We're in the land of endless sky, Brandon, Manitoba! In Calgary, you can still spot Banf and the Rockies to the west, and there are still "prairie mountains" (hills) across the landscape. We're truly in the prairies now, however, with nothing but dust, farms, and sky. It's been an interesting long day, but I'm looking forward to reaching Ontario. The prairies are fine to see once, but they quickly become monotonous. What a joy it will be to see the Great Lakes and the Canadian Shield!
We were off early again this morning from Springbank. The sun rises earlier on the prairies, because there are no mountains to the east. The Beaver was obviously fueled up yesterday, but I had been expecting delays for the other members of our group getting out; when we had left Springbank yesterday, there were still over 50 aircraft waiting for fuel! It therefore came as a pleasant surprise to see that many pilots had in fact took off early, and we were quickly in the air at 8am sharp. It was a wonderful feeling to once more become airborne with a sense of purpose; the stopover day in Calgary was tedious to the say the least, and I thought that it was nice to once again be headed east.
We flew north of Calgary before heading east in order to avoid Calgary International's control zone. Calgary from the air sprawls to the north and south, with highways leading to Banf, Edmonton, and Saskatchewan. I must admit that I have been greatly impressed by Calgary's highways; for a city 1.5 million people smaller than Vancouver, it has a superior road network. On the other hand, Calgary's alternative options for transportation are pathetic: few public buses and the main road along our hotel didn't even have a sidewalk! But what else would you expect in oil country? It makes good economic sense to support road travel. :)
The trip across Alberta into Saskatchewan was relatively uneventful. I noticed quite a few ranches, and I also was surprised at the dryness of the land. Huge stretches of country are not irrigated, and attain a desert-like appearance from the air. I also noticed these unusual green circles dotting the prairie which are in fact the result of irrigation; farmers grow their crops around giant circulating sprinklers which irrigate the circular area leaving everything else dry and unsuitable for agriculture. Rather unusual looking from the air.
I knew beforehand that it was going to be a long trip today. We had to travel over to 600 miles, making only one stop along the way in Regina. We passed dozens of small little farming communities which dot the prairies, including the more sizable town of Swift Current. Even these larger towns, however, are really just oversized farming communities. Train tracks and wheat silos are permanent fixtures in every community, and some also have little airstrips. Not that the prairies need any airstrips, however: it's difficult to find a place that is not suitable for landing!
Flying over the prairies was fairly easy. The skies were clear, and the hundred airplanes in our group quickly became dispersed all along the route. I had expected that air traffic would be a problem while flying, but we hardly saw anybody else. A bit of an unusual experience to be flying above the endless fields with nothing in sight and hardly any sign of civilization. The prairie towns that we passed looked forlorn and dead amidst the plains. One thing of note was the Saskatchewan prairies; everyone has heard of the "breadbasket of Canada", and therefore I was extremely surprised at the few number of wheat fields covering this prairie province. Most farms seemed dedicated to other crops, although I couldn't identify exactly what the farmers were growing. The entire prairie looked like a green and yellow checkerboard, with green predominantly displayed over wheat.
After 3.5 hours of flying we landed at Regina international for a fuel stop. The capital of Saskatchewan stands out from the air due to its green foliage of trees and few modern high rises in downtown. It's not a big city by any means, but it was nevertheless an appreciative change from the farming communities seen everywhere else along the prairies. The airport has a small terminal, with both Esso and Shell available for fuel. The stations were prepared for our group in advance, and personnel were immediately on hand to guide the airplanes onto the ramp for refueling. Shell also had a lunch package available which was extremely convenient. Unfortunately, as a vegetarian, I couldn't partake of the beef burgers. (: Vegetarianism doesn't seem very popular on the prairies, unlike in Vancouver, where it is relatively easy to obtain vegetarian food wherever I go. Hopefully the east has better allowances for vegetarianism, although I am not getting my hopes up.
Regina is one place on the prairies that I would be interested in revisiting. The farms in Saskatchewan farms look neat and organized, and Regina in particular looks like well-organized and green. Even though both Calgary and Regina are in the prairies, Regina wasn't nearly as dusty and was overall a good experience. It's unfortunate that we were there only for a short fuel stop. Maybe on the return trip we can stop over in Regina for a night instead of stopping in Manitoba or Alberta.
