Rob-n-Hild, oot and aboot eh? Sorry - 2022
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Regina - Winnipeg (576 km, time - 5 hours 59 minutes, max elevation - 669 m) 
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A late start today as Rob had a call and then we filled up at Costco
and drove east on the Trans-Canada Highway - called Route 1 here in
Manitoba. It is a nice dual-lane highway here so we barrelled along
nicely until we crossed over into Manitoba (remembering to move the
clock forward an hour). Our original plan just included
stop somewhere for lunch and arrive at hotel.
Some quick research lead us to Oak Lake Beach to enjoy lunch at their provincial park. Oak Lake is a kettle lake (formed by glacial melt), which we learnt about in Prince George. The lake is huge and with the wind we had the conditions were quite choppy. This is probably a lovely place later in the summer, but today it was pretty windy and with the wind whipping across the lake it was not a great place to wander on the beach! We did find a tree-sheltered picnic table under a roof - which came in useful as rain-shower came through while we were eating. Lucky escape. |
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There wasn't a lot more to see on the drive - the land is mostly
arable with some pasture, but there were more trees than we have seen
for a while! Hild read (in Norah's book) that an experimental farm
started in the late 1800's has been multiplying and distributing
trees for use as farm shelter - and they have clearly done a good job.
Some more research did cause us to zoom past Brandon and in stead take a short detour into Portage la Prairie. This was because we had spotted "Simplot Central Park" on the map. Simplot is one of Rob's clients, so we wanted to check it out. We were sad to see that there was no sign saying "Simplot" at the park, but it had nice benches, an extensive play structure and a fun-looking fountain sponsored by McCain - more potatoes! Luckily Hild spoke with a local who confirmed that he referred to this as Simplot Park even if there was no sign. After our short conversation, we chose to trust the word of this precocious 8-year-old local expert as he ran off to do some more climbing and sliding. |
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| On our way between Portage le Prairie and Winnipeg we drove the same section of the Trans Canada Highway as we did back in May. While we didn't catch the same place for our photos, it was clear that much of the flood water had receeded between 8th May until 15th June. Many crops were growing quite well even if some fields were still flooded near the road. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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We did one more important stop: at the White Horse Statue - sponsored
by White Horse Distillers Ltd. in Glasgow, Scotland:
A Sioux Indian chief wished to marry the beautiful daughter of an Assiniboine chief. The Assiniboine, however, gave his daughter's hand to a Cree chief with whom she was in love because the Cree offered a rare snow-white horse as a gift. The angry Sioux pursued the Cree and his bride whose father had returned the horse to help them escape. The Sioux killed them both but the horse escaped. For years it was seen roaming the surrounding plain and in memory of the young lovers this part of Manitoba became known as White Horse Plain. Read more about the monument here: The Legend of the White Horse Plain by Margaret Arnett MacLeod Manitoba Pageant, Volume 3, Number 2, January 1958 |
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It is a long drive to Winnipeg, but we got here in good time (thanks
to the good road) and even had time for dinner before sitting down to
write up today's notes!
Other more or less interesting items of today include that we finally managed to catch a photo of the plentiful Bison Transport trucks. We had hoped to see more wild bison on this trip, so meanwhile we are enjoying seeing these in stead. For dinner we went to Denny's which pretty much has a monopoly on customers at this end of town (i.e. there are no other dining establishments nearby). Works for us because there is always something yummy to choose on their menu. Hild chose Bourbon Chicken Skillet and Rob chose Chicken-fried Steak. Some research taught us that it is called "chicken-fried" when the steak is deep-fried like chicken, and it is called "country-fried" when the steak is pan-fried. Always fun to learn new stuff. |
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May/June 2022