Monday, June 30, 2008
So, Tom, now I understand how you have come to be the accomplished and acclaimed lecturer that you are. When you obtained your post graduate at the University of Saskatoon, not only were your surroundings really beautiful and inspiring (it's a beantiful campus), you were surrounded by the positive influence of geologists!!! Eric
Sunday, June 29, 2008
SASKATOON
Thursday 26 June SASKATOON
The South Saskatchewan River runs through Saskatoon and the valley in and around the city is named Meewasin, which is the Cree word for beautiful. We had one day to spend in S’toon and focused most of our attention on the walkways and trails along the river bank. We parked our car on the west side and crossed the railway bridge heading towards the University of Saskatchwan. A weir has been built in the area of this bridge and we enjoyed watching the American white pelicans that feed right in the rush and crash of water. They must have been doing some very fancy webbed-foot work, in order not to have been swept off and away. Obviously the fish like to hang out there too, perhaps it’s a good place for them to feed too. The pelicans are very big birds with enormous appetites and wingspans of between 3 and 4 metres. They migrate to places like Mexico and Florida in the winter.
Our walk was a rectangular shape. After crossing the railway bridge, we went south along the east bank to the College Bridge, then north along the west bank, back to the car, taking about an hour and a half. The park system and trails along the river are a great feature and enjoyed by cyclists, walkers and runners in the summer and by cross country skiers in winter.
There is an area along Broadway Ave., an urban streetscape with interesting shops and several restaurants. Our friend Raven had suggested we have a look around there, so after our walk this is where we went to look for a place to have lunch. We found the Broadway Cafe and settled in to watch the local passers-by.
After supper we came back into Saskatoon to have a drive around the university, which is where Raven’s spouse Tom had studied many years ago. It is also where our cousin Chris had come to study agriculture in the 60’s all the way from what was then called Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Raven, Tom and Chris were on our minds as we did the tour. We cut it short though, as that wide-open Saskatchewan sky became filled with enormous black, heavy, ominous-looking clouds, which were being illuminated by flashes of lightning. It suddenly grew quite dark and we decided to make a run for it, metaphorically speaking, and head back to our little home-on-wheels. It was a huge storm and it rained steadily almost all night and all the next morning.
The South Saskatchewan River runs through Saskatoon and the valley in and around the city is named Meewasin, which is the Cree word for beautiful. We had one day to spend in S’toon and focused most of our attention on the walkways and trails along the river bank. We parked our car on the west side and crossed the railway bridge heading towards the University of Saskatchwan. A weir has been built in the area of this bridge and we enjoyed watching the American white pelicans that feed right in the rush and crash of water. They must have been doing some very fancy webbed-foot work, in order not to have been swept off and away. Obviously the fish like to hang out there too, perhaps it’s a good place for them to feed too. The pelicans are very big birds with enormous appetites and wingspans of between 3 and 4 metres. They migrate to places like Mexico and Florida in the winter.
Our walk was a rectangular shape. After crossing the railway bridge, we went south along the east bank to the College Bridge, then north along the west bank, back to the car, taking about an hour and a half. The park system and trails along the river are a great feature and enjoyed by cyclists, walkers and runners in the summer and by cross country skiers in winter.
There is an area along Broadway Ave., an urban streetscape with interesting shops and several restaurants. Our friend Raven had suggested we have a look around there, so after our walk this is where we went to look for a place to have lunch. We found the Broadway Cafe and settled in to watch the local passers-by.
After supper we came back into Saskatoon to have a drive around the university, which is where Raven’s spouse Tom had studied many years ago. It is also where our cousin Chris had come to study agriculture in the 60’s all the way from what was then called Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Raven, Tom and Chris were on our minds as we did the tour. We cut it short though, as that wide-open Saskatchewan sky became filled with enormous black, heavy, ominous-looking clouds, which were being illuminated by flashes of lightning. It suddenly grew quite dark and we decided to make a run for it, metaphorically speaking, and head back to our little home-on-wheels. It was a huge storm and it rained steadily almost all night and all the next morning.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Saskatchewan's Living Skies
25 June 2008 Saskatchewan’s Living Skies
A couple more reflections on 4 nights spent in Rapid City: It’s a town of 400 people with an elementary school with 70 students, some of whom can be seen early in the morning tearing hell f’leather on their bikes to school, with no regard for traffic because there isn’t any; and a good number of teenagers that spend the long sunny though not particularly warm evenings jumping off the bridge into a small dam or pushing each other off a raft tethered by a long rope to the bridge.
