Sunday September 13, 1998 - Saskatchewan

Gull Lake - sunny and warm.

I got on the road early again and drove through to a rest stop on the side of the road at Gull Lake. I've been there before so I was looking for it. It was mostly prairie driving. Once again the CD player was not working properly. If there is anywhere you want to listen to music it is driving across the prairies.

Saturday September 12, 1998 - Manitoba

Falcon Lake, Manitoba

Falcon Lake - sunny and warm.

I left the campground early and made it to Falcon Lake, Manitoba by night. I passed through the infamous Wawa (where hitchhikers dread to be let off).

The Wawa Goose

Also passed through White River, the birthplace of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Postcard from White River

Lots of places to stop along the Lake Superior shore and the weather was beautiful.

Yohan being majestic. He can't hold his tail up anymore.

The shore of Lake Superior

More great scenery along the north shore of Lake Superior. I took a little side trip to see the Panorama amethyst mine. The mine itself was nothing special but the drive in was pretty nice, with a road up a cliffside and great views of Lake Superior. Panoramic.

On the road to Panorama

Panoramic view, Lake Superior in the distance

Tuesday July 21, 1998 - Manitoba

Somewhere west of Thunder Bay - cool, windy and rainy.

I continued on across to Lake Winnipeg and then down the shore to Gimli. When I was camping in BC someone told me that I really should visit Gimli so that was part of the reason that I was travelling through Manitoba north of Winnipeg. But I would still have to go to Winnipeg because it is on the Trans-Canada and the only way to get from Manitoba to Ontario is on the Trans-Canada.

Gimli birdhouses

Gimli is an Icelandic town. It was kind of picturesque but I'm not sure I would go around telling people they must see it. It has a marina and a fishing boat harbour on Lake Winnipeg, and there was a long wharf out into the lake with a concrete wall along one side of the wharf. The local art club is filling the wall with murals.

Gimli wharf and murals

Some were completed last year, some this year and some were still being painted while I was there. When they finish a painting it is coated with an anti-graffiti shiny clear coat of something or other. Gimli also sports a fighter plane on a post and a giant birdhouse tower.

I ended up driving through the Portage and Main intersection in downtown Winnipeg several times because I kept making wrong turns and trying to get back to it. But I finally got through and onto the Trans-Canada eastbound. I kept driving until quite late at night and then turned off at a sign for a boat ramp. I followed a dirt road for 8 km through the bush in the dark before reaching a lake. I didn't see a boat ramp but there was a bit of beach so I parked there beside the water and went to bed. I have figured out that the mosquitoes come in through cracks on either side of the tailgate so I am using newspaper to block them. I still have to spend 15 minutes killing the mosquitoes that get in before I have closed everything up, but after that I get a bug-free night.

Monday July 20, 1998 - Manitoba

Ste Rose du Lac - cool, windy and rainy.

I got up early and had another shower on the theory that it was best to take advantage when you could, and then headed into Saskatoon. I got another Canada map at the CAA office and gas (expensive at $0.56 but I had Domo 4 cents off coupons), and then headed out on a back road to Manitoba, north of Dauphin. I took photos of canola and flax fields, the huge fields of yellow and blue flowers were pretty amazing.

I stopped for supper just north of Dauphin and then continued on a while and spent the night in a roadside rest area. This part of Manitoba, west of Lake Winnipegosis, is referred to as parkland. It's flat as prairie and where cleared it looks like prairie, but its natural cover is aspen and cottonwood.

Manitoba parkland

Where I ended up spending the night was in a free municipal campground on the edge of a small town east of Dauphin. Next to the campground was a large religious grotto.

Most of this part of Saskatchewan and Manitoba is largely Ukrainian with churches with cupolas and Croix de Lorraine. But the Dauphin area is French.

Eastward bound

This post covers the period of Nov 2 - 4, 2010, the trip from Winnipeg Manitoba to Barrie Ontario.

Driving through north Ontario is kind of a treat. I did not have great weather but still, the scenery was fine. I made it to Thunderbay in the first day with no problem, and spent the night at Kakabeka Falls just outside of town. I was very pleased with the 'snake oil' additive, the engine noise seemed quieter, my gas mileage better, and I did not appear to be burning oil at the former alarming rate. In Thunderbay I stopped at a shop in the same chain as the one in Winnipeg to find out the name of this amazing little oil additive and maybe pick up another bottle of the stuff for the rest of the trip. As it turned out they told me I could get the stuff at any Canadian Tire store. I didn't bother go looking for the local Canadian Tire but just continued on the next leg of the trip with somewhere between Wawa and The Soo as my destination.

