Estevan cenotaph

The trek to Estevan includes a story for another time but when we got there, late-ish, we found our hotel provided a free supper of very good chili. Salvation. If you are ever planning to be in Estevan, ask me about the place because it really was great value and a nice facility.
But this story is about the cenotaph.

It's on the corner of the main drag

thankfully or we might have missed it. The main piece was carved from a single 102 year old tree but I don't know about the 2 benches. The detail in these pieces is very special and I can imagine the bench figures faces are from real photographs. Of course the wood will break down eventually but what a gift the community. There are a couple of explanatory plaques, one remembering a Victoria Cross recipient from the town. We feel very privileged to experience these examples of the heart of our people.

Val Marie to Yorkton

The sights and information continue to be amazing. We stayed at the Convent in Val Marie on Wednesday, the closest point to Grasslands NP.

the dining room and fellow travellers

upstairs hallway

The Convent

Our host at the Convent, Adam, gave us a terrific breakfast on Thursday morning and sent us on our merry way which led us to another Chinese restaurant in Lafleche for a pit stop and conversation with what appeared to be a regular coffee group of local farmers. I asked what a combine might cost: about $500K for the machine, another $100K for "the rack in front", $400K for a tractor and $100K for a transport cart. Yikes! They assured us that while food may be getting more expensive the money is not going to the farmer, rather the processors. They were proud to say "we feed the world" and they had lots of ideas of things we should see and do.
One of those was the church in Gravelbourg not too far along the road. We could see it from a distance and arrived in the parking lot at the same time as a couple from Winnipeg. Emboldened by being 4 we called the posted number on the door for a tour. Wow. Our guide was a volunteer who lives nearby the church and said he averages about 1500 tours every summer. The church used to be a cathedral but the population has dwindled so that now it is a co-cathedral with Regina. It seats 1000 in a town of 1100. It was built in 18 months and opened in 1919, its purpose, along with a convent school and bishop's residence was to attract people to the town which got to about 1800 souls at one point.  It took about 10 years for the very remarkable wall paintings to be completed. Initially the windows were painted by the same artist but eventually they were replaced by stained glass, following the painters designs. As one of our farmer friends who has travelled extensively said "it rivals anything you will see in Europe". I agree.