Greetings from Regina, Saskatchewan!
Posted on July 11th, 2007 – 5:03 PMBy Michael Russo
Do you know BlackBerry’s don’t work in Regina, Saskatchewan? At least mine doesn’t, according to my provider. So I am going without access to my emails, which is very annoying to me and those people I keep calling every time a thought pops into my head.
I am up in Regina (home of Derek Boogaard and recently-re-signed Josh Harding), by the way, because my colleague, photographer Carlos Gonzalez, and I are working on a story on Wild bruiser Derek Boogaard and kid bro Aaron, who run a hockey fight camp here in their hometown for children.
Tonight, the Boogeyman Bros. will actually be boxing each other at a local gym, which Carlos and I have generously been invited to.
It’s been quite the adventure already. We decided to fly into Minot, North Dakota, and drive 4 1/2 hours northwest to Regina.
I have to admit, before a few days ago, I never even heard of Minot. We arrived at midnight last night, pulled in to Gate 1 (as opposed to Gate 2), rented a car, got lost immediately, and finally found our hotel in downtown Minot, population like 20.
This morning, bright and early, we hopped back in the car, battled traffic through Minot (it took at least four minutes), passed a couple cool joints, like the Klub, which seemed to be a pretty bustling place, and headed toward Canada.
Carlos has got a pretty eclectic music collection, so he popped in his iPod and off we went on our two-lane road trek.
Northern North Dakota is pretty flat. There’s nothing but farms and prairies and oilfields and more farms. Mostly, there were huge, bright yellow farms everywhere. It was li
ke nothing I’ve ever seen. Carlos said they had to be mustard farms. I didn’t believe him, so I googled ”yellow crops north dakota” and found out Carlos was right, which angered me.
I asked Carlos if he thought they were Dijon mustard farms or yellow. He said they were honey mustard farms. The laughs kept coming, as you can imagine. Here’s a picture of me in one of those fields.
Also interesting, we passed several nuclear missile sites dispersed throughout North Dakota. They’re fenced i
n and kept inside hardened silos. The first couple we saw were guarded by armed military officers in SUV’s. The last couple we saw were not. We’re hoping those were some of the decommissioned ones from recent treaty’s.
The first picture is next to L10 near Mohall, ND. The second picture is when I got too close. 
Much apologies!
We continue and arrived at the Portal Entry to pass into Canada. The Canadian customs officer was very excited to hear we were heading north to do a story on the Boogeyman.
Immediately, Carlos showed his Canadian ignorance when I started whining that I had a hankering for some Tim
Hortons coffee. He asked, “What’s Tim Hortons?” I exploded with shock and soon stopped for some.
An hour into Canada, after passing scores of coal mines, we hit Yellow Grass, Sask., (street map below) which had to be a half-mile long with like seven houses. Entering the city, it read, “Welcome to Yellow Grass, home of Peter Schaefer,” who plays for the Ottawa Senators. There was not a mention of Schaefer’s younger brother, Nolan, the Wild’s new goaltender in Houston.
That should make for some sibling rivalry.
As I sped past several slow moving vehicles that had no right to be driving, we finally made it into Regina, where we immediately became lost. We checked into our very nice hotel, met for some lunch, where the waitress asked Carlos if he wanted some vinegar. “And what would I put that on?” Carlos asked. “Your fries!” the woman screamed.
Again, Carlos is not fully aware yet about life up in Canada. Wait till he hears that Canadians use “phone” as a verb.
That’s it for now. Talk to you after boxing.
27 Responses to "Greetings from Regina, Saskatchewan!"
FIRST
Mike, once again you show your travel ignorance. To wit:
1. No one can afford to actually fly to Minot. You can fly to Amsterdam for less than your normal NWA round-trip air fare. Next time, do what the locals do. Next time, try the train. Amtrak runs overnight from St. Paul. You might even like it.
2. Minot is the 4th largest city in North Dakota. Population (although you didn’t see a lot of it) is about 35,000.
3. Did you declare to your rental car agent that you were going to Regina? Most rental agencies in that aea will not allow cars beyond a certain distance into Canada (they’re afraid of not getting them back).
4. Did Carlos remember his passport to get back into the USA on the way home??
5. And did you have the ‘double-double’ at Tim Hortons?
P.S. I need a ‘Boogaard fight camp’ T-shirt. As big as they come. I’ll pay you for it!
Russo, Russo, Russo…….tsk.tsk.tsk….
I hope you come up to Grand Forks for the preseason game. Then, we can show you some REAL fun. Like sugarbeet eating, and cow tipping.
