Heading East
Canada West 2016
HEADING EAST
We have traveled a lot over the years, and have taken time out to explore British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, but we have never taken the time to see more of Canada beyond flights into our major cities. This year we would have the time, and decided to load up the camper and start heading East, our goal was to get to Winnipeg and see what we would see as we went.No schedule, and no deadline beyond the end of the month when school ends and everyone else would be going on holidays clogging up the campsites and roads.
Hope, BC
As we leave the lower mainland, our first stop would be the town of Hope, home of the original Rambo movie, and also my dad. They have torn down or blown up a lot of the Rambo landmarks, but it was a nice visit and then it was time to hit the road.
Williams Lake, BC
We took the scenic Highway 7 up the Fraser Canyon to our first destination, the growing town of Williams Lake to check on our house and visit with our dear friend Diane. Silva would make herself at home and be on full alert for Diane's cats the whole time.
There is some oddities to Williams Lake beyond their City Planners, not sure what look they were going for with these chickens. But the always tasty Laughing Loon Pub, and unique artwork combined with their Timber Kings influences make it a nice stop.
As guests never should stay more than three days, it was time to actually start heading East into the wilds of B.C.
Purden Lake, BC
Our first stop would be the first of many lakes and Provincial Parks, Purden Lake. On the outskirts of the Rocky Mountain National parks, it is a nice lake, but we are soaked during our setup, only to have the rains stop later in the evening. One of the recent annoying trends of camping is thoughtless campers in their giant rigs, that need to have a generator so they can power their TV's, Microwaves and AC units. Tonights thoughtless camper even went so far to put the generator in the bush away from their trailer, but closer to all the other campers... love the peace and quiet.
Outhouses and campfires, as long as the toilets are clean and the wood is dry, it's a nice night camping. We pack up in the morning and head back out to good ole Highway 16. Sadly, this highway heading West of Prince George is known as the Highway of Tears due to the large number of woman that have gone missing over the years along that route.
It's a beautiful part of our province, even if the garbage cans are weird.
A brief stop in one of the last B.C. towns before entering Alberta, McBride would be a quaint town to have some lunch and pick up a great flannel plaid jacket, as the weather had been a bit cool.
Mt. Robson Provincial Park
Just before we enter Mt. Robson Provincial Park we spot a bear on the side of the road, so pull over and watch as he works along a ridge, perfectly hiding from an award winning photo opp.
The water in the Rocky Mountains is just a little different colour, hard to capture, amazing to see.
Jasper
Jasper is always one of our favourite towns in the Rocky Mountains, it's growing but still has some of that small town feel. As long as you get away from the very touristy front street. Of course I find an exact replica of the jacket I bought in McBride, except with a Jasper logo... and it's $20 cheaper. The other thing I found was that I was starting to have some of the symptoms of Kidney Stones. So our first stop is to find a pharmacy and get some Anti-inflammatories to hopefully make this process go easier, I don't want a hospital to be part of our trip.
After some 'shopping' and wandering the town, we headed over to one of our lucky animal viewing parks, the Whistlers, sadly it was the weekend and they were full unless you had a reservation. The ranger booked us a site at the nearby Wapiti campground which they setup for overflow. It was a fairly open site, but nothing like the parking lot they had for people that needed electrical hookup, literally a parking lot.
After setting up our site, we wandered looking for the bathrooms, and found some that were closed, but sitting right next to them was an Elk, as we watched her, even more walked past in the trees. Surprisingly Silva just stood and stared, unlike her losing her mind bark-fest on a previous trip when a deer walked into our campsite.
It was a mix of experiences as it was a surprise to get free firewood again, but listening to a 4 hour Viking guitar sing-along in the neighboring campsite was a bit much... luckily they finished up around 11:00pm, probably because that is when it started to get dark.. Somehow Silva slept through it, she didn't even notice the squirrel exploring our campsite..
Back on the road, we wound our way out of Jasper National Park, only seeing a family group of Elk on our way out, maybe the least animals we have ever seen in all of our visits to Jasper, but seeing Elk in your campground, you can't complain... and the views, c'mon!
Once we left Jasper National Park, we passed the small town of Edson, Alberta without even seeing Eddie the Squirrel, a cute oversized town monument, and an idea came to mind. We have heard all about how boring the drive across the prairies is, what if we searched out the large monuments in the quaint small towns? Between a tourist map and bigthings.ca, we should be able to find some unique stops along our way, little did we know what we were getting into.