I made it to Wawa with no problem and thought I may as well continue on to The Soo as I still had a bit of daylight left. But the weather went downhill after that, heavy rain and poor visibility. Several potential overnight stopping points turned out to be inaccessible so I continued to drive. By the time I got to The Soo I'd had enough, I wanted off the road. Now my cell phone worked again, so I tried calling my Edmonton friend Inger because she had said she had a friend in The Soo that could put me up, but this was her Toastmasters' night and all I could do was leave a message. I decided to continue driving.

Fortunately the weather cleared substantially after I left The Soo and a few kilometers down the road I found a boat launch place on a small lake that I could stop at. It was quiet and pretty, the lapping of the waves on the lakeshore close to the truck was soothing.

On the third day I made it to Barrie where my brother lives. I got to wash the clothes I had not changed in three days and have a nice hot bath for myself. We watched videos while we ate supper, and then I toddled off to a big soft bed for the night.

On numerous occasions through the prairies and northern Ontario I saw a curious little bird, somewhat smaller than a robin and looking a bit like a sparrow but with white patches on its wings. I have since found out that that bird is the Snow Bunting, otherwise known as the "snowbird" of Anne Murray fame. Neat.

Currently...

Sun., Nov. 21: Arrived in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, yesterday shortly after noon, an hour before the snow. Spent one warm night at a friend's place in Ottawa and one very cold night at an Irving Big Stop just south of Fredericton, New Brunswick. Cold enough to get me out of bed and back on the road long before dawn.

The snow was beautiful in Wolfville, especially knowing I didn't have to drive in it. Huge soft flakes filling the air, and very quickly a thin white blanket covering the ground. Last night the downtown was beautiful with Christmas lights and decorations in the snow.

Speaking of snow, I saw snow geese in Quebec. Driving by farmers' fields, one field in particular looked like it had its very own snow storm, the whiteness filling the field and boiling in the air above it. Not snow, but snow geese. Wonderful.

It feels a little strange now, this time I am not visiting but here to stay. Just waiting to get into my home.

Tues., Nov. 16: Still in Toronto, but planning to leave tomorrow. First stop Ottawa, then on to Nova Scotia. Had a pleasant time here visiting with family and my Toronto friends, the Dog Ladies. The truck is almost all packed---I am picking up a few last possessions still remaining in Toronto---and I am almost ready to leave.

Sun., Nov. 7: In Toronto for a week or so, got warm greeting from Dobby and gave Tristan his birthday present.















Thurs., Nov. 4: After 3 days on the road I am in Barrie at my brother's place. Truck did fine, I guess the Winnipeg 'snake oil' was just the ticket!

Mon., Nov. 1: I will most likely leave Winnipeg tomorrow, and if all goes well I should arrive in Barrie very late on Thursday Nov. 4. Expecting lots of weather over the next few days, but right now it is sunny and warm and at least a few of the trees are leafy and green.

Sat., Oct. 30: I am leaving Edmonton, planning to spend Saturday night on the road somewhere in Saskatchewan and arrive at my niece's in Winnipeg on Sunday.

We went for lunch near where Inger works (the Maz), walked on Whyte Ave and checked out some funky stores, and then later went to see "Red" at the cinema. It was fun. In honour of the movie we had vodka shots when we got back to the house, Dale downed his in a single gulp. I sipped.

Wed., Oct. 27: I am posting a little behind, so if you're interested, I am currently in Edmonton, waiting for weather further east to improve...

Manitoba and Saskatchewan: two provinces in a single day

My first prairie day. The last two days were rocks and trees and lakes, today I emerged from the trees into the grassland. Great fields of wheat and hay, huge skies of spectacular cloud formations.

I experimented with taking photos while driving.

A bit dangerous, but then so is falling asleep at the wheel. Out on the grassland, it is good to keep busy and entertained, not fall victim to boredom and nodding off.


I drove almost all the way through Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

My memory of this stretch of the TransCanada is that it is rather like running the gauntlet; there just aren't a lot of places to stop and rest or take a pee break.

I remember once in desperation stopping at a place where there were a few low bushes by the side of the road, the best cover I could find for relieving myself. The copious amounts of used tissue paper behind those bushes was evidence of this being the primary thought of many other travellers before me. This trip is not so bad, I never got to the point of searching out those bushes for relief.

In the late evening I found a rest stop already occupied by several other travellers; I pulled in and quickly setup for the night, only a few kilometers from the Alberta border.