Day 7 - Underground in Moose Jaw

This morning we decided to take things slow.  Justin and Bones went for a walk around the campground and to the beach.  Justin says, the rednecks all have nice boats to take on the lake.

At 1300, we drove the 40kms into Moose Jaw.  We found Moose Jaw to be a lot bigger than we thought and again another beautiful prairie city.  The town was full of nice old buildings and murals.  The Tunnels tour was on Main street.  We missed it twice but finally found it!

All ready for the tunnels!

We started out on the Chinese tour.  It was interesting to see all the old photographs depicting the story of Moose Jaw and the Chinese building the railroads.  The one gal play explained how badly the chinese ('Coulees') were treated when they came to Canada.  They had to work to pay for their head tax as well as their trip over.  The chinese were not liked at all so they would hide underground and work and live in horrible conditions.  For this particular story, they depict the Chinese working for a laundrymat.  Living underground in tight quarters, working with strong chemicals that caused burns for mere pennies a day. We had a little over a half an hour to kill before the next tour so we went and indulged in some gelato that we had come accross on Main street.  It was a delicious treat.

Break between tours

The Al Capone tour was cool but not nearly as informative as the previous tour.  It was more of a tourist/entertaining tour and we just didn't enjoy it as much.  BB Girl let us know that it was time to head back.  We stopped at Safeway to pick up a few things.  I have to say that I love Safeway.  We don't have them at home.  It's a very nice grocery store and can you believe that they offer to bring your bags to the car every time! The girl was wondering why I had that look of surprise on my face when she asked if I wanted my order taken to the car. I told her ' Wow! Now, that is service!'.  Then, Justin made a quick stop over at Walmart.  Our blind in the dining room had fallen off and we needed a replacement as well as more storage container and a camping chair.  After arriving at the campground.  Justin drove off with Bones to try and have a look at the Buffalos.  He was pretty upset when he got back because he wasn't able to find the trail.  We figured we would try again in the morning.

Buffalo Pound Lake

Mommy and BB girl having some fun!

That's the day in a nutshell.

Day 6 - Regina the beautiful

We were ready to go by 0830 today.  We thought it was 0930 but my trustee iphone was saying it was 0830.  I looked in my atlas again to look at the time zones and in fact we were only supposed to change time once we crossed into Alberta.  I seemed to remember something about one of the provinces not adhering to daylight savings time (DST).  And yes, of course, Saskatchewan does not so my trustee iphone was right! Man I love my iphone!

This morning we reached the 3000 kms landmark.  I missed it!

We arrived in Regina at 0930.  As soon as we entered the city we saw a Mr. Lube. Perfect, as we needed an oil change and a fuel filter.  We had to unhook the trailer because we wouldn't have made the turn out of the garage.  What a great company.  Pull in, offered coffee or water and the morning paper.  The guys pulled up our information on the computer and away they went.  We were out of there in no time.  (We love Dragon's Den and especially Jim - this is one of his companies).

We then decided to head on over to the RCMP Heritage Museum and Depot.  On Friday's they have the Sgt Major's Parade so we thought we would get there on time to see it.

Our experience didn't start off that great.  The young lad at the kiosk was not sure of himself and he also did not give us the police discount as explained on the website. We didn't think much of it and went on to visit the museum as the tour was only starting in a half hour.  The museum is very nice but we both didn't find it that informative, we didn't visit the second half though because the tour was about to start.  Our tour guide was a young girl who again was not very confident and didn't look that enthused.  She took us around and pointed to the buildings around the academy and didn't not offer much more information than what was on the signs in front of the buildings.  Most of the buildings have been renovated so there isn't much history.  The cadets were walking around and it must be our military background but we weren't that impressed with their deportment.  They do have a very old wooden chapel on the grounds that was very nice to visit.  Cadets are at the depot for 6 months.  There are new intakes of 32 cadets that come in at various times during the year.  I was surprised by that because I assumed they all came in at once.  You can identify at what stage the cadets are at by their dress.  They start off with running shoes, pants and a shirt.  As they get further into their training they get the stripe on their pants, their gun belt (minus the gun) and, eventually their riding boots.  The Sgt's parade consisted of an inspection and a march pass.  It was interesting for us to see the drill as they do dismounted drill.  A little different than what we are used to.  Their parade square is beautiful.  

