Tuesday, July 8, 2014

No time for words...

Fireworks and Floods

Canada Day in Winnipeg was rainy and cold but it cleared off in time for a great fireworks display. We were a bit too tired (and probably lame) to go out to The Forks to watch them so we just stood out in front of the hotel. We could mostly see the whole show, there were a few low-flyers that we missed. 

The next day we left Winnipeg for Echo Valley Provincial Park which was just north east of Regina, Sask. Because of heavy rains over the past few days, there was overland flooding in western Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan. We had to take a detour down a minor highway because the Trans Canada was flooded for a chunk of our route. It was neat to go off the beaten track; the prairies are beautiful. We saw some deer and a mother moose with twin calves. We also saw lots if canola, sky, grain elevators and farm houses. It was amazing to see so much land and sky unfolding in front fo us as we drove. 

Echo Valley provincial park is in the Qu'Appelle Valley. It seemed like the banks of the valley just popped up out of nowhere or maybe that the valley floor just dropped out from underneath the prairie. Either way, it was beautiful! 




Tuesday, July 1, 2014

A whirlwind end and a mellow start


The school year wrapped up like a crazy whirlwind this year. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised--it was a crazy whirlwind from the beginning so it finished like it started!

As soon as Commencement at OTHS was over on Friday, I paid a visit to the SCHS Science annual summer party then set off for North Bay. 
(This is just outside of Geralton, ON the town where I was born) 

Mom, Randi and I left at 6:30 am to drive to our first stop, Thunder Bay. We visited my sister Andrea and her family, ate Finnish pancakes at the Hoito and planted a garden. We also enjoyed some delightful coffee talks out on her back porch. 
(Baby Iris enjoying Gran and Randi)

After a Thunder Bay, we drove towards Manitoba. We saw lots of black spruce trees and a few pretty little lakes. We also passed into the Central Time Zone: 
After entering Manitoba, I glanced down at my knitting for a second and looked back up to find the forest had disappeared and the prairies had started. (No pics if the prairies yet...knitting was happening...). 

Here's what I was knitting: 
It's called Lintilla by Martina Behm. I knitted it in BFL Sock by Fleece Artist in the Gateway to the North colour way (made especially for North Bay, ON)

As we entered Winnipeg, we listened to One Great City by The Weakerthans. If you haven't heard that song before, I'm sure you can youtube it (haven't figured out how to add links from the blogger phone app yet so you'll have to do it yourself). 

Today we wandered around Winnipeg and checked out The Forks and the St Boniface Museum. We learned about Louis Riel and all the different people who lived here. Interesting history in these parts. 

Stay tuned for more adventures!