July 24 to 30, 2022 ; Clearwater Provincial Park to Dauphin, Manitoba

 Sunday ; Clearwater Provincial Park to The Pas to Benito

Sunny and warm. The day didn’t go particularly well. But … while it was a frustrating day of many problems, nothing was insurmountable nor too serious.

This morning we went for a long walk then dumped our waste tanks and refilled our freshwater tank before departing Campers Cove Campground in Clearwater Provincial Park. While doing my regular pre-departure preventive maintenance inspections I discovered ;

• the passenger side rear inside dually tire was flat !

• The new “house” battery in the camper was dead !

While Joanne was refilling the freshwater tank I inspected the flat tire and concluded that the problem was probably the valve extender, possibly the valve stem which is screw mounted into the steel wheel. I decided to drive to The Pas and let a tire shop deal with the problem. It’s extremely difficult for me to remove the spare tire from underneath the truck, and change a flat tire on the truck, when the 4500 pound camper is mounted on its “back”. It’s possible to drive a short distance on a good road at a relatively slow speed with one dually tire flat. <thinking> He hopes !

We drove the 30 km. / 20 miles south on Hwy. 10 to The Pas. First stop was Mobil Fuels to refill the truck with diesel. While there I got directions to the downtown laundromat and the two tire shops in town, located beside one another. We drove downtown and before finding the laundromat we found the municipal park with a sani-dump station and what was at one time the town’s municipal campground, although it is no longer in use. Still, it looked like a good spot to boondock overnight should that become necessary.

While Joanne did laundry I used the laundromat’s free Wi-Fi to get some online work done, paying bills and posting my blog entry. The laundromat’s TV was on CBC, with live coverage of the Pope’s arrival in Edmonton. All of the patrons in the laundromat … except us … were glued to the TV screen. <whispering> We were the only white folks in the laundromat. Perhaps the only white folks in the entire city of The Pas !

While parked on the street in front of the laundromat I did some diagnostic work on the camper’s new/dead battery and discovered two more blown fuses, one in the truck’s fuse box and one inside the camper’s “house” battery wiring. I replaced the blown fuse in the truck with my last spare fuse of that size, but did not have the correct inline fuse for the camper battery’s wiring.

We drove to the two tire shops. <sigh> Both closed on Sundays. While driving around downtown we found Ace Hardware. I went inside to see if they had automotive fuses. They did, but not the correct sizes for the camper battery wiring nor the inverter. I bought “close enough” fuses to use temporarily, so that the camper battery will recharge properly from the truck’s alternator when the truck engine is running, and so that I can temporarily repair and reinstall the inverter.

We drove back to the waterfront municipal park and parked in an old campsite in the no longer used campground. At least I was parked on grass and could work on the truck’s flat tire without having to get dirty working on dirt, gravel, or pavement. We had a very late lunch then I began working on the flat tire. I removed the wheel liner and hub cap and was able to see and reach the inner tire’s valve stem. I concluded that the screwed in valve stem seemed okay, and that the valve extender was likely the problem. Of course, I have spares ! Now I needed to put air in the flat tire to determine if I had solved the problem. Before we could leave the municipal park we were approached by an … <ahem> … “inebriated Indigenous” man trying to bum a cigarette.

We drove back to the two tire shops. Neither of them had left an air hose outside. We drove around town checking gas stations for an air hose. We found one at a car wash. I refilled the flat tire with air, and it seemed okay. We decided to leave town and continue our day’s planned journey.

We left The Pas around 4:30 PM and continued south on Hwy. 10. We stopped at a rest area at Red Deer River and I fished briefly. We continued to our destination for tonight, Primrose Wayside Campground. We did not like it, so … Plan B ! We continued all the way to the little town of Benito where there is a free municipal campground. We didn’t arrive there until after 7 PM. I was too tired to make a campfire, so while Joanne prepared supper in the camper I continued working on the camper’s new/dead battery problem. I replaced the blown fuse in the battery wiring, and used a multi-meter to ensure correct current flows and voltages. All seemed well ! I hope ! Wish me luck !

After supper we went for a long walk around town. Benito is a quiet and pretty little farming community. Today’s travels took us from the rugged forest wilderness of the north to the manicured agricultural fields of western Manitoba.

Monday ; Benito to Child’s Lake Campground in Duck Mountain Provincial Park

Overcast, mild, constant light rain from lunch time to dinner time. Horrific mosquitoes !

This morning I checked the truck tires’ air pressures, reassuring myself that the valve extender I replaced yesterday had been the problem. I reinstalled the wheel liner and hub cap. Flat tire problem resolved ! We went for a long walk around Benito’s municipal park neighbourhood, dumped our waste holding tanks at the dump station behind the town’s arena (home of the 1983 and 1990 Men’s World Curling Champion, Ed “The Wrench” Werenich), and left Benito around 11 AM, heading south on Hwy. 83. About halfway to Roblin we turned east on Hwy. 367, a gravel road leading into and through Duck Mountain Provincial Park. We reached Child’s Lake, the first of Duck Mountain’s four campgrounds by about 12:30 PM. We checked in, drove through the campground, returned to the office to register and pay, refilled our freshwater tank, settled into our chosen campsite, and prepared lunch. By the time we were finished lunch it was raining, and continued to rain until supper time.