Edmonton, AB
As we head into Edmonton, we really only have two planned visits, find the big Cowboy boot, and check out West Edmonton Mall. We pulled up across the street and walked into the West Edmonton Mall Inn... "Do you have any Pet Friendly rooms?", the response... "What kind of pet do you have? I told them we have a medium size dog, and he replied, "Oh, we only allow big dogs.", so both laughing, I said Silva was big, and we had a room for a couple nights, power, shower, and shopping, we were set.
If you haven't been, West Edmonton Mall is North America's largest shopping centre, so many stores, plus other amenities like restaurants, theatres, Ice rink, water slide park, wave pool, pirate ship, roller coaster, even a Sea Lion show. It really takes an entire day to do the mall, break it up to walk across the street and find out Silva has been sleeping on the bed instead of her dog bad, and we head back.
It was a heck of a lot of walking to only buy 1 hoody, cause my new plaid jacket from McBride is a bit too hot for the new warmer weather. But a couple nice dinners with some nice local beers, and some new shoes for Norine, and we all walk away happy. I was especially happy, because on our last night in Edmonton I passed two kidney stones with very little pain, now back to enjoying the vacation. Cheers!!
Before we could leave Edmonton, we had to find the big Cowboy Boot, and then it was out of the city as fast as we could.
Elk Island National Park is just East of Edmonton, we had never been there, so stopped to check it out. Walking into the Information Centre to learn which trails were best, a large stuffed bison toy stands outside their door. Silva was not impressed, ears down, growling, she was not going anywhere near that giant bison looking toy.
A loop trail at the north end of the park was recommended after a drive through their bison area. We never saw any bison, and after finishing the loop we never saw anything except for hungry mosquitoes. We did arrive at the same time as a loud talking mother with her kid and two non-behaving dogs... luckily we were able to leave them far behind us after their dog knocked the kid over on the trail trying to sniff Silva.
Mundare, Alberta would be one of our early big monument stops along Highway 16. The worlds largest Ukrainian Sausage ring, based on the fact that Mundare is a large Meat Processing plant for Western Canada. When I was a teenager, I stayed just north of here on a farm for a summer in Andrew, Alberta. Nobody ever told me about a giant sausage! We got some Pepperoni sticks and a nice lunch at the Bakery.
Vegreville, Alberta would be a spot I remember fondly from visiting as a kid, home of the Worlds largest Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Egg).
Vermilion Provincial Park
Our stop for the night would be on the lake at Vermilion Provincial Park. it was lightly raining when we arrived, it wasn't until after we got setup the rain stopped long enough for a nice sunset and a ver-million mosquitoes.
Since it was raining, I spent some time building a new portable BBQ, since our old one had packed it in... using rocks to hold up the burner wasn't going to keep us going for the whole trip.
We woke up to a sunny day, and crossed the Alberta/Saskatchewan border under blue skies. The funny thing here is the city of Lloyddminster, half of it is on the Alberta side, and half of it is on the Saskatchewan side. Not sure which side was better.
Almost immediately we noticed a change in the landscape... FLAT!!! Only the grain Elevators broke up the skyline.
Continuing our objective of getting off the beaten path and finding Big Things, we had to detour off of Hwy 16 to the small town of Cut Knife, Saskatchewan. The town only has 4 streets, but it took forever to find the world's largest Tomahawk.
The much bigger city of Battleford, Saskatchewan (Not to be confused with the separate city of North Battleford) is home to a Big Mountie on a horse and a hand crafted Buffalo, and the junction point for us to head north towards another anomaly.
Crooked Bush, Saskatchewan is only known for one thing... A small grove of Spruce trees in the midst of farmers fields that are all twisted and mutated. it's a 30km drive down a dirt road to get there, and as soon as we arrive and let Silva out, she is on full alert, spooked, ears down, and wanting to get right back in the truck. she finally decides to walk with us along the boardwalk that winds through the trees, but very hesitantly. Halfway through the trail is a story with theories as to what has caused this. Alien visitations, abductions or some weird form of radiation were the leading theories, apparently the local farm animals and wildlife won't enter the grove either.
