On to Banff and time to break out the new camping gear

On to Banff, which even in June is stuffed to the gills with people and hotel rooms cost $250/night and up.  Not quite sure why, because although it's kind of nice in a very structured way - sort of like Niagara on the Lake, but bigger.  And there are just a scenic places in BC, because we went past them as we got further into the interior.  I'd forgotten how majestic the BC Rockies are and just how few people live in the big spaces between the towns.  Anyway we happened to spy this advice on the local church notice board.

"Some questions cannot be answered by Google"

Which is a bit of a game changer as I have been operating under the assumption that Google will always give you an answer, it just may be wrong or have misinterpreted your question.  It leads me to wonder what insights the Presbyterians have into these matters. I take a moment to pause.  Must find one of these Presbyterians.  Deep thinkers indeed.


Here we are on our campsite near Tunnel Mountain.  Quite pleasant I have to say, and came with UNLIMITED firewood and a crazy good firepit with a fantastic hinged cooking grate.   Made a very nice steak, baked potato and grilled corn on the cob supper.  

The new tent proved a mighty success as well we fitted two single bed sized grand teton cots (super comfy and super sturdy) into it.  The standing height was just over 6', so great for me.

View down to the Banff Basin from the top of the Gondola.   It's quite a long way down

Canada's national bird the cheeky Grey Jay.  Fetching little beasts.

Peninsula on Lake Miniwankee (or some such name)  V. pretty

Pen

Drumheller - the Tyrell Museum of Paleontology - a seriously obsessed dinosaur place

I'll let these pictures talk for themselves.  This was a very well laid out museum, with lots of useful reasonably nerdy information  We were there on a Sunday so there were no big kids groups and it wasn't particularly crowded.   Totally worth a visit.

Jenny Smid: the Gopher Slayer OR Moose Jaw to Drumheller and the Badlands of Alberta

OK, so last night ended with a bit of bang.  As you know we were a might underwhelmed with the delights of Moose Jaw.  The city that did a pretty good job of killing it's downtown and moving its retail businesses into shopping malls on the outside of town.  Kind of a doughnut with a sad face filling.   Lot's of potential, and the hotel we stayed at was doing it's best,  but when you move out all the shops and move out the people what is going to happen?   So we were feeling a little sad, but decided to eat at the chinese restaurant next door.  A bit of a risk,because it didn't seem to be attracting huge custom,  and it seemed to be in a repurposed steak and seafood restaurant that had gone out of business.  As many people know I am a fan of Hakka Chinese cooking,  and the cook at this restaurant served us the best Chili chicken I think I have had, along with a pretty decent shrimp/chicken stirfry.  The chicken was moist and crisp with a nice slight sweet sour spicy sauce lightly incorporated into the dish.   Super amazing end to our Moose Jaw idyll.


Next, onto the road.  Turns out that Saskatchewan is a lot more bumpy and hillocky than I thought.  At least until we got north of Swift Current an then things started to flatten out.

So here we go.  A Saskatchewan view with  the long horizon and "fluffy clouds".

This is the South Saskatchewan river with some  scrubby looking trees and some "fluffy" clouds.

 A minor road that we took across Alberta was kindof interesting for the intensity of it's straightness.  It did not deign to touch on any inhabited towns for the 200km that we followed it, and went through one deserted ghost village called Mantorio.  You may well ask what was going on there.  

This is the road where Jenny exterminated at least four possibly six Richardsons Ground Squirrels aka Gophers.   In a kind of ritualized suicide dash the cute little rodents would throw themselves under the vengeful tires of  Jenny's chariot.  Quite affecting,  though I was worried that Jenny's futile attempts to avoid squishing them would endanger my own precious life.  (yes I know,  a very self serving interpretation of some quite tragic events}.


At last Drumheller and the sight of a faithfully reproduced Albertosaurus that dominates the downtown.  A lesson to us all.  My name is Ozymandias.....

Badlands near Drumheller - Horse Thief Canyon

After checking into the Jurassic Motel (there's definitely a theme in this town), we set off to see the sights - out highway 838, past the Royal Tyrrell Museum (on tomorrow's itinerary) to Horse Thief Canyon.  So, while it may not approach the scale of Green River Canyon in Utah, which we visited 3 years ago, it's still a pretty impressive sight and definitely worth stopping on a cross-Canada trip to see.

