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