Trish & Anne RV Adventures

On Saturday, May 16th we headed North to Winnipeg. On the way, we drove through North Dakota where the speed limit was 80 – we didn’t go that fast! It was an easy border crossing, with the only real question being did we have any guns or mace. We did tell him about the bear spray we were carrying, but he didn’t have any problem with that.

We got set-up at our campground just west of Winnipeg. Right outside our camper we saw this Swainson’s Thrush and a Chipping Sparrow.

We weren’t able to pick up a car on Saturday because we were too late getting into town. So on Sunday we took off in the RV for a tour at the Royal Canadian Mint. The flags along the entrance to the mint are from all the countries that have ever used the services of the mint. I did find a US flag in the bunch – not sure what they did for the US Mint.

This mint creates all of the the circulation coins for Canada. They were not working while we were there, but even so, no pictures were allowed of any of the production area, We were surprised to learn that they have made coins that are colored as well as some that glow in the dark. Here is a cribbed picture of a Toonie that has both.

There is another mint in Ottawa, that does all of the precious metal and commemorative work, including the medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

It was nearly impossible to lift the gold bar, and it was well protected so even if someone could lift it, they wouldn’t be running off with it.

That’s the mint building in the background of Trish driving – and we had to drive on Anne’s Road.

After picking up the car at the airport (always fun figuring where the RV can fit) and getting the RV reset up at our campground, we went to The Leaf at Assiniboine Park. It is an indoor botanical garden, that is in a huge outdoor park. But before we looked around, we had dinner at their restaurant, Gather Craft Kitchen. The had some really good roasted carrots and a nice scallop dish that we split. Yummy!

After fueling ourselves, we walked through the Tropical Biome area. It was not as warm as we were expecting, given that there was no sun and the temperature outside was in the low 50’s. That’s Orange Crown Shaft Palm, Spiral Ginger and the Red Sealing Wax Palm (so named because of its color, not because it is waxy.)

Looking down on the tropical biome – it is open up to 6 stories.

In the Mediterranean Biome the were Bower Vine and Sweet Pea

There was also a Butterfly Garden, it’s really hard to get a picture of them in flight, so you don’t see all of the colors. That’s a Postman Butterfly, a Golden Helicon Butterfly, a Zebra Longwing Butterfly and some Blue Morphos (where you can’t see the blue.)

Just some of the other flowers that caught my eye!

This wall of greenery was very impressive! And the garden in front of it too.

Trish standing near Canada’s tallest indoor waterfall.

On the way out of the park, we saw this deer.

On Monday, we started with a tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building – we might call it the Provincial Capitol Building. All of the provincial governments in Canada are unicameral – just one legislative body. The elected representatives are MLAs, or Members of the Legislative Assembly. This is the third building to house the assembly, it was begun in 1913, and officially opened on July 15, 1920 – the 50th anniversary of Manitoba joining the confederation.

That’s the Golden Boy atop the dome – he’s over 17′ long from torch to toe and he is currently gilded in 24 caret gold. The prairie grass known as Big Bluestem is one of the official emblems of Manitoba.

This mural in the rotunda represents the Canadians sacrifices during WWI. Beautiful chandeliers in the official reception room.

Inside the Legislative Assembly Room.

All of the provinces have a mace, which signifies that the Legislative Assembly draws its power from the people and its executive authority from the Crown. It is carried into the chamber by the sergeant at arms at the beginning of every session. The Bison is another of the emblems of the province – here it is on one of the door plates.

The grand staircase and a selfie with one of the bison and the grand staircase in the background.

Do you see me among the Famous Five? From left to right they are: Henrietta Muir Edwards, Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Louise McKinney, and Nellie McClung. They are the five women who brought the Person’s Case in 1929, which led to women’s suffrage in Canada. Other statues on the grounds of the Assembly Building honored the Ukrainians who were interred in concentration camps during WWI, and Taras Shevchenko, the National Poet of Ukraine in the 1850’s.

Our first stop when we went to the Fork Market – a bit like Quincy Market – was to find a rest room. Had to get a picture of this combo water faucet and Dyson hand dryer.

Near the Forks Market was a park along the river – it had this big amphitheater structure, with the stone entry ways marked with constellations and telling the native peoples stories of the each of them. Driving out of Winnipeg we was several murals.

On Tuesday, May 19, as we were leaving Winnipeg driving west, Trish saw a sign for fresh asparagus – we stopped! And it was very good when we ate it!

We stopped at a diner for lunch, I had this great skillet, and finished everything but the toast!

This is what the day of driving looked like, lots of prairies!

