We stayed at a lovely Passport Ameria park about 10-15 miles outside Winnepeg. We were told by the proprietors that the streets of Winnepeg were wide enough for our truck and that they had plenty of parking space. They suggested we might like to see "The Forks" area and then leave our truck there and take a city bus into the actual downtown to view the inner city. Sounded like a plan to us - so off we went. The first place we went to was the Forks Market. You are liable to find anything and everything there!! They offer alll types of fresh and specialty foods plus more than 50 other shops. It is housed in a fun building that was originally a horse stable. 
The Forks Market is located inside "The Forks" which is a lovely expanse of riverside property in the heart of downtown Winnepeg. It offers a kaleidoscope of activities, concerts and festivals throughout the year. The 9 acre riverside park looks across the Red River to historic St. Boniface and is dedicated to preserving and presenting the 6,000 years of pre-historic and historic significance of The Forks as the birthplace of western Canada.
It seems like they are having at least one festival there every weekend and this one was no exception with one that celebrated the National Aborignal Day. Thousands of Canadians from across the country came to enjoy the unique heritage, cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples.
On our free bus trip through the downtown area of Winnepeg, we noticed the Legislative Building which was completed in 1920 and features a grand staircase with matching bison statues and the famous Golden Boy statue atop this grand structure.
The second day of our stay found us going to Assiniboine Park. Again, there was no problem with parking our big truck and we spent the whole day walking around and looking at the park. which comprises 378 acres on the Assiniboine River. The park features a zoo, minature railway, duck pond, Winnie-the-bear statue, walking and biking paths, a conservatory, the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden and a Tudor-style pavilion that is home to the Tavern in the Park Restaurant
, Pavilion Gallery Museum and the Lyric Theatre. The Mayors Grove, Citizens Hall of Fame, a French formal garden and English Garden are among the many pleasing sites.
We decided that this was to be a McKenzie Day, so we took her with us. The first thing we found was a Dog Walkathon, called Paws in Motion, that included hundreds of dogs and their owners walking thru the park to raise money for the Winnepeg Humane Society. It was such fun and McKenzie joined right in
and marched over the "Finish Line".
Tents were set up selling everything a dog could ever want - clothes, food, pet care, etc. No, McKenzie did not get any more clothes! Only because we couldn't find the right size raincoat for her! She's probably going to need one before we get to the Maritime Provinces but so far we've had no luck finding just what will fit her. They also provided pools for the dogs to climb in to cool off. McKenzie said they looked too dirty to her and she wanted no part of getting her tootsies wet! 
Fortunately the day was pretty cool - high 70's.We headed over to the Conservatory at the park, which offers ten different displays a year in the Floral Display Gallery. The Palm House exhibits a tropical jungle with mature tropical trees and there were beautiful orchids growing in a lush landscape in there.
It was small but they had done an excellent job and the atmosphere was very calming and relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, we decided to just spread out a blanket on the grass and watch some of the sites. 
A summer band named "The Millenium" was giving a concert so we just sat back and relaxed.
It was small but they had done an excellent job and the atmosphere was very calming and relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, we decided to just spread out a blanket on the grass and watch some of the sites. 
A summer band named "The Millenium" was giving a concert so we just sat back and relaxed.There was a cricket match going on and numerous people walking and skating. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this lady as she had the best of both worlds - skis with wheels! What a workout! Nancy, don't get any ideas!!!!
We went back to the campground feeling refreshed and rested and ready to tackle the rest of our trip. We headed across the border at International Falls and will be driving to Illinois to visit with our son and his family. July 4th is Damon's birthday and we want to share it with him and his family this year. We don't recommend crossing at this border crossing unless you have to. It is very disjointed and would be a mess when a lot of vehicles are trying to cross both ways. The streets were being worked on and the detour signs left a lot to be desired. In fact, we thought we had ended up at the boat docks instead of the border crossing. They had one of the agriculture officers come out to talk to us to let us know what types of things we could bring from Canada into the U.S. Fortunately, we didn't have any of the banned items so after a quick look thru our refrigerator, we were released to head on into Minnesota. We have always crossed the border from the western crossings so it will be interesting to see what the future holds with crossing on the eastern side. After a two week visit with Damon, Kim and the kids, we'll head back up to Canada to hit the eastern and maritime provinces. I may not be able to publish the blog that regularly once we get into the Maritimes, but I'll do the best I can do and publish as soon as possible. Meanwhile, watch for the next blog to see where we head from here.
We went back to the campground feeling refreshed and rested and ready to tackle the rest of our trip. We headed across the border at International Falls and will be driving to Illinois to visit with our son and his family. July 4th is Damon's birthday and we want to share it with him and his family this year. We don't recommend crossing at this border crossing unless you have to. It is very disjointed and would be a mess when a lot of vehicles are trying to cross both ways. The streets were being worked on and the detour signs left a lot to be desired. In fact, we thought we had ended up at the boat docks instead of the border crossing. They had one of the agriculture officers come out to talk to us to let us know what types of things we could bring from Canada into the U.S. Fortunately, we didn't have any of the banned items so after a quick look thru our refrigerator, we were released to head on into Minnesota. We have always crossed the border from the western crossings so it will be interesting to see what the future holds with crossing on the eastern side. After a two week visit with Damon, Kim and the kids, we'll head back up to Canada to hit the eastern and maritime provinces. I may not be able to publish the blog that regularly once we get into the Maritimes, but I'll do the best I can do and publish as soon as possible. Meanwhile, watch for the next blog to see where we head from here.
