Sunny and very hot.
We had a restful and productive day. In the morning I did some maintenance on the truck, including doing a 6000 km. inspection and a muffler repair. We trimmed Bo's and Emma's claws. After lunch I napped then went to the golf clubhouse to use Wi-Fi. Shortly after I arrived a pair of young men ( under thirty years of age ) arrived to play a round of golf starting at 4 PM. Before heading out onto the golf course, they each had a beer in the bar, where I was sitting working on my computer. While they drank their beer, they had the bartender put ice and ten more beer into a soft sided cooler for them to take onto the golf course with them. They returned at 5:15 PM, after playing four holes of golf ... to get ten more beer ! In an hour and a quarter, they had consumed a dozen beer between the two of them. And were obviously going to consume at least ten more ! At $6.60 per beer !
Now I understand why there are radio ads here in Saskatchewan sponsored by SGI
( I think that's Saskatchewan Government Insurance, and I think that is the province's auto insurer ) mentioning that Saskatchewan has the highest rate of impaired driving in Canada !
At 7:15 PM I started a campfire. I baked potatoes in foil, grilled Patty Pan Squash bought in Hay River, NWT, and a thick, juicy steak for supper. EXCELLENT !
As usual ! Well done AGAIN, Daniel ! We all enjoyed the warm evening, the campfire, cooking and eating supper.
AHHHHHH ... after a day of rest and no driving, life seems good !
Monday ; Tisdale, Saskatchewan to Birch River, Manitoba ; Happy 56th Birthday to my brother Russell
Sunny and hot.
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at the sani-dump station in the Tisdale Lions RV Campground then drove into town to replenish groceries at the Co-op store. After grocery shopping we continued heading east on Hwy. 3. We had lunch and I napped briefly at a roadside rest area. When we crossed into Manitoba the highway number changed to Hwy. 77. At Hwy. 10 we turned north, the wrong direction, to travel about 25 km. / 16 miles to a wayside park on Dawson Bay of Lake Winnipegosis. We checked out the little wayside park, but did not like it enough to stay for the night. Bo walked into Dawson Bay on Lake Winnipegosis to have a drink of water. < rolling my eyes >
We drove south on Hwy. 10 from there to the village of Birch River, and stopped at another little wayside park there. We liked Primrose Wayside Park and decided to stay overnight. While I lit a campfire ... ( WOO-HOO ... free firewood ! ) ... Joanne prepared a foil wrapped package of meat loaf containing ground beef, onions, scapes, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, ketchup, and Cajun seasoning. I cooked it on the open fire. EXCELLENT !
After supper we went for a walk with Bo, picked some mushrooms to identify, then spent the rest of the evening relaxing around the campfire.
Tuesday ; Birch River to Dauphin, Manitoba
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we left Primrose Wayside Campground at Birch River and continued southbound on Hwy. 10. At Swan River we refilled our freshwater tank at the Visitor Information Centre then refilled with diesel at the Co-op Fuel Bar. We had lunch at a nice picnic area in town. Hwy. 10 headed east from Swan River and we followed it until it turned south again at Cowan, then we turned east on Hwy. 20. Joanne wanted to take the "scenic route" to see the town of Winnipegosis at the south end of Lake Winnipegosis. Hwy. 20 east from Cowan to Camperville, then south along the shoreline of Sagemace Bay on Lake Winnipegosis was a terrible road ! Obviously that is not the main route to and from Winnipegosis ! When we arrived at the town of Winnipegosis we drove around the town and stopped at a beach access park where Bo and I waded into Lake Winnipegosis. We continued southbound on Hwy. 20 which was a much better road south of Winnipegosis until we reached Dauphin.
At Dauphin we found our way to Market Place Mall which includes Wal-Mart, our boondocking spot tonight. While Joanne went shopping to Wal-Mart and Safeway
I napped briefly then went into the mall to find a Wi-Fi signal to get some online work done. While Joanne prepared supper in the camper I went into the PET VALU store in the mall to see what a PET VALU store of 2017 looks like. Yes, yes ... very different than our four PET VALU stores in Ottawa in the 1990's.
Our initial travel plan brought us to Dauphin three days from now, at the beginning of Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival. BUT ... we “skipped” Meadow Lake Provincial Park and Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan, so we’re a few days ahead of our plan. Oh, well ... onwards to Winnipeg !
Late in the evening I received a phone call from our friend David, still in Alaska with his wife Linda and their friend Jackie. He was calling to discuss their return trip plans to visit us in about a month.
Wednesday ; Dauphin to Eriksdale, Manitoba
Cloudy and mild, sky clearing in the evening.
This morning I returned a phone call to a Similkameen Trailer Towing client, then we left the Wal-Mart parking lot and drove across the street to the Co-op Fuel Bar. We dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank at their sani-dump station, then refilled Lanoire with diesel. We headed south out of Dauphin on
Hwy. 5 & 10. A few miles south of Dauphin Hwy. 10 continued south and Hwy. 5 turned east. We followed Hwy. 5 east until it turned south again at Ste. Rose du Lac where we continued east on Hwy. 68. We took this route because Joanne wanted to see Lake Manitoba Narrows, the narrowest part of Lake Manitoba, and the only place to cross Lake Manitoba by bridge.