We stopped at a small gas station to fill up on our way, when I told the girl we went to crooked Bush, her response was "I wish I would be taken by aliens, this life is too hard" We laughed for a long time after driving away.
I think we may have been running out of big monuments, so we decided to add old dilapidated barns to the mix. we must have looked crazy to locals pulling over to take a photo of an abandoned barn.
Manitou Beach, SK
We had heard about Manitou Beach, and had to go check out what was billed as "Canada's Dead Sea", the second saltiest body of water next to the Dead Sea. Once we were setup and had some BBQ Chicken, Broccoli and Potatoes, we walked downhill to the lakeside..
It seemed like a nice little resort town as we pulled into the campsite, complete with an Old timey Drive in.
American Graffiti would be playing there on Saturday night. Too bad we weren't staying here on a Saturday.
Turns out it was a good thing we were uphill. The entire lake is surrounded by raised walls and sandbags with drain pumps running at the lakeside businesses and properties. Apparently the reason the lake is as salty as it is, is because it doesn't drain anywhere, for the last 3-4 years it has been flooding because of that, and almost every lakeside home is up for sale. What used to be a quaint resort town is now being abandoned, but at least the sunsets are still beautiful.
After breakfast we drive back to the town centre and follow the map showing Hwy 365 leading us out of town, the road winds around the lake and just ends as the water has covered the entire road. Guess we will take the long way around.
A bit of a mystery to us was these large crop fields with little blue silos on them, they had little doors and were spread around many of the fields. If anybody has any idea what these are, please message me, it's driving us crazy.
Watson, Saskatchewan would be a nice surprise, we come around the corner, and there is a giant Santa Claus!!!
Quill Lake, Saskatchewan had a giant Canada Goose. Apparently the residents named Quill lake the Canada Goose Capital of Saskatchewan. When the monument was planted, they made them tilt it more, because it looked like he was going to crash.
Canora, Saskatchewan is home to a giant Ukrainian lady in traditional dress with a plate of breads and what I guess would be perogies.
We stopped for some lunch in this quaint Ukrainian town, and have a picnic at a picnic table under the giant Ukrainian lady. 5 minutes later I guess Silva finally noticed her and loses her mind, she starts barking and howling at this giant multi-colour garbed lady. We had to leave.
As it was getting later in the day, we stopped at a small campsite in a town called Saltcoats. I inquire at the small drive-in at the entrance, $20 a night with power, just pick a spot and come back to pay. We spot a well treed site, and Norine gets out to help me back in.
The look of Horror on her face told me things weren't good. She says I have to come look for myself, the entire back of the camper is covered in flies, mosquitoes and bees. It was like something out of the Amityville Horror. Even with Deep Woods Off and a screened canopy, you wouldn't dare walk around here. I didn't dare stop to take a picture. The girl at the drive-in must have wondered why we didn't stop and were spraying gravel as we drove away from this horror show campsite
Churchbridge, Saskatchewan is home to a Giant Loonie (The Canadian Dollar Coin), and was the next town with a campground, a small city campground run by the local church and seniors. It was a little more open than we like, but quite empty, cheap, and most importantly super clean with showers, electric hookup and free firewood.
Turns out it was a little infested with caterpillars, but they are much better than mosquitoes. As the sun goes down we are treated to a serenade by little frogs, and a light show by the fireflies. Silva didn't understand the frogs, they remained silent when she sniffed them.
The firewood was free here, but I think they dredged it out of a nearby lake. I tried drying wood on the side, but our campfire was short lived, I didn't bring a jug of gasoline to make sure it kept burning.
Langenburg, Saskatchewan would be one of our last stops in Saskatchewan, it is home to a giant swing called Goliath. Not exactly the monument that makes a town proud, I think the VW Beetle garden was cute though.
Once we crossed the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border we started noticing a more green and lush landscape than what we were expecting, small lakes everywhere, and we started seeing more wildlife including a large Fox and a bear.
Russell, Manitoba is the first town as you cross the border, home to Russell the Bull. A visit to the very helpful girls at the T.I., made for a nice visit to a cute little town where we could restock and add a new Mosquito repellent called ThermaCell to our camping gear.
It was Silva's favourite town too cause they had a Dog Park she got to use all by herself.
Onanole, Manitoba has a giant Elk as an indicator that we are getting close to Riding Mountain Provincial Park.
