Day 5, Sunday, July 1, 2007
Our first night in a Free Walmart parking lot. Not sure how it was going to go but I think it was one of the best nights sleep Willa and I have had so far. A little bright from the parking lot lights but one of our quietest so far. We got away about 6:45 and hit the local Tim Horton’s. That was after we dumped our holding tanks. From there we were on the road moving east. I drove for about the first 4 hours and then Willa took over for the next while. We tried to locate a relative of Willa’s near Alexander Manitoba, but when we phoned there was no answer. Hmm! even if they had call display they wouldn’t have known we were calling because it was someone else’s phone, so they truly were not home. Now in Brandon Manitoba we stopped to visit my cousin, we just waited until they came home, we could outwait them because we were on holidays and they weren’t. All joking aside we were sorry we missed Bonnie and Art Asham but on the other hand we had a real nice visit with Roger and Betty-Ann Kraft.
I’ve heard so many stories about how boring the Prairies are to drive through and I must admit I was thinking along the same lines, however have we ever enjoyed the drive so far. The things to see if you watch. The trains, I could not believe how long they are. One I measured with the speedom
eter and it was almost exactly 2 kilometers long and I think it had either 5 or 6 engines pulling. I don’t think I saw any short trains, no pun intended. The horizons are absolutely breath taking, I am betting you are looking 30 + miles, and in some cases that was a 360 degree view. This morning as we left Moose Jaw to the south east there was a white band on the horizon and it took the longest time to figure it out, well actually about 50-60 miles. Turns out it was a storm moving in and this was the white billow clouds of the storm. The colour of the fields and the different crops and they must have had a fair amount of rain because the crops all looked in very good shape. The roads this day have been pretty good but considering this is the Trans Canada Highway or the #1 Highway it is a little disappointing. Now to be fair there are some areas they are constructing some new 4 lane, where only 2 now exist. But even some of the existing 4 lane highway is not in very good shape. We were going to try and make it to Winnipeg today but decided to pull in a little early and then leave early in the morning and catch the Museums and other stops of interest as early as we can. We ended up in a Lions Club park in McGregor, Manitoba. Nice campsite with full hook-up and only $15.00 per night and less with less services. As I look around from the m/h there is an ice arena, tennis courts and someone playing (actually two people), a small water park for the kids, two baseball diamonds, and it looks like either a subdivision o
r mobile home park up the road from us. Very quiet right now but we may here a train or two in the night, mind you once the engines go by there isn’t too much noise after that. Well Willa and I are going to see what is at the end of the road, maybe a pot of gold——–sorry forgot the gold is at the end of the rainbow. All and all it has been a very nice few days, everyone has traveled well and the rotation of the driving has helped everyone to pass the time. To pass the time away Willa reads her book and does cross word puzzles and Tegan is writing her letters and doing her cross stitch, as for me I drive, do my diary, sweat a lot when Tegan is driving and relax and enjoy the scenery when Willa is driving. We try to get out for a bike ride or walk each night if we can, it helps to get rid of some of the stiffness from the days sitting. Didn’t get to bed until close to 11:30 or 12:00 pm. Well can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will bring.
Our first night in a Free Walmart parking lot. Not sure how it was going to go but I think it was one of the best nights sleep Willa and I have had so far. A little bright from the parking lot lights but one of our quietest so far. We got away about 6:45 and hit the local Tim Horton’s. That was after we dumped our holding tanks. From there we were on the road moving east. I drove for about the first 4 hours and then Willa took over for the next while. We tried to locate a relative of Willa’s near Alexander Manitoba, but when we phoned there was no answer. Hmm! even if they had call display they wouldn’t have known we were calling because it was someone else’s phone, so they truly were not home. Now in Brandon Manitoba we stopped to visit my cousin, we just waited until they came home, we could outwait them because we were on holidays and they weren’t. All joking aside we were sorry we missed Bonnie and Art Asham but on the other hand we had a real nice visit with Roger and Betty-Ann Kraft.
I’ve heard so many stories about how boring the Prairies are to drive through and I must admit I was thinking along the same lines, however have we ever enjoyed the drive so far. The things to see if you watch. The trains, I could not believe how long they are. One I measured with the speedom
eter and it was almost exactly 2 kilometers long and I think it had either 5 or 6 engines pulling. I don’t think I saw any short trains, no pun intended. The horizons are absolutely breath taking, I am betting you are looking 30 + miles, and in some cases that was a 360 degree view. This morning as we left Moose Jaw to the south east there was a white band on the horizon and it took the longest time to figure it out, well actually about 50-60 miles. Turns out it was a storm moving in and this was the white billow clouds of the storm. The colour of the fields and the different crops and they must have had a fair amount of rain because the crops all looked in very good shape. The roads this day have been pretty good but considering this is the Trans Canada Highway or the #1 Highway it is a little disappointing. Now to be fair there are some areas they are constructing some new 4 lane, where only 2 now exist. But even some of the existing 4 lane highway is not in very good shape. We were going to try and make it to Winnipeg today but decided to pull in a little early and then leave early in the morning and catch the Museums and other stops of interest as early as we can. We ended up in a Lions Club park in McGregor, Manitoba. Nice campsite with full hook-up and only $15.00 per night and less with less services. As I look around from the m/h there is an ice arena, tennis courts and someone playing (actually two people), a small water park for the kids, two baseball diamonds, and it looks like either a subdivision o
r mobile home park up the road from us. Very quiet right now but we may here a train or two in the night, mind you once the engines go by there isn’t too much noise after that. Well Willa and I are going to see what is at the end of the road, maybe a pot of gold——–sorry forgot the gold is at the end of the rainbow. All and all it has been a very nice few days, everyone has traveled well and the rotation of the driving has helped everyone to pass the time. To pass the time away Willa reads her book and does cross word puzzles and Tegan is writing her letters and doing her cross stitch, as for me I drive, do my diary, sweat a lot when Tegan is driving and relax and enjoy the scenery when Willa is driving. We try to get out for a bike ride or walk each night if we can, it helps to get rid of some of the stiffness from the days sitting. Didn’t get to bed until close to 11:30 or 12:00 pm. Well can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will bring.
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