We've had poor internet connections this past week so unable to update this blog. I'm writing while we are travelling so keeping fingers crossed that we don't loose our signal.
On Sunday (25th) we headed out from our campsite to "The Forks" in downtown Winnpeg as we had heard a lot about it as a "must see" place to go. While the location, right on the river, was a beautiful setting, the rest was a disappointment. It was a take off on Granville Island in Vancouver, but really missed the mark. That, plus a lot of litter around, crowed areas..not inviting for a tourist. Might explain while it was not that busy considering it was a beautiful day. From there, we toured around Winnipeg, getting a lay of the city and surrounding areas. During this tour, it was discovered that Dale has trouble with North and South, while I have trouble with left and right (you know, the other left!!!). I had wanted to go to Portage and Main as you always hear about it and so, with our directionally challenged abilities noted, we got to see it three or four times!! We also got to view the CPR railroad yard and a few other less notable sites!!! Eventually we found our way home for a late BBQ dinner and a much needed bottle of wine.
Monday found us on the road again, but we didn't get away until almost 11:00 a.m. The scenery was slowly changing from flat prairie, to rolling hills and more and more trees. Starting to look more like BC. We made good time on Hwy. 11, turning into Hwy. 17 when you crossed into Ontario and just east of Kenora we took a different route and turned south on Hwy 71. A slower, twistier road, little traffic and breathtaking scenery; there are so many lakes, big and small that every turn had another stunning vista in front of us. When we got as far as Fort Francis, we started looking for a stopping spot for the night; rest areas were marked on the map, but once again, they didn't appear in reality. As we neared a little town called Atikokan, we turned off the hwy and drove into this little town about 3 kms north, did a quick tour of the town,and then found a Lions Club run RV Park. The "official" RV parking was full (due to all the construciton workers there in their 5th wheels, working on road construction) so we parked down at the river. A beautiful quiet spot and turned out it was far better than the "official" parking area.
It was a restful evening and where we were, a lot of the locals bring their dogs down to swim and run so got to talk to a lot of the folks. The town used to have a mine nearby and the town was quite lively. Since the mine closed, the town has gone from 8500 to about 2800 and slowly dying. They are trying to build up tourism as a replacement industry. Might make it too as there a lot of plusses about the place.
I wll sign off now and continue the travel on a different page.
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