Oh, well … might as well nap. HA HA HA ! After napping I spent the rest of the afternoon on the inverter repair project. I replaced the two blown fuses inside the inverter, reassembled it, tested it, rewired it and reinstalled it inside the kitchen cupboard, then went outside (in the rain !) to reconnect the inverter’s power input cables to the “house” battery. I checked the two other fuses I replaced yesterday to confirm that all was well ; an inline fuse in the camper battery’s wiring, and the “trailer battery” charging fuse in the truck’s fuse panel.

Dead new battery problem solved.

Dead inverter problem solved.

Finally it stopped raining. Joanne was napping, so I went for a long walk by myself, then prepared supper … indoors.

Tuesday ; Child’s Lake to Wellman Lake

Mix of sun and clouds, warm, intermittent, brief, light rain throughout the day.

HMPH ! Spoke too soon yesterday. Tire flat again this morning ! ! !

This morning while preparing to leave Child’s Lake at noon I discovered the passenger side rear inside dually tire was flat. AGAIN ! Inspection revealed that the valve extender was loose and wobbly. BECAUSE … (insert drum roll here) … the loose fitting (due to age / wear & tear) wheel liner was rattling/vibrating against the valve extender, causing it to vibrate on the valve stem, causing the threads on the valve stem to slowly become worn/stripped. SO … while the new valve extender seems okay, the valve stem’s threads were so worn/stripped that it will need to be replaced. AND … the loose fitting wheel liner is headed to the garbage !

<sigh> The only solution, for here and now, was to remove the inside rear dually tire with the stripped threads valve stem, and install the spare tire. Back home in Steinbach I will have the stripped threads valve stem replaced. In the meantime, that tire will hold air, it just can’t have a valve extender installed on it. SO … it will be fine as the spare … for now.

<sigh> It took me two hours to change the tire, a near impossible task with the camper on the truck. And I’m not getting any younger ! Nor am I getting any more nimble ! ! ! Nor stronger ! ! ! <sigh > And the intermittent rain didn’t make the job any easier or more pleasant ! ! !

We had lunch, dumped the waste holding tanks, refilled the freshwater tank, and departed Child’s Lake Campground around 3 PM. We headed east on Hwy. 367. I stopped at Beautiful Lake and fished for half an hour. I didn’t catch anything, but I had an interesting and pleasant chat with the family sharing the fishing dock with me ; a young couple with two small children, all speaking a mixture of English and Spanish. SO … I broke the ice by speaking Spanish to them. They currently live in Brandon, having immigrated from Columbia fourteen years ago.

Continuing east on Hwy. 367, we turned north on Hwy. 366 at Blue Lakes. I stopped at Blue Lakes Resort and used their air compressor to refill the flat tire with air, another very difficult job because earlier I had nowhere to put the flat tire except back into the spare tire mounting position underneath the truck. I had to crawl underneath the truck AGAIN to put air in the tire. <sigh>

On the way north to Wellman Lake I stopped again to fish for half an hour, this time at Two Mile Lake, and used my fly fishing gear to fish for Rainbow Trout. No luck !

We arrived at Wellman Lake Campground around 6 PM. After selecting a campsite we went for a long walk, then I started a campfire. Joanne and I shared campfire cooking responsibilities tonight. And … <sigh > … as we finished eating supper shortly after 8 PM it began to rain AGAIN. We retreated into the camper and abandoned the campfire.

Wednesday ; Wellman Lake to Blue Lakes

Mix of sun and clouds, cool, windy, intermittent light rain.

This morning we prepared for departure, went for a long walk around the campground, dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled the freshwater tank, and departed Wellman Lake Campground around 12:30 PM. We headed south on Hwy. 366 back towards Blue Lakes Campground. We stopped at Perch Lake and I fished for half an hour, catching a small Perch. As Joanne was preparing soup for lunch she suddenly became quite ill ; dizzy, nausea, vomiting. She abandoned preparing and eating lunch, and went to lay down, falling asleep for a few hours. I had lunch, then also napped briefly.

When she awoke around 5 PM she wasn’t feeling much better. We continued south to Blue Lakes Campground and selected a campsite. Joanne went back to sleep while I walked back to the campground office to pay for our campsite. She woke again around 7 PM and wanted to prepare supper for us, despite her not feeling much like eating anything. She made supper, and ate some of our lunch soup and salad. After supper I took her for a slow walk around the campground, hoping that fresh air might make her feel better. It didn’t !

Thursday ; Blue Lakes to Dauphin

Sunny and warm.

Joanne was healthy today. Her illness lasted only one day. It’s a long story but … I suspect she was ill with carbon monoxide poisoning.