Saskatchewan covers 651,900 square kilometres - more than a quarter million square miles. Half the province is covered by forest, one-third is farmland and one-eighth is fresh water. On the way to visit another set of friends from the desert, we stopped a few minutes at Moose Jaw and got out to stretch our legs a bit. Mac the Moose, the official mascot for Moose Jaw, greeted us. Mac had fallen on some hard times. A large section of his jaw fell off in April, 2007. Fund raising efforts began at once and in 2008, Mac was restored to his former grandeur. At 32 feet tall, he is the World's Largest Moose. 
However, McKenzie was more intrigued with the gophers that were running all over the place than she was with the giant moose statue.
There were numerous types of birds flitting in all the bushes and trees as well as plenty gophers running around to keep McKenzie amused. After a scrumptous dinner and lots of good conversation, we walked back to our trailer to rest up before heading out the next morning to Moose Jaw to visit "The Tunnels" and the transportation museum.
and secret tunnels running throughout the city. The other tour of the tunnels depicted the plight of the Chinese when they came to America looking for a better life. We followed the daily life of one of the immigrants as he worked in a laundry underground for just pennies a day.
We also finally located ourselves new transportation vehicles. We should be able to park about anywhere with this and the gas should certainly be cheaper!!!
Obviously all this shopping around for new vehicles and lifestyles wore George and Bob out and Eva and I located them sitting in the caboose car at the railway.
I think they might have been contemplating running out on us!!!
We never did get to see an episode but we were told it is really hilarious.
Ginger is territorial and she didn't appreciate having McKenzie walking around in her area. So whenever we were going to bring McKenzie out for a walk, Ginger had to be locked up, but she was very gracious about it and at least, she got some extra licorice sticks!
and as some of the equipment was being repaired, we got a very close up and personal view of it. Boy, was it huge! The abundance of coal in the Estevan area was a major factor in determining the location for the power station. The first step in coal mining is the removal of any water in the mining area. The topsoil is then removed and stored for future reclamation. Next draglines equipped with 69 cubic metre buckets remove the overburden to expose the coal seams.
A front end loader loads the coal
into large haulers for transport to a primary crusher at Shand.
The annual production of the station is approximately 2.1 billion kWh. To put this figure into perspective, the average residential customer in Saskatchewan uses about 8,000 kWh per year. Thermal power contributes about 70 per cent of the electricity produced by the power company each year.
It's all about comfort! Okay, back to the Farm show. We walked around most of the day looking at all the displays from antique cars, trucks and equipment to combines with computers installed, to waterless cookware. George found him a new International truck!
They had it all. What a day! We all went home, dragging our behinds.
They seemed to be wishing us a safe trip as we "moooo"ved down the road. 
Next stop for a few days will be Winnepeg, Manitoba! And, since we are planning a three day stay, we can add another province to our "Traveling Map" on our trailer door! We are gradually getting all the states and most of Canada pasted up there. Our criteria is that we must stay at least three nights in a state or province to be able to add it to our map. So all you folks who see our trailer door and want to know how we managed to hit every state surrounding Idaho but don't have it on our map, now know. We only passed thru, but someday we'll go back and spend some time there and then we'll be able to add it!
Once we were set up, we went in to visit and Sam and Wally graciously offered us some of Sam’s homemade wine. Wow! Was it ever good! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner, also prepared by Sam, and spent a great evening just talking and becoming reacquainted. They have a very lovely home in an older, beautiful area of town. 
We found out that in addition to being a technical wizard, Wally also likes to carve birds. He showed us some of the ones he had done and they were exquisitely carved and painted.
and Sam showed me her latest crafts. She was making chenille blankets and they looked as if they would be so soft and cuddley. While she worked on those, I was able to work on updating my blog from British Columbia. We also found out that all four of us love to read and Wally showed us how he used his pocket PC, downloaded books, and then read them by using the hand-held PC. What a neat idea! No more heavy books to carry around with you. We’re trying out a couple of old PC’s that he had to see if we like the concept and so far, we are both sold on the idea. Ahh – technology! Isn’t it wonderful!!!
As we traveled across the prairies of Alberta, we made a quick stop at Medicine Hat which is touted at Canada’s sunniest city. Close by are the Rocky Mountains to the west, the Cypress Hills to the south, and the Great Sandhills to the east. Medicine Hat has the world’s tallest tepee, the Saamis Tepee, which was originally built for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. It is built entirely of steel, with a concrete foundation and was said to have more engineering challenges than the famous Eiffel Tower. 