The names of all officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

We met a very nice couple from South Carolina, Bob & Cindy.  They were on their way to Calgary for the stampede.  He is a retired Maryland State Trooper.  We enjoyed chatting with them throughout our tour.  He asked Justin if he got in for free, because Bob was excited that he didn't have to pay as a retired police officer.  We told them that we paid full price even though Justin showed his credentials.  We tried to get our money back but the staff said they couldn't do anything. (Note: we would have been happy to pay the entry fee but we were so disappointed in this visit that we figured we would try and get the discount.) Justin left before the march pass was over because Bones was in the truck and it was getting pretty hot.  When I returned with Baby girl we got some lunch prepared and had a picnic.

We then headed towards town to Wascana Lake.  We wanted to make it on time as they were offering free boat rides on the Lake in honor of their 50th anniversary. It was about 1430 when we got to the lake and we saw the boat leave on the tour.  I wasn't sure if they would be going out again but we decided to wait and it paid off because the tour guide took us on the tour.  This park is stunning!  It is a man made lake.  The legislative assembly is on one side and trails go around the entire lake.  we were really impressed.  After the boat tour we decided we had to take advantage of this beautiful scenery so Justin took our bikes down and off we went.  We started off with Bones but he isn't that good with the bikes so we took him back and continued on.  We all enjoyed the ride.  Everyone loves to see BB girl on her bike seat.  We packed everything up and headed out of town - destination: Moose Jaw.

The prairie skies are amazing.  At this point though, we still don't find it crazy flat.  Justin describes it best as beautiful rolling hills.  Just stunning.

I usually don't call ahead but on our way I decided to call the campground to ask for their availability.  Good thing I did because they had no room for us.  None of the campsites in Moose Jaw could take us.  So, we opted for Buffalo Pound Provincial park which is 20 minutes North East of Moose Jaw.  Turns out, it was great because it was a nice campsite and a trail that lets you catch a glimpse of a herd of buffalos.

We set up for the night, fed BB girl and put her to bed.  Unfortunatly, this is the first time we have such a hard time putting her to sleep.  We think she was really overtired today.  Her cry was piercing.  Finally, she went down!  Justin wanted to make a fire.  I was freezing.  I did not enjoy the fire at all.  It's in a raised fire pit and was not warming me up at all!  Justin was upset because I was not enjoying his fire.  Nice thing at the park is that they provide you with wood.  A good way to prevent people from bringing wood from other regions.

All in all - A good day!

Day 4 - Transition to the Prairies

Today we took it slow!  BB girl was up early but came to snuggle with us and we ended up getting up at 0900! (which was 1000 for her if you account that we just changed time zones!!!)  Proof that our BB girl was in need of a traveling break!  We made a nice bacon and eggs breakfast and the plan was to take a nice bike ride in Dryden.  For a small town, they had a very impressive visitor's guide.  They had some nice trails and also a map to guide you through town but as luck would have it, it was raining quite hard so we decided to carry on!

We arrived in Kenora at 2.  You can take Hwy 17A and bypass the city but we decided to drive through and have a look!  We are happy that we did! Turns out, Kenora is beautiful.  It sits along the shores of Lake of the Woods.  The waterfront is gorgeous and we saw some beautiful homes.  We were also very surprised to see how busy the city was.  There was traffic and people everywhere.  We missed a turn to continue on Hwy 17 and came across our first snag.  We ended up in a small neighbourhood and we came down a very steep hill.  The problem was that the hill didn't smoothly transition to flat.  It was hill then straight flat (not a smooth transition).  A near perfect 45degree angle.  Good thing Justin was sharp and went slow because we did indeed bottom out.  Our jack stands were touching the ground.  I got out and guided Justin backing up all the way up the hill (he laughed because I was out of breath - no excuse on my part but it was a steep hill!).  We made it out of town safely and were happy to have made the small detour to explore the city.

