Partially sunny, mild, raining at Cranbrook in the evening.
This morning we left the Rock Creek Fall Fair and continued east on Hwy. 3. At Grand Forks we refilled with diesel at the Extra Foods Fuel Bar then drove to the municipal sani-dump station behind the arena and curling rink to dump our waste holding tanks and refill our freshwater holding tank. From there we drove to downtown Grand Forks and parked near the Russian restaurant where we wanted to have a bowl of their famous borscht for lunch.
WHAT ? ! ? CLOSED ON SUNDAY ? ! ? Shit ! We left Grand Forks and continued east on Hwy. 3, planning to stop at Christina Lake for lunch. As we approached Christina Lake I saw a road sign indicating that we were only about an hour away from Castlegar. MMMMM ... Castlegar ! With the Doukhobor Museum ! That has the wonderful Doukhobor restaurant ! That serves that wonderful borscht ! AND ... varenyky ( Russian version of perogies ) swimming in melted butter ! ! ! MMMMM ! ! !
I suggested to Joanne that I could easily wait another hour for lunch if it meant I could eat at the Doukhobor Museum Restaurant ! She concurred. WOO-HOO !
When we arrived at Castlegar, and found our way to the Doukhobor Museum Restaurant ... WHAT ? ! ? CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS ? ! ? SHIT ! ! ! ! ! We parked on the museum grounds and had a late lunch in the camper.
As Joanne was preparing lunch I took Bo for a walk. Underneath a windbreak of decorative Norway Spruce trees I found some LBM’s ... little brown mushrooms. My wild mushroom identification book cautions very strongly against picking and eating LBM’s if they can’t be positively identified. I picked one mushroom and while eating lunch in the camper I pored over my wild mushroom identification book.
WHAT ? ! ? KING BOLETES ? ! ? a.k.a. PORCINIS ? ! ? To quote the book ... “one of the five most highly esteemed mushrooms in the world” ! < blink blink > Am I certain of my identification ? I read that section of the book again and again. I read it out loud to Joanne. She concurred. We “tested” as indicated. We compared to the pictures. The locale, trees, ground cover, time of year were all correct. Okay ! Let’s pick some and cook ‘em ! We took Bo for a fun obedience / hide and seek session, searching for more mushrooms under the trees, in the mossy ground covered by spruce needles as we played with Bo.
We continued east on Hwy. 3. Shortly before reaching Cranbrook we took a short detour to check out a B.C. Forest Service Recreation Site wilderness campground as a potential overnight boondock spot. It wasn’t suitable ! We continued on to Cranbrook where we parked overnight in the Superstore parking lot. We arrived minutes before darkness and the rain began. Joanne easily peeled the slightly slimy skin off the caps of the mushrooms, as instructed in the wild mushroom identification book, sliced them, seasoned them, and sautéed them, serving them with our supper of Lazy Cabbage Rolls. Which was appropriate, since the book said that King Boletes go very well with grain or rice dishes.
They were excellent ! I am typing this a couple of hours after supper, and neither of us is sick. Yet ! Wish us luck ! ! !
Sunny and warm in B.C., sunny and cold in Alberta. Is Alberta always cold ?
Taber, Alberta ! Tagline should be ; "Taber ... Nothin' but losers and Hutterites" HA HA HA ! Did I just say that out loud ? Hopefully nobody from Taber will ever read my blog ! Why would they ? I use sentences with more than five words ! HA HA HA HA HA ! Oh, Dan ... you have to stop now ! HA HA HA ... Joanne just looked out the window at the Wal-Mart parking lot, noticed that we're the only RV here, and asked ; "So ... Taber is so "low brow" that even RV'ers won't stop here ?" HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! See ! It's not just me ! Now ... a few minutes later ... Joanne has gone out to the truck cab to put away her sunglasses and noticed ... a pickup truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot sporting a Confederate flag ! ! ! SEE ! I'm tellin' ya !