The structure stands 20 stories high and weighs almost 1,000 tons. Ringing the Saamis Tepee are ten large, circular storyboards, bearing vibrant paintings by noted native artists of the region.
Unfortunately, most of the sites in this particular park were very short and narrow so it would not have been a good place for our large rig, but it was a beautiful spot in the road.
and it was really beautiful. Betty and Al had done an excellent job of decorating on the inside and were busy planning their deck and landscaping.
McKenzie especially liked the small chairs that Betty’s teddy bears sat in and had a great time terrorizing one of the bears. 
Al and Betty’s son, Calvin and his wife, Connie, had invited us to their home for a steak cookout and on the way, we drove up to Silver Star Ski Resort. It was cold and overcast but we were able to see the brightly painted condominiums. 
Calvin and Connie also had a beautiful home and had just returned from a trip to Australia. While they were gone, their dog, Sambucca (excuse me if I got the spelling of his name wrong), decided he was lonely and took off. He was picked up very close to their old home, about 15 kilometers away. Betty and Al picked him up from the pound and brought him back to the house. 
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We had a lovely visit with them and caught up on all the news since we had last seen them about six years ago.
Sun Peaks is a four season mountain resort. During the summer you can discover the pristine meadows of brilliant alpine wildflowers and feel the warm wind at your back in the world-renowned mountain bike park or challenge yourself to a round of golf on the impressive 18-hole Graham Cooke designed golf course. The homes and condos here are absolutely beautiful – quite a different look from the Silver Star ski area. 
As a change of pace and to give Al a rest from driving, we decided to attend the Creative Chaos crafts fair, one of the largest in B.C. Betty and I had a ball going down all the rows and looking at all the unique crafts. A Scottish band marched thru the craft hall and we all gave them a wide berth as they went thru. 
After leaving there, we drove to a new neighborhood named Turtle Hill which is very exclusive. From the top of the hill you were able to see all of the town of Vernon as well as the Okanagan Lake. Each home should have a beautiful view. 
At that time, huge cattle ranches occupied the valley and ranch headquarters were self-contained settlements. The ranch was founded in 1867 by Cornelius O’Keefe who, along with his partner, Thomas Greenhow, was driving cattle north to sell to the hungry miners in the gold fields. Impressed with the lush grass, ample water and the beauty of the valley, they each pre-empted 160 acres of prime meadowland and began cattle ranching. By the turn of the century, the O’Keefes and Greenhows owned over 20,000 acres of prime Okanagan land. While much of their land was sold off in 1907 to be subdivided into orchard land, the O’Keefe family carried on ranching after the death of Cornelius O’Keefe in 1919. Up until the 1960’s, the ranch was still being run by Tierney O’Keefe, son of the founder. It was Tierney who restored and rebuilt the original ranch buildings and opened the ranch as an historic site in 1967.
Inside the door was a hallway with beautiful banisters going up to the second floor.
On the right side, was the ladies parlor,
the gentlemen’s parlor and the dining room. In the dining room, both the lady and the master of the house had glass bells, each with a different ring, to signal the butlers and maids.
Also on the grounds was the old store which Greenhow and O’Keefe established to supplement their ranching income. 
The O’Keefe ranch is helping to care for and preserve the heritage of rare breed farm animals. One we found very curious was Jacob’s Sheep. It is an ancient breed probably originating in Syria over 3,000 years ago. The name “Jacob” came from Jacob in the Old Testament who selectively bred spotted sheep. Jacob sheep produce 2, 4, or sometimes 6 horns and is a small mixed breed not considered commercially viable for its meat, but its wool is very popular with hand spinners. It is now considered “Internationally Rare” which means its numbers are very low worldwide. 
Just outside of the town of Sicamous, which is the houseboat capital of Canada, there are houseboats being built and floating down the lake. Of course, we had to make a stop at the D Dutchman Dairy which has excellent homemade ice cream.
We hiked a short distance to Margaret Falls which is named after the first white woman to see this impressive falls.
The water originates at the top of Bastion Mountain that lies directly to the west, and follows a fault in the limestone. 
The spray of the falls keeps the vegetation moist and allows the mosses that adorn many of the cedars to survive.
It was raining heavily, so we bypassed the Enchanted Forest where you can discover over 350 handcrafted figurines in amongst 800 year old cedars. It looked like something we’d like to view, but unfortunately the rain was too heavy and since everything was outdoors, we decided to file it away as some place to visit in the future. We also stopped by Three Valley Gap Heritage Ghost Town, and dodging mud puddles and big rain drops, we looked around briefly. Also a place to put into our files for another trip. We did manage to get a picture of George next to the steam tractor. 
The 1915 – 65 horsepower steam tractor is the landmark of the Three Valley Motel. It was in continuous use til 1959 and was considered to be in the best condition of any tractor of its period in Western Canada. It is run for a few days every year to keep it in working order.
We also noticed the avalanche tunnels which had been constructed across the roads to protect the cars from being buried when large tundras of snow slid down the mountainside. 
It is truly a beautiful province!