Random tales from the road.......

June 30.  Tonight we are in Portage, Manitoba.  Some call it Portage la Prairie.  The original definition seems to have gotten lost.  My extensive research revealed that the name is "derived from the French word portage, which means to carry a canoe overland between waterways. In this case the "portage" was between the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba, over la prairie".  Still others say the name means a "pee stop between Brandon and Winnipeg".  The debate rages in this la prairie town.

Seriously, I have some deep roots in this part of Canada.  My great grandfather James married my great grandmother here in Portage la Prairie.  My great grandmother was born 20 kms east in Poplar Point.  A stop at the pioneer cemetery just outside of Poplar Point revealed just how deep my roots here are.  Many of the names are familiar to me from my recent hobby which is family history.

Earlier today we stopped at the Grand Marais beach on the eastern bank of Lake Winnipeg.  Seeing the lake for the first time we could be excused for mistaking it for the ocean.  It is so big that the horizon shows no land.  As I approached the water I wondered if the tide was in or out.  The sand is like no sand we have on the west coast.  It is very fine and almost white.  Gorgeous!  We went to this particular beach in search of, you guessed it, birds.  Not just any birds but Piping Plovers that nest right on the beach at Grand Marais.  In nesting season there are volunteers who form human fences to keep humans from interacting with the birds as the birds are a threatened species.  Unfortunately we arrived a few weeks too late in the season so, no Piping Plover for us.  As a consolation we did pick up another species for our world list, Forster's Tern.  Score another for one for us!

Tomorrow we will leave Manitoba.  On this trip we have spent almost 5 days exploring the province. From what we have seen, and we have seen only a fraction of the province, it is wonderfully diverse. The Boreal Forest is stunning.  The number of lakes is incredible.  The prairie is flat.  Okay, I'm still searching for words to describe flat land.  The mosquitoes are as friendly as the people.  The slogan for the province is "friendly Manitoba".  It is no slogan.  The people are wonderful.  A smile greets us wherever we go.  People go out of their way to help.  I think that when we get a chance to reflect back on our stay in Manitoba it will be the friendly people that we will remember most.  Plus the lightening storms....

I leave you with a few pics from the past few days.  Enjoy!  Tomorrow is Canada Day and we hope to be in beautiful Yorkton, Saskatchewan for the fireworks!!  Happy Canada Day, eh......

Dana on Grand Beach, Lake Winnipeg

Historic St. Anne's Church, Poplar Point, Manitoba

I had to show you this.  Picnic shelter in Pinawa, Manitoba.  Solid 6 foot long, 4 inches thick solid marble table top.  Those are 1 ft. X 1 ft. X 6 ft solid fir timber benches.

Red Fox

.....and finally some birds.  Forster's Terns of Grand Beach, Lake Winnipeg

Life on Rob's Island: Before and After.....

June 28 - Otter Falls Provincial Campground, Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba.  We are camped on the edge of the Winnipeg River.  The river is dammed downstream so this part of the river is called Dorothy Lake. We are still not connected to wifi so I am writing offline hoping to post in the next day or two.  It was a terrific day.  We left Rob’s Island on Lake of the Woods early this morning and began our drive back into Manitoba, then north into Whiteshell Provincial Park, easily the largest park in the province.  After 100 kms we are on the western edge of the park.  The park continues north for another 50 kms.  Whiteshell Provincial Park is about 2,700 square kilometres in size.  It is Boreal forest on the edge of the Canadian Shield.  It is solid granite, trees and wetlands, all in a big scale. But I digress……

The last 3 days has been a wonderful experience.  Dana and I feel very privileged to have been invited to Rob’s little paradise on Lake of the Woods (LW).  Our introduction to LW was on June 24 when we arrived in Kenora, just east of the Manitoba border.  We arrived mid afternoon in time to find a motel room and a place to eat.  Kenora is a resource town, mainly logging, and one that supports a summer cottage industry.  LW is one of many lakes that are dotted by summer cottages big and small.  One unique feature in Kenora is that many stores, the Safeway for example, is accessible by boat.  There is a parking lot for cars and a dock for your boat.  You can even have your groceries delivered direct to your boat.

