Boondocking in a Walmart parking lot is a new experience for us. As the sun rose, campers stirred, each going about their early morning rituals. I took Chloe out for a morning walk around the parking lot, watching staff arriving and campers departing on their travels…each one with their own story.
The wind is picking up and Chloe is skittish like a foal in a windy paddock, jumping and running around, the gusts plucking at her long hair. She is excited, sniffing the air, her anticipation is electrifying. I returned to the trailer to make a strong coffee for Susan, and prepare for departure.
We gassed up, and hit the road at 9:00am. A strong tailwind pushing us along, like a lumbering land yacht. We make good progress on well maintained roads, with fields of grain and rangeland passing by.
It’s remarkable, in the middle of nowhere, the road surface suddenly changed in colour and quality. Looking at the GPS, we had just crossed from Alberta into Saskatchewan. The roadside signs confirmed our transition. The blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon, with growing clouds watching our progress on the straight roads.
The landscape also changed from farmland into range land. The small rolling hills covered in wild grasses, dotted with cattle. Red Winged Blackbirds and Prairie Dogs, played Russian Roulette with the passing traffic, the raptors overhead waited patiently, the odds in their favour.
The wind increased as the day warmed up, pushing the prairie grass in wave after wave rushing across the landscape. Lonely trees, stunted, and permanently bent facing east. The relentless wind continues its journey. The smart farmers, surround themselves with man made forests of trees to break the force of the wind.
We stopped in Gull Lake for lunch. The town dates back to 1906, when a development company Conrad and Price acquired and surveyed the town site and subdivided it into blocks. Unlike most other towns located along the Canadian Pacific Railway main line, Gull Lake was not planned and established by the railroad. In fact, there was some animosity from the railroad towards this town that bucked their plan.
We left Gull Lake, and continued on our way. The roads were mostly straight, the terrain mostly level. We were ahead of schedule and didn’t want to pull into a Walmart parking lot at 2:00pm. We continued, keeping ahead of a storm unleashing torrents of rain behind us. We kept a weary eye on the side mirrors.
In the past, we have travelled with over 200 litres of fresh water in the tank, which is sufficient for the two of us for five days. This time, we travelled with enough for one night to avoid the extra towing weight. We planned to replenish the water supply while on the road before the next stop. It shouldn’t be difficult, right?
Little did we know, there weren’t any potable water sources for RV’s along the highway, and once we hit Regina, we were advised there weren’t any in the city limits. We looked up locations on sanidump.com and when we visited the ones on our way, we were advised they had been shut down.
We tried gas stations, shopping malls, and car wash locations without luck. One gas station had an external tap without the valve handle. I asked if we could get fresh water and I was basically told to get lost. We continued east and stopped at Comfort Plus Campground that had good reviews, and were advised by a very rude staff, that they were on well water, and wouldn’t give us any. We asked about a full hookup site, and were advised they were all taken.
We continued east, stopping in at random locations, getting more hangry with each passing hour, the temptation rising to stop and hook up to a residence water tap, eventually, we decided that we would look for a full hookup site. After a few google searches and a long day, we pulled into Fieldstone Campground and RV Resort and set up camp at 8:00pm, each camper right on top of the other. We had water at last.
Note to self, travel with sufficient fresh water in the tank to get us through all boondocking locations until we arrive at the next scheduled full hookup site. Lesson learned.