The final leg of our trip today was only 1.5 hours in duration, and slightly more interesting than the first leg. East of Regina, there are dozens of small towns each located only a few miles apart, and the farms appeared particularly successful and organized. Crossing over in the air into Manitoba offered no change in scenery, and no hint of the many lakes which I thought covered this province. It appears that the western half of Manitoba is still solid prairie, and only around Winnipeg does the landscape begin the change. Our destination of Brandon was well short of Winnipeg, however, and without the aid of the VOR and GPS, we would unlikely have been able to navigate our way. Navigation is further complicated by the presence of the now derelict "old" Brandon airport which is now a pig farm. Another pilot from our group had fortunately warned us about this distracting landmark, however, having himself erroneously landed there!
Brandon from the air is entirely unprepossessing. It is simply a town in the middle of the prairies, with the uncontrolled airport only a few miles north of the city centre. What did catch my attention was the crowd of people lining the runway, taking pictures of each Century Flight aircraft which landed and was directed onto grass parking areas. As each aircraft landed and passed the spectators, the small crowd would cheer and wave, and the many volunteers from the local flying club were on hand to direct ground traffic, welcome us, immediately fuel the aircraft and offer bottled water. I was amazed at this incredible display interest and friendliness towards our group and journey, and inside the hanger there was a even a free barbeque with singing for our benefit. Nowhere else have we yet received such a welcome, and I couldn't help but wonder at this wonderful display of overt interest in our cross-Canada flight.
I didn't have to wait long to realize why our flight has generated so much interest. Simply put, Brandon is an over-sized prairie town with absolutely nothing to see or do! There's nothing wrong with that, except that I can now appreciate just how our interesting our flight must seem in this otherwise laid-back feeder town for the dozens of small communities in the outlying area. The people here are extremely friendly, but this place is probably 20-30 years behind Vancouver and Canada's other major urban areas. I suddenly am re-appreciating Calgary for all of its amenities and city lifestyle. Calgary may be dusty and flat, but it is nevertheless a sizable city with a busy and upbeat feeling, not to mention considerable wealth. A huge part of the trip is the experience, however, and part of that is visiting Canada's different provinces and people. I am going to retain an optimistic attitude, even though I am secretly longing to get back to the city and urbanized civilization!
On the optimistic side of things, we're in a clean and likely Brandon's newest hotel. It's neat and small, and most of our group is apparently staying here. I feel for some other unfortunate pilots who decided to go to the old Super8 motel across the street. As it is, our group has filled up both hotels, and we encountered another pilot still looking for lodgings tonight. The only people regularly passing though Brandon appear to be truck drivers, and they have a large Husky truck stop for their use. Everything here is so different: the intersections don't have crosswalks, there are absolutely no sidewalks, and dust is constantly blown into your eyes due to a strong prairie wind that whips around in the afternoon and evening. I've been having some trouble with my contacts as a result, and have now comfortably confined myself indoors!
Getting food here was a bit of a problem tonight. There's no restaurant in the hotel, and the only restaurants in the area are oriented towards truck drivers. Even if we had walked into town, there's hardly anything any restaurants there except a Keg, Montana's, and an older Boston Pizza. We therefore ordered pizza to our room. It's interesting how the people think here: when we asked the guy at the Esso station for a pizza recommendation, he first named Pizza Express as "the cheapest pizza in town." He looked at us again, however, apparently realized that we weren't truckers, and then recommended Marino's pizzeria as the "most expensive pizza in town." Needless to say, we ordered from Marino's and enjoyed some of the best pizza I've had in a long time. I can't help but wonder at how life revolves in these prairie towns, however: money is obviously somewhat scarce, and hence everything is valued from an economic standpoint. We "bargain-hunters" from the city like to think we live for good deals, but we are ultimately unprepared to sacrifice comfort for a simpler way of life!
The day ended with a swim in the hotel pool, which was a great form of relaxation. Everything on the trip thus far has gone very well, both for us and the group. The only hitch so far has been the fuel in Springbank. I personally have found the flying very manageable, although one couple apparently turned back today because the wife was unprepared for the extensive flying. Everyone else in our group seems well prepared for the journey ahead of us, however, and it seems that quite a few of the pilots already have extensive experience in cross-country flying. Their expertise may come in handy in the leg ahead, as flying north along the Great Lakes is supposed can be quite tricky due to bad weather. As it is, a large cloud system is forming to the west over Brandon right now, although it will probably be gone by tomorrow morning.
We have another rest day here in Brandon before leaving again on Wednesday morning for Marathon, Ontario. Don't have any plans for tomorrow yet, although we will be attending a group supper down at the airport. Today's been not so physically tiring as mentally tiring, something which a night's rest should easily cure. Good from Brandon!
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