Souris has Canada’s longest swinging bridge at 184m in length which was opened to the public on August 17, 2013. It capacity is listed as “approximately 74,843kg (165,000lbs) – equivalent to 925 white tailed deer” on the plaque next to the bridge. We wonder if the white-tailed deer is an ISO standard.

The previous bridge was washed out by flooding a few years earlier, but a small remanent remains.

Adjacent to the bridge is the Hillcrest Museum (“The Castle on the Prairies”), built in 1910 commissioned by Fred Sowden, the son of the founder of the town Souris. He built the first bridge so that he could walk over to his property on the other side of the river.

The museum has many historical artifacts and, can you believe it, 5000 preserved butterflies from all over the world.

Here are a few of the unique artifacts. The first is an early vacuum cleaner that requires a small child to operate:

There was also a Wanzer sewing machine. The Wanzer Sewing Machine Company had its factory in Hamilton, Ontario from 1860-1891, initially starting out making Singer machines and later developing their own models.

Another interesting artifact was an egg scale.

The butterfly collection is quite something to see and it occupies an entire room.

After the museum we were hungry and went to the Woodfire Deli where we had a wonderful pizza and a Caesar salad.

The last stop in Souris was Lagasse’s Studio of Fine Art. This gallery features work from area artists and also offers workshops and lessons. We got a quick demonstration on making alcohol ink coasters. Ruth is all excited about trying it herself!

Souris advertises free ranging peacocks but we didn’t see any. Maybe this was good because we heard rumours that the last batch had started nipping tourists.

After Souris, we headed up to the Trans-Canada highway and drove into Saskatchewan where we are spending the night at the Indian Head Campground. This campground had been recommended by a fellow traveller who raved about its fabulous washroom facilities. As you can see it even has a tub with clawed feet, complete with a sign that says anyone caught washing their pet in there will be immediately expelled from the campground.