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1 to 15 May 2022 16 to 31 May 2022

Monday, May 16, 2022

Let's go and visit Dryden.
Our first stop is the information center of Dryden and Max the Moose.

And the eagle.

The door is locked. The information center is closed on Mondays!
We tried the city hall, the library, nope, no information whatsoever.

Let's see what we can find and visit.

Michele had found a few things to visit prior to coming here. One of the main attractions is the suspension bridge.

Also, in 2010, an artist was contracted by the city to build a piece to represent all the families in and surrounding area of Dryden to bring a piece of pottery, broken pots, dishes, anything and he made this collage. It represents the families and the seasons in Dryden.

Dryden came to be because of the pulp and paper companies that came to harvest the resources in northern Ontario.

We are on our way to the suspended bridge.

The why of the suspended bridge.

Here it is.

The Wabigoon river is very high at this time of year.

And the suspended bridge is closed for the season. I think because of the high water.

Our next stop is downtown Dryden.
What a name for a hotel!

Within five minutes, we had driven the whole downtown of Dryden.
We even stopped in a Thrift shop.

Since it is lunchtime, we stop at this highly reviewed place for lunch.
The Chip Box.

Since it is only +6°, C. Very few people eat outside. The Fries must be very good. That is all the people are ordering.

I am on my way back to the car with our feast.

We have the highly recommended Fish & Chips. They were good, nothing more. Michele loves this kind of fries, me? Not so much.

After a short stop at the local grocery store, we headed home.

Natasha is getting ready for bedtime.

We came, we saw, we will not stop again!

Tuesday, May 17, 2022.

Our friend Jan sent us this photo. He is teasing me with the building of a few decks!
I wish I could be there.

We leave Dryden behind us today.

Northwestern Ontario got a lot of snow this winter. With the spring melting, the rivers are overflowing.
Like here!

It is not too bad. The cars are allowed to cross slowly. (For Jan, no Corvette allowed!)

The roads are nice but very "curvy".

Manitoba, here we come!

We stopped for a few nights in the outskirts of Winnipeg.

Just like the previous years, the roads in Manitoba are just plain BAD. They should turn them into gravel roads. They would be better!

Wednesday, May 18, 2022.

We will be here for two nights.
I got woken up by this lovely bird this morning, very very early. He was singing about love I think!!!

So the forecast is calling for rain. We got rain, lots of rain!
Out to town we go.

I forgot, when we arrived, we saw that our mud flap was hanging down on one side.
I am fixing it today.

After a quick look at the cause. The nuts on one of the two attaching points lost the nuts holding it in place.

In no time, it was fixed.

I told you about the rain. Well, there it is. It just keeps turning overhead Winnipeg.

Thursday, May 19, 2022.

We are back on the road.
Going around Winnipeg on the Perimeter Highway, which is very bad, we stopped at Flying J for gasoline.

Two hundred and fifty-three litres later and a much thinner wallet ($476), we are back on the road to Gladstone.
This area has been hit pretty hard with two spring snowstorms and lots of rain after. This area is flooded in many places.
Like this field, it looks like a lake.

We took a detour by driving into the little town of Portage La Prairie. We made a quick stop at Walmart.

We leave the Trans-Canada Highway behind us to take the Yellowhead Highway (# 16) to Gladstone.
The trains are so long in the prairies.

Here we come, Also known as Happy Rock.

The municipal campground is very easy to find.

Our home for the next three nights.
Here too, they had lots of rain.

We did not drive many kilometres today.

Friday, May 20, 2022.

Boy, did it rain!
It rained from 3 in the afternoon yesterday to 5 o'clock this morning.
Do you want water? It is a good thing we are not leaving this morning.

We took a drive around the town.
There are a few buildings telling us this town was prosperous at one time.

In almost every town and city in the prairies, you have one memorial for the people who paid the ultimate cost in the wars.

Today was the last working day at Robbyn's job. She came over for supper. It has been over two years since we have seen her.

Saturday, May 21, 2022.

The sun is shining this morning. The river, in front of the MH, is rising still.

The water level is very high.

The province of Manitoba's nickname.

Robbyn took us for a tour of the town and the surrounding area. She is starting her new job in a few weeks.

Gladstone is Happy Rock.

We drove around and looked at a few of the Mennonites' farms.

The very small village of Plumas.

Robbyn's new house.

We did what we used to do, shoot the sh@t around the fire.

It was a very good evening around the fire with a good friend. To top it off, we have a nice sunset.

Sunday, May 22, 2022.

It is time to hit the road again.
The water is gone, but the lawn is still pretty soft.

Usually, it is Michele who drives the MH out of a site. This time she told me I was the one to drive over the soft lawn.
Hummm! It was really soft!

This is how deep it got.

We are almost ready to go. We said our goodbye to Robbyn.

This road is very good. It is a change from the Trans-Canada highway.

And we are back on the Trans-Canada highway. It is not as good as it should be.

The prairies are pretty flat, but sometimes you get a large valley.

The trains are so long.

Elkhorn is our last stop before we arrive at Jeremy and Kristin's place.

We are staying for two nights.

My Michele.

Another short driving day.

Monday, May 23, 2022.

We are still in Elkhorn, Manitoba.

I have never been to the Antique Auto Museum in Elkhorn. Today is the day.

Get ready because you will see a lot of photos.
This museum is the work of one man. Isaac Clarkson. He loved old cars.
Isaac passed away years back. Now the museum is operated by volunteers.