We crossed the border at 1400  We thought bb girl was sleeping but she woke up to have her picture taken by the sign!

 We pulled in the visitor centre, picked up a pile of brochures and had some lunch.  We arrived in Winnipeg at 1600 and settled in for the night at Travellers RV campground.  Another perfect park for our needs.  It's a 250+ pull through lots campground with all services.

We settled in and took BB girl on her first ride with our new Ibert Bike seat!  WE LOVE IT!!! (thanks lovers for the tip)  BB Girl had a big smile and enjoyed touring the campsite with mom and dad.

Of course, yet again, our ride was cut short as the rain started to come down.  It was almost supper time anyhow so we headed back to our trailer.  We called it a night early!

Day 5 - Winnipeg

Today we were out the door by 0930.  We left bones at the trailer for the first time during our trip.  Left the radio and the fan on - after our return we asked to neibhboors if he barked or cried a lot and our good boy never made a sound (they didn't even know he was there).

First up was St-Boniface.  I have to say that before arriving in Winnipeg, I thought St-Boniface was a town of its own somewhere south of the city.  Turns out, it's just accross the bridge and it's simply a neighborhood.  We found the cemetery where Louis Riel was burried and the cathedral but I was getting really upset as I couldn't find any tourist information at all.  On my map, the tourist info booth was located directly beside the cathedral.

Pierre tombale de Louis Riel

There was a play/tour going in the cemitary for a school group.  One of the girls finally guided me towards the museum and we decided to watch the play as it was just about to start again.  The play was cute and witty!

Play in the cemetery

There was a monument honoring the french Canadian soldiers given by France and it was named 'le poilu'! Too funny! It reminded us of Paul...(Paul a pas de poils sa....)

'Le Poilu'

The cathedral was beautiful, they rebuild it including the remains that were left after a fire in the 1960s.  Unfortunlatly, there wasn't much more information.

La cathédrale St-Boniface

La cathédrale St-Boniface

La cathédrale St-Boniface

BB Girl!

BB Girl was starting to be a little tired so we decided to hop in the truck and head on over to the Forks.  We had a nice lunch and then headed back.  There isn't all that much to visit and seeing as both Justin and I had already been in Winnipeg, we had pretty much seen everything we wanted.  I have to say that the city was much prettier in the summer and at temperatures warmer than -40C!

We got the trailer ready and I went to pay our late departure fee.  That is when I asked the young girl if she recommended visiting the mint.  She said that she had gone on a tour in high school and that it was actually very interesting.  So, on our way out, we stopped in on the chance that there would be some room left on the tour!  Well, not only was there room left on the tour but we were the only ones!  On top of that, when we got talking with our tour guide about where we came from, he told us he was a retired military member! Not any military member, but an ex MP.  Crazy small world! The tour was extremely interesting/informative and Phil, our tour guide, was great!  Our mint makes coins for over 70 different countries due to the fact that we have a special formula that allows us to make them for cheaper.  We also learned that anyone can submit to have a coin made.  If your coin is chosen, your initials are on the coin and you get the frist strike.  Pretty cool stuff!  Phil mentioned to us that the coins are no longer made of precious metals as it was too expensive.  Copper pennies were phased out in 1996.  I asked Phil, if copper pennies were worth more than one cent at the scrap yard and they actuallly are worth 2 cents.  But don't you go and bring your pennies to the scrapyard because they won't pay you for them as it is illegal to deface money! (Dad - you can't say we didn't warn you!)

We finally headed out of town towards Regina.  We made a pit stop at the Jets practice facility to pick up a hat and tshirt.  I was talking on the phone with mom and dad, telling them everything was fine as Justin pulled over and said something was wrong.  We had a long moulding from the rain gutters flapping in the wind.  Justin removed it and we will have to get the trailer looked at to make sure it will not allow rain to penetrate trailer.  We then stopped at a picnic/rest area because bb girl had  had enough.  She barely slept all day.  We can't blame her though. She takes after her mom and is too curious and will not nap when there is action going on.  So, we had some supper and Justin played around with bones.  Throwing his duck around playing fetch.  Tragedy struck when we were leaving.  We couldn't find the duck anywhere.  Justin is convinced that it was right behind the trailer.  Bones' chicken was stolen!  Ah! Friendly Manitoba hey?? Not so much!

