Saturday ; Virden to Portage La Prairie
Overcast and cool.
At last ! Our two week quarantine upon entry to Manitoba is over !
This morning and well into the afternoon we did errands in Virden before departing. Joanne did a lot of laundry in the one washer one dryer laundromat of Jay’s Inn, our home for the last two weeks. I shopped and prepared for departure. I bought some needed RV repair parts at Four Seasons RV, then installed them. I refilled a propane tank at the Co-op Fuel Bar, then bought a small amount of groceries in the Co-op Grocery Store. I had actually gone into the store to buy only one item, an advertised special, but by the time I found my way to the advertised special, I had selected three additional items. I shouldn’t be allowed to go shopping after being in quarantine for two weeks. HA HA HA !
After having a very late lunch we departed Jay’s Inn, and Virden, at 2:50 PM. We drove east on Trans-Canada Highway 1 about an hour to Brandon, where we found our way to Superstore for grocery replenishment. YIKES ! As we pulled into the Superstore parking lot we could see that it was crowded with vehicles and … <blink blink> … there was an incredibly long line-up of people waiting to enter the store. Manitoba had imposed new Covid restrictions for the long weekend ! It didn’t take much discussion between us (over our two way radios) to decide to forego the Superstore shopping.
Back to the highway we went, continuing east on TCH 1 about another hour or so to Portage La Prairie. We arrived in the parking lot of Wal-Mart at 5:30 PM. Joanne went into Wal-Mart to do some of our grocery replenishment, but not all. We/she will go to Superstore in Steinbach on Tuesday. I got in the minivan and drove a short distance to Canadian Tire to get a refund on one item and purchase a couple of other items.
Before supper we went for a long exercise walk. Where we are parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot is bracketed by two railroad tracks ; a CP track about 500 feet southeast of us, and a CN track about 500 feet north of us. Both lines have frequent train traffic, all blowing their whistles as they approach the level crossings. Welcome (back) to the Prairies ! For the last two weeks we endured frequent train whistles day and night while in Virden, although not as close as here in Portage La Prairie.
Sunday ; Portage La Prairie to Winnipeg
Overcast and cool.
Before leaving Portage La Prairie this morning we went for our regular morning long exercise walk, then pulled out of the Wal-Mart parking lot and drove across the highway to refill both vehicles with fuel at Co-op Fuel Bar. We found our way, with a lot of assistance from GPS, to the municipal sani-dump station behind the local arena. We dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater. It was difficult and complicated to find the sani-dump station due to construction and detours. And even more difficult and complicated to find our way out of town from there !
Forty years ago (!) in 1981, when I joined the Industrial Engineering department of the Midwest Division (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and N.W. Ontario) of Canada Post, shortly after it became a Crown Corporation, one of my first assignments was an operational audit of the Portage La Prairie Post Office. I spent two weeks in Portage La Prairie at that time. Like in many small towns, the Post Office was housed in a beautiful old brick government building that looked almost like a castle. When we drove through town today, I noticed that the beautiful old Post Office building was now … <sputter> … a Cannibis store ! HMPH !
We continued east on TCH 1, reaching the Perimeter Highway around Winnipeg around 1:30 PM. We found our way to the Wal-Mart in the Lindenwoods neighbourhood, our boondock home for tonight, and the Wal-Mart location nearest to the seller of the bedroom suite we recently purchased online. We had lunch, then phoned the seller of the bedroom suite to arrange for us to view it, and finalize the purchase. Driving only the minivan, we arrived at their home in Tuxedo (very nice !) at 2:30 PM, viewed the bedroom suite (very nice !) and completed the deal.
Or so I thought at the time ! ! ! ! !
Near their home was a Superstore, so … we returned to the Wal-Mart, I drove the truck and camper across the street from the Wal-Mart to the Canadian Tire parking lot, poached their free Wi-Fi, and got some online work done while Joanne went in the minivan back to Superstore to replenish groceries. She returned to the Canadian Tire when she was finished at Superstore, and we drove both vehicles back across the street to Wal-Mart again. We went for a lengthy exercise walk around the commercial and residential neighbourhoods before having a late supper.
WOO-HOO ! Fiddleheads with supper ! Joanne found and bought fresh Fiddleheads at Superstore. What a rare treat !
Monday ; Victoria Day holiday in Canada ; Winnipeg to Ste. Anne
After she tossed and turned and fretted about it overnight, Joanne advised me early this morning that she did not want the bedroom set. <sigh> How difficult it is for me to have to advise the seller that I am reneging on a deal reached. That’s not my style ! ! !
Sunny and warm today.
Before leaving the Wal-Mart parking lot this morning I drove in the minivan across the street to Canadian Tire and sent an e-mail message to the bedroom set owner advising her that I was reneging on the bedroom set purchase. T’was neither easy nor pleasant for me to do !