Russo - Great Postcard! Best read I’ve had in a while. How could you not know its mustard???
Bring back a bunch of fight camp shirts! If you pay $20 Canadian and I pay you $20US, what will be your take? I got some old loonies from a trip a while back, would you take those instead? (Size L) As many as you bring back, I’ve got guys on my hockey team that will jump on them.
Ballgame: He didn’t know it’s mustard, ‘cuz there was no ‘French’s’ on the side of the plants! (Ha, ha…)
Dilbert: How about adding drag racing at stoplights up ‘n’ down S. Washington to that ‘fun’ list? Big whoop…
Mike Russo: If you’re buying Boogaard fight camp T’s, I need a 2XL…
Remember…next time, try the train…
Sounds like a great summer roadtrip. Skip the crowds and send the kids to Boogaards fight camp. I am envious. I would like a XL t shirt. I hope it says I survived Boogards fight camp 07. It may be the only time that statement is cool and not lame.
Remember…
What happens at Fight Camp, stays at Fight Camp.
This one time…at Fight Camp…
Ok, I’m done.
Minot was in my sales territory years ago. It was either the VFW or American Legion that was the best place to dine in town.
they pushed back the passport requirements so Carlos should be fine.
The border guards at Sault Ste Marie were not excited that me and my brother and sister were entering their fine country to spend money. Not a fine welcome to Canada.
Since we are asking for tee’s i’ll take an XL.
Ballgame, its a nickel for every dollar right now but by the time Russo makes it back to the states it probably will be par.
I figure if he brings back 100 T’s with gas being at 3.39 (what kind of car you guys driving, Miata?) plus considering that the gas expands by .23%, he’ll probably take a wash either way.
It’s worth noting that I emailed the guy from Puckmaster (Trevor Lakness) and he sent me the info and a picture of the T-shirt (its hilarious).
Russo - I plan on ordering from him. Just joking about you hauling back T’s.
The only border crossing problem I know of is for people with prior DUI’s.
I know a party that was denied entry to Canada for a single offense over five years previously.
I’m from Minot, so I’ll give you a few tips.
1) First of all, the yellow crop is Canola, not mustard. North Dakota produces a large majority of it in the US. Mustard is grown much, if at all, in that part of ND.
2) That missle silo isn’t a decommissioned one. Those are over around Grand Forks, and I don’t think the government likes people taking pictures of them.
3) The SOB (South Of the Border) in Kenmare has some pretty good food if you go through there on your way back.
i heard you can pay a fee to gain entry or petition the consulate.
I e-mail Travis as well. He did e-mail me back. Wanted to send me some T-shirts to where and sell. I don’t want to sell them but I told him I would be happy to let anyone who asked where I got it. Anyway, I asked him to e-mail me a picture and anything else he may have to sell and haven’t heard from him. Ballgame, what are the chances of you forwarding the visuals of the T-Shirts?
Oh my God, I meant wear. geez……
I put the picture on my sorta-blog (click the link on my name above.)
Greenstar, I am not exactly sure because this is based only upon heresay.
Someone I know told me: if a US citizen wants to go to Canada but has had a DUI they can sometimes get a waiver.
If they have only had one and it has been quite awhile ago, they file some sort of a petition with a fee, of maybe up-to $500, and they can get a waiver to enter Canada.
The people I know were in a party of three vehicles driving to Alaska. Two of the parties were admitted while the other one was sent home.
That is a BS, one-sided law. If a US citizen has a DUI, no entry to Canada(although you can go through the hoops IceMan stated but damn, $500 just to go fishing 2 or 3 times a year?). If a Canuk has a DUI, come on down to the USA and pick-up some butter to bring home(I grew up in NW MN, worked in a grocery store in HS, and you could tell when a Canuk was in the store when you seen a case of butter in their cart.)
I’ve talked with many resort owners in Canada and they are besides themselves with the one-sided aspect. In a nutshell, Not Good for Business.
Can’t tell I’ve been turned around, huh.
Thanks Ballgame, much appreciated. Travis did finally e-mail me back but without any pictures.
I think the first game against Aneheim would be a great time to send a message to Brian Burke and the rest of his goon squad if 18,000+ were all wearing the Boogaard T-shirt. That would maybe make a bit of a statement, aye!?
Where I read new articles?
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Inasmuch as there have been direct jet flights from MSP to Regina on Northwest (since 1995) and a Canadian airline (since 1987), why didn’t you fly right into Regina instead of going to Minot????
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