We went through Brandon at 2100.  We again decided to drive through the town rather than bypass it.  Again, another beautiful town with beautiful homes, nice city hall.  The river on the other hand was not that nice.  We were surprised to read that it is the 2nd largest city in Manitoba with a population of 46k.

We crossed into Saskatchewan at 2213.  Of course we stopped at the sign to take some pictures.  We moved some picnic tables over so that we could climb the sign.  I realized I was getting old because I was scared to get in trouble! What happened to my rebel days!

We ended up stopping for the night at 2230 in Grenfell.  We had no choice because we needed diesel and the gas station was closed!  So we settled in at the Esso between two huge trucks for the night!

Justin's Big Rig in the middle! Mr W would be proud - he's about at 3000km under his belt!

Day 3 - Our day in the Bay

We woke up to fog and hit the road at 0800.  The drive this morning is not too bad.  We can see the lake again and there are some nice views and some big hills.

         Note for Jordon - we still have a lot of trees in Northern Ontario.

Went through so many little towns and had a good laugh at some of the signs along the way.  For instance, in Nipigan, they have Canada's smallest Canadian Tire, it's so small, we never found it!  Red Rock - we saw red rock sometime before passing through Red Rock but never when we got close.  Every time we would go through a little town we would play find the LCBO, OPP and gas station.  At 1010 this morning we get pulled over for the first time (hopefully last).  Clocked at 112km in a 90km zone.  Happy we don't have to add the cost of a ticket to our grand  total for the trip :)

We arrived in Thunder Bay at noon and the first thing we did was to go see the Terry Fox statue.  Justin was really looking forward to it.  The monument is situated on top of a small mountain just east of the city on Hwy 17 as you arrive.  The grounds and the monument are stunning.  We have to say one of the most touching monuments we've both seen.

Here is part of the text engraved onto the monument;

Terry Fox inspired this nation with his dream - his marathon of hope - a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research.

This young man from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, knew too well the ravages of cancer...because at 18 he had lost his right leg to the disease.  And etched in his mind was the pain and suffering on the faces of other cancer victims.  Determined not to leave this "world of miracles" before a cure had been found, he planned his 5,300-mile marathon.  

After dipping his foot in the Atlantic, he began his epic in St. John's Newfoundland on April 12, 1980.  

Running 26 miles a day, this outstanding young athletic had conquered five provinces by the time he had reached Ontario in June, then, at mile number 3,339, near this very site, recurring cancer forced him to give up his run.

"It feels good to give", he told the people of Ontario who responded wholeheartedly to his courage and his dream and through his perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds, he inspired an outpouring of immense nation pride and a flood of $24 million for cancer research.

To the people of Ontario, Terry gave us pride - pride in having known him and, briefly, sharing his dream.

To every Canadian, he left us his challenge.  A challenge each of us will meet in our own way.

A cute anecdote is that we both said our moms would have a Terry Fox book from when we were younger for BB girl.  At the memorial, there is also a great view of  the Sleeping Giant (a formation of hills and cliff that resemble a giant sleeping on his back).

Justin - The sleeping Giant

After making a stop at the grocery store, We decided to head out to Mount Mckay to have a better view of the Giant and the city and to have a little picnic.  Getting there was quite an adventure.  We went over the tiniest bridge covered with metal sheets that seemed to be floating on the beams.  I did not enjoy that at all!  On the other side of the bridge we crossed Chippewa park - I mention it because earlier we had heard the song 'Indian outlaw'! An old country classic, and one of the lines is "my Baby she's a Chippewa"! Well, we laughed and were singing that song all day. You all know how we are crazy country fans!  Anyhow, we made it up Mount Mckay (not the nicest ride with the trailer in tow but we managed).  The view was indeed worth it and we were almost by ourselves up top and found a perfect spot for a nice picnic.

