Heading to Alberta

You know its time to leave when your car is covered with leaves; so we bid farewell and off we go. Travelling through Saskatchewan is always interesting and we took this picture of a small Saskatchewan town; at least we assumed it was a town after going 30 miles and not seeing anything.

After 2 days of driving, we finally got to Alberta but it was closed (or at least the visitors centre was). Finally we arrived in Edmonton and filled up and settled in for the night at a Flying J truck stop. They should call it flying ZZZ's because with all the trucks coming and going and engines running we slept fitfully with not many ZZ's flying. But tomorrows another day and we're off to the Peace country.

Visiting with my sister

Another sunny day and a strong tailwind as we leave Minnesota and head for Manitoba. Based on our previous border crossing experiences, I left lots of time for inspections; image our surprise when after a couple of questions we were on our way. Into Manitoba and by far the worst roads we have driven on so far. I had to slow down to 50 km/hr at spots to keep from being shaken to pieces. The road from the border to Winnipeg was bad but in the town of Morris it was horrid. I think people walking were passing us as we tried to survive the jarring. Once we got off the Transcanada onto the Yellowhead the roads got a bit better and we could go the speed limit. But we got to my sister and her husbands place in one piece.
They have a lovely property with their own lake so we parked in their driveway with a view of the forest and lake.
Although its been years since we have seen my sister Brenda and Harry, her husband, once we arrived it felt like we had never left. The connection was immediate and comfortable and they are great hosts. We visited, played games and generally kibitzed just like we used to. Their daughter, Cassandra and Michelle used to play together all the time when we lived in Winnipeg and it was nice to get out to see her and her husband Jim. They have a beautiful home just west of Brandon with a great view looking over a valley. We also met Logan, Brendas grandson who lives in Neepawa. A great kid who's a lot of fun; kind of reminded us of Kyle. This has by far been the best part of the trip and we hate to leave; but it was -6C last nite and will only get colder.

Day 7 and 8 of our journey

We left the campground early and drove over the huge bridge in Superior. It takes traffic over the dozens of railroad tracks used to bring grain to the ships for Great Lakes shipping. The day was cool and very windy, but fortunately, it was mostly from behind. Checked into the campground in northwest Minnesota. Again we are the only ones here. I'm starting to wonder if they know something we don't :-). They gave us the spot they said was the most in demand in the summer; on a point of land surrounded by the lake. Quite a lovely spot. Relaxed in the RV in the evening and when it stopped drizzling the next day we went for a walk around the park. Its a beautiful park and I imagine its very busy during the summer. Right now they are busy preparing the ski and snowmobile trails. Saw lots of deer here in the park. Again, no services except hydro. Hope our water holds out.

Day 5 and 6

After a sunny beautiful drive we arrived at a State campground in Wisconsin. Set up and went for a walk. The next day we explored the campground a bit more and found some beautiful falls and a lake. You couldn't even see it until you walked back on this small trail. The days are cool so far but sunny and makes for crisp invigorating walks. We had the whole campground to ourselves except for a few day visitors. It is going below freezing pretty well every night, but as long as our furnace keeps working we are warm enough.

Went for a drive to see Superior Wisconsin in the afternoon, but turned the wrong way coming out of the campground and drove for 1/2 hour before I realised it and had to turn around. It was a nice day for a drive but felt like an idiot for doing it.

Day 4, a day of rest

A very cold night but I guess they'll get colder. Nice and sunny today. We pretty well have the campground to ourselves, except for the deer. We have seen a lot in the campground and couldn't figure out why until the owner told us. He sells sugar beets by the loader full to hunters who use them as bait to attract deer for the upcoming hunting season. A double trailer dumped beets today and hunters came all day to take trailers full. I didn't realise deer were interested in sugar beets until now. Based on watching the deer, (look at the picture) its obvious deer like beets.
Went for a drive to Gladstone MI and walked around the marina which was lovely but cold. Did a little shopping for food and came back for tea.

Second day of driving in Michigan

Well, we're on our way again. A beautiful driving day, sunny and the foilage is beautiful. Last night was below freezing and you can see some of the frost on the side of the road. The drive over the Mackinac bridge which is 5 miles long is awesome. We left camp just after 8 AM and got to our destination just after 3 PM.

Second Day, taking it off.

To enjoy our trip, we decided to take every second day off if possible. this gives us a chance to relax and see a little bit of the area we are staying at. So we read, walked around the campground and went for a drive to see the colours and local sites. Then we played crib at night and watched one nearly unintelligible TV channel of shows we never watch; thats desperate!

Leaving on our first day of travel

As we get ready to leave on our trip to the wild west, we say goodbye to our family and our home of 24 years. We know that the hardest part of this adventure is leaving those we love. We know that they will be busy with their lives and we will enjoy our new adventures. So, off we go. The trip went well until we hit construction at the Sarnia/US border and sat in traffic for 1.5 hours. Then to add insult to injury, we were selected for a random full inspection at US customs. Of course they didn't find anything but we had to reliquish our onions. The rest of the trip was fine and we arrived at Rifle River in Michigan at 4:30. Hooked up the RV and relaxed for the rest of the day.