A Look at the Canada Numbers

Today is Gene’s happy birthday.  Boy, is he ever old now!  We celebrated by driving 91 miles from Wal-mart in Crookston to Royal Oaks RV Park in Bemidji, MN. I did the driving, so he got the day off.  He’s been pampered along the way.  I fixed one of his favorite breakfasts--pancakes and bacon and for dinner he chose steak, french fries, and a salad.  No cake for this birthday boy.  He selected Key Lime Pie from the freezer section at Wal-Mart.  He’s VERY picky about his stuff so I take the easy way out and hand over a little cash which he uses to purchase a prize of his choice.  He ordered a pair of New Balance tennis shoes the other day from LL Bean and with the money I gave him I think he’s going to get a new watch.  So even though it was a travel day, he had a good birthday.

At the beginning of this trip in March, we figured we’d be worn out and homesick to see family and would thus make a mad dash to Tennessee once we crossed back into the United States.  We are worn out, however the week off in Winnipeg has really boosted our energy level and we’re homesick, but we’ve made a slight change in our homeward plan.

We’re now thinking to stay on US Route 2 and take it across the corner of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, get on I-75 and head south toward Columbus, Ohio.  We’ll probably make a quick stop to see friends in Toledo then scoot over to Columbus to visit with Gene’s brother and sister-in-law before continuing our drive to Nashville.

This will add a few extra miles to the trip, but not many.  After all, we’re over 10,000 now; what’s a few more?  We can do this and still be in Nashville by the first of October.  Can’t get too far south too soon because it’s still HOT down there.

We enjoyed our drive across Canada.  We spent more time in Canada than we did in Alaska.  Banff and Jasper National Parks are just wonderful and we’ll visit again if the opportunity presents itself. I’d really like to see Lake Louise when it isn’t frozen.  We love the northern wilderness fell of the Yukon.  We weren’t so taken with Edmonton, but really like Winnipeg.  That’s good since Winnipeg is much easier to get to than Edmonton.

We really like Canada and plan to go back, probably more than once.  We have the Canadian Maritimes on our short list as well as Montreal and Quebec City.  We’ve been to Victoria for a very brief visit, but definitely want to return and spend some time on Vancouver Island.  We really liked Winnipeg and want to visit again just to see the Human Rights Museum which is currently under construction.  Like the US, Canada has so many wonderful places to visit--too many to get them all done.

As much as we like Canada, I’ll have to say, it is very expensive.  Gas is expensive, food is expensive, campgrounds are expensive.  I’m also glad not to be making those metric conversion any more.

For the record, here are the numbers to the Canadian Border.

Total miles from Nashville--9967
Total miles Canadian Border to Canadian Border--7284
Total miles in Alaska--1927

Total days from Nashville--155
Total days Canadian Border to Canadian Border--105
Total days in Alaska--46
Total days in Canada--58

Total gallons of gas from Nashville--1329
Total gallons of gas Canadian Border to Canadian border--906
Average price per gallon--$4.87
Highest price--$6.93
Lowest price--$3.35
Total dollars--$5843.74

Total campgrounds from Nashville--50
Total campgrounds Canadian Border to Canadian Border--36
Total campgrounds in Alaska--14
Average price per campground--$26
Total spent on campground fees--$2846.
Highest--$47
Lowest--$7.
Total free nights--36

We still have about a thousand miles to go and expect to be back in Nashville by October 1.

We’ve set up our camp at Royal Oaks RV Park in Bemidji near the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  It has been very tempting to go home by way of the Great River Road, but have decided that to do that drive justice it would take more time and energy than we have right now.  It will remain on our short list of things to do someday.

We plan to be here three nights before moving further east.  I haven’t had much time to investigate the campground, but it has excellent ratings.  We have a lovely back-in wooded site with grass on either side of the gravel parking pad.  This is a Good Sam park and with the discount the site is only $26 per night for full hook-ups, cable and wifi.  The Bemidji Lake is nearby as well as Bemidji Lake State Park where we’ll be doing some hiking.

That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Back in the USA

We are once again back in the USA.  We really like Canada and plan to make many more trips there to visit, but there’s no place like home.  We’re glad to be back in the United States.

We were prepared for the border crossing.  We had our passports handy and we took off our sunglasses so they could see the whites of our eyes.  Gene even pulled his side mirror in against the truck so he could get up close to the window.  Didn’t want to make the guard come out of his little space. We knew how long we’d been in Canada, what we’d bought, where our car registration was, and we had pretty much cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer.  We would have had any citrus confiscated and probably any fresh meat.  The border guard asked about wild fish and we told him about our salmon in the freezer.  Thankfully, it had come from Alaska.