Onward along the Yellowhead Route into and through Saskatchewan….
The landscape is very gently undulating to flat, with vast expansive skies that feel full of life and presence, rising up from a 270 degree horizon (only because I can’t turn my head right around). Huge cloud formations are constantly changing shape and remind me of whipped up egg white ready to make meringues, glistening against a clear blue sky. Green farmlands extend for miles it seems, and we pass by large herds of cattle, smaller groups of horses, and fields of bright blue or orange beehives. We frequently look out at ponds encircled by reeds and cattails with happy ducks and ducklings going about the daily lives.
We spent Tuesday night in a small place called Wadena in the Quill Lakes Bird Area.
This is a “250sq km conservation area, including 3 saltwater lakes and several fresh water marshes, all part of Canada’s largest saline lake. It provides habitat for over 1 million nesting and migrating shorebirds, waterfowl, and songbirds”. Apparently it’s an amazing sight in the spring and fall when tens of thousands of birds are migrating.
The next morning we got up very early. It is beginning to get light at 4.30 and by 5.30 we were up getting ready to head out. We drove along a very narrow gravel road, glad that we weren’t towing the trailer and that we were the only ones negotiating the road, to a spot where there is a lookout tower and walking trails and boardwalks. Redwing and yellow-headed blackbirds were flying about in great numbers or sitting on the tops of cattails, making clackety sounds and occasional high-pitched whistles. We saw a family of coots, attractive water fowl. The adults are black and white and quite round and the babies are a sort of russet colour, really pretty. Also families of mallards, wood-ducks and ruddy ducks, and what we think were mergansers. I wished we’d had a knowledgeable guide. Once we had completed our walk we did the mandatory tick check and squashed quite a number.
After breakfast we visited the local museum, which was definitely in a developmental stage. The main house had been donated by a woman, who is now 100. She had left it as it was, with her clothes still hanging up in the bedrooms, high-healed shoes and hats galore, from the 1920’s to 50’s. The kitchen cupboards had stuff in them that she’d left, in boxes and tins, some that we recognized from when we were kids. A nearby church was going to be moved and placed there, also a bath-house (?) The local population mostly had old Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and Slavic roots and were farming people. I thoroughly enjoyed getting a sense of the place.
A couple more reflections on 4 nights spent in Rapid City: It’s a town of 400 people with an elementary school with 70 students, some of whom can be seen early in the morning tearing hell f’leather on their bikes to school, with no regard for traffic because there isn’t any; and a good number of teenagers that spend the long sunny though not particularly warm evenings jumping off the bridge into a small dam or pushing each other off a raft tethered by a long rope to the bridge.
Onward along the Yellowhead Route into and through Saskatchewan….
The landscape is very gently undulating to flat, with vast expansive skies that feel full of life and presence, rising up from a 270 degree horizon (only because I can’t turn my head right around). Huge cloud formations are constantly changing shape and remind me of whipped up egg white ready to make meringues, glistening against a clear blue sky. Green farmlands extend for miles it seems, and we pass by large herds of cattle, smaller groups of horses, and fields of bright blue or orange beehives. We frequently look out at ponds encircled by reeds and cattails with happy ducks and ducklings going about the daily lives.
We spent Tuesday night in a small place called Wadena in the Quill Lakes Bird Area.
This is a “250sq km conservation area, including 3 saltwater lakes and several fresh water marshes, all part of Canada’s largest saline lake. It provides habitat for over 1 million nesting and migrating shorebirds, waterfowl, and songbirds”. Apparently it’s an amazing sight in the spring and fall when tens of thousands of birds are migrating.
The next morning we got up very early. It is beginning to get light at 4.30 and by 5.30 we were up getting ready to head out. We drove along a very narrow gravel road, glad that we weren’t towing the trailer and that we were the only ones negotiating the road, to a spot where there is a lookout tower and walking trails and boardwalks. Redwing and yellow-headed blackbirds were flying about in great numbers or sitting on the tops of cattails, making clackety sounds and occasional high-pitched whistles. We saw a family of coots, attractive water fowl. The adults are black and white and quite round and the babies are a sort of russet colour, really pretty. Also families of mallards, wood-ducks and ruddy ducks, and what we think were mergansers. I wished we’d had a knowledgeable guide. Once we had completed our walk we did the mandatory tick check and squashed quite a number.