Cute little bugger, right?  Don't read Ian's blog of today.

In my defense - the little buggers were totally
playing death by car!

How it got its name - bit of the Wild West there.

The bright green in the distance is early canola.  Later in the season it turns to bright yellow.  This we know due to a helpful information plaque provided by the government of Alberta (not shown).

Oh you fools, don't you know you have to climb back up?  Younger than us, obviously.

And while we were rambling, we heard a familiar sound - common nighthawk!  Kids at home, you'll know what this meant.

Very pretty delicate little flower, definitely not a wild rose.  If anyone knows what this is, feel free.

Day in Moose Jaw

So we took a day off - in hindsight, Moose Jaw may not have been the most inspired place to take a day off, but we needed the time.
We started the day with a wander through Crescent Park where we spent some time watching baby ducklings... lots of ducklings.. in fact, all sorts of duck families

 Crescent Park also has lots of these Elms, long lost to Ontario fields.  


The main attraction in town is Al Capone's tunnels, supposedly used for rum-running in the 20's and certainly attended by a couple of busloads of kids today, looked really really busy, even for Moose Jaw, so we passed, having a well known aversion to crowds.

The Hammond Building, built in 1912 and sadly mostly disused today, so it seems.  Wonderful terracotta stuff going on in the details.

City Hall.

Ended the day with a great dinner at Jin-Chu, an extremely unassuming Canadian Chinese restaurant right across from the hotel, where we were the only customers.  Moose Jaw has a deep historical connection with the Chinese, dating back to railroad building days, which may explain why it has at least half a dozen Chinese restaurants.  Anyway, if you are ever in Moose Jaw, go to Jin-Chu (skip the fancy restaurant across the street).

Off to Drumheller and dinosaurs tomorrow.

Four real tires on the Audi again!

So, first thing this morning, Ian talked to his KalTire guy in Toronto who gave us our first bit of good news - the tire was still covered under warranty (new in May)!  Call to the KalTire in Weyburn, SK, who were really happy to help - they couldn't get a matching Continental, but they could have two Sumitomos shipped in from Regina and would make time to put them on this afternoon once they arrived.

We made a painfully slow trip to Weyburn - the speed limit is 100 so even RVs were passing us and at one point we were blared at by an jerk trucker.  Checked in with KalTire and happily the tires had arrived from Regina.  Had lunch at the only Chinese restaurant in town - Ian got his dirty Singapore noodles fix (only mention of food in this post, you'll note) - then left the car at KalTire.

Ian checked out these wheat sculpture things beside the KalTire.











We walked across a sea of mud to the local museum to see a massive collection of silver (worthwhile, if you are ever stranded in Weyburn, SK), then back to pick up the car by 3:00.  Also, were told we could arrange to trade in the Sumitomos for a new Continental (to match the good one now in our trunk) at a city of our choice (maybe Kelowna or Victoria).

Off to Moose Jaw at a reasonable speed. Halted at a level crossing by a potash train (this being SK, after all).  No idea what the guy ahead of us was carrying.

Pit stop in Moose Jaw at the beautiful local liquor store in the old train station.

So we are now at the lovely Grant Hall Hotel in Moose Jaw, only one day late.   Booked a second night so we can recover from the stress and also explore Al Capone's smuggler tunnels.  More on that tomorrow, probably.

Tires fixed today and in Moose Jaw via Weyburn. Plus Kitchen update

Well mostly kitchen update.  Jenny is doing the how things went today post.  Look how it's going.....

This central bit will be done tomorrow I hope.

Love the floor with the cabinets.  Upper cabinets one tomorrow.

Tonight's dinner place

Pesto pizza.  My first time.  This trip is full of surprises.

Winnipeg to a charming little town in Saskatchewan called Carlyle

Today was the day to go to Moose Jaw.  We have been told that Regina is kind of sucky with not a lot of history.  Pleasant enough if you like cities like Mississauga.  So Moose Jaw it is.  Problem #2:  The TCH through Manitoba and Saskatchewan is totally boring.  It runs through a one kilometer corridor away from all the towns, and is straight as an arrow.  Our solution: drive along a local road south of highway one and enjoy the countryside and local dining rooms. 