Well ... Lake Manitoba Narrows is pretty much the same as it was the one and only time I was here before ... about forty to forty-five years ago. I was here for a Walleye fishing derby with my father and my brother-in-law. I won second prize for Perch, a lovely fishing tackle box. Which I had until a couple of months ago, when I "downsized" my fishing tackle box specifically for this trip. At that time, and still today, Lake Manitoba Narrows is comprised of a scruffy fishing lodge / motel / bar / restaurant, a seasonal campground, and a small cottage development. As well as the bridge over the "Narrows". We stopped here to have lunch.
After lunch we continued east and south and east again on Hwy. 68 until it reached Hwy, 6. We drove south on Hwy. 6 a short distance until reaching Eriksdale. We stopped here for the night in McEwen Park, a municipal campground that we have stayed at before, on our trip to Churchill a couple of years ago. Joanne phoned her sister in Winnipeg to tell her that we will be arriving tomorrow. We walked leisurely around the campground with Bo off leash, and Emma on a leash. Bo was able to be off leash because we had the small, ten site campground all to ourselves. Emma had another "au naturel" outdoor pee. HA HA HA ! She's becoming quite a wilderness camping cat ! I lit a campfire, almost certainly our last of this trip, and cooked foil wrapped packages of sausages, onions, carrots, potatoes, scapes, and zucchini. As usual, another excellent campfire meal.
Thursday ; Eriksdale to Winnipeg, Manitoba
Sunny and warm.
This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks at the sani-dump station in Eriksdale's McEwen Park then drove next door to the town's fairgrounds to refill our freshwater tank using a water spigot Joanne found last night beside the bleachers. Then we continued southbound on Hwy. 6 towards Winnipeg. When Hwy. 6 ended at Winnipeg's Perimeter Hwy. 101 we followed the Perimeter Hwy. around Winnipeg's west and south sides. As we passed by the road to LaBarriere Park Joanne suggested we go there to have lunch. Okay !
When we were newlyweds, more than forty-two years ago, we used to go to LaBarriere Park to go canoeing on the LaSalle River. One of our first purchases as newlyweds was a fourteen foot, yellow fiberglass canoe we named "Misty Too". Our dog at that time was named Misty.
We had lunch at LaBarriere Park then returned to the Perimeter Highway to continue around the south side of the city of Winnipeg. At St. Anne's Road we turned into the city and went to Superstore to buy groceries and refill with diesel. From there we drove to Joanne's sister's home, arriving at 4:15 PM. Lorraine arrived home from work about half an hour later. We spent the evening visiting with Lorraine. We took her two dogs and our Bo for a walk on nearby Churchill Drive alongside the Red River. We made and ate supper. I worked online while Joanne and Lorraine visited. Her two
daughters / Joanne's two nieces arrived back home late in the evening and we visited with them briefly before returning to our camper parked on the street in front of their house, our "boondocking" spot for the next few nights.
Friday ; Winnipeg, Manitoba
Sunny and warm.
We spent most of the day inside Lorraine's house, me working on the computer, Joanne working on laundry. I did a lot of online work, including my priority, purchasing travel medical insurance for our winter travel to the south. It was more complicated than it has been in the past. This year I switched to a medical insurance company I have not used before. Their application procedures were more complicated than our previous insurers. And it is likely that this will be the company / medical insurer we will use from this point forward, for a variety of reasons related to age and pre-existing conditions.
In addition to doing laundry, Joanne prepared a picnic dinner for us for tonight. After Lorraine returned home from work she took us in her car to Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg's very large municipal park, where we had a lovely picnic supper of roasted chicken ( which was cooking slowly all day in Lorraine's slow cooker ) and Joanne's wonderful potato salad. After our picnic supper we attended a double feature, free, outdoor movies in the park, held each Friday evening in August in Assiniboine Park. First movie was the animated "SING". It was GREAT ! Second movie was the musical "LA LA LAND". Yeah, well ... not so great. Overall, it was a wonderful summer evening outing, and ... thank you, Lorraine, for planning and treating us to this outing.
Saturday ; Winnipeg, Manitoba
Sunny and warm.
This morning Lorraine prepared omelettes for us for breakfast, then she and Joanne left in Lorraine's car to go to a Farmer's Market in St. Norbert, a northern suburb of Winnipeg. I stayed "home" to do some chores, including tending to Bo's injured toe. Not sure if his injured toe is an insect bite or if his toe got stepped on, but ... he has been giving it so much licking attention that it is now raw and oozing pus. I also had to write yesterday's journal entry. We arrived back home so late that I did not do it last night.
The Canada Summer Games are being held in Winnipeg this week. And every evening there is a Canada Summer Games Music Festival at The Forks. Each evening features musical performers from a different province of Canada. Tonight was British Columbia night. So ... at 4:30 PM we left in Lorraine's car to attend the music festival. First performer we saw was Mariachi Ghost, a very unusual Mexican Canadian group. They were great ! I was disinterested in the next performer so while Joanne and Lorraine watched her I went browsing through the many vendors' and exhibitors' booths and displays.
We had supper at the food truck area. Lorraine had Pickerel Tacos. Joanne had some kind of African stew. I had ... wait for it ... Newfie Poutine. HA HA HA ... I ... AM ... A ... PROUD CANADIAN ! ! !
After supper we returned to the main stage to watch a Cuban Canadian group from Smithers ( BC of course ) called Alex Cuba. Another excellent performer /
performance ! Last group of the evening was Canadian rock icons from the 1980's ... LOVERBOY ! Pretty hard rocking group ... for a bunch of old guys ! After their performance the evening ended with fireworks.
Once again ... thank you, Lorraine ... for another wonderful evening outing !
DSK
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