We went for a long walk this morning then dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled our freshwater tank before leaving Blue Lakes Campground shortly after noon. We headed east on Hwy. 367 towards Garland. After 15 km. / 9 miles we reached Singush Lake and … <sputter> ... a road closure barrier ! We turned around and headed back to Blue Lakes, and Hwy. 366 heading south. Now … usually I wouldn’t be too concerned or upset by a 30 km. waste of time and fuel, but … the truck’s fuel level was getting pretty low. I hadn’t filled with diesel since The Pas.

At Blue Lakes we turned south on Hwy. 366. At Baldy Mountain, Manitoba’s highest point, we stopped to have lunch. Everybody and their dog has tall towers full of antennae at Baldy Mountain. SO … I was finally able to get a Telus cell signal. I phoned our pharmacy in Steinbach to order some prescription refills I need to pick up next Tuesday.

After lunch we continued south towards Grandview. I was feeling anxiety about running out of fuel. Shortly before reaching Grandview … and diesel fuel … <sputter> … there was a detour. We dipsy doodled on farming back roads following the detour, finally reaching Hwy. 5 and Grandview and its one fuel station. CLOSED ! <sigh> Now I was really getting worried. Next town was Gilbert Plains, about another 15 km. / 9 miles east on Hwy. 5.

We reached Gilbert Plains with the truck pretty darn low on diesel ! <blink blink> $235 to refill ! ! !

As we arrived in Dauphin we found a car wash with an outside bay. We washed two weeks of muddy roads off the truck and camper. We continued in to downtown Dauphin and found the Co-op Food Centre. We replenished groceries, then headed south through town. At the Co-op Fuel Bar on the southern edge of town we refilled one of the camper’s propane tanks. Across the highway was the town’s shopping mall. Joanne went to Wal-Mart for a few items while I went into Canadian Tire to buy the correct size of automotive fuses I couldn’t get in The Pas.

We drove out of town to the south on Hwy. 10 a few miles to Selo Ukraina, the site of Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival which we will be attending this long weekend. It has been forty years or more since we last attended this cultural festival.

AHHH … moya luda (my people) !

We arrived around 7 PM and got settled into our selected camping site, then went for our “before dinner” long walk around the festival’s (unserviced) camping area. We sat outside in our folding chairs for awhile enjoying the warm sunshine before going inside the camper around 8 PM to make dinner.

Friday ; Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival near Dauphin, day 1 of 3

Sunny and hot. Nice weather for a festival.

We attended the festival multiple times throughout the day, returning to the camper for lunch and rest breaks. In the late morning we watched the youth Ukrainian Dance competitions. In the afternoon we wandered through the vendor exhibits and culinary demonstrations. At 6 PM (much too early for us to eat dinner !) we had Ukrainian Buffet supper catered by a local firm. And from 7 PM to 11 PM we attended the Grand Opening ceremonies and entertainment on the grandstand stage. Lots of very entertaining Ukrainian Dance ensembles from all over Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

Saturday ; Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival near Dauphin, day 2 of 3

Sunny and hot. By supper time Joanne was overwhelmed by heat, road dust, constant noise of generators running day and night, obnoxious loud music, in “campground from hell”.

We spent the afternoon exploring the Ukrainian Heritage Village adjacent to the festival site. It makes me feel very old to see all these museum pieces that were in my mother’s and my Aunt Lena’s kitchens. We also visited the Ukrainian Musicians Hall Of Fame. It was oddly satisfying (and perhaps vindicating ?) to see that our wedding band (Stan Kaskiw & The Polka Drifters) were inducted to the Ukrainian Musicians Hall Of Fame. HA HA HA ! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for hiring them 48 years ago.

Around 8:30 PM we headed back to the grandstand to watch the second half of tonight’s main stage variety show. About an hour later a sudden and violent thunderstorm began, bringing the evening’s entertainment to an abrupt halt.

DSK

July 17 to 23, 2022 ; Wekusko Falls Provincial Park to The Pas, Manitoba

Sunday ; Wekusko Falls Provincial Park to Snow Lake to Reed Lake Campground, Grass River Provincial Park

Mostly sunny, very warm. Severe thunderstorms overnight last night.

We pulled out of our campsite this morning around 10:30 AM, refilled our freshwater tank, dumped our waste holding tanks, and paid for last night’s camping fee before leaving Wekusko Falls Provincial Park. We headed north on Hwy. 392 to the small town of Snow Lake.

What a scruffy, old mining town. Two fuel stations, one out of business, the other one not open on Sunday, so … unable to refill with diesel. Library closed on Sunday, so unable to access Wi-Fi to upload my blog entry. Very few businesses, and half of them were closed permanently. No grocery store apparent. A large mine and mining camp. Many work camp dormitory trailers, and a LOT of relatively new looking Ford pickup trucks. And a Ford dealership. What a license to print money that must be ! Saw no one, place was deserted on a Sunday morning. Maybe all the miners were in church ? <snicker>

We returned south on Hwy. 392 to Wekusko Falls Provincial Park and went over to the day use area. We went for our morning walk, hiking to the two suspension bridges over Wekusko Falls, where the Grass River empties into Wekusko Lake. We had lunch. I went fishing for half an hour. Caught another Northern Pike. I shared my fishing area with a family of ducks, two Pelicans and two Bald Eagles. <blink blink> Pelicans ?