View of the Sleeping Giant from Mount Mckay

View of Thunder Bay from Mount Mckay

Next stop, a few kms out of town, was Kabakeka Falls.  Justin wasn't really interested in seeing 'cheesy' falls but we were both impressed.  They were very nice and forceful.  Had it not been that bb girl had not slept in quite some time, we would have taken the hike around the falls.  But we decided to keep going.  On our way, we spotted a little moose and then a big mama moose with her two babies.  So beautiful!

Kabekeka Falls

We made it to Dryden at 1800 - that is because we crossed into Central time zone (so we gained an hour - yeah).  We stayed at the North Western RV Campground.  A perfect campground for our needs and our hosts, an elderly Swiss couple, were wonderful. We took the time at this comfortable campsite to rearrange the trailer so we ended up going to bed a little late but excited as we knew we would be done with Ontario tomorrow!

Day 2 - Superior Beauty

We got a lot of driving in today!  We left Anthony's truck stop at around 9 in a little bit of fog.  We met up with Anthea in the "Soo" at 1130.  Anthea is my sister Nancy's bestie!  Anthea was rocking her baby bump and was on holidays in her hometown for the week! Great timing!

Anthea!

Next we headed to the Sault Ste Marie locks! Locks are like a reoccuring theme for our holidays lately! Our last vacation took us to Panama and of course I insisted that we go visit the locks!  Professional development on my holidays and now my mat leave! That is dedication! :)  The locks are small on the Canadian side but are beautiful and there was a small hiking trail.  Bones enjoyed chasing the chipmunks and the ducks.

Lock gates

Bones swimming with the ducks!

Justin decided to inspect our new platform that we installed on the trailer prior to departure.  Earlier today, a man had stopped us to tell us that the spare tire under the platform was hitting the ground.  From what Justin could see, it didn't look damaged at all but we decided to be safe and remove it.  As luck would have it,
Justin couldn't take it off without an impact wrench.  So off to Canadian Tire we went and they were so nice, they did the job of removing it for us on the spot and for free!  Very nice.  By this time, the weather had turned nasty and it was time to leave the 'Soo'.

We didn't make it too far because Baby Girl was getting hungry so we stoped in Pancake Bay and had some supper and playtime with Gab before we hit the road again at 2000.

 We knew crossing Ontario was going to be long but we also expected it to be boring and ugly.  Ontario showed us its superior splendor on this leg of our trip.  Between the 'Soo' and Wawa, Hwy 17 runs along Lake Superior and there are some very beautiful views.  We also had the chance to spot a moose!

We drove till 1030 and stopped just passed Marathon.  It was just getting dark and the fog was setting in.  Our host for the night was the Mayfare hotel parking lot!  Great Day!

Here we go!!!

Coming to you from somewhere between Espanola and the Sault! Yesterday was the first day of our .75 trip across Canada!! So exciting! We finally pulled away from the house at eleven....two days later than planned but we are happy to be on our way!

We had a good day of driving. We made it further than expected. We wanted to make it to Sudbury and we made it just a little further about 16kms west of Espanola! Thank you Anthony's truck stop for the great parking spot :)

We made a lunch stop in Arnprior and then in Petewawa to see some old friends that we hadn't seen in a long time.

The Brown Family! Good old Friends!

We then continued on to North Bay and had a spaghetti supper in the walmart parking lot and played with baby girl before moving on to Sudbury. Oh Sudbury and your BIG Nickel! Justin didn't believe me when I told him it wasn't all that big. We had a good laugh when we pulled up. 

It's just as I remember... Not that big. I usually act as the tour guide on our trip so on our way to the nickel, I read the history behind this Canadian landmark (thank you wikipedia). Turns out this was a firefighters idea and the city refused to back him financially so he raised the funds himself and made his dream a realty! When we saw the nickel, I said, had I been on city counsell, I also would not have appeoved the funds! But in all seriousness, it is a beautiful landmark for this mining city. We pulled in at Anthony's truck stop off HWY 17 at around 2200. A great first day!