Riding Mountain Provincial Park
Wasagaming, Manitoba is the central town of Riding Mountain, it feels like a combination of Jasper and Penticton with a lakeside town feel and a huge tourist destination of shops and restaurants. Some day I can give you a lesson on how to pronounce it correctly, it took us a long time of saying it wrong before a local actually said Wasagaming ( Wah-Saw-Gah-ming).
We popped in to the Tourist Information to get some info on other campsites, there is a massive campsite in the center of town, perfect if you want to be in a resort with thousands of your closest friends. Not quite what we were looking for, so we ask about some of the other campgrounds further north. The Ranger recommends his favourite spot called Lake Audy. It would be about an hour drive down a mostly gravel road, but it's nice, quiet and on the lake. Some lady pipes up "Can I add my two cents? whats wrong with the campground here?", if you are going to listen in to our conversation lady, listen to the whole thing, and no, I don't want your two cents.
The drive through Riding Mountain to the campsite is beautiful, not B.C. Mountains but hills, and forest with nice lakes. A bear ran across the dirt road in front of us and we even passed a group of Bison as we get closer to the lake. You wouldn't get that in town.
Lake Audy was so much more than we expected, nice private grass sites separated from neighboring campers, right on the waters edge with a great breeze blowing through. warm sun, combined with a nice breeze and there was no mosquitoes.
Silva quite liked it here, cool grass to lay in, her own trail down to the lake, what more could a dog ask for?
Well, a dog could ask for excitement, the excitement of the campsite was the damn rabbits, they are cute, and Silva finds them fascinating... run-after-them fascinating. Luckily we kept her on her leash, because she would have been long gone chasing those wascally wabbits.
Even way out here there is inconsiderate campers... this time a loud-talking family with a radio going for most of the evening. We could clearly hear every conversation, and they were 3 sites over "What do you mean you want another Hot Dog? It's 11:00".
To be fair, it was still light out.
We messaged Norine's cousin in Winnipeg, and after some coordination, she invited us to join her at their cottage on Lake Winnipeg since it was the weekend. If we hadn't of made other plans, we probably would have stayed for another night, Silva had more rabbits to chase.
We decided to take a more northerly route through a stretch called The Narrows, where you can cross Lake Manitoba instead of going around. Lucky thing we did, because as we are heading out of the Northern end of Riding Mountain National Park we spot a Moose and her calf in a meadow. Norine quietly goes to get the binoculars as the moose is a bit far away from us, she gets back just in time to see them wander into the trees, doh! Along the way we would also see another fox and some deer.
Once you crossed the Narrows, there was a lot of interesting old barns and churches to stop and see.
Lake Winnipeg
Their cottage on Lake Winnipeg is classic cottage styling with a fully fitted outhouse, and a very refreshing outdoor shower (even if the taps are reversed). It's nestled in a small community of cottages right near the lake shore and a too-tempting Ice Cream stand.
After wandering around the lake-shore we enjoyed an evening sitting around the fire and watching fireflies. They must have followed us, because no-one remembers seeing fireflies like that before.
A quick stop in Gimli, Manitoba to check out the giant Viking statue. How we missed this giant mosquito in Komarno, we'll never know, cause I am pretty sure we saw every other mosquito in Manitoba.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Our time in Winnipeg, MB would be focused on spending time with Norine's 91 year old aunt, but we had to make time for a Red Lobster visit, because for some reason they have one in the middle of the prairies, but not in Vancouver on the coast.
The Welcome sign didn't match what The Simpsons had told me it would be.
Staying in a hotel in Winnipeg made it easy to leave Silva to enjoy the modern comforts and air conditioning, but every morning and every night we would walk her around the neighborhood and along the Assiniboine river.
Every walk was made more exciting by rabbits, dumb rabbits that can't sit still, they would dash away setting Silva into full chase mode. It's amazing how much pull strength a part husky has. There was one Magic Bunny Bush that Silva had to stop at every time, and every time she sniffed it over the three days, a damn bunny would run out of it.
Did I mention that Norine's aunt is 91? On our last night in Winnipeg we head over to her place and order some Chinese food, when the delivery guy arrives, I say I'll go get it. She leaps up and says I'll go with you... she lives on the 3rd floor, and shocks me when she says "Let's take the stairs". She still talks about helping "the old people" with Tai Chi. Such a great lady.