Around 2:30 PM we decided to leave Wekusko Falls Provincial Park. Our original plan had been to stay two nights at Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, but … ! We headed south on Hwy. 392 back to Hwy. 39, then west towards Flin Flon. Our destination for today was Reed Lake Campground, the first of three campgrounds in Grass River Provincial Park. We selected a campsite then went for a walk around the campground and boat launch areas. At the rear of our campsite I fished briefly, catching nothing but the rocky bottom of Reed Lake, resulting in lost fishing tackle ! HMPH !

Joanne napped late in the afternoon, a rare event for her. I woke her at 7 PM and we went for a long walk around the campground. Around 7:30 PM I started a campfire and cooked supper on it. We spent the evening sitting around the campfire. The weather was perfect. The bugs weren’t too bad. I fished again briefly.

It’s not really getting completely dark at this time of the year this far north. Around 10:30 PM it sort of becomes dusk, then stays like that for a few hours until it begins to become light again in the middle of the night.

Monday ; Reed Lake Campground to Iskwasum Lake Campground, both in Grass River Provincial Park

Sunny and very warm.

This morning we dumped our waste tanks, went for a long walk, paid our camping fee for last night, and departed Reed Lake Campground around noon. We continued west on Hwy. 39 for about … only half an hour ! To Iskwasum Lake Campground, the second of three campgrounds in Grass River Provincial Park.

We did not refill our freshwater tank at Reed Lake Campgound because their water system is a shed containing a large tank of water that is refilled by tanker truck. The water flows out by gravity. The level of water currently in the tank was obviously lower than the height of our camper’s freshwater tank inlet, because water would not flow out of our hose when the hose was lifted to the height of the water inlet on the side of the camper. <sigh>

As we pulled into Iskwasum Lake Campground we encountered the same gravity fed water tank system. Again it wouldn’t flow into our camper because the camper’s freshwater inlet was too high. So … we had to resort to our Northwest Territories “Plan B”. We carry a one gallon fuel jug dedicated to freshwater. We put it on the ground, filled it from the gravity water system, then hoisted it up and poured it into the camper’s freshwater tank inlet. A dozen times ! Evidently we had used a dozen gallons of freshwater in the previous 24 hours.

We selected a site, had lunch, and I napped. After napping I went fishing for 45 minutes, on the campground’s dock. Didn’t catch anything, but … while fishing I heard a loud noise crashing around in the forest a few hundred feet to my right. I thought it might be a bear when … <sputter> … suddenly a large male caribou with a huge antler rack … <blink blink> ... came crashing out of the forest and splashed loudly into the water, where he proceeded to noisily drink and/or eat for awhile.

This afternoon I decided to tackle a truck repair project. A reflector inside one of the headlight assemblies had become detached. With considerable difficulty I removed the truck headlight assembly, but was unable to repair / remount the reflector. Looks like I’ll have to order a new headlight assembly upon our return home. I reinstalled the headlight assembly into the truck, which was even more difficult than removing it !

<sigh> Whatever happened to the “good old days” when headlights were big round clunky things that you could buy at Canadian Tire for three bucks ? ! And it took about ten minutes with a Philips #2 screwdriver to remove and replace one !

At 7 PM we went for our late walk then I started a campfire and cooked supper on it. We relaxed around the campfire until 9:15 PM, then I went fishing on the dock for 45 minutes. Again I didn’t catch anything, but it was a very peaceful and pleasant time. Perfectly calm, glassy water, reminding me of my 4 AM glassy water landing float plane training in 1988. Three loons calling to one another around the lake, their sad calls echoing in the distance.

I’m typing this in the camper at 11 PM and the sad sounding loons are calling again. What a beautiful Canadian sound !

Tuesday ; Iskwasum Lake to Simonhouse Lake

Sunny and very warm.

This morning we did our morning exercise walk around the campground, dumped our waste holding tanks, refilled our freshwater tank … twelve gallons, one gallon at a time … paid our camping fee and departed Iskwasum Lake Campground around 11:30 AM. We continued west on Hwy. 39 for about half an hour to the third and final campground in Grass River Provincial Park, Gyles Campground on Simonhouse Lake.

We selected a site then I spent about half an hour cleaning the fire pit. It was the worst case of fire pit abuse I have ever encountered. It was filled with all manner of garbage, which isn’t really unusual, unfortunately, but it was also filled with a lot of broken beer bottles. I have never been able to understand campers’ propensity for treating fire pits like garbage cans.

HEY … ASSHOLES … THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FIRE PIT AND A GARBAGE CAN … YOU IGNORAMUSES ! ! !

