June 5 & 6 Winnipeg Manitoba

Shawn took the kids to The Winnipeg zoo, great value for money at $10 and they had a lot of fun. The campground is next to Tinkertown (and a railway, as everything is in Winnipeg!). Tinkertown is a fun fair and has got to be the best value for money kid entertainment we have found. $13.90 each for a wristband pass that lets you ride as many rides as you want as often as you want. We could not get Rhianna and James off the roller coaster! It is nice to experience good value as opposed to feeling ripped off by fun fair rides.

The Travellers RV park was by contrast a rip off...they charged us $2.50 extra per child and $3 an hour x 2 hours, as we were not out at check out time even though the enormous RV park was half empty. For $35 a night I would expect more gracious hosts, internet, cable and much better bathrooms. The people once again were miserable. Sorry Manitoba but no points for friendliness.

We arrived in Manitoba on the historic Red Coat Trail and were disappointed that there was not a Welcome to Manitoba border sign, as the kids have enjoyed having their photo's taken at each Provincial boundary as we crossed.

June 3 & 4 3000km Into Manitoba & Souris

Souris - A surprisingly elegant town with very lovely Victorian Architechture, a beautiful city park, Victoria Park, complete with peacocks and an avery and a beautiful river. Souris must have a rich history, but it will remain secret as non of the locals nor the staff at the library really know why such elegant buildings were built here. There is a story of an English squire who built a swing bridge across the river to connect his home with downtown, so I can only assume that the wealthy younger sons of English family's came here with large trust funds and built some very impressive houses which have been lovingly maintained and kept.

Unfortunately, despite the license plates, we found the locals to be anything but friendly in Souris Manitoba. Sour in Souris would be more appropriate. Perhaps the winters are just a bit too long for people!!

June 2nd T Rex Discovery Centre Eastend, Sask.

T Rex Centre - One of only 12 T Rex skeletons in the world was found here. Unfortunately they are still putting it together and they don't have a full T Rex skeleton on display, just yet. They do have the head re-constructed and many interesting dinosaur bones and artifacts.

Campsite owners set up with an appointment to visit a local ghost town called Scottsguard. So we packed up and headed off across the prairies.

Gophers all over the road.

Saw a baby Antelope, Rhianna calls them Cantelope.

June 2 Scottsguard Ghost Town SK

We had the pleasure of meeting Keith and Bev who would now be the Mayor and Mayoress of Scottsguard being the sole owners of the now abandoned town. Keith is a third generation farmer, a Century farmer, and a collector extrodinaire. Together they have created a museum of the area and have an incredible collection of antique cars, both immaculate and many works in progress.

Incredibly generous with their time, they shared the history of how the Scotts and Norweigians came together to homestead in this area; the trials, tribulations and huge costs of modern farming....the weather, the wheat board, the prices, organic crops, Kamut and the $400,000 cost of a combine harvester that only works for two weeks each year!

Thank you Keith & Bev for bring farming in Saskatchewan to life for us, we hope you enjoy your curly shells and sand dollars.

June 2 Forget SK

We pulled off the road, parked at the side of the road next to an abandoned barn and went straight to sleep. We woke up in a tiny place with the French pronounciation of Forjay....only 50 people live here now, but French nuns at the turn of the last century arrived and created a bi lingual boarding school....St Josephs Academy which housed 350 students and operated until 1964. The tiny village has some nice architechture, particularly the lovely church and rectory which is now a private home owned by a lady from Washington State. Property speculators are moving in, hoping to cash in on the areas booming oil industry.

June 1st Consul & Eastend Sask

Off to bed under a big Saskatchewan moon, sweet dreams. The Manley family has opened a new bakery in Consul and we enjoyed meeting them and devoured their sticky cinnamon buns, bread and rolls. We were happy to find them open as the one and only grocery store in town was closed for lunch!

They were surprised to find that Consul was on the main route from Comox to St Johns for us. We are still following the historic Red Coat Trail and loving meeting the people in small town Saskatchewan. Thank you Consul for the tour of your grain elevator now onto Eastend and the

T Rex Discovery Centre.

Animals we have seen

Marten in Hope; Rattlesnake & Marmot's in Christina Lake; A Moose in Fernie; Lots of Beavers in Fort MacLeod AB; Pelicans and Antelope on the Alberta, Sask border close to Cypress Hills.

I had no idea that we had Pelicans in Canada. We were lucky enough to see a baby Antelope which apparently is very rare. No bear sightings yet.

June 9 huge Moose at the side of the road just past Thunder Bay. So many Beavers in the last stretch of Manitoba and just into Ontario. Beaver lodges and dams everywhere, now I understand why this is our national animal.