After breakfast we visited the local museum, which was definitely in a developmental stage. The main house had been donated by a woman, who is now 100. She had left it as it was, with her clothes still hanging up in the bedrooms, high-healed shoes and hats galore, from the 1920’s to 50’s. The kitchen cupboards had stuff in them that she’d left, in boxes and tins, some that we recognized from when we were kids. A nearby church was going to be moved and placed there, also a bath-house (?) The local population mostly had old Ukrainian, Polish, Russian and Slavic roots and were farming people. I thoroughly enjoyed getting a sense of the place.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Riding Mountain National Park
Sun 22 June Visit to the Riding Mountain National Park
Yesterday was Sunday and we took the opportunity to spend the day exploring the RMNP (see above), about an hour from where we were camping. It’s one of 2 National Parks in Manitoba and covers 3000 sq km’s so of course we only skimmed the surface. We took a lovely drive to get a bit of a sense of the big picture; it’s a beautiful hilly area. Then we stopped at Moon Lake, one of 400 lakes in the park, and hiked the 9.5 km trail around its apparently cashew shaped perimeter.
We sallied forth in running shoes and shorts, with no insect repellent. The mosquitoes saw me coming and swarmed. But I braved on regardless and have many welts to show for it today. It was a strenuous hike. You can’t lally-gag along. You must try to move at a velocity faster than a mosquito can land and stab, and only occasionally stop long enough to take a couple of gulps of water. There were many swampy areas where we had to manage black soggy mud and water or “bundu bash” higher up in an effort to avoid the wettest places. It was a process of getting one shoe wet first, then the other one covered in mud, and then giving up all attempts to stay clean. By the time we’d gone all the way round I had mud splashed up to my knees and 2 thoroughly wet muddy shoes. Eric somehow managed to avoid the great globs of mud up his legs and we were both sweaty and grimy and tired, so all was well.
Fortunately it was a lake we were circum-walking so we were able to clean up and cool off in the water before going to have a meal in Wasagaming, the town on Claire Lake just inside the park.
Still so much more to discover another time!!
Yesterday was Sunday and we took the opportunity to spend the day exploring the RMNP (see above), about an hour from where we were camping. It’s one of 2 National Parks in Manitoba and covers 3000 sq km’s so of course we only skimmed the surface. We took a lovely drive to get a bit of a sense of the big picture; it’s a beautiful hilly area. Then we stopped at Moon Lake, one of 400 lakes in the park, and hiked the 9.5 km trail around its apparently cashew shaped perimeter.
We sallied forth in running shoes and shorts, with no insect repellent. The mosquitoes saw me coming and swarmed. But I braved on regardless and have many welts to show for it today. It was a strenuous hike. You can’t lally-gag along. You must try to move at a velocity faster than a mosquito can land and stab, and only occasionally stop long enough to take a couple of gulps of water. There were many swampy areas where we had to manage black soggy mud and water or “bundu bash” higher up in an effort to avoid the wettest places. It was a process of getting one shoe wet first, then the other one covered in mud, and then giving up all attempts to stay clean. By the time we’d gone all the way round I had mud splashed up to my knees and 2 thoroughly wet muddy shoes. Eric somehow managed to avoid the great globs of mud up his legs and we were both sweaty and grimy and tired, so all was well.
Fortunately it was a lake we were circum-walking so we were able to clean up and cool off in the water before going to have a meal in Wasagaming, the town on Claire Lake just inside the park.
Still so much more to discover another time!!
Friday 20 June TRIPLE BLOWOUT
The bald facts of the day are simple.
We had 3 flat tires on the trailer on one day and spent many hours hanging about, first at a Canadian Tire parking lot in Brandon Manitoba with 1 flat and ragged looking tire, and later on along the highway about 20 mins north of the city with 2 sad flats, one dragging a totally shredded ribbon of rubber behind it.
But it was the various people from “friendly Manitoba” (as per the Manitoba license plate) that we encountered along the way that gave us a lot to reflect upon, and meant that Eric and I managed to maintain a state of commendable equanimity despite the aggravation.
