Scott and I headed toward Regina on Thursday afternoon. There was no blizzard warning at the time, though there had been a blizzard "watch" the day before. It was not snowing, but it was blowing, and unless we were passing through stands of trees near the highway, visibility was poor. We considered turning back, and not only did I give my permission, but I actually said, "If I was driving, I would." However, Scott forged ahead and we made it safely to Saskatchewan's capital city.

Saskatchewan has been in a deep freeze of about -30C. Add the windchill to that, and it feels like 45 below. The van was doing a lot of rattling at certain speeds so Scott was worried about a breakdown. You don't want to be stuck in your vehicle when it's this cold; worse, though, is to leave it. There were four or five deaths last month due to people walking away from their stranded vehicles in this weather. It's always best to stay in your car, out of the wind, where you are more likely to be rescued.

We had a sleeping bag or two with us, longburning candles, and six chocolate bars ... just in case. And we both had cellphones, too.

My friend Cathy, who was being honoured by our old high school and her old college, was staying at the Hotel Saskatchewan so we checked in there, to make it convenient to get together. It's a lovely old building right downtown; a bit pricey, but I just received a generous cheque from Aunt Jean's estate so felt like I could splurge a little. Both evenings, we met with Cathy and her husband in either their room or ours for an hour or two before bed, and sipped on brandy and just relaxed.

On the first morning we were there, I went with Cathy to our old high school for breakfast and a tour of the classrooms and girls' dorm, where she and I had both lived. Scott took the van for diagnosis and repairs, spent $400, and the thing still rattles and shakes. If anything, it was worse on the way home than on the way to the city.

Passing through the Qu'Appelle Valley, one of Saskatchewan's glacier-made features: