Oh, The Great Prairies

Thurs. Aug. 2, 2007

The Prairies were quite the experience. I don't think I've ever seen so many rolls of hay in my life. There would even be rolls of hay on the grass dividers in the middle of the highway. Honestly, how many rolls of hay does each farm need? All in all, the prairies were not as bad as everyone made it out to be. It certainly was flat, dry and boring, but it was an easy ride (120-130km all the way!).

Winnipeg, MB: WelcomeStop RV Campgrounds (who knew there would be a brown family owning an RV park in the middle of the Prairies)



Whoo! We crossed into Saskatchewan. Though there were no signs to take a picture of, so we settled with a highway sign for Regina.



Regina, Sask: Twin Towers in the "business core" Apparently these towers were an attempt to modernize the city. I was pleasantly surprised with Regina. It was more trendy than I had anticipated for a small city in Saskatchewan.




Driving the Prairies. Just look at that horizon! As the joke goes, you would still be able to see your lost dog running 3 days later.




You can drive more than 100km without seeing a gas station!



Crap! We ran out of gas! Good thing we had that handy 20L gas container in our trunk!





Since we were already pulled over due to the gas shortage, we decided to take advantage of the hay photo opp!





Sigh, it's been a long day driving through the Prairies...


Not Captured, But Worth Mentioning:
We made our way through Moose Jaw and it was quite the small town. Therefore, 3 Asian girls coming out of an RV was certainly news to everyone (which we are pretty much accustomed to). As we were getting into our RV, some guy made the following comment: "Asian Persuasion, can I come to Ontario with you?" wow, clever....

Crossing Our 1st Pronvincial Border

Wed. Aug. 1, 2007

We started the day in one province (Ontario) and ended the day in another (Manitoba)!!! This was certainly a day of BIG monuments (there is one theme I've noticed as we've passed through various towns and that is, each town likes to establish themslves through big statues. Whether it be a big nickel (Sudbury, ON), big moose (Dryden, ON), large teepee (Medicine Hat, AB), etc, it is obvious that in Canada, the bigger the better!

Dryden, Ontario: Maximillion Moose (18 foot tall) It actually took us a few tries before we finally found him. Though each person we asked, they always had a HUGE smile when giving us directions. Dryden people are extremely friendly.





Kenora, Ontario: Huskie the Muskie (we initially thought this statue would be of a husky, but it was actually a fish. doh!)











Ontario/Manitoba Border: Whoooo, after 4 days we finally made it to Manitoba!





Of course we left our mark!



High Five, we made it!!!



Winnipeg, MB: This was our first glimpse of a "city" in 4 days. We were highly excited!

Provincial Legislature:



First Stop: Starbucks. Sigh... I love Starbucks!



Winnipeg, MB: The Forks (where the Red River meets the Assiniboine River)










We decided to forgo "camping" food, and opted for Sushi. It had been 4 days since I've had a restaurant meal. sigh, I was in heaven...



There is one occurance that I do not have pictures for and that was when our RV toilet overflowed. This happened while we were driving towards Winnipeg. Fortunately, it was fresh water, therefore, it wasn't gross, just a bit of a "situation." Anyhow to make a long story short, we were able to clean it up and was on our way. We figure at least we were able to clean the floors of our RV! Like the motto says "if life gives you lemons, you make yourself some lemonade!"

Still In Ontario...

Tues. July 31, 2007

Lake Superior Provincial Park to Quetico Provincial Park

This is the day we started setting out our morning routine, which starts with detaching all electrical outlets, using the dump station to empty our RV (this consists of connecting a sewage tube to the RV and releasing a valve to empty the "water" into a hole in the ground) and filling our fresh water tank. You can imagine how impressed I was...


Lake Superior Provincial Park - Old Woman's Bay


While we were at Old Woman's Bay, we met a group of cyclists who were riding their bikes from Victoria, BC to St. John's, NFLD! So Awesome! They were terribly cute with their stuff toys strapped onto their helmets.



White River, Ontario: where it all began for Winnie the Pooh



View of Lake Superior while Driving (Thats my bike that you see on the front of the RV. We have hit and killed so many bugs that I cannot even begin to explain the state of my bike right now. It's just gross!)


Thunder Bay: Terry Fox Monument (It was very inspiring).





Kakabeka Falls, Ontario (It was extremely hot that day...even for me).





Quetico Provincial Park (where we had a full serviced campsite which is quite the luxury)




A Little Glimpse into our Daily Life on the RV.

F. Do Cooking Dinner on our RV stove:


We had a ginormous salad for dinner that evening:


I sleep on the over-head cabin bed and f.do sleeps on the kitchen table turned bed:


Cathy sleeps on the main bed.


We're all quite comfortable with our sleeping arrangements. Though I can't say if thats because the beds themselves are comfortable or that we're just so tired by the end of the day that we would sleep on the ground if need be.

Oh man is Ontario ever large!

I am now 5 days into my trip and boy has it been eventful. Here is a quick recap of the first 2 days:

Sun. July 29, 2007

Packed up the RV and finally left Toronto at 10am to make our way to the Bruce Peninsula National Park.

Flora is the only non-driver (or as we like to call her the "bump on a log") therefore, she must work for her spot on the RV...


This ones for you Deb:


After 3 hours of driving we arrive at Cyprus Lake (Bruce Peninsula National Park). First things first: beer, patio chairs and head towards the water!


Hiking on the Bruce Trail:






Sunset on Cyprus Lake:




Mon. July 30, 2007

First full day of travelling. Tobermory Ferry to Lake Superior Provincial Park. Most unexpected thing that happened that day was when a car rear-ended us and drove away even though the hood of their car was completely dented inwards. Fortunately for us, there was no damage on our RV. So off we continued on our trip.

Tobermory Ferry. We accidentally "slept in" and just made the very last spot on the ferry for the 7am departure. Whew! Anyhow, quite the cool experience since I've never been on a ferry that carried vehicles.


Bindi, an Australian Husky whose owner we met on the Ferry and met up again at a scenic lookout:


Teepees are awesome!


Leaving our mark along the Trans Canada Highway:


Lake Superior Provincial Park - Agawa Rock (Native Canadian pictographs)




Lake Superior Provincial Park - Rabbit Lake Campground where we spent the night




Ok, thats it for now. I will upload more tomorrow. Time to sleep.

Oh I also wanted to add that I'm being eaten alive by the mosquitos and black flies! I currently have 29 bites on my body... those a$$holes!