We returned to Winnipeg’s Perimeter Hwy. 101 and continued east then a bit north around the city. When we reached the continuation of Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 we continued east. On impulse, when we reached the turn-off to Hwy. 207 leading into Lorette (where my sister lives) I decided to go see the site of the seniors’ condo development that we had been waiting for over two years for construction to begin. The last notification that we received from this project (in February) was that construction was planned to commence in March or April of this year. When we arrived at the project site … there was nothing but mud … and songbirds. No construction equipment, no construction materials … just a lot of peace and quiet ! And muddy ground beside the Seine River.
I guess I knew that that was what we would find. Still … I’m disappointed.
From Lorette we continued down back roads to the tiny (non-existent ?) village of Landmark. To see a condominium building that caught my eye a few months ago when a unit in that building became available for sale. I liked the unit. Joanne … not so much. Seeing the building today, and its cramped entry driveway and parking area … I wasn’t impressed. We stopped in the village’s lovely municipal park to have lunch, and a nap for me.
From Landmark we continued east down country back roads until reaching Hwy. 12 near the town of Ste. Anne, just a short distance north of the city of Steinbach, soon to be our new home. A couple of km. north on Hwy. 12, then a couple of km. east on TCH 1, and we were at our home for the next week and a half, Lilac Resort. We checked in, found our site, got set up, and spent a couple of hours sitting in lawn chairs, enjoying the sunshine and warmth, and bleeding off the stress of arguing about the bedroom set.
We went for a long exercise walk around this large resort property before having supper.
Tuesday ; Steinbach at last !
Bitterly cold and windy. HMPH ! Welcome back to Manitoba !
Late this morning we drove about 15 km. / 9 miles south on Hwy. 12 into Steinbach and got our first look at our condominium building, and neighbourhood. We were very impressed with both. After slowly walking completely around the condo building and grounds twice we drove around the neighbourhood exploring until we got hungry, then returned home to the camper at Lilac Resort to have a very late lunch.
Wednesday ; errands in Steinbach and area
Sunny, but windy and cold, with temperatures below freezing overnight. SHEESH !
After an early lunch we left our “home” at Lilac Resort and headed toward Steinbach. We detoured off Hwy. 12 to visit the town of Ste. Anne. It was smaller than we thought it would be. Then we headed down back roads toward La Broquerie to visit it as well. HMPH ! Made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in … Steinbach. Oh, well, that was where we were supposed to be going anyway.
Our primary reason for heading into Steinbach today was a meeting with our lawyer to wrap up the condo purchase details. Before going to the meeting at the lawyer’s home based office on the edge of town I refilled the minivan with fuel and took it through the car wash at the Co-op Fuel Bar. Our 3:30 PM meeting with the lawyer took longer than expected, and we were a few minutes late for our 5 PM appointment to view a roll top desk for sale at a rural home between Steinbach and La Broquerie. HMPH ! Gravel road right after I had washed the car !
After viewing the roll top desk we returned to Steinbach. I dropped Joanne off at Superstore and I went to Penner Building Supplies to buy an item I needed. I returned to Superstore, waited for Joanne to finish grocery shopping … Manitoba currently restricts shopping to only one family member in a store … then we went to Canadian Tire to refill our five gallon water jug. It seems as if all Superstores have closed their reverse osmosis water refill machines due to Covid. We returned to Lilac Resort, arriving home hungry and tired at 7 PM. We went for our second long exercise walk of the day before putting groceries away and having a late supper after 8 PM.
Thursday ; Sunny and cool, but with freezing temperatures overnight AGAIN !
I had a lengthy telephone chat this afternoon with the real estate agent who handled the sale of our new seniors’ condominium suite. And I started the final section of rust repair on our minivan. I left the smallest and easiest section for last. I had done all the rest of the rust repair work while we were quarantined in Virden. BUT … this final, small, easy section turned out not to be so easy after all. I ground out all the rust, and discovered that the damage was worse than initially apparent. So … I need to buy some supplies, in order to do some fiberglass repair work. I had initially thought that this section would require only grinding, priming, and painting.
Friday ; After freezing temperatures overnight, today was sunny and mild.
WOO-HOO … we’re number one <sarcasm>! As of today … Manitoba is the Covid hotspot of North America, with the highest infection rate in Canada, United States, and Mexico. Isn’t that just ****ing wonderful ?!?!!!
Joanne went shopping by herself in Steinbach this afternoon. She was disappointed, and has concluded that we will be doing more of our shopping in Winnipeg than we had anticipated. While she was out shopping I flushed the mineral deposits out of the camper’s water heater, removing, inspecting, and cleaning the sacrificial anode plug, flushing the inside of the water heater with a high pressure flushing wand, then reinstalling the sacrificial anode. Another annual maintenance task done !
Saturday ; Sunny, cool, windy.
I had been planning to go to Canadian Tire in Steinbach today to buy some auto body supplies to continue working on rust repairs on the minivan. But … the weather made me lethargic, so … I didn’t. I worked online researching and arranging local Internet and cell phone service. And you know how much I hate Wi-Fi and cell phone service drama ! I did accomplish having our BC cell phone service discontinued and I obtained Manitoba cell phone service with a new Manitoba cell phone number. Hopefully I will pick up the Internet equipment I require on Monday at Kildonan Place while I am nearby picking up our U-Box at U-Haul on Regent.
DSK
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