On the morning of June 25th Dana and I backtracked about 30 kms on the Trans Canada to the marina where Rob would meet us and take us to his island.  We arrived at the designated time and there was Rob, at the dock having just arrived in his boat.  After hugs and laughs we loaded our gear and headed out.  Even though it was a bit choppy Rob’s boat was very comfortable.  After about 20 minutes we arrived at his island. For the next 3 days we enjoyed awesome hospitality, sights and scenery.  One activity that we spent a fair bit of time at was birding.  We had no idea that the birding would be a good as we found it.  During our stay I got some terrific bird photographs and we added 5 bird species to our world list. (Bird photos coming in a later post).  Rob, in his ongoing quest to out-do us claimed his bird life list grew by 10 during our visit.  It was a thoroughly relaxing time.  Granted we were required to work periodically and Rob had some odd point system he was keeping but other than that we could not have asked for a better host and friend.   Our stay with Rob could very well be the highlight of our summer.  Thanks Rob!

Here are a couple of pics from our stay in Kenora, with Rob and from today’s travels.  Enjoy!!

PS:  June 29:  At around 5:00 a.m. this morning the sky opened up and drenched us for about 4 hours.  Add in the dramatic lightning and thunder and safe to say it was a sleepless night.  Our tent is a 3 season tent but it is fantastic.  Only after 4 hours of hard rain and wind did a couple of drops of water enter the tent.  What was truly amazing about this story was that we were both still in bed at 9:00 a.m.  No reason to get up and sleep was needed.  Neither of us can recall a time in recent memory where where we were both in bed that late in the day.

Dana on "lake time"......

Dana and Rob.  Rob took us out on the lake a couple of times.

Oh, oh.... Time to get off the island......

Classic "Dana" hiking photo:  Binoculars, backpack, water bottle, visor and to all who know Dana, a map in her hand...

Our beautiful campsite at Otter Falls campground.  Calm before the storm.....

From Grasslands to the Canadian Shield.....

It is June 24th, Sunday evening and we are in the lakeside town of Kenora, in the province east of Manitoba.  We arrived around 4 this afternoon.  Today's travel was short compared to the long day we put in yesterday driving from Val Marie, Sk., to Brandon, Manitoba.  And what an interesting day it was.  Our planned route would take us across southern Saskatchewan on the Red Coat Trail, Highway 13.  According to my extensive research into the meaning of the Red Coat Trail (google and Wikipedia) :The Red Coat Trail is a 1,300-kilometre (810 mi) route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West.^[2][3]" 

For the better part of the day we cruised east on Hwy 13, passing through the towns of Lafleche, Assiniboa, Pangman, Weyburn, Stoughton, Carlye, Reston and Souris.  Weyburn was a happening place.  Very active.  We spent 45 minutes at one of the local parks sitting under the shade of a big tree on our camp stools having our lunch while we watched a Little League game between a local team and one from Estevan, Sk.  Other towns were not so vibrant, clearly on the decline for reasons not entirely clear.  Likely economic and having to do with demographics.  

Our plan was to find a hotel in Wawanesa, Manitoba which is just east of Souris.  About 45 minutes out of Wawanesa we searched the web and Garmin for a place to stay in Wawanesa.  Oops!  Seems Wawanesa is one of those towns in decline.  No hotel.  No motel.  Souris had 2 hotels listed but both are no longer in operation.  Double oops....  We headed north to Brandon and there we found a nice hotel for the night.  Ever been to Brandon?  This seems to be a very prosperous community.  One does however have to search to find the actual community.  Our hotel was on the Trans Canada where  trucks and tractors rule.  Below is a photo of one of the nicer businesses that dotted the highway near our hotel.  To be fair, when we left our hotel this morning we did find the real Brandon and one of the fine parks along the Assiniboia River.  After a short walk we got back in the 4Runner and headed east on the Trans Canada, destination: Kenora - in the province just east of Manitoba.

