This week in Walkabout. Part 2
Sep. 12th, 2002 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deathpixie8/9/2002
Another day, another motel room. Not the best for the budget, but at 10.20pm on a Sunday night in Brandon, there isn’t much else to do in the way of accommodation. Especially when it’s been raining and the camp grounds are muddy and dark. Beside s, we didn’t actually spend much money in Thunder Bay on account of the wonderful hospitality of Greg and Eva (conveniently ignoring Salvation Army Store splurges), so I think it’s an acceptable cost. Gerg has been driving all day again too – I must remem ber to purchase hand gun so I can force him at gunpoint to let me drive *grins* - and I’m thinking comfortable sleep is going to be a Good Thing. And there are showers.
Today was another Driving Day. Thunder Bay to Brandon. We had intended to stop at Wi nnepeg, which we hit around six pm, but there wasn’t much in the way of camping accommodation and Gerg was keen to get a bit more distance covered, so on we went, nominating Portage La Prairie as the next point of stoppage. As the name suggests, it’s on the plains, which start not long after you cross the border from Ontario to Manitoba. I think. I fell asleep at some point after Kemora and when I woke up it was Manitoba and flat and relatively tree-less. At least compared to the forests of Ontario, it’s tree-less. However, when we hit it – at about eight – we decided to stop only for food and then continue onto Brandon, another 200 km on.
So basically today was drive-y. There were also blueberries, wild ones, being sold in Kemora, a white horse statue outside Winnepeg which has another of those nifty native myths attached, and lots of talking and music and thinking and just general Road Trippiness. Tomorrow is Moose Jaw, where we’re intending to stay a couple of days. It has mineral spas. :)
***
10/9/2002
*swats at yet another Super-Powered Mosquito of Doom*
Greetings from Moose Jaw!
We’ve been here two days, and infuriatingly determined (and repellent-proof) mosquitoes aside, it’s a nice place. Friendly, strangely un-provincial for somewhere which is effectively in the middle of nowhere, and it has some nifty tourist attractions.
Yesterday morning saw us depart the Midway Motel in Brandon at a semi-reasonable hour in the morning after complimentary coffee and toast, and the first newspaper I’ve seen in a month and a half. Not terribly much in the ways of international news, tho’ – it was the local paper. Makes me wonder what’s going on out there in the world at large, and home in particular. Any chance of some emails with the edited highlight s? Such as just what’s going on with the Democrats?
The Great Plains of Canada are known for being, well, plain, and that’s exactly what they are. Miles upon miles of wheat in a perfectly flat landscape, with the occasional rolling hill for a change of s cene. It’s beautiful, in a cultivated kind of way, and you can see why it’s the bread basket of Canada (and beyond). I got to experience them from behind the driver’s wheel for the first time, and after the initial stall as a result of not being able to hear the engine on account of loud music, I did okay. Practice is definitely something I need in the driving area. But I don’t want it badly enough to get a car, just yet. I’d turn into a complete slob if I did. ;)
We hit Regina sometime around lunchtime, after crossing the Manitoba-Saskatchawan border somewhere past Brandon. It’s a really nice city, rising out of the plains like a man-made Uluru. We stopped at the information centre, and got directions (and a bunch of maps and pamphlets) to a vegetarian restaurant called Heliotrope. In glorious sunshine – Regina is known as Canada’s sunniest capital – we walked down from where we parked, and sat in the courtyard at the front, where we were investigated by curious bees. Ordinarily I would wax poetic about the food at this place, but after a week of road stops and fried food, I blissed out completely on steamed veggies and brown rice with miso and seaweed. And Gerg was equally happy, especially with his introduction to chai. Such was the atmosphere (aided by the extremely friendly and cute waiter who likes Aussie accents) that we stayed an hour and a half, missing the Mountie Parade at the Academy.
Yes, Regina is the home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and we headed down to the museum for a rather educational wander. And yes, Nana, I got you something. Not the entire Mountie – they wouldn’t let him through quarantine.
After the museum we headed down to the Wascana Park (Wascana meaning "Pile of Bones", which was the original name of the settlement after the piles of buffalo bones left from the native Indian hunts. We’d already had a short peek after lunch, and decided to go back as it was a nice photo opportunity. Real postcard stuff. Once Gerg gets either his zip drive or access to a high speed connection, the site is going to have some great pictures on it.
Sometime ‘round four we took our leave of Regina and headed west for Moose Jaw, reaching it around five. Once again we sought out the information centre (Mental Note: must contact Lonely Pl anet and tell them it’s moved) and were directed to the Prairie Oasis Campground. Not a bad place, and sites are only sixteen dollars a night. Too bad about the stagnant pond nearby, which is a breeding ground for the biggest and most repellent-proof mosq uitoes I’ve ever seen. These things bite through denim, and made a fair attempt at my sneakers too. It’s interesting, how tent sites are almost universally near water of the stagnant kind. It might be scenic, but I can tell you, it’s hard to appreciate the aesthetics when you need a blood transfusion and a gallon of calamine lotion by the end of the night.
Still, we’d paid for two nights already, so two nights it is. We made pasta for dinner – our first on-the-road made meal – and turned in early-ish in order to evade the ravening insect hordes.
