Manitoba and Saskatchewan

6/21- I was planning on a short driving day... 25 miles to the Saskatchewan province, another 100 miles to Winnipeg; see the city, and set up camp early to relax a bit. Well, it wasn't quite that easy. I got to Winnipeg without issue, and had a great visit. Nice city. There were "Welcome back NHL" signs everywhere. Geographically, Winnipeg is in the middle of nowhere, and it seemed like it's inhabitants were happy to be there as a whole. The Tuesday mid day city center setting afforded me a good look at the average weekday pace. It was a bit windy, but otherwise a beautiful day. People shuffling about running errands, grabbing lunch, and popping in and out of stores both above and below ground. I've never seen a network of under ground banks, businesses and walkways. It was a maze down there, and I suspect that in the winter, a lot of the comings and goings go unseen to the 'outside' world. I had a good lunch at a vegan place called the Mondragon (I know, right! ME, VEGAN? lol). It was a cool little bookstore/cafe/wifi hotspot. The outside was covered in different spray paint mural pieces, local music scene posters, and large windows so that passers by can peek at the wide variety of piercings, tats, alternative haircuts and styles, and the 'normal' people that don't mind hanging out with em. The place kind of reminded me of Commander Salamander in Georgetown from back in the day. The 'suits' must have been having lunch at Subway, cause they weren't anywhere near this place.

I had a cup of curry lentil soup (no offense, but it was bland, should have used chicken stock and added more spice), a black bean pupusa (excellent, although I wonder what the cheese was made of), and a cup of coffee with non-organic sugar and a soy creamer (also very good, eat your heart out Starbucks). I poked around town a little more and checked out a few shops, and then was back on the road heading West again. Supposedly 10-15 miles west of Winnipeg lies the only KOA in Manitoba... They've done me right, sooooo far. As usual, very easy to find. Can I get a campsite with electric, water and spot for a tent? "I'm sorry but I can't accommodate you" was the response, as he pointed out the back window. I focused in at the scene, and all I saw was water. "the whole campsite is under 2 foot of water". DAAAAAMN! No wonder the guy had a depressed look on his face. He must be a franchisee that is wondering how he will make it through the year, although he was smart enough to invest in a gas station as well. Well, what are my options? East of Winnipeg... I came from there, anything West? Check out Miller's campground about 25 minutes down the road. He hands me a little book with the list and contact info and I'm back on the road.

I set the GPS for Miller's, and about a half mile out, I cross a little bridge. The stream is inches from overtaking the riverbank AND the bridge... I think not! Dante doesn't care either way, so onward we go. The next blip on the map is a place called Portage La Prairie. There seems to be at least a 1,000 people there, so I stop at the Tourist Info/museum. So THIS is where Canada is hiding it's beautiful women! Two of the most stunning young women I've ever seen perked right up as I opened the front door with the old fashioned dangling bell (and no, the fact that I've been on the road for close to 5 weeks did not affect my judgement). A quick recap of my situation, what are my options? "Miller's" is the first response... Anything else? I got a distinct feeling that they were disappointed I wasn't sticking around 'here', even though they both masked it pretty well. I guess the local selection of men is a pretty grim proposition. One of them started jotting down the contact info and street address for Miller's, while the other shuffled off to get the brochure for an option another 45 miles west. They seemed to be racing to the finish line. I was handed both options, thanked them for their time, through in a quick joke to get them both to smile and then headed out. Sorry ladies, I'm on vacation...

A quick call to the owner of the new camp ground just East of Brandon on HWY 1 (damn, I crossed most of Manitoba already), he assures me he is high and dry. A short drive on a gravel service road gets me right to the main office. I had passed a side road that sloped down to reveal more flooding, but it looked like there was about 8-10 feet to spare, and I'm beat. I believe I was the only traveler checking in today, since he offered me ANY spot I want on his campground map. I set up camp in record time, and of course, as soon as I finished, it starts to sprinkle. I've got a bad feeling about this... To be continued...