July 18-19 From Manitoba to Ontario
On our second day in Winnipeg we woke up bright and early as usual. Zaid was
very hungry and kept urging us to go down to have breakfast and so Ben and I who would have loved nothing more than some more sleep, reluctantly got
everyone changed and walked down to the hotel’s cafeteria for our continental
breakfast. Once all were fed and happy, we went back to our room for a quick
skype chat with my mum and to pack up our bags for departure. On the way out of
Winnipeg we stopped for a quick visit at the Royal Canadian Mint where we were
all very excited to learn how money is made, and got to have a picture taken
with a gold bar worth more than half a million dollars. For Zaid, the
most exciting part was the little pond in the lobby which he kept running
around and around. After the Mint we stopped again for some groceries and soon
were on our way to our next destination.
Our next stop was a night of camping at Whiteshell Provincial Park on Falcon Lake. Whiteshell Park is a beautiful location with forests
similar to those of the West Coast and a beautiful sandy beach just minutes
away from the campsites. It reminded us a lot of Manning Park in BC. As we were
driving slowly towards our campsite we were greeted by a gorgeous looking
male deer that popped out of the bushes right beside our car. We slowed down
and I quickly pulled my camera out just in time to capture the elegant animal
as he turned around to stare at us right in the face. After a minute of looking
at each other the deer gently walked across the road and disappeared into the
bushes and we drove away to our site feeling jubilant. The rest of the stay at
Whiteshel was pleasant and had us swimming in the lake twice. At one point the
whole family including own,were in for a dip and Zaid had a wonderful time
splashing everyone with water while screaming “splash you!”.
The next day, July 19th we packed up yet again
and began the drive towards our new home province, Ontario. Our stay in Ontario was going to be very brief as we head towards the US for a week before coming back to Ontario on the way to end the journey. Our destination for now was a campground
just south of Kenora called Caliper Lake Provincial Park in Lake of the Woods area. This park was truly beautiful and our particular site was by far the most
beautiful camp spot we have had on this trip so far. Arriving on a Thursday meant that
the park was almost empty and so we had many sites to choose from. We ended up
choosing a spot right on the lake but with a few bushes between us and the
water, enough to stop Zaid from attempting a dip without the supervision of one
of us. Our picnic table was only a
couple of meters away from the water, and as we sat down to dinner our
conversation was accompanied by the sound of the waves and cries of loons
living close by.
Soon after arriving and setting up our camp we headed out
for a walk to discover the rest of the ground. Something which we’ve come to do
every time we stay in a new park. On our walk we stopped for icecream and
there we ran into two bikers. They turned out to be part of a whole group of
bikers that we actually drove by earlier in the day and who are on a cross
Canada ride. We were excited to see other cross country travellers, albeit they were going by bike and actually crossing the entire country all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean.
Later on in the evening, after the kids went to sleep, Ben
and I sat down around a camp fire watching the lake and eating roasted
marshmallows. At some point two Pelicans swam by right inform of us. It was a
magical evening in the most beautiful place we’ve seen. We liked this site so much that we
contemplated staying a second night but then decided against it as we were
eager to begin our USA leg of the journey as soon as possible.
The night at Caliper Lake was a bit less magical and a bit
more scary. We woke in the middle of the
night to very heavy winds which, according to me were accompanied by thunder,
lightning and rain. Ben who is a heavy sleeper recalled waking us only to light winds. In any case the wind was strong enough to break a branch off a tree, which we found in the morning sitting inches away from our tent, and in the exact spot where we were setting the evening prior. That was the extra reason we needed to decide against staying one
more night and continue on our trip in spite of how much we loved the location.
The following day we set out to drive to the USA. More about
that in the next posts by Ben.
Haifa
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