Winnipeg, Manitoba - Days 1 & 2

Slideshow of All Today's Images

We left Moosomin at 8:30am this morning and arrived at the Traveller's RV Resort in Winnipeg at 2:30pm. The only stop we made along the way was for an hour in Brandon to have breakfast and check out a few shops in a nearby strip mall. The weather has cooled down considerably from the first week of our trip. It was just 22C all the way to Winnipeg but it has gone up a bit to 26C this afternoon. That's still a lot better than the mid 30's!

From Winnipeg, Manitoba - Days 1 & 2

Traveller's RV is a very nice, comfortable park with acres and acres of well mowed lawns for the dogs to go for good runs on. Mo and Molly both love it. Our full service RV site is a large pull-thru and was very easy to access, park and setup in. There are washrooms, showers and laundry facilities as well - all nice and clean. As well, there is a fun park next door that has a swimming pool and water slides.

After we had dinner at the campsite tonight, we hopped in the truck and took a drive about 20kms north of Winnipeg to Lockport on the Red River. When I was growing up here in the 1950's there was a hot dog and ice cream place called Skinner's - I wanted to see if it was still there. It was famous for it's 'foot-long hot dogs'. Sure enough it's still going strong and doesn't look a whole lot different from what it did 50 years ago. We didn't try the hot dogs but we did go for the chocolate shakes!

After that we went for a drive around the neighbourhood in East Kildonan where I grew up before moving to Victoria at age 13. I showed Paulette our small house on Oakview Ave., my Grandmother and Grandfather's old house as well as the school I went too. A definite highlight of the trip for her I'm sure!

From Winnipeg, Manitoba - Days 1 & 2

One of the side trips we are going to make while we are here is to go up to Gimli on Lake Winnipeg. Gimli is famous for it's Icelandic heritage and Paulette has always wanted to go there as her ancestry is Icelandic. We'll probably make a day of it and stop in at Winnipeg Beach - a favourite spot when I was young.

Tomorrow looks like a shopping day at some of the malls as well as visiting some of my relatives - my Uncle Jim and Auntie Mary for sure.

It's almost 10:00pm here right now and still quite light out. Even so, we've had a long day so we are going to call it a night and are looking forward to spending the next four days in one place.

DAY 2

Another hot, sunny day in Winnipeg! This morning, we decided to head into the downtown area and visit 'The Forks' - a great development along the banks of the Red River right in the heart of the city. Dozens of restaurants, shops and entertainment in old rail cars and what had been abandoned factories and warehouses. Nice parks and walkways along the river with lot's of green space for picnics etc. Mo and Molly really enjoyed the walk along the river banks and the parks with all the grass.

From Winnipeg, Manitoba - Days 1 & 2

In the afternoon, I dropped Paulette off at the Kildonan Centre(surprise - a Mall!) and I went back to the campground with the dogs and we sat outside in the shade while I read a book. Much better than traipsing around a shoppping mall as far as I'm concerned. Also, I phoned my Uncle Jim and Auntie Mary here in Winnipeg and we arranged to meet for dinner at 6:00pm at a place called Maxime's in St. Vital.

From Winnipeg, Manitoba - Days 1 & 2

To go out for dinner created a bit of concern for us as it meant leaving Mo and Molly alone in the 5th wheel for the very first time. We were worried about them starting to bark while we were gone and upsetting our camping neighbours. But, we decided we had to try it some time so now was as good a time as any. We cooled the unit down, then made sure there were lot's of open vents and windows for fresh air to flow in. With that, we made our getaway.

Maxime's was a great family restaurant - very good food and reasonable prices. That's probably why the place was so busy on a Wednesday night. We had a good visit with my relatives and caught up on all the family doings here in Winnipeg. After dinner we arranged to meet up with my Aunt and Uncle again on Friday - the day before we leave.

Arriving back at the RV Park everything was pretty quiet in the 5th wheel - the neighbours seemed o.k. as nobody said anything to us about noisy dogs so that was a relief. So, I guess the two hour occasional absence just might be o.k.

Another pretty busy day so it looks to be another early night. We are both looking forward to tomorrow as we are going to visit the town of Gimli up on Lake Winnipeg.