All was well, but they wanted to search anyway and directed us to the search lane.  As Gene was pulling forward away from the guard’s window he pushed out his side mirror.  That little bit of bending to the left caused him to turn the steering wheel to the left and he accidentally drove up onto the curb with one back tire.  We had to unhitch the car before we could move out of the lane.  Everybody was watching; even the guards came out to help.

After that, the rest of our trip was uneventful.  The 70 miles from Winnipeg to the border (Manitoba 75) was awful.  First, we had 12 miles of construction then the rest was desperately in need of construction.  I-29 south of the border was very nice as was US 2 from Grand Forks to Crookston.

GAS REPORT: Our last fill up in Canada was in Portage la Prairie and we paid $4.43 for a gallon of gasoline.  Today, we filled up in Grand Forks, North Dakota and only paid $3.64 (diesel was 3.79).  “God Bless America, land that I love”.

Here is a border crossing story for you.  We have heard some pretty fantastic tales, but I think this one takes the cake.  One of our neighbors we spoke with while parked at Traveler’s RV Resort in Winnipeg related his border crossing story to us.  He and his wife are from California and had traveled across the US this summer.  They had had significant problems with their motor home so finally just got fed up and bought a new one in Minnesota.

When this gentleman tried to cross into Canada, the border guard immediately notice there was no license plate on this obviously new, and, I might add, pretty expensive motor home.  One of the standard questions everyone gets asked is “do you have any fire arms or weapons”.  The gentleman had to say “yes” because he had a hand gun and a rifle.  He was promptly asked to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  The gentleman told the inspectors what kind of weapons he had and where to find them.  According to the gentleman, they searched everything, everywhere even taking the covers off the decorative pillows.  Then they informed him that he could not bring weapons of any kind into Canada.  He had a couple choices.  He could leave and not come back or he could go back across the border to a gunsmith and have the gunsmith mail his guns to another gunsmith in his home town in California.  The gentleman opted to have his guns mailed home so the border guard supplied him with the name and address of a nearby US gunsmith.

Our gentleman friend turns his motor home around and heads south to the US border patrol station.  Of course, he gets the same question and again the answer has to be “yes, I have guns” and he explains to the border guard what had just happened at the Canadian border.  When the border guard heard he had guns and had been turned away at the Canadian border, he invites him to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  Once again his motor home is gone through with a fine-toothed comb.

After the second inspection, he makes his way to the gunsmith and fills out all the paperwork and hands over the money to have his guns mailed to California.  With his receipt in hand, he proceeds to the Canadian border.  The border guard recognizes him from his earlier visit and since he had guns the first time he tried to get into Canada, he is invited to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  This time, however, since he had been denied entry into Canada once, he had to file for a visa.  It all worked out alright because we were talking to him in Winnipeg, but, boy, what an experience.

We’re at the Wal-Mart in Crookston, Minnesota tonight.  We’ve already done our shopping and replenished our food stores.  It’s fun having food again.

Thanks for tagging along.

Back in the USA

We are once again back in the USA.  We really like Canada and plan to make many more trips there to visit, but there’s no place like home.  We’re glad to be back in the United States.

We were prepared for the border crossing.  We had our passports handy and we took off our sunglasses so they could see the whites of our eyes.  Gene even pulled his side mirror in against the truck so he could get up close to the window.  Didn’t want to make the guard come out of his little space. We knew how long we’d been in Canada, what we’d bought, where our car registration was, and we had pretty much cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer.  We would have had any citrus confiscated and probably any fresh meat.  The border guard asked about wild fish and we told him about our salmon in the freezer.  Thankfully, it had come from Alaska.

All was well, but they wanted to search anyway and directed us to the search lane.  As Gene was pulling forward away from the guard’s window he pushed out his side mirror.  That little bit of bending to the left caused him to turn the steering wheel to the left and he accidentally drove up onto the curb with one back tire.  We had to unhitch the car before we could move out of the lane.  Everybody was watching; even the guards came out to help.

After that, the rest of our trip was uneventful.  The 70 miles from Winnipeg to the border (Manitoba 75) was awful.  First, we had 12 miles of construction then the rest was desperately in need of construction.  I-29 south of the border was very nice as was US 2 from Grand Forks to Crookston.