The trip to Kenora was mostly uneventful, unlike yesterday's drive through Saskatchewan.  I know I have mentioned the fact that I travel with weather events and yesterday was almost a record day.  And I don't mean a good record.  Travelling on the Red Coat Trail, somewhere near Stoughton, Sk., we observed in the distance a storm approaching from the north.  There was quite the wind coming from the south.  At one point we hit a good old fashioned cloud burst.  We had to slow down to about 60 kph and have the wipers on high speed.  Even then we could barely see the road.  Then we noticed that the wind had completely reversed and was now coming from the north, the direction the storm was coming from.  The sky was a weird colour.  Off in the distance I swore I saw a girl riding a bicycle with a little dog in a basket on the handlebars.  Nah...  I think I even mentioned the "T" word to Dana.  We made it through the storm and didn't give things a second thought.  You should have seem the look on our faces this morning when the weather reporter on TV was talking about the Tornados in Southern Saskatchewan around the Stoughton area.  Geeze Louise....  Apparently no one was injured and the rain brought by the storm was welcome.

So here we are in Kenora.  Tomorrow we backtrack about 30k to Clearwater Bay where our friend will meet us at the dock and take us to his private island resort in Lake of the Woods.  We can't wait for this next adventure.  We will not have internet connection so no blogging for a couple of days.  Promise to post when I can.

Finally, it came as quite the shock to find a micro brewery and pub right here in Kenora.  This evening I sampled a few of their beers and we enjoyed a very delicious meal.  The brewery is in an old fire station that has been beautifully restored.

That's it for now.  Enjoy the pics!

Dana in Brandon, Manitoba

Lake of the Woods Brewing Company

Flight of samplers.  My fav was the Blueberry Ale.

Day 2 at Grasslands National Park

Early start today.  Up at 0600 and out the door at 0630.  Sunshine greeted us as we headed south of the town of Val Marie to our first destination of the morning, Two Trees Day Use and Trail Head.  10 minutes south of the town we turned onto the access road and into the Park.  2k later we are at the Day Use Area.  We are alone.  Again.  Not uncommon on our visit to the various stops in the Park.  i am sure that the Park will get busier as the summer wears on.  Right now however, not so much.

We parked and took our box breakfast prepared by Diana at the B&B up to the picnic tables and chairs.  Granola, yogurt and fresh fruit.  We made coffee and tea and sat in the morning sun.  There were birds singing and calling all around us.  Dana spotted a Common Nighthawk perched on a branch in a nearby tree.  The bird was sleeping.  Common Nighthawks are primarily daytime hunters and feed on insects.  As we are preparing our crunchy granola Dana notices another Nighthawk, then another.  I start looking around and spot 2 or 3 more.  In total we counted about 10.  They did not seem to be bothered by us.  I got a few good photos.  I posted one below.  They are unusual looking birds that can be easily missed as they blend right into a tree branch.  As the sun warmed the air the Nighthawks woke and individually launched and flew back and forth in the open grasslands gathering their breakfast.  I'll stick to granola....

After breakfast we walk a bit of the trail looking for Sparrows and other song birds.  We identified a Clay-coloured Sparrow, a lifer for us.  Also a Bobolink, Common Yellow-throat, Least Flycatcher (first one we have seen, but have heard one other so this one is technically not a lifer), Cedar Waxwing, Flicker, Western Wood-Pewee, to name a few....

One other first on this short hike.  That is a "tick".  Not sure what species but Dana found it crawling up the outside of her shirt-sleeve.  She pounced and eliminated the threat.  At-a-girl.....

The rest of the day consisted of driving gravel roads in search of sights and birds.  Mid day we got a bit nervous as a major storm was approaching.  Warning are posted in the park to heed these storm warnings and if it looks like it is going to rain, get out or stay put.   It seems the gravel roads can turn to clay pits very quickly.  Calling the local Automobile Agency for a tow is definitely not on.

We picked up another bird species for our life list in the afternoon.  The Chestnut-collared Longspur.  Happy, happy!!!

