Going off in All Directions - Part 3 - East

 

There’s camping and fishing, and then there’s the road trip.  This next portion of our holiday was the latter.  We were anxious to put the miles on, but to also enjoy the journey.

Road trips may include unique small town coffee shops, ice cream pit stops and fuel stops.  Sometimes, if we take a bit more time, we’ll look for markets, thrift shops and maybe even garage sales.  It’s the journey, not the destination.  Wait. No.  It’s the destination.  The grandchildren are waiting!

After we left Castlegar, we drove until we stopped.  The first night was in Crowsnest Pass.  It was a campground right along the highway, no services and lots of truck noise. That’s all we could find.

That was the fire above Sparwood.

The smoke of the fire behind Crowsnest Mountain. 

We're prairie people.  We love the wide open spaces!

The next night we got to Willowbend campground in Maple Creek SK.  We'd planned to boondock at the Cypress Hills Winery, but when the temperature hit 38 degrees, we knew we couldn't cool down the trailer enough for sleeping without a generator or A/C so we opted for the campground nearby.

Instead, we sampled some delicious berry wines.

and saskatoon berry pie.

The next night was at Moose Mountain Provincial Park, south of Whitewood, SK.  We'd been there once before many years ago.  It's definitely a destination park with a lake and lots of activities.  We didn't do it justice by just rolling in at suppertime and leaving again the next morning. 

Some of the interesting spots for meals and snacks.

We arrived in Winnipeg at the Town and Country Campground after following some intense clouds and listening to our phones ringing with tornado warnings.  Fortunately, nothing came of it and we remained dry setting up camp for the next few days.

In Winnipeg, we spent time with family, running errands and being a tourist. The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is a fascinating experience.  We spent three hours and only absorbed a portion of it.  It tells the stories of Canadian and world history where human rights have been violated for various people groups for various reasons:  race, religion, gender, disabilities.  It also is encouraging in showing the progress that has been made in righting wrongs.  But it’s sobering to think that if we aren’t vigilant and stand up for human rights, they made be taken away.  There was a lot to process. 

View from the top of the museum.

The museum is at The Forks which is where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet.  The area used to be a rail yard but has been transformed into a wonderful tourist destination with restaurants, shops, museums and ball field.  It's always a fun place to visit and meet up with friends, although this time we explored it on our own. 

Had to have a hot dog here!

We went on a boat cruise on both the rivers.