Posts made in July, 2015
Lower Fort Garry
Late start today. We got to Lower Fort Garry just after noon. Don had a craving for a restaurant brekky and I had to allow him that indulgence. We spent our time at Lower Fort Garry and talked to the docents. The mercantile store reminded me of Grandpa’s trading post. Then, on to Walmart in Kenora with 12 other RV’ers. No overnight parking signs were all over the place. We parked right in front of one. 🙂 I did go in and ask if it would be ok to park overnight and was told that it was a city bylaw and that we might get a ticket. There was no ticket. The city would probably be foolish to prohibit overnight parking for RVs but I could see that the bylaw would also allow them to move real transients who could park there for longer times. There were two deer grazing just behind our rig when we woke up in the morning. I can certainly see the attraction of the Ontario cottage country. It was a beautiful drive but as Bob said, it consisted of rocks, trees, lakes, rocks, rocks, trees, lakes. The odd cop hidden amongst the rocks watching for...
Read MoreWeyburn, SK
You can still see a bit of smoke in the air. It doesn’t smell anymore though. So we boondocked once again in the Walmart parking lot. Again we had neighbours as you can see from the photo. It was amusing to see the exercise bike come out, the BBQ, the table and chairs. Making themselves right at home. A bit later in the evening, I happened to look outside and saw their dog running down the boulevard, dragging its leash. It wasn’t really a safe street – there was a major highway close by and a train track. Just as I was about to go let them know their dog was loose, one of the owners came out and looked for the dog. I pointed to where it was going. They managed to get the dog back. That is my greatest fear, to loose either the dog or cat. So we thought our batteries were going dead. The solar panel is supposed to charge them while we are driving so that we can use them at night but the inverter panel was telling us that they were at 24%. What the…So we went to bed as soon we couldn’t read our books anymore. We could see that there was an RV dealer just up the road and decided to stop in in the morning and have them check things out for us. Minard RV is a very large dealership and they have a great service department and store. While Don was having the rig’s electrical inspected, I was inspecting another 5th Wheel. It was pretty much the same size as ours but had 3 bump outs. Wow! Nice! Hmmm, the salesman even gave me the trade in value on our rig. Wow was I tempted. I think the only reason I resisted is that it would once again delay us for a couple of days. I am really anxious to get to Newfoundland. Turns out the inverter panel was not reading things properly. Our batteries are fine and our solar panel is working as it should. We just can’t trust the readouts. I guess we will know when the batteries go dead when they don’t turn on anymore. Then we can worry about things. Tonight we are parked at the Arrowhead RV Park in Ile des Chenes, Manitoba. Sure a lot of francophone communities around here. Could almost be...
Read MoreDog River
I was really disappointed that the small town of Roleau didn’t take Corner Gas more to heart. This is what is left of the TV/movie set. There were a couple of other buildings (The Howler) that had remnants of being in the show but not too much else. I looked for a store that might carry t-shirts or some kind of souvenir but there was nothing. It was disappointing. The elevator did say Dog River, though. It really makes me sad to see all these small towns dying. There are so many that just have no life left in them – all the way up north and down south. Sad. ...
Read MoreSouth to North Battleford
We were really tired when we left after listening to barking dogs, people partying and a noisy generator.  I had another nice walk along the lakefront with Lucy before we left. I am getting a lot of walking in. We left around 9am and made our way east. It was really smokey. At one point, we took one side road where the pavement was extremely rough and decided to find somewhere to turn around. Thank you Mr. Farmer! Just enough turning room taking up his whole driveway, the road and the dry crossing across the road but we did it. Then we got on a better road to North Battleford. We decided to “boondock” at Walmart and pulled in along the edge of the parking lot. Next thing we knew, a huge motorhome pulled in three feet from us, put out the slides and made themselves at home. Thanks much! The whole parking lot to choose from and they decided we looked safe to park next to. Little did they know Psycho Santa drove this rig! Haha! I tried to take Lucy for a walk along the green area but found a dead gopher and tons of garbage and decided it might not be the best place to walk a little dog. Who knows what killed that gopher. I had really wanted to visit Batoche on the way down and Fort Battleford but we decided to skip them. There was just too much smoke. Our throats were scratchy and Lucy had a sneezing fit. Smoke still there in the morning. I am very disappointed but have seen both before. I am sure I will find something to make up for it. 🙂 I was surprised but Walmart filled up in the evening with rigs of all descriptions, even cars and vans, that stayed overnight. It was really quiet except for our neighbour’s generator. We got solar panels so we wouldn’t have to listen to a noisy generator and it is kind of irksome. Oh well. Too funny to see trucks pulling trailers and boats or cars behind. Even motorhomes pulling travel trailers! Only in Alberta and Saskatchewan. You can see the smoke in the pic with the truck, trailer and boat....
Read MoreLac La Biche, Alberta
We reluctantly left Peace River and are now stopped at Beaver Lake, near Lac La Biche, right almost at lakefront. Lovely spot. It was super smokey and super hot when we arrived and asked for a spot. The attendant said she thought there might be a spot in the overflow and that before driving there, we should walk there and check to make sure we would fit. Hot, hot, hot, long walk. And to top it all off, I had looked at a map and thought I was going in the right direction but couldn’t find the OVF sign that she said would be there. Saw some posts that said OF with a number but didn’t put two and two together that that was the overflow that she was talking about. Walked back. She said, yes, that probably was the overflow and that we could go pick a spot and then come back and register. Off we went, picked our spot and then I walked that hot, hot, hot long walk back to the office. At the door I noticed a sign that said the license number was needed. Great. I didn’t remember it. When she asked, I told her I was NOT going to walk back and get it and come back with it. She took one look at my hot sticky face and said sweetly, that it was ok. Good thing too! We walked Lucy down along the lake when it cooled down. People out playing in the water and fishing from the shore. It was 29 degrees when we arrived but by evening it cooled down a bit.  There are actually pelicans that come to visit the northern chain of lakes. The overflow was empty for a while but then company rolled in and put up their tents. Friday night party time. And they did till about 1:30. Mr. across the way with his trailer and kids ran his generator for several hours. Then first thing again in the morning. Nice to listen to! On to North Battleford in the...
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