For dinner tonight we thought a change of scenery was in order so we drove 55km north to the small town of Cadillac, Sk.  One gas station, one hotel, one school, one grocery store and I assume more than one horse.  We rolled into town in a major storm.  Steady rain.  We refuelled at the garage and headed for the tavern for food and beverages.  Compared to the hotel in Val Marie this one was only dated, not run down.  It was clean and very well used.  We enjoyed cheeseburgers and bevies.  We chatted with the barmaid about the town and weather.  She said that the rain is welcomed as it is the first measurable rain in 2 years.  Think about that for a minute.  I asked the barmaid what was the local favourite beer.  The answer is the same as you get at most small towns out here:  Coors, Coors-Light, Kokanee, Blue.....  I asked and received a Molson's Canadian.  Advice for your future travels here:  If you come from the land of Micro Beer, as I do, do not ask for a Micro Beer, and definitely don't ask what the locally brewed beer is.  Apart from deer in the headlights looks you are just going to be thought a weirdo, or worse, one those nuts from the west coast.  Ha!

A couple of farmers came into the the tavern, ordered Kokanee and Bud-Light, in bottles as we have yet to see beer taps in southern Saskatchewan, and began talking "farm-talk".  One was talking about the best phone app for weather forecasting and the other about the price of hard Durham Wheat and Chick-peas.  Before you think I am disrespecting these fine folks let me assure you that I am not.  What we were witnessing was basic life here in farm country.  The rain today may make the difference between a really good year or a really bad year.  These are real life issues ones that I certainly don't have to deal with.  I for one am glad to support our farmers and I wish them much success.  If I could make it rain for them, I would.  As you know I travel with weather events.  I bet they didn't know that while I was sitting there in that old tavern in Cadillac, Sk. enjoying my Molson's Canadian and cheeseburger with my sweetie.

Tomorrow we head east into Manitoba for more adventures on the road with Barry and Dana....

Enjoy the pics!

Our private breakfast location

The storm of the season, so far.....

This is one of those scenes that just makes me go "Huh".  Oil tankers lined up in front of a grain elevator.  What??

Common Nighthawk

Welcome to Grasslands National Park - Happy Solstice

Day 7 - Longest Day of the year.  Solstice is here.  Finally!  It is always such a bitter-sweet day.  It seems that since December we have longed for the long days of sunshine and have always kept Solstice in our sights.  Now that the big day is here it is oh so easy to slip into the negative by thinking that the days are getting shorter from here on out.....  Let's not go there.

On to the days activities.  We are here in this remote part of southern Saskatchewan to visit and enjoy the relatively new (since the 1990's), Grassland's National Park.  The park consists of 2 blocks of land.  The West Block is where we explored today.  The East Block is smaller but still some 600 square kilometres.  All roads are gravel and very narrow.  Care must be taken when driving in the park to avoid being a hood ornament on an oncoming Ford F350.  There are many short hills that peak with a cattle guard, called Texas bridges here, and zero visibility for oncoming traffic.  Driving is an act of faith in other drivers, who I imagine have faith in me.

We started late today and did not enter the northeast entrance to the park until around 9:30.  Once in the park we encountered numerous birds that took time to record and identify.  3 hours later we had travelled about 30k.  This was going to take a lot longer that we had planned.  Good thing we have 3 days to explore the park.  We saw plenty of birds, a few Bison and very few people.  What I would call a perfect day.  Of course the scenery was drop-dead gorgeous.  I cannot begin to describe what we saw.  Wide open expanse, grasslands, some until recently farmed for a few generations, hills and valleys, much of which has seen little if any human presence and that sky!  Show me anywhere that has a sky like that.  Wow!  Finally, the views are endless due to no pollution.  I suppose the dust can be heavy later in the year but right now even with the wind the visibility was excellent.