The museum is a little run down because of a lack of volunteers.
They have many cars from the 1910s. They are not my favourite cars. I prefer cars from the 1940s and up.

In every auto museum, I have seen, you always find a Ford Model T.

This is an Hupmobile Roadster 1909. The first car Isaac Clarkson restored.

You do not see a hearse too often.

I love this idea, a wall of tools.

Another must-have for a museum is a police car.

One of my dream cars is a Cadillac Eldorado. A big boat of a car.

I do not remember ever seeing this model of Chrysler, a 1963 Saratoga.

Another big car like I like them to be. A 1966 Toronado.

Surprise! A 1946 travel trailer.

The museum also has a few buildings.

A church that will be restored eventually.

Located in the "back 40s" of the museum are the "cars and parts" waiting to be restored.

They even have a stack of windshields.

I hope one day they will be inside the museum.

I like this clock.

I enjoyed my visit to this museum.

Tuesday, May 24, 2022.

We are back on the road for the last leg of our trip to Moose Jaw.

We have to make a quick stop in Regina.

We park the MH in a mall close to the highway.

Why?
We have to change our "house" batteries on the MH. The ones we have now are pretty well done, like dead.
We knew this coming out west. Last winter, I did some shopping/research online for the best price vs. quality for flooded batteries.
The best deal I found is here, in Regina. The only problem is where the store is located, it is an old industrial area of the city.
Going there with the MH with the car behind would be tight. That is why we parked the MH in the mall parking lot, I use the car to go to the store.

In less than an hour, we are back on the road.

Here we come!

We make a quick stop in town. We stop at Crystal Autoglass. They started the process for a claim and ordered a new windshield for the MH.

It has been broken since last spring when we came here. It is just a question of time now. Maybe in 2 to 3 weeks and we will have a new windshield.

We drove an easy 353 km today.

For those who wonder how the price of gasoline affected our costs.
On average, from 2018 to 2021, the cost of gas was hovering around $1,000.00 to 1,200.00 for the trip from Trenton, Ontario to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It is 3,000 kilometres.
This time, in 2022, for the same distance, the gas cost was around $1,600.00.
Will this increase make us stop full timing?
Nope, it is what it is.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

OK, just like the previous summers, for the next few months you will see mostly photos of Jérémy and Kristin's family.
Gabriel will join us on June 18.
Jeremy is working evening this week. He picks up Natasha from daycare at around 2 ish. We have Natasha with us. We love it.
Natasha loves the park near the house.

Natasha is explaining the kitchen to grand-maman.

Natasha is two and a half year old. She talks, but we have to get used to her voice and how a two and a half year old say things.

We are so happy to be with them.

Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Since Jeremy is with us in the morning, I am going to use him to lift the old and new batteries.
These are the ones we bought Tuesday in Regina.

And this is where they are going.

These are the old ones. They were made in 2014.
Let's just say they are bad, more than bad, dead.

We will take the old one back to the store in Regina and get $15 back per battery.

The four new ones are in. Thank you, Jeremy.

Once they will be fully charged, I will take the electricity off the MH and use the batteries to run the fridge and discharge the batteries down to about 80 %. I will recharge them to 100 %. They told me it takes 8 to 12 cycles of discharge (70 %) and charges (100 %) to get the batteries working at optimum efficiency.

Natasha.

Our days are filled with happiness.

Friday and Saturday, May 27 and 28, 2022.

She is funny, she is explaining all kinds of things to us.

Michele is waiting for Natasha to come in the MH.

This is the first time Natasha comes to the MH.

Ah, the park. Jeremy showed Natasha how to climb the climbing wall.
She still needs a little help.

She loves the swing.

And books.

She is hiding!

So good.

Natasha just started to join hands like she is praying!!!

Natasha also loves noodles.

Jeremy being Jeremy, decided to dress Natasha in the Scooby doo dress after her bath.

Sunday, May 29, 2022.

Jeremy, Kristin and I went to the new Canadian Tire.
Michele stayed with Natasha and went to the park.

Jeremy has already sold his aluminum boat with the motor a month ago.
He saw this small dinghy boat for sale. It would be about right for the small lakes in the Comox area in B.C.
He bought it. I think it was a good buy.

Jeremy placed his aluminum canoe for sale on Market Place (Facebook) for the same price as the little dinghy he bought.

Here they are coming back from a walk with Natasha.

Cool Girl!

The evening routine before bedtime, feed the fish.

With Natasha and Jeremy gone, the cat takes over.

Monday, May 30, 2022.

It is time to try Jeremy's new (to him) boat.
We launch at the campground in Wakamow.

There is not much current in Thunder creek.

This past winter/spring, this area received lots of snow and rain.
This makes the water level high creating lots of erosion.

We peaked at 6 km/h.

We can only go up river to the Highway 2 bridge. Highway 2 is behind the railroad bridge.

The erosion has caused some of the railing to fall into the creek. Even the warning sign is in the creek.

Jeremy is very happy with his new (to him) boat.

The ladies of the house!

Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

It is time to make our TV area a little better organized.

All the wiring is coming from the back of the TV. They come through different holes in the back of the TV.

I had to reroute all the wires into a bundle and through the plywood that hold the support for the TV. This way the wall mount is movable to the max.

With the large opening behind the TV, I place our hearing aids chargers behind the TV. I routed all the wires to the power bar. The DVD player is also behind the TV. It is much cleaner now.

All we have left to do is paint the plywood that holds the wall mounts. This is a project for next week.

Until next time.

Life is good...