I'm going to start out with just some facts about the province, since I've pretty much lived everywhere here
Saskatchewan covers an area of 588,276.09 square kilometres (227,134.67 sq mi). It has over 100,000 lakes. Yeah, really
Anywhere you live, there's a lake or two nearby. In the small town where I grew up, there were 2 lakes within 20 minutes, and another 2 within about 40 minutes of my parents' house. We had a cabin at one and we could just head out after work or school and spend the evening out there. Saskatchewan is named for the cree word kisiskāciwani-sīpiy which means "swift-flowing river" That refers to the Saskatchewan River, which spans across the whole province, and into Manitoba and Alberta. The north of the province is covered in boreal forest, and the rest of the province is pretty much flat farmland. It's a joke around here that in Saskatchewan you can watch your dog run away for days
Temperatures here can go from -55 C in the winter to 40 C in the summer (-67 F to 104 F). We produce more than 54% of Canada's wheat for export. Wascana Park in Regina (our capital) is almost 4 times larger than Central Park in NYC.
There's a lot of history that my family was involved in here in the prairies but it's probably more interesting to me than to you guys
One of my ancestors was a land suveyor and surveyed one of the first settlements in the prairies, the Red River Settlement in Manitoba. Another of my ancestors was good friends with Louis Riel who was a huge player in Saskatchewan's history, for whom the Riel Rebellion was named for. During the rebellion, he was grazed on the head with an arrow, and after that always wore his hat cocked to one side to cover the scar
Now for my city, Saskatoon! It's the largest city in the province, with a population of over 233,000. It's known as Bridge City (with 7 bridges spanning the Saskatchewan river, which runs through the middle of the city), Toon Town, or The Paris of the Prairies. Saskatoon is named after the saskatoon berry, which is very prominent around here. Everywhere you go, there's saskatoon berry jam, saskatoon berry pie, saskatoon berry salad, anything you can make with them is made!
We are home to the University of Saskatchewan, where I attended for 2 years. There is a ton of great research that goes on at the university. We have the synchrotron (The Canadian Light Source) which I believe is the only of its kind in North America. It basically splits atoms. It was a $179 million project, but I hear it works great
Queen Elizabeth got the key to the city after visiting last in 2005. Prince Charles was here in 2001 and I think that's it for recent royalty visits.
In 1982 this guy tried to buy the St Louis Blues (hockey) and bring them to Saskatoon, but the NHL prevented it, saying Saskatoon was too small. However, we can still lay claim to Gordie Howe, who is one of the best hockey players ever
There are a whole bunch of Saskatonians who have and do play in the NHL. Hockey is pretty much a big deal out here
We also have had a few Olympic gold medalists. John Deifenbaker, former Prime Minister, came from Saskatoon.
Here's some pictures!
Saskatoon at night:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...line_Night.jpg
The U of S.. all the buildings look like this. It's the most gorgeous campus I've ever seen. This building in particular... well I happened to pass out while working on a chem lab in the basement... 911 was called and there was an ambulance and everything!
just a little side story haha
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...horvaldson.JPG
Here's the Bezz... fully known as the Delta Bessborough. Probably the classiest place to stay in the city. I know I could never afford it!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ugh_rear_2.jpg
Another cool night picture:
http://www.tourismsaskatoon.com/gallery/images/60.jpg
And here's a pretty winter picture:
http://www.tourismsaskatoon.com/gallery/images/74.jpg
Have I written enough of a novel yet? Okay I'm done now