This is the first time, we have ever had a geode marking our campsite!. After setting up camp in White City, SK, we took a short walk around the park. We spotted a Swainson’s Thrush, Three Pines (if you know, you know) and this school house that was on the property – it’s a prairie school house from 1949. It has been moved several times and ceased operating as a school in 1969. It’s now the game center for the campground.

On Wednesday, May 20, we took the RV to a shopping center closer to Regina and called an Uber to get into town – first stop, the farmers market – only about 2o booths at this time of the year, but we did find some good dip mixes.

Trish using the carillon for shade while setting up the next Uber to get us to the Saskatchewan Legislature Building.

Murals around the rotunda.

Inside the Assembly room, and the reading room. A statue of T Walter Scott, the first premier of Saskatchewan.

This is the Confederation Table that was used at the 1864 Quebec Conference where the Fathers of Confederation drafted the British North America Act to start the Canadian Confederation. At the time, it was 16′ long, but six feet were cut out of it 1908 so it would fit into the then chamber of the Saskatchewan Assembly.

Some of the emblems of Saskatchewan – including the Sharp-tailed Grouse (bird), curling (sport), Western Red Lily (floral) and T Rex (fossil). Those are portraits of some of the Lieutenant Governors for Saskatchewan. The Lieutenant Governor is the representative of the Royal Crown, and each province has one.

Queen Elizabeth statue, and looking back at the Legislative Building.

There was a park with this lake that we walked around – saw this pelican flying around and then coming in for a landing. There were cormorants and more pelicans under the bridge. Plus we saw geese, goslings, a red squirrel and a hare while we were walking through the park. Not bad for an urban park.

After the walk through the park, we caught another Uber back to the RV. We had a quick lunch in the RV, and then drove over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museum. There were lots of panels talking about the history of the RMCP, with lots of different version of their uniforms.

Also enjoyed this display of the modes of transportation through the ages. From the horses they are known for, to dog sleds (last used in 1969). ski mobiles, and the Bombardier passenger vehicle.

This Horse and Rider statue is decorated with over 13,000 plants, including dragon’s breath, black mondo grass, carex and santolina, the structure measures 14 feet long, with the lance rising nearly 20 feet. It probably looks much better later in the spring/summer. This site is also the home of the RCMP Academy, where all RCMP cadets have trained since 1885.

On the way back to the campground we found this Ice Cream shop that was right next door to a gas station, so two fuel ups with one stop.

It was only an hour on the road on Thursday, May 21, but we decided to stop at Moose Jaw – first stop this huge moose, because can you not stop? Then onto the reason for the stop in Moose Jaw – the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre. It was originally started 1997 when wild Burrowing Owls nested in the nearby field and they set up observation blinds for folks to watch them. These days there are only captive owls, though they try to keep most of them as wild as possible. They can send the new ones that are born to be released in Manitoba – as it is against the law to release them in Saskatchewan. They also have a few “imprinted” owls, that they use for education purposes (one of those is the one with the band on.)

It takes about 20 days fro for the chicks to mature. They have some warm indoor space that they move the owls to in winter )in lieu of sending them off to Mexico.

More prairie driving and the first oil wells that we saw.

Hoping the rain holds off until we get set-up at camp.

Our stop for the evening was the Iron Skull Farm, it was about 2 miles on dirt roads, but we saw an antelope and this Swainson’s Hawk while we were slowly driving along.

Iron Skull Farms had goats and sheep and kids and lambs and chickens. We watched as Martha (our host) did her afternoon chores.

Trish got to pet one of the kids, the dog and two of the kitties.

I went out at 10:30 PM to see what the stars looked like – but there was still a glow from the sunset on the horizon. I was able to pick out the Big Dipper, and a couple of stars, but that was it.

There were a ton of birds around farm. That’s a Western Kingbird, a Swainson’s Hawk, a Brown Trhasher and the hawk in flight.

Also a Magpie, two views of a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and three Western Kingbirds having a great time.

This was the great spot we had for the RV.

This is the dirt road we drove out on on Friday, May 22, and the GPS showing when we hit the intersection, we were going to turn right on Trans Canada One – it is not a limited access highway.

More prairies and plenty of trains

We only drove by this, but I had to take a picture and look it up. It is the Saamis Tepee in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It was built for the 1988 Calgary Olympics, and moved here in 1991 as a tourist draw. It is the world’s tallest tepee, standing nearly 20 stories high – no wonder it was obvious from the road.

I’ll leave this post with our lunch stop on Friday, May 22 – a Boston Pizza, so named because the founder thought it would be great to visit Boston someday. We stopped because Trish’s sister once franchised a Boston Pizza in San Antonio, TX.

Next up, Calgary and Banff.

Until then – safe travels!