Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

innocuous \ih-NOK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:
1. Harmless; producing no ill effect.
2. Not likely to offend or provoke; as, "an innocuous remark."


I must admit, we have been experiencing some phenomenally lovely weather on our trip so far. It may be considered a little warm by some but I love it and you won’t hear me complain about a hot, sunny day, which is exactly what we were looking at again this morning. It looked like a good day for some biking so first stop … Saskatchewan’s Legislative Building!?!?


It was kind of cool to walk up to the same building I saw Tommy Douglas walk up to in the Canadian made-for-TV movie about his life. This building was started in 1908 and was completed for the most part by 1910 but it took another two years for the woodwork to be finished in the legislative assembly so, in the meantime, they apparently held debates in the library until the other room was finished. From the looks of the incredibly detailed wood carvings throughout the room, it was definitely worth the wait. The total cost of the building was much lower than that of the Manitoba Legislative Building, coming in at a mere $1.75 million versus the $9 million of Manitoba. And in my opinion, it is an equally impressive structure if not quite on the same grand scale as what we saw in Winnipeg. One thing I was impressed by as we toured the facility was the high profile given to the contribution of the natives. The two most prominent murals both depicted images with natives. As a matter of fact, one of them was titled, "Before the white man". They also included a special hallway dedicated to housing the portraits of the leaders of the many tribes around the time that Saskatchewan came into being (1905). Another highlight of this, Regina’s most regal edifice, is its location on the banks of Wascana Lake. It is actually a man-made lake but it is very nicely done as you can see from the pictures. However, this was not always the case. By the late 1990s there had been years of sediment build-up in the lake and it had plants growing on the bottom. The people of Regina were worried that if nothing was done to fix this that it was in danger of turning into a large marsh. So, in the fall of 2003 the city embarked on what they called “The Big Dig” which was a plan to deepen the lake to over 5 metres (about 5.5 yards). This depth was chosen so that weeds would not be able to grow on the bottom. Everything went well and they also added many people-friendly features as well. Now they use the lake for rowing regattas, wake board competitions (as was happening the day we were there) and who knows what else. Another interesting thing to note is that the Regina area originally had no trees! Every tree you see in these photos was planted since the settlers arrived.
After taking a tour of the Legislative Building we decided to have a picnic on the grounds with the building as our backdrop. We then embarked on a bike tour around the lake to take full advantage of the absolutely gorgeous day. Next I have a pop quiz for you all.
Question: What do you get when you take two boys between 10 and 12, a cloudless, 32 degree day and a campground which happens to be situated next to a water park? Answer: A small hole in your wallet and lots of smiles and screaming fun! We spent the rest of the day and into the early evening tackling the best that the water park had to offer. A good time was had by all as you can see from the pics below.

When we returned to our campsite Chantal and I also got a chance to chat with the people camping beside us. They were an elderly couple from southern Manitoba who each had their spouse pass away about 15 years ago and they ended up getting married to each other a few years later and have been doing lots of traveling ever since. Coincidentally, just like us, they too celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary this year. They are both farmers and we had an interesting discussion about what farming life is like. One thing that they said that really caught my attention was that today it would pretty much be impossible for someone to become a farmer from scratch. They said that virtually every farmer today got started by having their farm passed on to them through their family. He went on to say that in order to purchase a farm big enough to survive, there is no way you would ever be able to pay back the cost of your initial investment required to buy the farm simply by working the farm. I certainly found that cause for cerebration. Anyway, it was quite an interesting and informative chat and he actually answered a farming question that had come up on our way to Regina. Perhaps one of you reading knows the answer. The question is, “What is the name of the mauve-coloured crop that is show in the first photo from yesterday’s (July 20) blog entry? Anyone … anyone … Bueller?