We had a lazy, leisurely afternoon. We had lunch. We went for a walk to the beach. I napped. I cooked a pasta salad to be eaten cold for lunches. We sat outside, I read a book, Joanne worked on crosswords. I downloaded photos from my camera to my laptop and processed them. We went for another long walk around the campground and along the beach. I prepared a campfire in the CLEAN fire pit and cooked supper on it. Just as we were serving supper it began to rain lightly (and briefly), so we ate supper indoors.

Wednesday ; Simonhouse Lake to Flin Flon to Bakers Narrows Provincial Park on Athapapuskow Lake

Mostly sunny and warm. Brief severe thunderstorm while we were in Flin Flon.

This morning we dumped our waste holding tanks, paid our camping fee, and left Gyles Campground on Simonhouse Lake around noon. West on Hwy. 39 until it ended at Hwy. 10, then north on Hwy. 10 past Bakers Narrows Provincial Park, our destination for today, to Flin Flon for fuel and groceries.

We had lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Flin Flon then replenished supplies at Wal-Mart. While Joanne finished up at Wal-Mart I walked across the street to buy mosquito repellent coils at Canadian Tire. Then we drove a short distance to the Co-op supermarket. While Joanne replenished groceries in the food store I stayed in the camper and used Co-op’s Wi-Fi to get some online work done, primarily the posting of my blog entry. Last errand in town was to replenish diesel at the Tempo fuel bar. Sheesh … a hundred and fifty bucks didn’t even fill the tank !

Joanne wanted to explore Flin Flon so we drove through town exploring. As we drove by the very tall smokestack of the mine (near the centre of town !) on which Flin Flon was founded and still exists … fork lightning hit the smokestack ! YIKES ! As we rounded a corner, a very strong gust of wind came up and … blew a large gas barbecue off a second storey balcony (without a railing !) sending it crashing onto the patio furniture below. YIKES again !

By the time we returned to Bakers Narrows Provincial Park around 6 PM the rain had subsided. We refilled our freshwater tank (WOO-HOO … flowing water !) then got settled into our chosen campsite. We went for a long walk around the campground, then around 7:30 PM I started a campfire and cooked supper on it. EXCELLENT supper, a new creation of mine, sort of a campfire version of (all beef Angus) weiner wraps. Daniel’s bannock dogs !

Thursday; Bakers Narrows Provincial Park

Cloudy, cool, windy, a teensy bit of rain.

Today was planned to be a “rest day”. Go nowhere, do nothing, maybe fish a little, read a book, sit by the campfire, nap in the afternoon. Our “work day” lives and our “rest day” lives are remarkably similar, n’est-ce-pas ? HA HA HA HA HA !

This morning we went for a long walk then took the truck and camper out of our campsite to drive to the sani-dump station, dump our waste tanks, and refill our freshwater tank. After that tough morning of “work” it was time for lunch, followed by a nap. HA HA HA !

I did some camper maintenance, and convinced myself that I need to replace the camper’s “house” battery tomorrow. From 5 PM to 6 PM I went fishing, catching nothing, but enjoying the process nonetheless. For me fishing is therapeutic, like meditation. I returned to our campsite just as it began to rain lightly, eliminating a campfire cooking opportunity.

Friday ; Bakers Narrows Provincial Park to Flin Flon to Clearwater Provincial Park

Cloudy, cool, a teensy bit of rain.

This morning we went for our long morning walk, then dumped the camper’s waste holding tank, refilled the freshwater tank, and left Bakers Narrows Provincial Park around 11 AM. We headed into Flin Flon for the second time. I checked the prices of deep cycle RV batteries at Wal-Mart first, then Canadian Tire. I removed the old battery from the camper and went into Wal-Mart to buy a new battery.

From that point on things went awry. I installed the new battery incorrectly. And as a result created a problem within the camper’s 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC inverter system. I corrected the incorrect battery installation but was unable to restore functionality to the inverter. <sigh>

We drove a short distance to Co-op and while Joanne went into the store to refill our freshwater jug I continued working on the inverter, hoping to get the problem solved quickly. <sigh> No such luck. I fussed and fiddled with it for about two hours before finally giving up. We ate a very late lunch in the camper while still parked at Co-op, then refilled the truck with diesel at Tempo Fuels before leaving Flin Flon and heading south on Hwy. 10 towards The Pas.

Our destination for today was Campers Cove Campground on Clearwater Lake in Clearwater Provincial Park. We arrived around 5 PM, checked in at the campground office, selected the only site available for the next two nights, and settled into our chosen campsite. I decided that removing the inverter from inside the kitchen cupboard was the only way I was going to have any reasonable chance of figuring out what was wrong with it.

I spent another couple of hours on the inverter problem, getting all the complicated wiring disconnected, and removing the inverter from inside the cupboard. Nothing was apparent on the outside of the unit, so … despite the warning label “do not open, no user serviceable parts inside” … I began disassembling the inverter. I removed the outer case, and quickly found the two fuses that had blown, thanks to my incorrect installation of the new “house” battery.

