On BYXE-ing

For those readers not in the know, YXE is the airport code for the Saskatoon Diefenbaker International Airport, Canada’s only airport named for a dog on a TV show. ;-) The City of Saskatoon has adopted the airport code and variants there on to attract people downtown. One variation is “BYXE” for bike related activities, especially the bike paths along the South Saskatchewan River which flows North to the mild confusion of tourists.

I used them yesterday morning to get to the Wanuskewin Heritage Park. The site was used for at least five thousand years by various aboriginal groups as a meeting site and hunting ground. It is formed by a small valley on the edge of the South Saskatchewan River. It seems that pretty much everywhere you dig, you quickly find artifacts. It is in the running to become Saskatchewan’s first UNESCO World Heritage site so people are currently busy expanding the Interpretive Centre, adding a bison paddock and generally sprucing the place up. Unfortunately, this means that much of site is off-limits! What you could see was modest but when explained by an archaeologist only led to more questions, at least from me.

 After lunch and using the bike map provided by the City which very intelligently had bike safety instructions on the backside, I made my way back downtown. I put the bike back in my room, then set out for the YXE Beer Wars.

The latter is in essence a festival of beer and other alcohol made by “local” craft persons. “Local” includes places at least as far away as Fernie, B.C.. I sampled beers, ciders, mead, wine made from cherries, gin and a pre-made old-fashion. The last was mediocre and produced by a distillery/brewery whose flyer, when read with a discerning eye, discourages consumption of their products. They give craft distillers a bad name. While I was only sampling, it added up even though I stopped halfway to have a very good grilled chicken and cheese sandwich from a food truck. I repaired to my room for a snooze before heading down to the pub in the hotel for a salad.

Today, I went to the Farmers’ market. I returned to the hotel with a bottle mead. I locked the bike to a handy bike rack and walked up to my room to drop off my purchase and get another lens for my sunglasses. As I came out, the manager followed me to warn me about leaving my bike outside for prolonged periods because of bike thieves. He informed me I could keep the bike in my room (which I had been doing). I explained that I appreciated his concern, but as I had only gone up to my room for a few minutes, I didn’t think it worth the bother. Besides, it was a sunny, Saturday morning on a busy street with a street fair happening nearby.

I then biked off to the Saskatoon branch of the Western Development Museum. (I had visited another branch when I was in Moose Jaw.) This one concentrated of the experience of settlers in the early Twentieth Century.

Returning downtown, I stopped at the Ukrainian Day in the Park for a lunch of pierogies and meatballs. There was t-shirt for sale which read “Garlic: Ukrainian Viagra”. There were also plenty of people dressed in Ukrainian grab as might be expected. Had Mummy been in Canada, I would have asked what she needed in way of Easter egg dyes and equipment.

I returned to the hotel where I was unexpectedly informed via text message that I had won a batch of merchandise from the YXE Beer Wars. I walked back to the site to pick up several garments, most of which are unlikely to fit me!

I then set off in search of duct tape. This involved going to a Canadian Tire 4 kilometres away along a bike route which took me through working-class areas or at least so they seemed by their cyclists.

I removed most of the accessories from the bike in order make the final packing a faster process. My flight leaves mid-afternoon. It has been a good vacation.