Come Go With Us...: Arkansas to Winnipeg, Manitoba

From here we start another adventure!

Friday, June 15, 2018

Day 1
372 miles

Daisy and I are on the road again! We are headed north in our truck camper from our house in northwestern Arkansas, through western Missouri, and into Iowa. When we left Arkansas it was 82 degrees.

As we drove, we saw lots of newly baled hay—it is that time of the year. In the background of this photo are cattle in the shade of the trees.

The motto on the Iowa welcome sign is “Fields of Opportunities,” and we certainly saw lots of fields of corn and soybeans.

We were making good time with little wind to affect us and stopped in Butler, Mo at a Taco Bell for a quick travel snack.

We crossed the Missouri River and drove just a few miles into Nebraska where we found this campground that had nice facilities and lots of trees. We arrived in Nebraska City, Nebraska at 5 pm. Temperature was a muggy 95 degrees when we pulled into the Victorian Acres RV park.

Our selected overnight stop was a place we had been to before with great showers and treed RV sites. We got one of a few remaining sites and decided to call ahead and confirm a site for the next day. Our travels normally do not have us making advance reservations unless there is a holiday involved or we know of a major event occurring that might impact us. We had a quiet evening of road planning and after a light dinner of noodle bowls showered and retired for the next day.

Saturday, June 16
Day 2
353 Miles

It was a clear and warm 81 degrees when we got on I-29 at 8:45 am for a full day of interstate travel.

As we continued north into South Dakota, we were excited about seeing some friends along the way, enjoying the beauty of the land, and exploring new places!

Have I mentioned that Daisy has a eye for barns? One day she will produce a photo log of her captures.

There were some storms in the area and we went through a little rain, but no serious wind.

We won’t see the “Great Faces” in South Dakota on this part of our trip, but maybe on the return journey.

We encountered a little light rain and the dashboard “check engine light” blinked on. There seemed to be no other manifestation of this warning indicator so we pressed on to our destination. We called ahead to a Dodge dealer in MN and made a Monday appointment to have it checked out. Lunch was at a Subway where we shared a 12” vegetable salad with meat stuffed between a roll. We normally eat lunch out when in travel mode. Breakfast and dinner we have in the TC (truck camper). But we are always on the lookout for local mom and pop eatery that we can enjoy.

It probably won’t surprise you that we drove though miles and miles of flat land…

….and further north we were back into the rolling hills.

There are lots of RVs on the highway, and in other places we shared the road with motorcycles. The white puffy clouds in this photo were a common sight on our first two days of travel.

Thunderstorms were predicted for late evening along our route but we were at our camping site at 3:27 pm. We got set up and took a nap. When you are retired you can do that. We walked around the campground, then had a supper of baked beans and hot dogs. The thunderstorm came in about 9 pm and was mostly over by midnight.

Sunday, June 17
Day 3
167 Miles

We had storms overnight and it it was raining off and on as I prepared the TC for an early morning departure. After emptying our black and grey holding tanks, we left at 8:25 in foggy conditions. There was only about 1/4 mile visibility, but it cleared up quickly.

When Daisy and I travel, one of our goals is seeing friends as well as visiting new places. We drove into North Dakota and had coordinated our plans to meet Arlene Yantzer and Deb for an 11:30 am lunch in Fargo. I knew both of these ladies from when I was a Lewis and Clark history and nature interpreter for the North Dakota State Park System near Bismarck, ND.

Arlene and Deb were in Fargo for a wedding, then Arlene was going to Deb’s home for a week of fun together. They had quite an agenda planned!

They were on their way to the twin cities, and we were fortunate that we could mesh our schedule with theirs. We arranged to meet where was amble parking place for the truck camper and choices for restaurants. Due to after church diners we wound up at a Denny’s, and the delay in lunch allowed us nonstop visitation.

We all departed on our ways at 1 pm. We entered Minnesota and spent two days with our friends Paula and Steve Stromstad at their home on Big Cormorant Lake near Audubon. They had a place for us to park in their driveway and offered us their guest room. We declined the use of a bed but took them up on their offer to use their shower and hot tub.

We parked our truck camper outside Paula and Steve’s beautiful log home. I rang the doorbell first and then I read the sign. By the way, there is quite a contrast between our “tiny house” and their spacious abode.

Steve is standing on the lake side of their lovely home.

Their yard is beautifully landscaped with rock and water features.

Paula on the deck with two important members of the family, Sam and Bruno.

Back inside the house we had a meeting with a feline visitor staying at the house—Dharma.

Monday, June 16
Day 4

After breakfast, Steve followed me to the truck dealership to get the service engine light diagnostic accomplished and an oil change. The light was an “evaporative vapor” issue that has occurred before and nothing critical to fix. That afternoon we all took the pontoon boat out for a 2.5 hour tour of Big Cormorant Lake. The weather was warm and pleasant with a light breeze. We had snacks, drinks, and great conversation. A good time was had by all.

I sat back and enjoyed the ride. Bruno thinks the pontoon boat is his special property and it never leaves the dock with out him being onboard.