Near the centre of the West Block is the Frenchman River Campground.  Like everywhere this is a wide open piece of land.  The tenting area is about 5 acres of fenced pasture.  The fence is to keep the Bison out of the tenting area.  There is a few RV sites, some with electrical hookup.  This would be a great place to camp but be prepared for the wind.  Also, there is NO water.

Just a bit more on the birds we saw.  We picked up 2 bird species for our Life List.  These are:  Brown Thrasher and while I have seen Ring-necked Pheasant before it is a lifer as of when I started my life list.  Other non-life list birds today include; Lark Bunting, Western Meadowlark, Vespers Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Nighthawk, Horned Lark, Wilson's Phalarope, Willet..... and more totalling 34 species for the day.

We returned to to the small town of Val Marie around 5:30.  We are staying in this small town as it is close to the park.  We have a terrific B&B called Sky Story.  Diana owns the place.  It is wonderful and so is Diana.  Diana fixed us a beautiful breakfast this morning of fresh fruit, goat cheese, veggie omelette, bagels, fresh jam, coffee and tea.  Yummy and nutritious.  If you are in this part of the world check her website for vacancy.  Note that it is modest older home that is neat as a pin, very clean and comfortable.  You will need a minimum of 2 days to see the park so book at least 2 nights.  We are here for 3.

Factoid about the small towns of the prairie.  As you enter these towns there is often a sign stating "We are the proud home of......fill in the name of the NHL hockey player or coach.  Val Marie is the proud home of Bryan Trottier who played on 5 Stanley Cup teams in the 1980's.  When we came though Climax, Sk. that town had a sign claiming Willie Dejardin, former coach of the Vancouver Canucks as their own.  Seems most towns out here are home to someone who made it to the bigs.  Funny thing though, no one claims politicians.  Huh....just saying'....

That's a wrap for today.  Will sleep good again tonight.  I will post about Day 5 and 6 when I can.  Some good stories to tell for those days....

Here are a few picks from today.  Enjoy!  Oh, by the way, you can check out our Instagram for photos as well.  Search for bmckee and you should be able to find us.  I am using our new iPhone 8 for our non-bird photos.  I hope they look ok.  Let me know if they come out okay on your end.  Thanks!

Dana in one of the big red chair that were placed on an overlook at the southeast corner of the park.  Seems tacky but it actually seems to work.

Westen Meadowlark

Taken from the red chair overlook.  This is Big Sky country!!!

Day 4:  Tonight we are in Creston.  My home town and where I first met Dana.  It was an uneventful day on the road.  We stopped a few times to make coffee and tea and while we were at it, look for birds.  Unfortunately either our bird finding and identification skills need sharpening or we were looking in the wrong places as we saw only one new species for our world list.  This new bird to us is the Calliope Hummingbird.  Photo in a future post.

We arrived in the Creston Valley around 4:30.  Our first stop was at the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area.  You owe it to yourself to google this Area and learn about the size and scope of the operation.  Better yet, travel to Creston and visit the Area.  There are many trails that wind through the wetlands.  Entry to the area is by donation.  Factoid:  Barry worked for the CVWMA in 1972 and 1973 as a chainsaw contractor and later as a campground attendant.  Okay, how do those jobs fit into the Wildlife Management box?  Let me tell, I lived a wildlife back then and managed very well - thank you very much....

Today we spent about 1 1/2 hours walking trail in the Area in search of birds.  We heard and saw many, including the Calliope, Black-chinned and Rufous Hummingbirds, Gray Catbird, Common Yellowthroat, Song Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, Warbling Vireo and 4 species of Swallow.  Also about a billion mosquitoes although I don't know what species.  Maybe Draculomus-Bloodthirsty??  Not sure about that......  I do know they loved the "ON" we applied in copious quantities.

At the end of the day we found a great campground across from the Columbia Brewing Company.  We pitched our tent and went in search of food.  There is a new place in town called Casey's Community House.  Very upscale.  Beautiful architecture and mission style wood furnishings.  The food was delicious.  The ingredients were local.  Same for the wine.  Dana enjoyed a glass of Wynnwood Viognier/Chard from Wynndel, BC.  No local beer.  I had a drinkable ale from Mill Street Brewing in Vancouver.

