I recommend the Super 8 on Niakwa Road in Winnipeg. It is clean and modern, comfortable beds, reasonably priced, and helpful staff. What I really liked was the lack of carpets in the room which makes so much sense when they advertise themselves as pet friendly. There is absolutely no doggie smell.
They provide a full help-yourself breakfast so I did just that – eating way more than usual – a blueberry waffle, boiled egg, juice, coffee and giant muffin. I won’t have to eat until supper.
We were on the road by 10 (a bit later than usual) and headed straight for Birds Hill Provincial Park. The land around Winnipeg is pretty flat so as a park goes I have to say it is a bit boring. There are a lot of trails but we didn’t take any – simply doing a perimeter drive. No sentinel rabbits today but I did see an owl fly up as we drove by. And then there was this pickup displaying the name John Henry. I just had to take a picture.
From here we headed to Selkirk where I found gas for $1.19. Yesterday I had seen it for $1.68 near Kakebeka. Does that make sense?
Next on the day’s plan was Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site. Bus and I did the complete tour. It is manned for the summer by university students in authentic reproduction garb. Their time period is 1851 so they tell about the people who were living at the Fort that year and show the houses and shops as they would have been then. It was fascinating. Did you know they actually shoed the oxen? And the ox carts had eight oxen abreast so the roads had to be built to accommodate the width. There was a display about the Hayes River and York Factory as well. All very cool!
From there I set my phone’s GPS to take us to the White Horse statue at St Francois Xavier but we ended up on some farmer’s track. I eventually got us out of that mess and we did find the statue. I think it was a present from the White Horse distillery in Glasgow.
Back onto the Trans-Canada to find the World’s Largest Coke Can in Portage-La-Prairie. We did find it but Bus doesn’t show up very well in the picture. I don’t think he was very impressed.
We headed for Riding Mountain National Park but as we passed through Neepawa I saw a sign that indicated Margaret Laurence had lived there. I just had to check out her home. I loved her Manawaka trilogy. And she had been living in Ghana in 1957 when they achieved independence so I always felt some connection with her. Also, she ended up living in Lakefield where she eventually died and that is just down the road from Eel’s Lake.
So we made our way to Riding Mountain where we have set up camp. There are very few people here and I think I have one of the best campsites – 626 in case you ever stop over. Next to me are a number of oTentiks – fancy tents with BBQ’s and porches that can be rented. There is one couple there that I can hear. And three people drove up to the water tap by my site saying the water at their site isn’t working. Mine is so they were able to fill up. Not far from me is a comfort station with toilets and showers. Can it get any better?