We saw these families of Canada Geese enjoying a day at the beach….

…this colorful male Mallard floating near the marsh grass, and this Loon fishing for his dinner on Big Cormorant Lake.

On Monday evening, Steve and Paula took us out for dinner at the Long Bridge Bar and Grill in Dakota Lakes. It was great to also have the company of their niece Ellie, who is spending the summer with them.

The grill was next to a bridge from which kids were jumping off into a small river. The food was ok and the company was the best.

There was a beautiful sunset over the lake to mark our last evening here for this trip. We will return. There is to much more to see.

Paula and Steve’s home is lovely at twilight with all the lights on. Our visit with them was a special part of our trip. It was a kickoff to more exciting adventures to come.

Tuesday, June 19
Day 5
247 Miles

Border crossing Station north of Lancaster, Minnesota

It was 64 degrees on a cloudy morning when we left Steve and Paula’s. We headed north on highway 59 to Canada where we would spend about a month.

We crossed the Canadian border at 12:20 pm. After 10 minutes of questions on firearms and pepper spray and a look inside the TC, we were on our way. We declared the amount of liquor that we had on board and were told we exceeded the authorized level but were allow to keep it this time. We thanked the agent for his service and continue on our journey on roads rougher than the roads on the USA side.

We hadn’t visited the Prairie Provinces before, so we were excited to cross the border into Manitoba to begin our Canadian journey. Outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada we stopped at the Arrowhead RV Park.

This was a full-service RV park that was crammed with visitors. We got there about 2:25 pm and had time to go into town but decided to just have a relaxing afternoon. Daisy was recovering from a cold so we decided to chill and use the strong WIFI that was available to catch up on messages and postings.

Wednesday, June 20
Day 6

We decided to take another down day and do a load of laundry and some planning for the next phases of this journey. When you look at a map of North America, describing Winnipeg as the Heart of the Continent seems very appropriate. I found this out when I went to the office to gather some maps for planning our next day of excursions.

Thursday, June 21
Day 7

We took the TC 36 miles into Winnipeg and parked in a visitor lot near the train station. That was the day of the summer solstice, with 16 hours and 21 minutes of daylight. We waited until after the morning rush traffic and planned to leave before the evening rush traffic. Driving a truck camper in heavy traffic is not for the faint of heart.

After spending Wednesday resting at our campground for Daisy to get over a cold, Thursday was our day for sightseeing. We got some information at the visitor center and decided that our first activity would be the “Splash and Dash” tour on a pontoon boat.

Winnipeg is strategically located at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Daisy took this photo when our boat was headed south. The Red River is flowing from south to north on the left side of the point, and on the right the Assiniboine flows in from the western prairies.

As we floated up the Assiniboine, we went past the impressive Legislative Building. The statue is of Louis Riel, and I’ll tell more about him later.

Our pontoon went back to the fork of the rivers then down the Red River to the downtown area. From the river, we had a great view of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, which we visited next.

The Museum currently has a special exhibit called “Mandela: Struggle for Freedom,” which was a highlight of our tour.

Daisy and I both had a general knowledge of the apartheid period of South African history, but we learned much more from this exhibit about this aspect and Nelson Mandela’s role in gaining freedom for his people.

Some of the displays were also reminiscent of daily life experiences I had growing up in the segregated southern US.

Signs of those times…

The Museum opened in 2014. Its architecture is very dramatic, including the translucent, marble-covered walkways between the levels.

From the Museum’s tower, there is a wonderful view of the city. In the foreground of this photo, you can see our truck camper in the center of the back row of the parking lot.

The Museum’s permanent exhibits feature a wide variety of perspectives on human rights within Canada. One example is the relationships among the native peoples and those who immigrated here. Louis Riel (1844-1885) was a leader of the Metis, a distinct Canadian population of mixed First Nations and European descent that emerged during the fur-trade era. They played a key role in the history of the west, particularly the founding of Manitoba. In 1982, the Metis were officially recognized as one of Canada’s three Aboriginal peoples, along with the First Nations and the Inuit.

Another feature we found interesting was this exhibit called “Taking the Cake: The Right to Same-Sex Marriage.” In 2005 Canada became the fourth country (after the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain) to legalize same-sex marriage. The display represented a cake made of photos of same-sex couples. A statement for this display says ”not all couples want to marry but thanks to activists who led the way down the aisle, all have the choice”.

It was not planned but very appropriate that we visited the Museum on Canada’s Indigenous Peoples Day. There were a number of activities that brought focus to this special day that honors and celebrates the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Indigenous peoples.

As indicated in the following statement, Canadian history reflects many groups of people who didn’t always agree. This is also true of the US and other countries. If you have a chance to visit Winnipeg, we strongly encourage you to spend some time at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and study the story of Canada.

After our day of exploring Winnipeg, we had dinner at another famous Canadian icon: Tim Horton’s. It’s an international insult to come to Canada and not patronize this eatery. Daisy especially likes the bakery items.