We left home Thursday afternoon to get to Carrot River for the last day of school at Pasquia Hills Christian School. This wasn’t only the end of a school term, it was the end of our granddaughter Tami’s three years of teaching there. She has other plans for the coming fall and winter.

We stopped in Saskatoon to clear up a problem with my bank account and then took what I thought would be the shortest and fastest route out of the city. That proved to be a serious mistake, due to construction on College Drive. The traffic was heavy and we had to narrow down from three lanes to two, and then to one. But we finally made it out of Saskatoon and onto the open highway. We made a stop at Tim Hortons in Melfort for a quick supper and made it to the home of friends before 8:30.

The next morning we had a 10 minute drive down the highway to the school. There was a program by the children, then some outdoor activities before lunch. After lunch we went out to visit and watch the ball games. There were two ball diamonds and we spent time at each. Our congregations are so interconnected. We met one young mother who remembered us from when she had been a young girl and we had visited in her parents’ home in Wisconsin.

We left for our host family around 4:30 and on our way saw a young black bear on the edge of the forest. Tami lived there three years and only twice saw a bear.

When we left home on Thursday there was heavy smoke in our area from the forest fires in Alberta and B.C. In the forest country at Carrot River there was no smoke, although at one point a fire had come within a mile of the easternmost resident of their community. The winds carried the smoke to the east and south, away from them. By now the fires are all under control.

Saturday morning we had hoped to meet with relatives of Chris, but a death in the family kept them occupied. We still made a stop at the Prairie Angel Bakery and Coffee Shop in Carrot River before leaving for home. We took Circle Drive North through Saskatoon and had a quick and uneventful drive home.