The Breakaway, Carman,Manitoba,Highway #3

And I had the bbq beef swiss melt on a bun with a caesar salad and an iced tea.   Nice.

Rural Manitoba is actually really beautiful with marshlands, sand dunes, grain elevators etc.  Just keep the hell of the TCH because it makes the whole province look like it sucks.

 Of course theres a downside to travelling outside cell coverage on a pothole infested highway.  We hit a pit doing 110kph.  Tire shredded.  Drama ensued.


And then an amazing thing happened.  We were digging out the spare tire from the trunk, and people started stopping to ask if we needed help.   Before we knew it, I was being driven off to a local place to see if they could fix the tire.  Keith from Alberta was helping Jenny to fix the tire.   Amazing people, who we wouldn't have met if we drove the Trans Canada.

Things still sucked a bit though. 19 inch low profile Audi tires aren't common in areas where trucks are the main mode of transportation.

Drove to Carlysle on the doughnut tire.  Tomorrow we work out how to fix.

Doughnut tire in evidence.  Don't go fast. Don't travel far.

The Ramada where we stay tonight. It looks more sucky than it is.

In Winnipeg after a brief canter across the Canadian Shield and the start of prairie country

 

In Winnipeg.   Went to see my brother in the Manitoba Health Sciences Centre where he is recovering from a thing that snuck up on him last week.  He's recovering quite well.  We almost didn't get to see him, as the Centre covers 3 or four city blocks and navigation requires the same skills as those that penetrated the dark continent two centuries ago.  Finally we were led to safety by a native denizen of the complex.  A near thing I fear a couple more hours and we might not have made it out.

Note to reader:  London Drugs sells the complete line of McVities biscuits including the haed to find caramel chocolate digestives and the Ginger biscuits.  Those who hunger for these comestibles will understand.  Can be ordered online  as well.

Then to dinner with  family members at an excellent little restaurant in St. Boniface.  Bouchee et Boucher.   Excellent charcuterie platter,  great local beers nicely chosen plates of veggie and meat compositions.  The pork belly with lightly pickled cucumber slices was delectable.   Worth a visit, when you find yourself in Winnipeg with a few hours to kill.

https://boucheeboucher.ca/

We are now in Kenora. Which despite being a lumber town, is seriously beautiful

Well who knew. Kenora is kickass beautiful.  Not so much the town itself which is a decently prosperous mining and lumber town founded in the 19th century, but the setting on Lake of the Woods with flotilla of islands out in the bay and a curving coastline around which the town spreads.  Like Huntsville the population booms in the summer as people move into their cottages.

Original name of Kenora was Rat Portage, which for some reason (although it sounds better in French) they changed in 1905 to Kenora, when the amalgamated three towns on the shoreline.

Bit of a drive from Toronto though.

Brewer's Inn in Kenora.  Nice place on the TCH in town.

Have you ever eaten at a Caribbean/Chinese/German/French restaurant?

Well there is one in Wawa on Highway 17 on the
way into town.  The results are mixed.  

Friendly groundhog (member of the marmot family) said hi as we ate dinner.

Mayhem in Espanola

Hit the Wendy's for lunch,  Cash registers on the fritz  Near riot ensues as customers denied their crispy chicken, contemplate speaking harshly, but don't.

Heading Off (after some blog technical problems)

Jenny in the faithful steed as we gather some necessary foodstuffs from the local starbucks (Nice double bacon sandwich).

Kitchen update T-1

So the floors got finished yesterday,.and the kitchen Is ready for putting all the  important stuff in.  And we leave tomorrow. 

So this is getting ready for our epic road trip from Ontario to B.C.

We start off this weekend without a clear plan of  where we're going except there's a bunch of people we want to visit on the way, and some things and places that it might be nice to drop in on.   The faithful steed is primed and ready.  We've bought some new heavily over-engineered camping cots and a brand new MEC tent that we can stand up in.  

I have travelled as far as two hours outside Winnipeg going west.   I thought it a tad monotonous, but according to my friend Nick, this terrain is like the Himalayas when compared to what we'll find in Saskatchewan.  Definitively flat landscape.