photo by noricum via Flickr

It’s Day 144 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Time for another crazy-long drive, seven and a half hours from Lumsden SK up north and just barely across the province border to the Big Island Drive In Theater a few kilometers south of Flin Flon MB.

The Big Island is the northernmost active drive-in. (I’ll leave the question of the northernmost closed drive-in as an exercise for the reader; leave a comment if you find one to beat the Big Island.) The Park Drive-In Theatre in Prince George BC is a close second.

The Big Island’s web site says that it “was created in 1957 by the Ernest family and operated into the 80’s before it changed hands into the Leefe and Eastman families and operated until 2015.” According to The Reminder of Flin Flon, Bill Leefe was converting to digital projection in June 2015. Then, according to the Big Island site, “Dawn and Dan Hlady purchased the drive in and went forward with the digital conversion.”

Boy, did I get lucky this time! The Big Island was showing movies Wednesday through Sunday already, so I had some entertainment. Even better, it was a movie I hadn’t seen yet, the “domestic thriller” Unforgettable. Fed by White Castle burgers from the concession stand, I was happy. And really far north.

Miles Today / Total:  430 / 17671 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: Unforgettable / 64

Nearby Restaurant: The Chicken Chef had me at “chicken”. It’s a regional chain, mostly in Manitoba. After a hard day of driving, I chose the standard four-piece dinner with poutine and onion rings. Add a grilled cinnamon bun for dessert, and you’ve got a large, solid meal.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The Oreland Motel doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it’s another one of those hidden gems, a mom and pop kind of place that’s as good as the chains. My room was clean and had a full kitchenette and decent wifi. The price was amazing.

Only in Flin Flon: Flin Flon sits just north of an irregular, about 1.25-mile east-west segment of the generally north-south border between Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There are also other such jogs at other points along that border. As explained in 2012 by The Globe and Mail, they’re “caused by adjustments in the land-survey grid for Western Canada, to compensate for the curvature of the Earth.” I could explain more, but you ought to just go read it.

Next stop: Twilite Drive In Theatre, Wolseley SK.

photo from the Midnight Movies Facebook page

It’s Day 143 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. Driving from Kyle SK, it only took about three hours to reach Lumsden, current home of the Moonlight Movies Drive-In Theater. That was a different location that I had planned for when I drew up this trip last fall.

Here’s a question I’ve explored before: What is a drive-in movie theater? There are a few factors, but the most relevant to Moonlight Movies is that you do not need a screen tower but you do need a fixed, “permanent” location. Last year, Moonlight Movies had a screen tower, but for the 2017 season, they’re doing fine in a park.

According to Cinema Treasures, the Jubilee Drive-In up the road in Manitou Beach was built in 1951. That site has a permanent outdoor screen and an indoor 24-seat theatre. For at least the past several years, the Moonlight Movies folks ran the Jubilee. Then in February, Global News reported that they had been unable to get their lease renewed at the Jubilee, so they found a new place to show movies, at the River Park Campground in Lumsden. Moonlight Movies co-owner Shawn Barrett told CTV Regina, “Honestly, it’s a match made in heaven. It’s awesome out there.” The theater company signed a two-year deal with Lumsden.

At this time of year, Moonlight Movies is active only on Fridays and Saturdays, leaving me out of luck on a Tuesday night.

Miles Today / Total:  188 / 17241 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 63

Nearby Restaurant: At the Lumsden Valley Restaurant, you’re supposed to order pizza, so I did. Mine was just the way I like it, with homemade crust, a heap of toppings, and next to a beer. Sometimes the simple things are best.

Where I Virtually Stayed: The place to stay in Lumsden is, of course, the Lumsden Hotel, or as they call it, the Lumsden Hotel & Steak Pit. I was just glad to have a roof over my head, a comfortable bed, decent wifi and cable TV, and a bathroom to myself.

Only in Lumsden: If you get here in July or August, you might be able to check out the Lumsden Historical Museum. It’s made up of five pioneer buildings, a modern machine shed, a livery stable and blacksmith shop. Four of the pioneer buildings – church, house, school and community hall – contain artifacts that depict early district history. “Of special interest are our Bill Ogilvie Memorial Lily Garden and Arnie Robinson’s John Deere tractor collection.”

Next stop: Big Island Drive In Theater, Flin Flon MB.

photo by Canada Good, from the Carload Flickr pool

It’s Day 142 of my virtual Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. I returned to Canada, driving almost seven hours (not counting the time waiting to cross at the border) almost due north from Billings MT to the Clearwater Drive-In Theater north of Kyle SK.

According to a YouTube video by Craig Baird, the Clearwater, named for nearby Clearwater Lake, opened in 1957. The original screen blew down in 1987. A post on BigDoer said the replacement screen came from “a closed drive-in found in another Saskatchewan town.”

(That BigDoer post includes a description of a typical night at the Clearwater, which happened to include a visit from the Northern Lights. And they have photos to prove it!)

Current owners Denise and Ken bought the place in 1988, upgraded to platters in 1999, then upgraded to digital projection in 2013.

At this time of year, the Clearwater is only open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays leaving me out of luck on a Monday night. But here’s that YouTube video to remind us what it looks like when it’s running.

Miles Today / Total:  417 / 17053 (rounded to the nearest mile)

Movie Showing / Total Active Nights: dark / 63

Nearby Restaurant: What do you expect at a place called Heidi’s Burger? Chinese food, of course. This humble little place on the main highway through town serves up some solid Shanghai noodles. There were a lot more items on the menu, but I can only eat so much at once.

Where I Virtually Stayed: There really isn’t a lot to choose from in remote Kyle, so I got a two-bedroom suite at the Kyle Hotel. It had a kitchen with a fridge and a microwave, and there’s a cafe on-site for breakfast. I was just glad to have a roof over my head and a bathroom all to myself.

Only in Kyle: On the north side of town in Kinsmen Park. there’s a 10-foot-high cement replica of a woolly mammoth. According to Big Things, the Monuments of Canada, “Wally” is a replica of the actual mammoth that was unearthed nearby in 1964 by a scraper blade during road construction. It was built in 1981 and restored in 2001.

Next stop: Moonlight Movies Drive-In Theater, Lumsden SK.