The Qu'Appelle Valley

After a farmers market visit while Pei Ju was still with us we went for a drive into the Qu'Appelle Valley which is north of the city about half and hour away close to Lumsden to explore some of the farms out there and see what we could find. We started at the Corn Maiden Market and continued on down the road.


Farther down the road we came across another farm the we could walk around which was nice. They had among other vegetables a bunch of Saskatoon berry trees. We only taste tested a couple.

Cypress Hills

I realized that I hadn't updated my adventures lately so thought I'd let you in on what I found on my way home from a visit in Alberta. Would you believe that Saskatchewan has a winery? It's the Cypress Hills Winery and it's a bit off the main highway but a nice detour.

They have complimentary wine tastings so I thought I'd have a bite to eat. It being a Friday they only had their cheese plates available but it was quite filling. I left with a full belly, a bottle of black currant and honey wine and a quick walk around the vineyards.


Further down the highway, and I use that term loosely was the West Block of Cypress Hills. I decided to check it out since I was in the area already. It was a narrow road with a little section that made me reminisce of island driving minus the steep cliff drops. After coming to the end of the road at Fort Walsh I continued back and down the path less traveled because I saw a sign for the conglomerate cliffs. These cows met me at another fork in the road all cozied up together like ambassadors.


Finally after some minor 4x4ing I found the cliffs. While they offered a great view and some quiet time there was no climbing to be found. I tried. There are however some great opportunities to explore so I'm sure I'll be back.

Regina Farmers Market

Every Wednesday and Saturday the Regina Farmers Market takes over a downtown park lining up along 2 streets and within a courtyard. Last Saturday was especially appealing because it was the 7th annual selling of homemade Saskatoon Berry pies with all proceeds going to the Regina Home Economics for Living Project. Seemed to me as good a reason as any to eat pie!

Regina's Victoria Park

Every once in awhile I get a craving for a hot dog. I don't eat them often and so don't want to buy a whole package. Turns out that Regina has a hot dog stand situated beside the city's downtown park.


This guy has toppings for hot dogs I hadn't even thought of putting on a hot dog. For $5 you get a damn good tasting footlong so I think it was a good deal.


The park itself is quite well used and on this particular day there were people eating lunch on benches and sitting on the grass, doing Tai Chi, playing Frisbee and watching their kids play in the playground.




In the center of the park is the city's cenotaph and the remains of a tree with huge metal ants climbing up its trunk. They symbolize how the work of many ants is required to accomplish something much like the work of many people to build the city of Regina.

13th Avenue Coffeehouse

This is one of the first places I found when I drove up to check out Regina but it was closed. I made it back during my orientation week and found it to be a pretty great place for a healthy lunch. I've been back enjoying the dishes and atmosphere each time.

They serve a fairly large menu of vegetarian and vegan style food that I think is reasonably priced.

They also host a large outside patio which is a nice place to go when it's warm outside.

The 13th Avenue Coffeehouse is in the Cathedral Village across 13th Avenue from the big cathedral. There are a lot of shops including Bernard Callebaut, that are fun to walk around.

Canada Day in Regina

Canada Day started and ended with a BANG... literally! My roommate Kristen and I walked to the lake at noon to watch the 21 gun salute the Royal Canadian Artillery had set up on the edge of the lake outside the legislature. It was loud and super hot and people were everywhere!


My other roommate Karen and group had planned to head to the main stage for some musical entertainment in the afternoon so I hurried to get the things I had to get done finished and met them at the beer gardens in front of the main stage. They said to look for the big beer can - after that it was easy. We enjoyed the hot hot weather and drank beer, Canadian of course!


While walking around in the morning Kristen and I had noticed a row of tables with plywood and tools set up along the lake edge. Having no idea what it was for I didn't think of it again until I noticed some broken boats along the side of the lake and one apparently successful designer still paddling about in his creation. Since then I learned that it was the 6th Annual Plywood Cup whereby teams build a boat and hope it floats.


Good home cooked food and great company ended off a pretty darn good day already I was invited to dinner and some firework watching with new friends. I cannot believe how many people congregated to the lawns of the park but was not surprised in the least to learn they shut down a section of Albert Street for the event. Good thing I live within walking distance!

Wascana Freewheelers

When I said that I was moving to Regina many people felt obligated to inform me that there are in fact no mountains in Saskatchewan. I took this information into serious consideration but the job offer was just that good, I couldn't refuse. Mindful of the likelihood my previous extracurricular activities would be somewhat curtailed I started looking into alternative fun stuff. Riding bikes is a universal pastime and this is no different in the good old flatland's. Unfortunately both of my bikes were stolen within a week of my bringing them to Regina but thanks to a great friend in Edmonton I returned hooked up and ready to ride again.

The Wascana Freewheelers are a recreational cycling group I found out about from my roommate who invited me to join her while she tried out one of their regular Wednesday evening rides. They meet at the legislature steps and ride around the city for an hour or 2 before stopping for coffee, ice cream or whatever they feel like. It is a self admitted food eating group with a cycling problem. Since then I've been able to join them on a couple of other fun events they plan to keep themselves busy including a progressive dinner ride, scavenger hunt and a Freedom Friday ride out to a small town called Pilot Butte and back.

The yearly progressive dinner ride is just that. We started at one house for appetizers, rode via the scenic route to the next for the main course and off to the last stop for dessert and a hot tub soak. It had such a big turnout this year we had to split into 2 riding groups.


On Her Majesties Service was a scavenger hunt type ride where we rode for nearly 4 hours from government building or area of significance answering obscure questions before meeting back for burgers and bevies. I can easily say that I've seen more of Regina by bike then anything in doing these rides and the people are great!

The teams starting out planning their routes and some of our 27 stops included the Public Library where they show nightly films, Taylor Field where the Roughriders play to see the wall of fame, a local park where we crashed a grad celebration, the Lieutenant Governors House where the kind commissionaire had looked up the answer to our question before we got there (thanks team 3!), the Wascana Center and the Legislature.

Regina Beach

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain and decided that it would be a great day to finish unpacking. Having accomplished that and discovered the clouds had dispersed leaving it sunny and hot outside I went back to plan A and drove out to Regina Beach 70km from Regina. Regina Beach is best described as an active summer village although many folks live there year round. Between summer and winter fishing derby's, their very own triathlon, art festivals and fowl dinners it seems like a fairly happening place to hang out at.
It was your typical beach scene, beach volleyball, families spread out on blankets and towels, bikinis and board shorts, boats with tubes trailing behind them and kids splashing around in the water.
Not being much for crowds to begin with I started to explore a trail the seemed to border the lake. Turns out it wasn't the short trail I had anticipated it to be. The South Shore Trail follows what used to be railroad tracks. The rails are gone leaving behind a decent pathway joining the communities along Last Mountain Lake.

The real reason I decided to turn around was my need for food. Having heard from multiple sources that if one were to ever make their way to Regina Beach then a stop at the Blue Bird Cafe for "the best ever" fish and chips would be in order.
They didn't disappoint!