Sunday ; Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival, day 3 of 3, to Rainbow Beach Provincial Park
Yesterday evening’s violent thunderstorms and heavy rains continued overnight. Today was sunny and warm.
This afternoon we attended the festival’s “early” mainstage variety show presentation from 2 PM to 4 PM, then left the festival. We had planned to remain until tomorrow morning, attending tonight’s mainstage finale and closing ceremonies, but … we could not tolerate / endure any more of our hillbilly neighbours’ generator noise and fumes, drunken rowdiness, and excessively loud and obnoxious music. While sitting in the bleachers listening to this afternoon’s performance I also did online work on my laptop, using the festival’s free Wi-Fi, uploading my blog entry, and downloading month end bank statements and investment updates.
From the festival site we drove a few miles north on Hwy. 10 back to Dauphin to dump our waste holding tanks and refill the freshwater tank at the sani-dump station at the Co-op Fuel Bar. Thank you, Dauphin Co-op. We headed east out of Dauphin on Hwy. 20 about 25 km. / 16 miles To Rainbow Beach Provincial Park on Dauphin Lake. We selected a campsite then went for a long, leisurely, late afternoon walk before starting a campfire, cooking supper on it, then relaxing for the rest of the evening around the campfire.
Yup … leaving the festival early was the right decision !
Monday ; Rainbow Beach Provincial Park to Lundar Beach Provincial Park
Sunny and very warm, a lovely day.
We had a slow, lazy start to the day. After morning routines we went for a long walk (twice) around the campground, dumped the waste holding tanks, refilled the freshwater tank, and departed Rainbow Beach Provincial Park around 12:30 PM.
We headed south on Hwy. 20 then east on Hwy. 5 to Ste. Rose du Lac where we stopped to adjust the air in one of the truck’s tires, then had lunch parked beside the town’s municipal park. From there we headed east on Hwy. 68, crossing over Lake Manitoba Narrows. We stopped to refill the truck with cheap “rez” diesel at Vogar, then turned south on Hwy. 6 where Hwy. 69 ended at Mulvihill. At the town of Lundar we turned west onto Hwy. 419 for about 18 km. / 11 miles to Lundar Beach Provincial Park on Lake Manitoba.
We arrived at the provincial park around 5:30 PM. We selected a lakefront campsite with a secluded, “private” beach. We rolled up our pant legs, took off our shoes, and went for a long stroll along the beach. How nice ! We put our folding chairs on the beach and enjoyed the lovely weather for a couple of hours, until I lit a campfire in our campsite’s fire pit and cooked supper on it. After supper we went for another leisurely long walk, this time on the campground’s birdwatching trail. We sat around the campfire until 9:15 PM, then watched the sun set on Lake Manitoba.
AHHHHH … what a lovely final evening of our northern Manitoba adventure trip !
Tuesday ; Lundar Beach Provincial Park to Steinbach / home
Sunny and very warm.
This morning we went for our early long walk, dumped our waste holding tanks and refilled the freshwater tank, and left Lundar Beach Provincial Park around noon. We returned east on Hwy. 419 then turned south on Hwy. 6. We stopped at the village of Warren and parked beside their municipal park to have lunch. After lunch we continued south on Hwy. 6 until reaching Hwy. 101, Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway. Around the north and east sides of Winnipeg on “The Perimeter”, then east on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 to Hwy. 12, then south on Hwy. 12 to Steinbach.
In Steinbach we refilled the truck with diesel at Superstore’s Mobil fuel bar, then went into Superstore to replenish groceries and pick up our travel vaccination prescriptions at their pharmacy. We arrived home at our condo around 5:30 PM.
20 days, 2400 km. / 1500 miles.
Wednesday ; Steinbach to Ile-des-Chênes
Sunny and hot.
Went to see our family doctor in Ile-des-Chênes today. Got travel vaccinations for Shingles and Hepatitis A&B. On the way back to Steinbach stopped at the fromagerie (cheese “factory”) in New Bothwell and loaded up on cheeses, including fresh curds. That, of course, led to making (cheeseburgers and) poutine for supper.
Be still, my precious coronary bypasses. HA HA HA !
Thursday ; Sunny and hot.
We were sick all day. From the travel vaccination medications, it seems.
Had our condo’s windows, including the balcony enclosure’s windows, cleaned on the outside by an exterior window cleaning company. Apparently they visit our condo building once per year to provide this service by pre-arrangement.
Received a phone call today from previous neighbours of ours from BC, on their way east. Made plans to meet them on Saturday in Birds Hill Provincial Park for a picnic lunch.
In the evening watched the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeat the Montreal Alouettes. GO BOMBERS ! Then watched the Mexican immigrant now living in Manitoba win the ALONE reality TV show. GO JUAN PABLO ! Hope he proposes to “Yennifer” (his Mexican pronunciation of Jennifer) soon.
Friday ; Sunny and hot. Lots of chores and errands, including picking up the repaired truck tire from Kal Tire. Spent 2 hours and 5 minutes on hold, in a queue waiting to speak to an agent from the online travel company from whom I purchased our airline tickets to Portugal. The airline sent me messages about having to modify our flight schedules, moving our Winnipeg to Toronto flight from November 15 to November 16, and our connecting Toronto to Azores flight from November 15 to November 14. Brilliant ! ! ! And they did the same sort of rescheduling for our return flights in March !
Saturday ; Steinbach to Birds Hill Provincial Park to Winnipeg and return
Mostly cloudy and mild.
This afternoon we drove to Birds Hill Provincial Park to have a picnic lunch with former neighbours of ours from back in BC, Craig and Christine. They are on their way across Canada, from their home in Riverside RV Park near Keremeos to visit family in Sarnia, Ontario. We met their new (poodle mix) dog Beth, acquired after the death of their previous (Border Collie) dog Riley.
We had our picnic lunch with Craig and Christine, visited with them in their campsite for the afternoon, getting caught up on Riverside gossip, then all of us loaded into our minivan and headed into Winnipeg to attend Folklorama. Joanne and I have been eagerly awaiting Folklorama, so that we could visit the Portuguese pavilion, in preparation for our trip next winter to Portugal. Craig and Christine wanted to join us in visiting a Folkorama pavilion.
Upon arrival at the Portuguese pavilion we enjoyed the first (of four) evening performance of their culture’s music and dance. When the hour long show was finished we went outside, behind the pavilion, to the outdoor dining area where Portuguese culinary specialties were available for dinner. Joanne had the “Saturday night” special, a pork, clams, and potatoes stew. I opted for the Portuguese “famous” barbecued large sardines. T’was an interesting meal. First and last time I’ll be having barbecued sardines ! HA HA HA !
After dinner and more chatting, we drove Craig and Christine back to their Birds Hill Provincial Park campsite, then returned home to Steinbach. Whew … lots of driving !
DSK