GAS REPORT: Our last fill up in Canada was in Portage la Prairie and we paid $4.43 for a gallon of gasoline.  Today, we filled up in Grand Forks, North Dakota and only paid $3.64 (diesel was 3.79).  “God Bless America, land that I love”.

Here is a border crossing story for you.  We have heard some pretty fantastic tales, but I think this one takes the cake.  One of our neighbors we spoke with while parked at Traveler’s RV Resort in Winnipeg related his border crossing story to us.  He and his wife are from California and had traveled across the US this summer.  They had had significant problems with their motor home so finally just got fed up and bought a new one in Minnesota.

When this gentleman tried to cross into Canada, the border guard immediately notice there was no license plate on this obviously new, and, I might add, pretty expensive motor home.  One of the standard questions everyone gets asked is “do you have any fire arms or weapons”.  The gentleman had to say “yes” because he had a hand gun and a rifle.  He was promptly asked to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  The gentleman told the inspectors what kind of weapons he had and where to find them.  According to the gentleman, they searched everything, everywhere even taking the covers off the decorative pillows.  Then they informed him that he could not bring weapons of any kind into Canada.  He had a couple choices.  He could leave and not come back or he could go back across the border to a gunsmith and have the gunsmith mail his guns to another gunsmith in his home town in California.  The gentleman opted to have his guns mailed home so the border guard supplied him with the name and address of a nearby US gunsmith.

Our gentleman friend turns his motor home around and heads south to the US border patrol station.  Of course, he gets the same question and again the answer has to be “yes, I have guns” and he explains to the border guard what had just happened at the Canadian border.  When the border guard heard he had guns and had been turned away at the Canadian border, he invites him to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  Once again his motor home is gone through with a fine-toothed comb.

After the second inspection, he makes his way to the gunsmith and fills out all the paperwork and hands over the money to have his guns mailed to California.  With his receipt in hand, he proceeds to the Canadian border.  The border guard recognizes him from his earlier visit and since he had guns the first time he tried to get into Canada, he is invited to move his motor home into the inspection lane.  This time, however, since he had been denied entry into Canada once, he had to file for a visa.  It all worked out alright because we were talking to him in Winnipeg, but, boy, what an experience.

We’re at the Wal-Mart in Crookston, Minnesota tonight.  We’ve already done our shopping and replenished our food stores.  It’s fun having food again.

That’s all for now.  Thanks for tagging along.

Royal Canadian Mint

Monday was our day to go to the Canadian Mint.  While we’ve been in Winnipeg, our daily routine has been to have breakfast, do the morning chores, then go up to the office for about an hour for internet.  About 9:30 we’re ready to head out for the sightseeing activity of the day then come home for a late lunch and spend the rest of the day piddling around the house.  That schedule has worked out very well and this has been a very relaxing week.

We were going to follow that same plan for Monday.  The guidebook indicated the Mint didn’t open until 9 AM.  When we got back from our internet time, Gene called the Mint just to make sure they were open and giving tours.  They were, on both counts, but the tour schedule was different on Mondays.  Instead of a tour every half hour, they were only every hour beginning on the half hour.  They offer two tours--one in French and one in English.  We, of course, wanted English and as it turned out the next one was at 9:30.  We didn’t have time to get there for that so had to wait for the next English tour at 11:30.  It was good thing Gene called.

We went over about 11 and had a few minutes to take photos outside and browse around the gift shop before our tour started.  Photos are not permitted on the tour.

There are two mints in Canada.  The other is in Ottawa which produces the collectors coins.  The mint in Winnipeg makes all the coins for circulation in Canada--millions of coins a year.  They also strike coins for over 70 other nations.  Currently, they’re producing coins for Ethiopia.  The drive through two rows of national flags as you approach the building represent all the nations for which the mint has produced coins.

The tour was conducted from the second level so we were actually looking down on the work being done on the first floor.  The tour began at the “loading” dock where spools of steel are delivered then continued through each step to the finished coins counted, wrapped, and boxed to be sent out another “loading” area for distribution.  It was very interesting and worth the $5 each for admission.

In the gift shop, there is a 99.99% pure gold bar on display.  It’s chained down and there is an armed guard standing by, but you can pick it up.  Our AAA guidebook from 2009 lists its worth at $200.000.  The 2011 Winnipeg Visitor Guide lists it at $400,000.  The current value when Gene picked it up yesterday was over $600,000.  Wish our little next egg were doing as well as that gold bar.

