Saskatchewan
Kristen and I just got back from Northern Saskatchewan. If you've never been, see if you have a friend who's from there and get them to take you. I suppose you can go on your own, but towns in Saskatchewan are generally pretty small and far between. The towns often consist of a grain elevator near the one block of downtown and some houses. Mostly, it's all about the farms, and the towns are where you go for some writing paper and aspirin. Or you're retired from the farming scene and want to live where you'll have company the a good chat over every day. Anyway, it's not like there are tourist information centers and so on, so having someone take you who can introduce you to everyone they know is pretty nice.
I loved the TV show Northern Exposure, in a large part because I loved the idea of a little town where Ruth-Anne the shopkeeper can, on an off day, hop onto Chris the radio DJ's motorcycle and drive off, leaving Chris not furious that some old lady stole his bike, but instead simply wondering where Ruth-Anne's taking off to. I didn't quite get the feeling that one could take off on anyone else's bike or anything like that, but then I did get the feeling that everyone knows everyone else in that same sort of way.
For whatever reason, our rental car turned out to be a Mustang convertible, because the other cars were in demand, and we didn't exactly mind the idea of driving top-down. We took full advantage of the view. The scenery is vast, because Saskatchewan may very well be the flattest place on Earth. The best part was that in some places it smells like breakfast; probably the crops. There are farms everywhere, and scenery changes slowly—think Philip Glass.
I also saw some farm equipment that makes heavy contruction equipment look wimpy. It's insane how massive the meachinery is. I might have to return for the harvest, so I can drive one of these things.