Well … now I felt better ! Identifying the problem is almost the entire solution, n’est-ce-pas ? I did not have the correct size of fuses in my inventory of spare fuses, but they should be easy to obtain in The Pas in a couple of days. At least now I know that I didn’t completely destroy the very expensive (true sine wave) inverter with my incorrect battery installation error.

At last … around 7 PM, and with me feeling much less stressed and upset, we went for our late exercise walk around the campground. By the time we returned to our camper around 7:30 we had both decided that making another campfire and cooking outdoors was not in tonight’s plans. Joanne cooked supper indoors while I worked on the laptop.

Why would a manufacturer mark an electronic component that has two protective fuses inside with a label that says “do not open, no user serviceable parts inside” ? ! ?

Saturday ; exploring Clearwater Provincial Park

Cloudy, windy, cool, light rain early in the day, becoming clear and mild late in the day.

We spent the afternoon exploring Clearwater Provincial Park. It was slightly disappointing. After morning chores, including dumping waste and refilling freshwater, we headed east through Clearwater Provincial Park to explore. A short distance east of Campers Cove Campground (where we are staying) we came to The Pas Airport. We are about 30 km. / 20 miles or so from the small city of The Pas. I don’t know why their airport is so far from the city, and in a provincial park. But from the appearance and layout of the airport I suspect it was originally a World War II military airbase, or maybe even a DEW Line (Distant Early Warning) airport, and after the war there was nothing better to do with it than re-purpose it as The Pas Airport.

Oddly, there were no private aircraft at the airport. Maybe getting a pilot’s license and buying a small airplane are strictly a “white boy” gig ? There were two interesting Canadair CL-215 water bombers operated by Manitoba (government) Air Services stationed at the Pas Airport for wildfire fighting.

We continued east through Clearwater Provincial Park, all the way to a remote boat launch at Hugo Point on Clearwater Lake. We had lunch there, I napped, then went fishing briefly. Very briefly, because about fifteen minutes after I started fishing it began to rain. We began to drive west back towards Campers Cove Campground. We explored some of the cabin roads along Clearwater Lake’s shoreline. Too many young men with too much money (and consequently too much credit) building way too large “cabins”. Wonder how that will turn out when their half million dollar mortgages rise from 2 % interest to more than 5 % interest !

We went on “The Caves” hike. It was about a 1.6 km. / 1 mile hike over difficult terrain to “the caves” along Clearwater Lake’s shoreline cliffs. Well … first of all, they’re not “caves”. They’re not even slot canyons, like those we’ve visited in Nevada. They’re simply shoreline erosion in limestone and similar rock. Secondly, I was thoroughly disgusted with the quantity of empty booze cans and bottles strewn along the relatively short hike. We picked empty booze cans and bottles until our pants and jackets pockets were full. And we left many more behind !

I’m struggling with finding the politically correct way to express my disgust with and contempt for the ...<ahem>... “cultural” component of this problem ! ! ! ! !

After returning to our campsite we went for a long walk, then began preparing for supper. While Joanne worked on “indoor” preparations (prepare salad, wrap potatoes, cut zucchini and onions, etc.) I got a campfire going. We sat around the campfire while I cooked supper, we ate outside at the picnic table, then spent a lovely evening sitting and chatting around the campfire.

DSK

July 10 to 16, 2022 ; Steinbach to Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, Northern Manitoba

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm.

Around 3 PM we heard a fire truck from the firehall around two blocks east of us heading down Main Street, where it stopped around two blocks west of us. A few minutes later … another one. Then another ! Then another ! Soon we could hear sirens approaching from all different directions, meaning fire trucks from nearby towns were responding. From our enclosed balcony we could see a bit of smoke rising above the trees, and could smell it.

Around 4:30 PM we decided to go for our afternoon walk and see what was happening. A local small strip mall, a flooring store on one end, a paint store on the other end, seemed to be on fire. Many trucks and many firemen were there, all doing … not much ! Smoke was coming out of vents and other openings on the roof. As we walked by two Manitoba Hydro trucks showed up. OH … the firemen had to wait for the electricity to be turned off before they could do much in the way of entering and venting.

As we walked away we could hear the firemen starting up chain saws. By the time we arrived back home a few minutes later it was obvious that they had entered and vented the building. Thick, black, toxic smelling smoke was rising and wafting directly over buildings and trees and … just above our condo building ! YIKES !

Our balcony and suite were beginning to stink ... <cough cough >. We closed all the balcony windows and the balcony door, and our bedroom window, turned on the bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans, and cranked up the air conditioning.

By 6:30 PM the smoke had become even thicker and even more vile smelling. I decided to walk over and take another look. YIKES ! ! ! The entire five store strip mall was engulfed in flames. More firetrucks were continuing to arrive from nearby towns. A large crowd had gathered to watch. Roads were closed. Police were everywhere. As were ambulances. I think our small town firemen may not have the best of the best of respiratory equipment, and they were being subjected to toxic smoke inhalation.