There was the guy outside Canadian Tire who happened to be ambling past, as the spare tire was being put back in its place, curious and keen to offer suggestions as to how it should be done.
There were the 2 guys who stopped when they saw us precariously (I felt) perched on the edge of a busy highway. Both times we thought, “Yay, this is the person contacted by the Emergency Roadside Service, ERS. But no they had both come with offers to help, willing to lie down under the trailer and comment on the whys and wherefores of our situation.
The owner of a property set back a bit from where we were came over to commiserate and offered to let us park on his laneway so that we wouldn’t have to spend the night being rocked horrifyingly by the thundering trucks. He too offered his ideas and company. Finally the young guy sent to change the tires, arrived, only he’d forgotten his big jack and so he had to call his boss. Boss arrives, they change the tires and conclude that the wheels on the one side were far too close to the frame and hence, the problem.
The boss, Neil, (nice guy with a very nice name) tells us there’s a campground not too far away, in a town too small to have a store, but nevertheless, called Rapid City. We limp along behind him as he guides us there. His father and brother-in-law live there and everyone knows everyone. We are welcomed by one of the counselors and allowed to fill up with water at the town’s municipal building, told where we can dump and shown the library with wireless internet etc.
There are many phones calls made back and forth over the weekend to CanAm in London where we’d purchased the trailer and we were halted in our tracks for a couple of days.
Neil returned today, Monday, and installed spacers behind the wheels, and we’re all set to proceed towards Saskatchewan tomorrow.
I could go on and tell you about the townsfolk of Rapid City who gather for breakfast at the local hotel, farmers, and truckers, down-to-earth people of the land, but suffice to say we experienced a great spirit of generosity and willingness to stop and help, in rural Manitoba, and we were grateful.
The bald facts of the day are simple.
We had 3 flat tires on the trailer on one day and spent many hours hanging about, first at a Canadian Tire parking lot in Brandon Manitoba with 1 flat and ragged looking tire, and later on along the highway about 20 mins north of the city with 2 sad flats, one dragging a totally shredded ribbon of rubber behind it.
But it was the various people from “friendly Manitoba” (as per the Manitoba license plate) that we encountered along the way that gave us a lot to reflect upon, and meant that Eric and I managed to maintain a state of commendable equanimity despite the aggravation.
There was the guy outside Canadian Tire who happened to be ambling past, as the spare tire was being put back in its place, curious and keen to offer suggestions as to how it should be done.
There were the 2 guys who stopped when they saw us precariously (I felt) perched on the edge of a busy highway. Both times we thought, “Yay, this is the person contacted by the Emergency Roadside Service, ERS. But no they had both come with offers to help, willing to lie down under the trailer and comment on the whys and wherefores of our situation.
The owner of a property set back a bit from where we were came over to commiserate and offered to let us park on his laneway so that we wouldn’t have to spend the night being rocked horrifyingly by the thundering trucks. He too offered his ideas and company. Finally the young guy sent to change the tires, arrived, only he’d forgotten his big jack and so he had to call his boss. Boss arrives, they change the tires and conclude that the wheels on the one side were far too close to the frame and hence, the problem.
The boss, Neil, (nice guy with a very nice name) tells us there’s a campground not too far away, in a town too small to have a store, but nevertheless, called Rapid City. We limp along behind him as he guides us there. His father and brother-in-law live there and everyone knows everyone. We are welcomed by one of the counselors and allowed to fill up with water at the town’s municipal building, told where we can dump and shown the library with wireless internet etc.
There are many phones calls made back and forth over the weekend to CanAm in London where we’d purchased the trailer and we were halted in our tracks for a couple of days.
Neil returned today, Monday, and installed spacers behind the wheels, and we’re all set to proceed towards Saskatchewan tomorrow.
I could go on and tell you about the townsfolk of Rapid City who gather for breakfast at the local hotel, farmers, and truckers, down-to-earth people of the land, but suffice to say we experienced a great spirit of generosity and willingness to stop and help, in rural Manitoba, and we were grateful.
Winnipeg
17-19 June 2008 WINNIPEG, Manitoba
This is an account of our time in Winnipeg.
