Sunday, June 1, 2008

The “Friendship Tour”, as Dianne has dubbed it, is off and running! We left Edmonton Friday morning (May 30) just before 8 a.m. Last night we arrived in Falcon Beach, Manitoba just a few kilometers from the Ontario Border. Today we plan a relaxed driving day. We’re not leaving here until noon or so and we’ll just drive until we feel like stopping.

Our first night we spent at Foam Lake, Saskatchewan in a little campground where the only other people in the place were a couple of mature tenters. Other than stops to eat, we pretty much drove all day. We stopped in Lloydminster to visit the Walmart so I could pick up some shampoo – I had forgotten to pack it - and also had a healthy sub at Subway.

It was fun to see road signs to places that I’d only heard about as we crossed Saskatchewan on the Yellowhead Highway. Just an hour or so east of Yorkton, we passed a “little mosque on the prairie”. Who knew that one actually existed outside the CBC show of the same name?

The much maligned Saskatchewan scenery is actually quite pretty. It’s a lovely time of year to travel with the trees sporting that wonderful spring sap green.

Yesterday, we had to stop at another Walmart to pick up a hairbrush for me and some sweats and runners for Dianne. I think we’re fully stocked now.

Yesterday, we also stopped in Neepewa, the home of Margaret Laurence, not to see her birthplace but to find a Safeway so Dianne could satisfy her Starbucks craving. The Safeway store had been recently renovated – but no Starbucks. We took a short jaunt into Portage la Prairie to see if we could find a Starbucks there but struck out again. So we gave up although Dianne looked somewhat distressed. And we erupted into gales of laughter when we spotted a road sign a short time later with an arrow pointing to Starbuck, Man.

My trusty Garmin Nuvi navigated us through Yorkton, Portage la Prairie and around Winnipeg although we could have done just fine relying solely on road signs. We’ve given a name to that strident voice that’s always telling us where to go or constantly stating “recalculating” when we are disobedient. We’ve dubbed her “Bossy”. So now there are four of us on this Friendship Tour – Dianne, Elizabeth, Bessie and Bossy!

The van is performing admirably, the beds are comfortable, the food in the fridge is cold, the microwave warms our food perfectly and the loo is a godsend in the middle of the night.
Our campsite at Falcon Beach is in Whiteshell Provincial Park. It’s a lovely treed site with the lake and the town site a short walk away.

Last night we stopped at the local pub for a beer and discovered that it has WiFi access. So we’ll stop at the pub on our way out and I’ll upload this to the blog. Then it’s on down the road and that vast stretch of highway across northern Ontario.

3 comments:

shirley banks said...

Hi Bett: I am enjoying reading your blog. I printed your last message and read it to Mum. She was here for supper last night. What an adventure. Safe travel. Love Shirl

Mark F said...

Hi Dianne...I'll check the block late tonight at work...in case you have any messages...remember to phone sonny boy and leave him the blog info. Jeanette from the guild left a message...phone Jean 962-2539 about scallop bootile blue bowls...there was only one in the store and she wanted to know if you had any more

mark said...

Hi Dianne...I openned a gmail account that you can get back to me on...if you don't want to post on the blog...I'll check it at work and at home...markthefritter@gmail.com...(markfritsch) was already taken.