Last night while parked in the Superstore parking lot in Cranbrook, B.C. I was able to connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi signal. YIPPEE ! I had some online work to do so this morning I fired up our little generator and spent an hour or so doing online work, including e-mail and some banking and posting last week's blog entry. While I did that Joanne went shopping to Superstore and Dollar Tree. We refilled with diesel at the Superstore Fuel Bar, then drove to the municipal sani-dump station behind the Chamber of Commerce where we dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank. So ... by the time we left Cranbrook it was already 1 PM.
It was a long, tiring day of driving through the Canadian Rockies. As we came through the Crowsnest Pass from British Columbia into Alberta, and passed through the little town of Blairmore, I couldn't help but think of the little two year old girl murdered there less than a week ago, abducted after her young father was killed. Today was likely the funeral day for both of them.
Shortly after the Crowsnest Pass the Rocky Mountains ended and Alberta's ranch lands began. Our objective for today was to make it to Medicine Hat, but due to our late start from Cranbrook we didn't make it.
AND ... more than twenty-four hours after our "Great Mushroom Adventure" we feel fine. No ill effects whatsoever. SO ... my identification of those mushrooms as King Boletes / Porcinis was obviously correct. We picked and cooked so many that we ate them again as leftovers at lunch time today. They were even good cold !
Tuesday ; Taber, Alberta to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Sunny ! Windy all day, cool in the morning, mild in the afternoon, COLD in the evening !
Before leaving the Taber, Alberta Wal-Mart parking lot this morning we pulled over to the Co-op Fuel bar to refill with diesel. At every fuel station I have been to, in three countries, where there are multiple fuel "islands", only the "outer" two islands have diesel pumps. In Taber, Alberta, every one of the half dozen or so islands had diesel. HA HA HA ... interesting demographic !
After refilling with diesel we continued eastbound on Hwy. 3. At Medicine Hat we merged onto Trans-Canada Hwy. 1. On the east side of Medicine Hat we stopped at a large RV dealer where I bought a new water pump for the truck camper. At the Alberta / Saskatchewan border we stopped at the ( closed for the season ! ) Alberta Tourist Information Centre. We dumped our grey ( shower ) waste holding tank at the
sani-dump station ... which had no freshwater available ! We had lunch in the parking lot. I played with Bo in the children's playground. He still loves children's slides. HA HA HA ! A local woman drove in to allow her three Jack Russell Terriers to romp around the park and playground area. WOO-HOO ... a dog party ! Bo LOOOOOVES dog parties !
After lunch, and crossing from Alberta to Saskatchewan, we stopped in the town of Gull Lake to refill our freshwater holding tank. And we drove, and drove, and drove ... I'm already tired of driving across the prairies ! We stopped to refill with diesel again in Swift Current. All day we were battling very strong crosswinds ... 30 km./hr. ( 20 MPH ) gusting to 50 km./hr. ( 30 MPH ) ... and as a result our gas mileage was poor. Just as it became dark we stopped for the night at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Moose Jaw.
Wednesday ; Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to Brandon, Manitoba
The forecast was for sunny, warm, light wind. The forecast was wrong ! Today was the same as yesterday ; cloudy, cold, very windy. All day long I was wrestling a strong, gusting crosswind on the highway.
I felt quite ill for most of today with a flare-up of colitis.
We left the Wal-Mart parking lot in Moose Jaw this morning and continued eastward on TCH 1. We stopped at Superstore in Regina to refill with diesel and buy some groceries. We stopped at Grenfell to have lunch, refill our freshwater holding tank, and dump our waste holding tanks at the municipal campground. I felt so ill I had to snooze for about half an hour. We crossed from Saskatchewan into Manitoba and the Central Time Zone. I think Saskatchewan is also the Central Time Zone but while Saskatchewan stays on standard time Manitoba observes daylight savings time. With my short snooze and a change of time zone we didn't arrive in Brandon until 7:30 PM, at dusk. We found our way to Wal-Mart and while Joanne went into the store to refill our five gallon water jug I worked on getting the TV set up to watch the Amazing Race finale. I plugged the TV into the camper's new inverter, raised the roof top antenna, and was able to find a very weak CTV "over the air" signal, with just a few minutes to spare before the show started. Well done, Daniel !