My friend Iris and her husband Brian very generously had us to stay with them for 2 nights as we explored Winnipeg. They live in an area somewhat reminiscent of Wortley Village in London, only quite a bit bigger, and with easy access to downtown either by busses or on foot. On our first evening Brian took us on a walk pointing out landmarks, such as the legislative building, and giving us a sense of our whereabouts. The next morning we went with Brian by bus to the Red River College where he teaches. The campus, in the so-called exchange district, incorporates the heritage street facades of 6 buildings and has kept many reminders of the early days of Winnipeg in its reconstruction. For example, there is now an enclosed atrium which was once a former lane with a spur rail line.
From there Eric and I went and joined a walking tour of the east side of the exchange district, which lasted about an hour. Winnipeg boasts the largest area (20 blocks) of over one hundred turn of the 20th century buildings in North America. These were the days when Winnipeg was the “economic gateway” to Western Canada and had a booming shipping industry. The exchange district was home to many dry goods wholesale businesses and warehouses. It also included theatres and cabarets drawing people such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. We heard stories such as that of the 1919 General Strike and Black Saturday (June 21) when a protest turned violent and a group of about 200 workers fled into Hell’s Alley and were attacked from both ends by the law keepers of the day. This marked the beginning of the labour movement.
Later we walked down to The Forks of the Red and Asiniboine Rivers, which had originally been where1st nation peoples spent their winters protected by the thick vegetation. There is a memorial there now designating The Forks as a meeting place where people gathered as a community to support one another. I was struck by the contrast of this and the many other monuments one sees, that commemorate war. In the centre of an amphitheatre there were a couple of people tending a fire that was going to burn continuously for 4 days till Saturday 21st June (a day to celebrate 1st nations people). On Saturday there would be activities and festivities. 50% of Winnipeg’s population is 1st nation people.
The next day Iris joined us and we went out of the city about 40 mins. North to the Oak Hammock Marsh. Here there is a great visitor centre that looks out over an extensive marsh area. We took a walk outside along paths and boardwalks and saw a variety of birds, eg redwing and yellow headed blackbirds, plovers and marsh wrens; blowing prairie grasses and lots and lots of scampering, tail-wagging prairie dogs. A beautiful place that I hope we’ll come back on our way back as we didn’t have a lot of time to spend there.
From there we had lunch at Captain Kennedy’s Tea House, an historic stone “fur trade era mansion” overlooking the Red, a “Canadian Heritage River”.
What an interesting time we had in Winnipeg. Thanks so much to dear Iris and Brian.
This is an account of our time in Winnipeg.
My friend Iris and her husband Brian very generously had us to stay with them for 2 nights as we explored Winnipeg. They live in an area somewhat reminiscent of Wortley Village in London, only quite a bit bigger, and with easy access to downtown either by busses or on foot. On our first evening Brian took us on a walk pointing out landmarks, such as the legislative building, and giving us a sense of our whereabouts. The next morning we went with Brian by bus to the Red River College where he teaches. The campus, in the so-called exchange district, incorporates the heritage street facades of 6 buildings and has kept many reminders of the early days of Winnipeg in its reconstruction. For example, there is now an enclosed atrium which was once a former lane with a spur rail line.
From there Eric and I went and joined a walking tour of the east side of the exchange district, which lasted about an hour. Winnipeg boasts the largest area (20 blocks) of over one hundred turn of the 20th century buildings in North America. These were the days when Winnipeg was the “economic gateway” to Western Canada and had a booming shipping industry. The exchange district was home to many dry goods wholesale businesses and warehouses. It also included theatres and cabarets drawing people such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. We heard stories such as that of the 1919 General Strike and Black Saturday (June 21) when a protest turned violent and a group of about 200 workers fled into Hell’s Alley and were attacked from both ends by the law keepers of the day. This marked the beginning of the labour movement.
Later we walked down to The Forks of the Red and Asiniboine Rivers, which had originally been where1st nation peoples spent their winters protected by the thick vegetation. There is a memorial there now designating The Forks as a meeting place where people gathered as a community to support one another. I was struck by the contrast of this and the many other monuments one sees, that commemorate war. In the centre of an amphitheatre there were a couple of people tending a fire that was going to burn continuously for 4 days till Saturday 21st June (a day to celebrate 1st nations people). On Saturday there would be activities and festivities. 50% of Winnipeg’s population is 1st nation people.
