the service.

We got a tour of the place, which was interesting but it made me sad, too. This is the church camp (formerly many things, including an orphanage) that the Hingstons grew up with, and it was very much like the one from my childhood which closed its doors for good this year. I always intended to go back sometime, and now I can’t. Sigh. Such is life, things change and life continues.

We got up quite early, piled quietly into the car and headed to Lloydminster. Absolutely new territory for me, so I enjoyed the drive. It poured rain the whole time, though, which kind of sucked. We stopped for gas and breakfast in Lloydminster (on the Alberta side) and continued on to Edmonton. The kids continued to behave incredibly well. Not that they’re monsters, but I thought that a long trip with three people and one dog in a small car would be difficult. My bet was that they would sleep, or just listen to whatever they had on their Ipods. As it happened no one argued, we took turns with what music we all listened to, and it was fun. They switched places every now and again and visited with me when they were in the front. I could have made a movie teaching kids on the way to behave on a road trip.