Seattle to Montreal, Part 2: Flat Roads, Big Characters
Elk Island, Great Blue Heron, Riding Mountain, Whiteshell Provincial Parks
Welcome back! Or welcome aboard if this is your first time! This is Part 2 of our cross‑Canada road trip mini‑series. We’re driving from Seattle to Montreal on the Canadian side of the border, with every night spent at a national or provincial park. If you missed Part 1 (BC & Alberta), you can catch up here, but no worries - you can also jump right in. Think of each part like hopping in the van with us for a different leg of the adventure.
Now, fair warning: this part might come across as more boring than others, because crossing Saskatchewan and Manitoba was… well, BORING AF. Long flat roads, endless fields, wind slapping us sideways, and surprise encounters. Honestly, if teleportation were an option, we’d have jumped straight from Alberta to Ontario. Hahaha. But hamdella, the prairies still gave us stories worth telling. And if ever you’re tempted to click away, stay with me, because tucked between the flat fields are some golden podcast episode recommendations, with TLDRs so good they make this story worth the read on their own.
Elk Island National Park
Laundry, Bisons, and Blue Algae
We left Jasper on a cold morning. Louie had peed on his blanket overnight (lake water overload?) and we desperately needed a laundromat. As we rolled out of the park gates, a mountain goat stood by the roadside, almost waving us goodbye. We’d been hoping to see one the entire trip. Turns out it was just waiting for us at the exit. Hahaha.
By midday we had conquered Costco, fueled up, and discovered the joy of Canadian laundromats - my very first time ever in one! It looked exactly like in the movies: humming machines, bright lights, a whiff of detergent in the air. And honestly? The experience was surprisingly good and efficient. 24 minutes to wash, 40 minutes to dry. Enough time for groceries and a Louie walk. Efficiency ya zalameh!
Driving into Elk Island National Park, we were greeted by solitary bisons chomping roadside grass, massive and calm like zen monks.
Our campsite at Astotin Lake was lovely… until signs warned of dangerous blue‑green algae (aka the neon‑green villain of summer lakes. Actually cyanobacteria that can release toxins harmful to pets, people, and your paddleboard session if you’re unlucky. See picture below). So much for paddling… Cold weather + algae = no swims, only hikes. Nature was trolling us. We sat in the van, rain hammering the roof, chatting with friends on WhatsApp. Romance!
The next morning, sunshine! Yay! We hiked the shoreline loop, Louie trotting proudly ahead, before settling for brunch by the beach: labneh, zaatar, tomatoes, toasted bread.
Tim & Loi: joy at the picnic table
That’s when Tim and Loi appeared. An elderly couple from a local senior residence outing.
Tim explained their residence offers just one outing a month for $5: one hour in the park to breathe fresh air before being shepherded to Dairy Queen for ice cream, then back home. I found myself thinking one hour was too little, and nearly said to them, ‘Come with us for the day, I’ll drop you back at night!’ Tim radiated joy, striking up conversations with everyone passing by. He told us: “In Chinese culture, one dog year equals ten human years.” Then (randomly) he urged us to have kids, only to admit he never had any himself. He laughed it off, joined his group for Dairy Queen, and left us reflecting: sometimes joy is a choice, kids or no kids. (And truthfully, thanks to Tim, Alizée and I revisited the egg-freezing conversation we’d had many times before: kids may not be our thing, but we want to keep the option open for the future. We even booked an appointment back in Seattle for October. Why mention it here? Because it matters. Like us, more and more people our age are deferring or skipping the choice, and that’s fine, but giving (y)ourself the option is also important). Ya3ni, this man was a legend.
Great Blue Heron Provincial Park
Solitude, then fiesta
From Alberta into Saskatchewan: six hours of prairie driving, broken only by podcasts and random clouds. Arrival reward: Murray Point Campground at Great Blue Heron Provincial Park. We had an entire loop in the campground to ourselves! Plus three deer (a mama and two fawns) waiting at our site like Airbnb hosts.
Silence, forest, perfect dinner. Until midnight when our distant neighbors (sounded Russian, might’ve been DJs) launched a fiesta until 1:30 a.m. One guy finally yelled “enough!” in the dark. Saskatchewan nightlife, folks.
🚐 Podcasts & Prairie Wisdom
Hours on prairie highways will test anyone’s patience. Thank goodness for podcasts. We binged one episode of LEGEND about a French ambulance driver’s most improbable interventions! Chaotic, hilarious, a perfect distraction. Then came a health deep‑dive on The Diary of a CEO with Dr. Rhonda Patrick that had us both nodding like eager med students. TLDR (because every road trip needs a cliff notes version):
Vitamin D is non‑negotiable
Omega‑3 is cleaner in supplement form than fish
Creatine actually helps the brain (not just the muscles)
Intermittent fasting works
Magnesium powers 300 enzymes
Pregnant? Eat eggs. Lots of them.
By the end we were half‑convinced we’d cracked the code to eternal youth. Or at least to not aging like expired labneh. Hahaha! No, seriously. I highly recommend this episode. Listen to it!
Riding Mountain National Park
‘Yes Theory’ in the wild
Morning brought van cleaning, water refill, and another long drive east. Somewhere in Saskatchewan a guy spotted our “Made for Dreamers” bumper sticker and my Yes Theory hoodie. “Seek Discomfort!” he shouted. His name was Matt from Saskatoon, kindred spirit. These tiny moments broke the monotony.
Seven hours later we landed at Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. Wasagaming campground felt like a posh lakeside club: cottages, tennis courts, even padel. While walking Louie along the shore, we met a kind lady with two whippets who shared fascinating insights: the cottages are privately owned, but the land itself is leased from the federal government and often passed down through generations. It gave the whole place a bit of a Club Med‑meets‑heritage vibe. We marveled at how national parks can morph into mini‑resorts. Rain returned, of course.
Whiteshell Provincial Park
Meteor lake & Louie’s chicken heart test
Our last prairie stop: Whiteshell Provincial Park. Campsite A3 sat right on a rocky meteor-made lake, 100 million years old.
Alizée wanted a celebratory beer, so we split a mango Blue Moon from the convenience store.. our wild night out. Dinner? Dates stuffed with Gruyère and Dubliner cheese. Trust me, sweet + savory = bliss.
Later that night, Louie was passed out cold. I decided to spice things up and test his loyalty by waving food under his nose while he was deep asleep 😅: Gruyère? No reaction. Freeze‑dried chicken hearts? Instant wake‑up, eyes wide, nose twitching. Science confirms: chicken hearts > all. It was hilarious, check out the video below.
Planning Jewels (they’re a bit light for this part)
Long drive survival: pre‑load 2–3 stellar podcasts; it’s brain fuel for flatland purgatory.
Blue‑green algae = no swims, but great excuse to hike more.
Closing Wink
Saskatchewan and Manitoba tested our patience with its flat roads (forever), but gave us Tim, Loi, Matt, and midnight fiestas. Between bisons, meteor lakes, Louie’s chicken‑heart loyalty test, and podcast epiphanies about how not to age like stale pita, the prairies proved that even purgatory has its charms. Still… if Canada ever opens an Alberta‑to‑Ontario express lane, we’ll be first in line 😅. Next stop: Ontario, ya habibi.