The next day Iris joined us and we went out of the city about 40 mins. North to the Oak Hammock Marsh. Here there is a great visitor centre that looks out over an extensive marsh area. We took a walk outside along paths and boardwalks and saw a variety of birds, eg redwing and yellow headed blackbirds, plovers and marsh wrens; blowing prairie grasses and lots and lots of scampering, tail-wagging prairie dogs. A beautiful place that I hope we’ll come back on our way back as we didn’t have a lot of time to spend there.
From there we had lunch at Captain Kennedy’s Tea House, an historic stone “fur trade era mansion” overlooking the Red, a “Canadian Heritage River”.
What an interesting time we had in Winnipeg. Thanks so much to dear Iris and Brian.
On the Road Again
15-17 June 2008 – On the Road Again
After our time at the Dunes we had 3 days of driving. Our final destination was Winnipeg.
On the Sunday we passed through Traverse City, a picturesque place on the water, and after a full day’s driving we arrived at the Michigamee Shores Campground in northern Michigan.
A couple of highlights were the crossing of the Mackinac Bridge and the putting of the fingers into Lake Superior. The Mackinac Bridge crosses a narrow section of water at the confluence of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. An impressive engineering feat, this suspension bridge is several km’s long. What particularly appealed to me was the fact that its huge cables were painted a beautiful soft limey green and the 2 massive piers were a rich cream. On a clear sunny day it was, to my eyes, a beautiful sight.
From there the landscape changed and we gradually moved north west away from hills and lush forests and into the precambrian shield towards the south shore of Lake Superior. It was near Marquette that we stopped at a view point and I had my first encounter ever with Lake S.
Monday’s drive took us towards Wisconsin which we crossed into at Ironwood and then into Minnesota at Duluth. Along the way, I was struck by the numerous patches of wild lupins of various colours growing along the verges. The crows in this part of the world are big and the “caws” are very loud so they’re apparently known as Nipissin vultures. It became flatter around Grand Rapids Minn., and we began to get the early signs of the prairies. We camped that night near a little place called Cass Lake. It’s in this area that the great Mississipi River rises and where we first crossed the Red River of “Red River Valley” fame. This river flows through Winnipeg and then north to Hudson Bay.
On Tuesday we did our final leg through Grand Forks, North Dakota (4 states in 3 days), and then north to the Manitoba border. The road we traveled was straight towards a flat horizon. Trees became more sparse, and at one point I could see the whole length of a train traveling parallel to us. There were great expanses of green farm fields interspersed periodically with enormous silver grain silos. At about 2 in the afternoon we arrived at a little hamlet called Aubigny about 40 mins. South of Winnipeg. It was here that we were to left our trailer for a couple of days at property belonging to a friend Joan of my friend Iris, friend too to the Femmes Kickass of London. Joan is in the process of converting a large garage that used to house 7 cars into a living space for herself. Amazing woman. It was here that Iris met us and guided us to her home in Winnipeg.
After our time at the Dunes we had 3 days of driving. Our final destination was Winnipeg.
On the Sunday we passed through Traverse City, a picturesque place on the water, and after a full day’s driving we arrived at the Michigamee Shores Campground in northern Michigan.
A couple of highlights were the crossing of the Mackinac Bridge and the putting of the fingers into Lake Superior. The Mackinac Bridge crosses a narrow section of water at the confluence of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. An impressive engineering feat, this suspension bridge is several km’s long. What particularly appealed to me was the fact that its huge cables were painted a beautiful soft limey green and the 2 massive piers were a rich cream. On a clear sunny day it was, to my eyes, a beautiful sight.
From there the landscape changed and we gradually moved north west away from hills and lush forests and into the precambrian shield towards the south shore of Lake Superior. It was near Marquette that we stopped at a view point and I had my first encounter ever with Lake S.
Monday’s drive took us towards Wisconsin which we crossed into at Ironwood and then into Minnesota at Duluth. Along the way, I was struck by the numerous patches of wild lupins of various colours growing along the verges. The crows in this part of the world are big and the “caws” are very loud so they’re apparently known as Nipissin vultures. It became flatter around Grand Rapids Minn., and we began to get the early signs of the prairies. We camped that night near a little place called Cass Lake. It’s in this area that the great Mississipi River rises and where we first crossed the Red River of “Red River Valley” fame. This river flows through Winnipeg and then north to Hudson Bay.