Well … bid adieu to the paint store, the flooring store, the pet food store, the tax preparation business, and the financial advisor business.

We found out the next day that the pet food store contained animals and … well … <sigh>

Tuesday ; Sunny, very warm, humid, brief bouts of rain in the afternoon.

Had stitches removed today, at the Steinbach Family Medical Centre, from the chest and finger cysts surgically removed. Chest incision looks fine, healing well, no discomfort. Well … probably no discomfort because the cyst was removed from the cardiac surgery incision scar, which is permanently numb. The little finger doesn’t look nice, and it hurt like hell to have the tightly tied stitches removed. AND … it began to bleed again as the nurse was removing the stitches. So … finger is ugly looking, still fragile, prone to bleeding, and painful. Long way to go !

After having the stitches removed we went to the RV storage yard to get the truck and camper, and bring them home to get them prepared for departure on Thursday. We put the camper back onto the truck, and finished just as it began to rain briefly but heavily. Once back at our condo I flushed the camper’s water heater, drained the plumbing anti-freeze, flushed the plumbing lines, and refilled the freshwater tank. Joanne began packing food and supplies into the camper.

Flin Flon, here we come !

Wednesday ; Steinbach to Winnipeg and return

Sunny and hot.

We left home this morning at 10:45 AM, heading to Winnipeg. We had tickets to a matinee performance at Rainbow Stage and wanted to have lunch in a restaurant beforehand. Lunch was at Baba Kay’s, a Ukrainian restaurant near Kildonan Park on the northern edge of Winnipeg. Lunch was very good.

Kildonan Park is north Winnipeg’s huge municipal park. Rainbow Stage is the outdoor live theatre venue within the park. We have been attending performances at Rainbow Stage intermittently for fifty years. They usually present two musicals each summer. This year we bought tickets to both of this season’s plays / musicals.

Today’s presentation was “The Hockey Sweater”, a musical play written by a French Canadian from Quebec, but translated here into English. As always, Rainbow Stage did a great job of presenting this musical play. And the story / play / musical was well written. BUT … we were both disappointed. Most of the cast of this play are children. And the lead character role was played by a poorly casted boy who was too young for the role, lacking the vocal strength to sustain a two and a half hour talking and singing role. It was simply too much for such a young boy’s voice. Most of his dialogue and singing were indecipherable. Most of the time he sounded like Alvin the chipmunk. Not his fault !

Driving from home in Steinbach to the restaurant, then home from Rainbow Stage / Kildonan Park gave us an opportunity to experiment with and learn the GPS / map function on our new (to us) iPhone.

We arrived home shortly after 6 PM, and worked on truck and camper loading / preparations for a couple of hours before having a late supper.

Flin Flon, here we come !

Thursday ; Steinbach to Watchorn Bay on Lake Manitoba

Mostly sunny, very warm.

We finished our preparations for departure and pulled out of our condo’s parking lot shortly before noon. We stopped at Giant Tiger and refilled our five gallon water jug. We stopped at Superstore’s Mobil Fuel Bar and refilled the truck with diesel, then shopped for some groceries at Superstore. Before leaving the Superstore parking lot, and Steinbach, we went for our early walk, from Superstore to E. G. Penner Building Supplies and back, then around the perimeter of Superstore’s large parking lot.

North on Hwy. 12, east on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1, we stopped to have a late lunch at the “Centre Of Canada” rest / picnic area. Continuing east on TCH 1 to Hwy. 101, Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway, then north and east around Winnipeg to Hwy. 6, then north on Hwy. 6. The further north of Winnipeg we got, the warmer and sunnier it became. At Moosehorn we turned west on Hwy. 237 for 12 km. To Watchorn Bay Provincial Park on Lake Manitoba, arriving around 6 PM.

We had been here once before, about 45 years ago, for a weekend of camping with our high school friend / Joanne’s Maid of Honour, Shirley, whose first job after graduating from university was as the Public Health Nurse in the nearby small town of Ashern, a teensy bit south of Moosehorn.

We drove around the campground, selected a campsite, then went for a long walk around the campground and surrounding farming area. As we walked down the road an old German farmer in a pickup truck stopped and rolled down his window, to have a friendly (and lengthy) chat with strangers, proving the “Friendly Manitoba” tagline on our province’s license plates, I suppose.

Around 7:30 PM I lit a campfire, then cooked supper on it. EXCELLENT ! We had a leisurely supper at our picnic table beside the campfire, enjoying the lovely weather and beautiful view of the setting sun out over Lake Manitoba.

AHHHHH … what a wonderful day !

Friday ; Watchorn Bay to somewhere (?) north of Grand Rapids

Sunny and hot. HMPH … didn’t expect it to be hot this far north.

We got a late, leisurely start to another lovely day. Before leaving Watchorn Bay Provincial Park we refilled our freshwater tank and dumped our waste holding tanks, then went for a long walk around the campground and area. We left the campground around noon.

