Week ending June 6, 2013

Friday afternoon we walked down a "closed" road, again seeing many deer tracks, but not deer. We did however watch a very persistant black bird fly into the wind. The wind just blew him backwards, he finally gave up and went with the direction of the wind. The lake was very choppy. John maintains a person would survive swimming for a few seconds in our pretty lake.  I am not so sure. No one, not even kids have been brave enough yet to venture in. Our inflatable boat has remained untried due to the high winds. We don't know when or if this wind will ever die down.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. Our first stop was a historic site - relating to the Riel Rebellion.  Then we headed to Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park. On the road driving into the park, we saw a snake slithering across the road. I guess that proves summer is here. After paying our $7.00 to get in, we checked out the campground. Not particularly to our liking. We determined we would be unlikely to get a satellite signal and what else would we do there? The mosquito population was extreme.  So bad even going for a walk was impossible.

We have decided it is time to head further North, where there are fewer poplar trees and more rocks and pines. We stopped at the public library in Yorkton on our way back to our campsite to do some web surfing to find our next location. We then headed back to the trailer to watch hockey.

Tuesday we headed north to Swan River. We took a leisurely drive, stopping to have a picnic lunch in the  home of Ed Werenick, famous Ontario curler.  About 2:30 we arrived at Green Acres RV Park in Swan River. After setting up we waited for the campground owner to come home, so we could pay our fees. Close to 5:00 Connie arrived home, accepted our payment and gave us a plethora of information on the area, including the short loan of a guide book on the area. More than enough we figure to occupy us for the next week.  In the evening we went for a walk down main street, scouting out various places of interest.

Wednesday morning we went to Tim Hortons (camp day) for breakfast, stopped at visitor information for maps etc., checked in at the library to insure we could get wi-fi usage after library hours.  After a quick stop at the trailer to pick up a picnic lunch and our borrowed guide book we left for a hike to Pikes Peak. We got within 2 kms of the trailhead only to encounter a sign "Bridge Out". We decided we would walk to the creek, hopefully cross it and complete the hike. We believe the bridge has been washed out for a few years and the creek was too deep to allow us to ford; so much for our hike to Pikes Peak.   We then continued on to Gryba's Hill, a bit of a disappointment.   Our next stop was Whitefish Provincial Park.   It was a very pretty location, the lake was very serene. As we enjoyed our lunch we watched the loons on the water.   Today was one of the best day we have seen, weather-wise, hot and sunny.   To date the mosquitoes have not discovered Whitefish Lake.    Then we headed back to the trailer to watch the hockey game.

Thursday we headed for Duck Mountain (Manitoba) Provincial Park. After a short hike to Copernicus tower and enjoying the panoramic view from the platform we decided to try out our inflatable boat.  Blowing it up went amazingly well. Of course that's when the ease of use stopped. John got in, then Joan got in, only to be sitting in a puddle of water. Hmm - not the way it should work. We hauled the boat out of the water, emptied it and then took a good look at it. We discovered one of the valves intended to drain it was open. After closing it the boat held water.  Off we paddled.

While we were out on the water we saw a moose and more loons.  On our way back to the campsite from the lake we saw moose in the bog by the road.