On Tuesday we did our final leg through Grand Forks, North Dakota (4 states in 3 days), and then north to the Manitoba border. The road we traveled was straight towards a flat horizon. Trees became more sparse, and at one point I could see the whole length of a train traveling parallel to us. There were great expanses of green farm fields interspersed periodically with enormous silver grain silos. At about 2 in the afternoon we arrived at a little hamlet called Aubigny about 40 mins. South of Winnipeg. It was here that we were to left our trailer for a couple of days at property belonging to a friend Joan of my friend Iris, friend too to the Femmes Kickass of London. Joan is in the process of converting a large garage that used to house 7 cars into a living space for herself. Amazing woman. It was here that Iris met us and guided us to her home in Winnipeg.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
14 June 200815 June 2008
14 June 2008
We are now at day 3 and when I reflect on it, it feels as though we’ve been on the road for longer. The days have been full indeed.
We left Nairn a little later than the 11am deadline but no worries we were ON OUR WAY on the MUCH ANTICIPATED trip. We headed west to Sarnia, the border city in Ontario. The day was sunny and clear and the view from the top of the bridge gave us a thrill. I hadn’t dared think about what it might be like to get through US customs. We had stocked up on food and had none of the not permitted fresh fruit, veges or meat. All went very smoothly though and our “nothing to declare” satisfied the kindly woman at the post whose son lives in Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
We spent our first night at the Cadillac Woods campground in Michigan, a small private campground with very few people, as the season hasn’t really started yet. We were startled in our sleep with 2 major thunder and lightning storms, which lit up our trailer with a light and sound show. Eric was thrilled by it but I tried hard to stay asleep and not imagine us going up in flames.
Friday’s drive was only about an hour to Betsie River campground near Frankfort and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. We spent the afternoon on an exploratory and very scenic drive stopping at a view point to look down a steep 400ft or so amazing dune to Lake Michigan. A group of people had climbed down and were now climbing back up on all fours.
Today (Matt’s birthday) we did a very strenuous hike up and down numerous such dunes (4 miles that felt like many more) to Lake M. I walked in bare feet and it wasn’t long before the heart rate was UP. I particularly enjoyed the various dune grasses, shrubs and wild flowers and just wished I could identify more. The lake was a glorious palette of tones going from a milky aqua at the beach all the way to indigo and violet at the horizon. Eric and I were pretty beat at the end of that but it was SO worth it.
Photos will appear soon once we get the hang of all of this.
We are now at day 3 and when I reflect on it, it feels as though we’ve been on the road for longer. The days have been full indeed.
We left Nairn a little later than the 11am deadline but no worries we were ON OUR WAY on the MUCH ANTICIPATED trip. We headed west to Sarnia, the border city in Ontario. The day was sunny and clear and the view from the top of the bridge gave us a thrill. I hadn’t dared think about what it might be like to get through US customs. We had stocked up on food and had none of the not permitted fresh fruit, veges or meat. All went very smoothly though and our “nothing to declare” satisfied the kindly woman at the post whose son lives in Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
We spent our first night at the Cadillac Woods campground in Michigan, a small private campground with very few people, as the season hasn’t really started yet. We were startled in our sleep with 2 major thunder and lightning storms, which lit up our trailer with a light and sound show. Eric was thrilled by it but I tried hard to stay asleep and not imagine us going up in flames.
Friday’s drive was only about an hour to Betsie River campground near Frankfort and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. We spent the afternoon on an exploratory and very scenic drive stopping at a view point to look down a steep 400ft or so amazing dune to Lake Michigan. A group of people had climbed down and were now climbing back up on all fours.
Today (Matt’s birthday) we did a very strenuous hike up and down numerous such dunes (4 miles that felt like many more) to Lake M. I walked in bare feet and it wasn’t long before the heart rate was UP. I particularly enjoyed the various dune grasses, shrubs and wild flowers and just wished I could identify more. The lake was a glorious palette of tones going from a milky aqua at the beach all the way to indigo and violet at the horizon. Eric and I were pretty beat at the end of that but it was SO worth it.
Photos will appear soon once we get the hang of all of this.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
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