By the time the show had ended ( Congratulations to Gino and Jesse on winning Amazing Race Canada ) and we had a late, light supper, I was beginning to feel less ill than I had for most of the day.
Thursday ; Brandon to Winnipeg, Manitoba
Thick low overcast cloudy ... mild.
This morning we pulled out of the Brandon Wal-Mart and ... drove across the street to the Riverfront Discovery Centre on the banks of the Assiniboine River, sort of a river science museum and city park combined. And the location of Brandon's municipal
sani-dump station. We dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled our freshwater holding tank, then played with Bo, doing some Bo-gility at the children's playground. We drove across the street again and refilled with diesel at the Safeway Fuel Bar. It was noon by the time we got back onto the highway.
We continued eastbound on Trans-Canada Highway 1. We stopped at the large shopping mall in Portage La Prairie to have lunch. When my colitis is flared, eating makes me feel ill, so after lunch I wanted to nap briefly. Joanne went shopping to the PET VALU store in the mall. That's the chain of pet food and supply stores that we owned four locations in Ottawa over fourteen years. WOO-HOO ... WUBBA ! She came back to the camper with a new WUBBA for Bo, a dog toy that he has, and that we have not been able to find a new one. Bo was very happy to have a new WUBBA !
We continued eastbound on TCH 1 towards Winnipeg. The final leg of this journey ! Just before reaching Winnipeg, we turned south onto a gravel road and followed it until it reached the village of Starbuck on Hwy. 2. There we found our way to Bridges Golf Course, the locale for my niece's wedding on Saturday. We wanted to be certain of where it was. From there we drove east on Hwy. 2 until it reached Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway 100, then east on Perimeter Highway 100 until we turned north into the city on Pembina Highway. We arrived at Joanne's sister's house about 5:30 PM.
We had dinner with Joanne's sister, her two teenage daughters and her relatively new boyfriend, whom we had not met before. And I met Sophie, the senior aged dog that Joanne's sister's family adopted a few years ago. Bo very quickly accepted being part of a pack with Macie the Bichon Frise and Sophie the Miniature Poodle. Good thing because he will be staying here while Joanne and I go to Churchill.
Friday ; Sunny and warm, a bit humid, a pretty nice fall day. Hope tomorrow is as nice a day for my niece's wedding.
Today was a day of "catch up" chores and errands. Seated at Lorraine's dining room table, with access to "big city" fast Wi-Fi, I did a lot of work on my computer. Joanne did laundry. She walked a few blocks to Safeway to buy some groceries. We took the three dogs for a long walk on the Churchill Drive waterfront walkway / parkway beside the Red River. Churchill Drive is the next street over from Lorraine's street. How nice to have such a lovely riverside parkway so nearby.
Joanne prepared supper for us and her nieces. Lorraine was not home tonight. She had to attend a Winnipeg Blue Bombers football game where her employer ( the University of Manitoba ) was conducting a fund raiser event at the football game's half time.
Saturday ; my niece Andrea's wedding day
Today was sunny and very warm, albeit windy. A pretty decent day for a fall wedding !
We visited with Joanne's sister and her daughters until mid-afternoon when it was time to head for the wedding venue, a golf course banquet facility near the small village of Starbuck, just a bit to the northwest of Winnipeg. The wedding was at 4:15 PM, followed by a cocktail reception for a couple of hours, then dinner and dancing until the wee hours. Everything went well ! The bride ( my niece ) and groom were pleased with the event ... which is all that really matters. My brother-in-law's speech to the bride / his daughter brought tears to many eyes. We visited with family members that we haven't seen in many years, including cousins, my brother, his wife, and two children.
Around midnight we left the wedding which was still partying strongly, drove back to Winnipeg, and found our way to a Wal-Mart parking lot to spend overnight. We did not want to return to park in front of Joanne's sister's home, waking up the entire neighbourhood at 1 AM with our loud diesel truck.
DSK
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