We returned to Hwy. 6 at Moosehorn and stopped at the Co-op store to buy a jug of milk before continuing north on Hwy. 6. At Fairford we refilled with cheap rez diesel at the Pinaymootang Gas Bar. We stopped in the parking lot of a restaurant / car wash / laundromat / fish processing plant in St. Martin Junction to have lunch. We stopped to refill with cheap rez diesel again at Pelican Landing Restaurant & Gas Bar just a few km. south of Grand Grapids.

Pelican Landing was our planned boondocking location for tonight, but once there and seeing it, we … decided to keep on truckin’. About half an hour north of Grand Rapids we found a gravel road leading off the highway towards hydro transmission towers and decided to go down the gravel road a bit exploring, looking for a good overnight boondocking location. It wasn’t hard and didn’t take long to find one. We pulled a few feet off the road into the bush and … home for the night !

It was about 6 PM when we stopped for the night. We went for a long walk down the gravel road, enjoying the hot weather and beautiful, abundant wildflowers. We picked a few wild strawberries, small but very sweet ! While Joanne prepared supper I did a repair on the bathroom exhaust fan.

WHEW … gruesome quantity of horseflies and mosquitoes !

Saturday ; north of Grand Rapids to Wekusko Falls Provincial Park

Sunny and very hot, seems unusual for this far north. Less bugs today.

We left our bush boondocking spot this morning around 10:30 AM and continued north on Hwy. 6. At the (non-existent ?) village of Ponton we turned left / west towards Flin Flon on Hwy. 39 while Hwy. 6 continued northeast towards Thompson. There seems to be no towns located along Hwy. 39, they are all situated a few miles south of the highway on the rail line from The Pas to Thompson. Somewhere around the village of Wekusko on the rail line we pulled off the side of the road to go for an exercise walk and have lunch in the camper. After lunch we continued west on Hwy. 39 until turning north on Hwy. 392 towards Snow Lake. Before reaching the town of Snow Lake we reached our destination for today, Wekusko Falls Provincial Park on Wekusko Lake.

We found a site that we liked, got settled in, and I took a nap. After I napped we went for a long walk, from our campsite back to the entrance of the park, then all the way through the park to the lakefront where I checked out the fishing prospects. We returned to our campsite, took the truck and camper for a short drive to refill the freshwater tank at one of the campground’s water spigots, returned the truck and camper to our campsite, then I walked over to the boat dock to try fishing.

I fished for an hour. WOO-HOO … first fish caught in Manitoba in 35 years ! I caught a small Northern Pike, known in Manitoba as a “jackfish”. I released it, I don’t find bony Northern Pike particularly appealing to eat.

After fishing I returned to our campsite, started a campfire, and cooked supper on it. I am hoping to cook many of this trip’s meals on campfires, something I find challenging and enjoyable. Sliced onions, spiralized potatoes, carrots and zucchini in foil packets, and marinated steak grilled over the fire. First time we have tried spiralizing vegetables to be wrapped in foil and cooked on the fire. Worked very well !

We relaxed by the campfire after supper until about 9:30 PM. We returned into the camper just as it began raining lightly.

DSK

July 3 to 9, 2022

 Tuesday ; Sunny and very warm.

Had surgery today at Bethesda Regional Health Centre a.k.a. Steinbach Hospital. Had a sebaceous cyst removed from the coronary surgical scar on my chest. Had a ganglion cyst removed from the top of little finger on my left hand. Into the hospital at 9:30 AM. Out at 1 PM.

Sebaceous cyst on chest recurred after being drained a few years ago. Became infected after draining. Doctor and surgeon felt it would just keep recurring after draining, so excision recommended. Excision (surgical removal) was what I wanted / requested. Cause of recurring cyst was damage to sweat gland under chest wall during coronary surgical incision.

Ganglion cyst “root” deeper than expected. Lots of flesh removed. Bleeding took 24 hours to stop. Nursing instructions were “just apply pressure for 5 to 10 minutes and bleeding will stop”. Yeah … no !

Little to no pain on chest wall. Lots of pain in little finger !

Friday ; Sunny and hot.

“All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing” Edmund Burke

Went to RV storage yard again today to continue work on truck pinstriping removal and replacement project. Across the highway was a recently installed Confederate flag. Mounted on flagpole, beside stop sign. Ergo … on “public” property ! F***ing anti-mask, anti-vax, Freedumb convoy fascists in neighbourhood ! ! !

When I was ready to return home I drove across the highway, removed the evil and offensive Confederate flag, and the pole it was mounted on, drove home, and threw them into our condo’s dumpster.

So there ! ! !

Saturday; Sunny and hot.

Day 4 after surgery. Had shower for first time following surgery, then removed and changed dressings, first time on chest. Chest cyst excision looks fine, expect sutures can likely be removed next Tuesday as scheduled. Finger cyst excision looks horrible, doubtful that sutures can be removed Tuesday. Looks like most flesh on top of little finger, from nail bed to first knuckle, has been removed.