Saskatchewan has a few “grid road” ferries.
These are not the fancy ferry of the East or West Coast, or even the Great Lakes. They accommodate four cars in an open space. The controls are situated on a panel as wide as your arm spread and as tall as your head. The captain moves the handles for motion an arms length from your car window.
Speaking in the town of Leader gave us an opportunity to head out on a Sunday afternoon drive. We skittled (great word, nothing to do with Skittles) eastward down the road for a half hour. Our tour then led us through the town of Lancer – described by our Sunday morning congregation as “true small town” and “very quiet.” No traffic jams here – in fact, I wasn’t sure the stop sign off Main Street was even needed!
The return route would take us back in a U shape because of “The River”. Unless . . . we used a prairie ferry, cutting across The River, providing a straight line to our destination. We noted the sign to “Lemsford Ferry” showed that the winter season was over and the ferry was ready for passengers (OK, the sign just said that it was open).
The dust plumed out from the back of the car as we headed down the gravelled road. As we came to the ferry, a car was just disembarking. We were able to get on the deck of the boat immediately. The apparent heavy traffic flow was an illusion. The ferry captain explained that the business of the day was not so much cars going across the water as the cell phone ringing asking if the ferry was open.
As we reached the other side, my wife mentioned that this was the first time she had ever taken a Saskatchewan ferry. For the approximate seven minutes the ride took, this was the ultimate adventure of the day.
May you find a great adventure today – just something that may be ordinary to others but can put a thrill back into your life!