*realises she forgot to purchase earplugs in town today*
Bugger.
***
¬
Another day, another motel room. Not the best for the budget, but at 10.20pm on a Sunday night in Brandon, there isn’t much else to do in the way of accommodation. Especially when it’s been raining and the camp grounds are muddy and dark. Beside s, we didn’t actually spend much money in Thunder Bay on account of the wonderful hospitality of Greg and Eva (conveniently ignoring Salvation Army Store splurges), so I think it’s an acceptable cost. Gerg has been driving all day again too – I must remem ber to purchase hand gun so I can force him at gunpoint to let me drive *grins* - and I’m thinking comfortable sleep is going to be a Good Thing. And there are showers.
Today was another Driving Day. Thunder Bay to Brandon. We had intended to stop at Wi nnepeg, which we hit around six pm, but there wasn’t much in the way of camping accommodation and Gerg was keen to get a bit more distance covered, so on we went, nominating Portage La Prairie as the next point of stoppage. As the name suggests, it’s on the plains, which start not long after you cross the border from Ontario to Manitoba. I think. I fell asleep at some point after Kemora and when I woke up it was Manitoba and flat and relatively tree-less. At least compared to the forests of Ontario, it’s tree-less. However, when we hit it – at about eight – we decided to stop only for food and then continue onto Brandon, another 200 km on.
So basically today was drive-y. There were also blueberries, wild ones, being sold in Kemora, a white horse statue outside Winnepeg which has another of those nifty native myths attached, and lots of talking and music and thinking and just general Road Trippiness. Tomorrow is Moose Jaw, where we’re intending to stay a couple of days. It has mineral spas. :)
***
10/9/2002
*swats at yet another Super-Powered Mosquito of Doom*
Greetings from Moose Jaw!
We’ve been here two days, and infuriatingly determined (and repellent-proof) mosquitoes aside, it’s a nice place. Friendly, strangely un-provincial for somewhere which is effectively in the middle of nowhere, and it has some nifty tourist attractions.
Yesterday morning saw us depart the Midway Motel in Brandon at a semi-reasonable hour in the morning after complimentary coffee and toast, and the first newspaper I’ve seen in a month and a half. Not terribly much in the ways of international news, tho’ – it was the local paper. Makes me wonder what’s going on out there in the world at large, and home in particular. Any chance of some emails with the edited highlight s? Such as just what’s going on with the Democrats?
The Great Plains of Canada are known for being, well, plain, and that’s exactly what they are. Miles upon miles of wheat in a perfectly flat landscape, with the occasional rolling hill for a change of s cene. It’s beautiful, in a cultivated kind of way, and you can see why it’s the bread basket of Canada (and beyond). I got to experience them from behind the driver’s wheel for the first time, and after the initial stall as a result of not being able to hear the engine on account of loud music, I did okay. Practice is definitely something I need in the driving area. But I don’t want it badly enough to get a car, just yet. I’d turn into a complete slob if I did. ;)
We hit Regina sometime around lunchtime, after crossing the Manitoba-Saskatchawan border somewhere past Brandon. It’s a really nice city, rising out of the plains like a man-made Uluru. We stopped at the information centre, and got directions (and a bunch of maps and pamphlets) to a vegetarian restaurant called Heliotrope. In glorious sunshine – Regina is known as Canada’s sunniest capital – we walked down from where we parked, and sat in the courtyard at the front, where we were investigated by curious bees. Ordinarily I would wax poetic about the food at this place, but after a week of road stops and fried food, I blissed out completely on steamed veggies and brown rice with miso and seaweed. And Gerg was equally happy, especially with his introduction to chai. Such was the atmosphere (aided by the extremely friendly and cute waiter who likes Aussie accents) that we stayed an hour and a half, missing the Mountie Parade at the Academy.
Yes, Regina is the home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and we headed down to the museum for a rather educational wander. And yes, Nana, I got you something. Not the entire Mountie – they wouldn’t let him through quarantine.
After the museum we headed down to the Wascana Park (Wascana meaning "Pile of Bones", which was the original name of the settlement after the piles of buffalo bones left from the native Indian hunts. We’d already had a short peek after lunch, and decided to go back as it was a nice photo opportunity. Real postcard stuff. Once Gerg gets either his zip drive or access to a high speed connection, the site is going to have some great pictures on it.
Sometime ‘round four we took our leave of Regina and headed west for Moose Jaw, reaching it around five. Once again we sought out the information centre (Mental Note: must contact Lonely Pl anet and tell them it’s moved) and were directed to the Prairie Oasis Campground. Not a bad place, and sites are only sixteen dollars a night. Too bad about the stagnant pond nearby, which is a breeding ground for the biggest and most repellent-proof mosq uitoes I’ve ever seen. These things bite through denim, and made a fair attempt at my sneakers too. It’s interesting, how tent sites are almost universally near water of the stagnant kind. It might be scenic, but I can tell you, it’s hard to appreciate the aesthetics when you need a blood transfusion and a gallon of calamine lotion by the end of the night.
Still, we’d paid for two nights already, so two nights it is. We made pasta for dinner – our first on-the-road made meal – and turned in early-ish in order to evade the ravening insect hordes.
*realises she forgot to purchase earplugs in town today*
Bugger.
***
¬