When we finally got back home after the tour, a quick stop at the grocery, and lunch at Perkins, we didn’t have water.  Apparently, it was some sort of electrical problem at the office.  They didn’t have water or electricity.  Boy, were we lucky since it was 90 degrees and we really needed the AC.  Anyway, the couple of hours before it’s fixed turned into something like 12.  We have often said, and sometimes practice, that we should always have some water in the fresh water tank and also have a gallon of drinking water in case of emergencies.

We had some water in the fresh tank, but not much and we were really lucky to have that because Gene was planning to drain that tank and put in fresh water before we left here.  If he had drained it, we would have been out of luck.  We didn’t have any drinking water except for what was in our small water bottles we carry around with us.

It’s not often that the water is off at a campground, but it happens from time to time.  Usually, it’s a scheduled repair and we know in advance.  Monday was an emergency.  We have a new rule now--always have some water in the fresh tank and a gallon of drinking water on hand.

Tuesday will be our last day in Canada.  We plan to head to Minnesota Wednesday morning.  So no more sightseeing; we’ve got to prepare to move and get things in order for a border crossing.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Manitoba Legislative Building

We have visited seven state and provincial capitol buildings so far on this trip.  We’re a little burnt out on state houses and legislative buildings.  So much so that we almost had to force ourselves to go in Edmonton.  Today, we mustered our where-with-all and drove the few miles downtown and we are so glad we did.  We had a wonderful experience and what a gem the people of Manitoba have.

The Legislative Building is a littler farther down Broadway than we have been going so we decided to drive there by a different route than we have been using.  Big mistake.  We got into the middle of an enormous construction project.  However, driving around the orange cones we found our way to the Legislative Building and were lucky enough to get a parking spot right in front.

Parking on the street is similar to what we’ve found in several US cities.  There are no meters, but there are pay boxes located on the sidewalks.  Insert your money into the pay box, get a receipt, and put it on your dash.  We were reading all the signs surrounding the pay box and all the instructions on the pay box trying to figure out if parking was free on Sunday or not when another couple parked behind us and walked up to the box.  They looked like locals so we asked them if Sunday’s were free.  They were locals, but had no idea about the price of parking on Sunday.  Collectively, we decided not to pay.

That couple invited us to attend a special tour of the Legislative Building with them led by an author of a book describing the Masonic symbolism found in this particular building.  That sounded like a fun thing to do so we accepted their invitation.  The author never showed up for the tour, but we did have a very enjoyable conversation with this nice couple.

We missed out on the private tour, but joined one of the regular tours and learned quite a lot about Manitoba as well as the legislative building.  I failed to make a picture, but the pink marble used in the floor is from Tennessee.  Made us proud.  The walls are made of limestone quarried in Manitoba and it is choked full of fossils.  For me, as a former science teacher, that was way cool.

Construction was started in 1913 and completed in 1920.  I think this is the only “capitol” building we’ve been in that is built in the shape of an “H”.  The dome rises 223 feet above the center of the building and crowning the dome is the “Golden Boy”.  The Golden Boy is directly above a star on the rotunda floor.  According to our guide, that star and the Golden Boy are situated at the geographic center of Canada. That may be true east/west, but it certainly isn’t true north/south.  The architecture is neoClassical in design with Egyptian, Roman, and Greek features.

We got to go into the Lieutenant Governor’s Reception Room.  King George V and Queen Mary graced either end of the room.  These were identical portraits to those in Edmonton.  There was also a portrait of the Queen at the time of her coronation.  

The Legislative Chamber was interesting. We actually got to stand down on the floor rather than look down from one of the galleries.  The desks were arranged in a “U” shape facing the Large ornate Speaker’s chair.  I was amazed to see a sculpture of Moses and the Ten Commandments occupying a prominent spot in the chamber.

The Manitoba Mace

I have read in some of my research that the Manitoba Legislative Building is thought by many to be the finest legislative building in Canada and the self-guided walking tour brochure proclaims it as one of the “finest public buildings in North America”.  I guess that’s really a matter of opinion, but, in my opinion, it is a magnificent building, one well worth visiting.  I’m sure Manitobans are proud, as they should be.

Bears on Broadway

We’re not cramming our days full of sightseeing and are enjoying some much needed down time.  Gene continues to rub on the motor home or the car and I work on this massive photo collection.  Tomorrow, we have a tour of the Canadian Mint on the agenda.  It’s a thoroughly modern building.  Now, that’ll be something different.

That’s all I have for now.  Thanks for tagging along.