We likely will not spend a lot of time here in Creston Valley.  If I started poking around we would end  up spending the day and we have things to do and places to see.  Tomorrow we continue east, destination unknown.  Can't wait!!

Here are a couple of photos from today.  2 from the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area and one from dinner at Casey's.  Enjoy!

Kettle Valley Rail Trail.....family fun!

3 days in and we made it a whopping 300k east.  There has been a lot packed into these days.  Tomorrow we will have our first long day on the road.  Destination: Fernie, B.C.

After getting off the Island on Friday we stopped in to see family at Point Roberts, Washington.  A busy time, good food, great company and a good sleep.  On Saturday headed east to the Fraser Valley to meet 2 of my cousins for the very first time.  You see I have been dabbling in family history using Ancestry.ca as my main information source.  An amazing experience.  My cousins were terrific.  A day I will remember for a very long time.

We made it to the Okanagan late yesterday and have been on the go ever since.  Today Dana and I pedalled a section of the Kettle Valley Rail trail with our niece and family.  Amazing experience.  It was a warm day with some mosquitoes to contend with.  Also, as the day went along the number of people using the trail increased.  No matter as there is plenty of room on the trail.

It is Sunday in the Okanagan.  It is also Father's Day.  The traffic was heavy on all the roads.  This part of the Okanagan is growing at a very rapid pace.  It is not hard to imagine major infrastructure issues in the coming years.  Too many people and too few amenities.   Tomorrow we will get an early start to beat some of the traffic.  Hope to get some sleep tonight as tomorrow will be a long day.

This a photo from today's pedal on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail.  Note the trestle in the background.

Prairie Songs for the road.....

Tomorrow we launch....  The days have slipped by very quickly.  Tomorrow we head out on the road, searching for adventure, and whatever comes our way.  Full disclosure:  I just butchered a line from the classic Steppenwolf song, "Born to be Wild".  But I digress.....

I have done some extensive research* into classic Canadian Prairie songs.  I think the reason I did this is to get us in the mood for our prairie adventure which plays heavily in the our upcoming travels.  I am sure that there will be some who vehemently disagree with my top 5 songs.  I could have picked the other 5 classic Canadian prairie songs for the list but then they wouldn't be my top 5.  So for arguement sake, let's just go with the following (listed in alphabetical order):

• Alberta Rose by Stompin' Tom Connors (There is a funky version performed by Jenny Woo)
• Prairie Town by Randy Bachman
• Roll on Saskatchewan by Stompin" Tom Connors
• Running back to Saskatoon by Randy Bachman
• The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor

There is a lot to love about all these great songs.  You can go to YouTube and check them out for yourself and decide which one is your favourite.  I must admit that the one I like the most is one that I heard for the first time today when I was doing my exhaustive research*.  Ready for the winner?

The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by Captain Tractor (off the album: East of Edson)

• YouTube link:  https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=8G_L9tXEwmc

Give it a listen. It is hilarious and oh soooo Canadian...  Actually take a 30 minutes, maybe on July 1st and listen to all 5.  Oh Canada!!

Tomorrow we launch.......


( *Extensive/Exhaustive Research = Google search )

We're back and soon to be on the road......

This is very exciting news.  Dana and I will be back on the road in one week's time.  A new blog.  New adventures.  New stories.  New photos.  Yes, we are back!!!!

I can't wait to share our travel stories as we head East to Lake of the Woods in Ontario.  Our travels will take use across British Columbia, Alberta (quickly), Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  Much of this travel will be new to us.  We have a few specific areas we want to see but for the most part we will be "winging it".  We want to experience the southern prairies.  Visit a few National Parks, and of course experience the expanse and beauty of Lake of the Woods.  We will be camping, glamping, roughing it and hoteling it.  We will be prepared for any eventuality.  I hope.....

Blog post will be made when we get time and connectivity.  To anyone following, I hope you enjoy the posts.  Please comment if you wish to.  It is always appreciated.

Cheers!