Downtown Winnipeg

This morning after coffee, breakfast, and a little internet time we headed back downtown.  One thing that is of interest to us, especially Gene, in any city we visit is the historic district and the architecture it offers.  Our goal for today was to visit the Exchange District, the historic business section of Winnipeg.

We got an early start so traffic wasn’t so bad and we were able to find a place to park on the street for a dollar an hour.  We bought two hours worth.  Just by luck we parked on the street of the old exchange building.  There are probably walking tours with maps and descriptions of buildings, but all we had was the small map which came in the Winnipeg Visitors’ Guide.

Our plan was to walk up and down the streets in the 4 or 5 square blocks of the Exchange District.  That plan didn’t work out so well.  There were some buildings that had been torn down and new one going up in their places.  There was some road construction with streets closed.  And remember I said previously that the city is not laid out in a true grid because of the rivers.  Holy cow, we were quickly confused.

We wandered around, I’m not sure where, making pictures and pointing at anything that appeared old.  We almost immediately found ourselves in Chinatown at the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center.  We didn’t go in, but spent several minutes in the small garden.

The theater district was interesting.  Most of the buildings there were newer, but we did find an old Vaudeville Theater.  That was cool.

Over the years, with the old buildings being torn down and parking lots installed, murals have appeared on the end building left standing.  We found several interesting murals.  I think my favorite was on the side of the Public Safety building.

Although we found some interesting things, we were somewhat disappointed.  As it turned out the street where we parked with the old Exchange Building was the best we saw. I guess it’s happening in cities all over--the older structures are too difficult and expensive to maintain and they’re so out of line with modern codes they are unsuitable for living or working.  Probably only the communities with a strong Historical Commission will strive to preserve these old giants.  Too bad.  Or maybe Gene and I should just let it go and move into the modern age.

We were back home in time for lunch and after a short nap I continued my work on organizing Alaska photos and Gene cleaned the glass on the motor home and car.  The Peanut indulged himself in an extended nap.  It’s good to be the cat.

We have two more things on our list for Winnipeg--the Legislative Building (this is the capital of Manitoba, after all) and the Canadian Mint.  The Legislative Building will probably be tomorrow because it’s Sunday and there’ll be less traffic and easier parking downtown.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Downtown Winnipeg

This morning after coffee, breakfast, and a little internet time we headed back downtown.  One thing that is of interest to us, especially Gene, in any city we visit is the historic district and the architecture it offers.  Our goal for today was to visit the Exchange District, the historic business section of Winnipeg.

We got an early start so traffic wasn’t so bad and we were able to find a place to park on the street for a dollar an hour.  We bought two hours worth.  Just by luck we parked on the street of the old exchange building.  There are probably walking tours with maps and descriptions of buildings, but all we had was the small map which came in the Winnipeg Visitors’ Guide.

Our plan was to walk up and down the streets in the 4 or 5 square blocks of the Exchange District.  That plan didn’t work out so well.  There were some buildings that had been torn down and new one going up in their places.  There was some road construction with streets closed.  And remember I said previously that the city is not laid out in a true grid because of the rivers.  Holy cow, we were quickly confused.

We wandered around, I’m not sure where, making pictures and pointing at anything that appeared old.  We almost immediately found ourselves in Chinatown at the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Center.  We didn’t go in, but spent several minutes in the small garden.

The theater district was interesting.  Most of the buildings there were newer, but we did find an old Vaudeville Theater.  That was cool.

Over the years, with the old buildings being torn down and parking lots installed, murals have appeared on the end building left standing.  We found several interesting murals.  I think my favorite was on the side of the Public Safety building.

Although we found some interesting things, we were somewhat disappointed.  As it turned out the street where we parked with the old Exchange Building was the best we saw. I guess it’s happening in cities all over--the older structures are too difficult and expensive to maintain and they’re so out of line with modern codes they are unsuitable for living or working.  Probably only the communities with a strong Historical Commission will strive to preserve these old giants.  Too bad.  Or maybe Gene and I should just let it go and move into the modern age.

We were back home in time for lunch and after a short nap I continued my work on organizing Alaska photos and Gene cleaned the glass on the motor home and car.  The Peanut indulged himself in an extended nap.  It’s good to be the cat.

We have two more things on our list for Winnipeg--the Legislative Building (this is the capital of Manitoba, after all) and the Canadian Mint.  The Legislative Building will probably be tomorrow because it’s Sunday and there’ll be less traffic and easier parking downtown.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.