After noon
on September 5 we were through customs and shaking along a rather bumpy Route
10 northward in Manitoba. We aimed for Stephenfield Provincial Park http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/parks/popular_parks/central/stephenfield.html and no matter what turns we took, the road
never really lost its ability to churn cream into butter and we were relieved
to reach our destination a few hours later. The scenery was quite beautiful
along the lines of dominant agriculture but very little outside of it. It would
be great to revisit the area some day after Manitoba had struck oil or some
other resource to supplement agriculture in the economic base of the province
in a very big way, to enable a vigorous highway improvement program. After all,
there is a limit to the level of taxation that farmers can bear, although help
may be on the way http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/oil-gas-manitoba-economic-gushers-232022821.html?viewAllComments=y
. But Stephenfield was great and we had a
reserved, but as yet unassigned lovely campsite, which we could pick
ourselves https://www.google.ca/search?q=Stephenfield+Provincial+park&client=firefox-a&hs=HIh&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ed8ZVJbjNYqhyAS2x4D4CQ&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1348&bih=614 . It was from this location that we firmed
up arrangements to connect with Joel and Marina Friesen and their kids at their
cottage in Whiteshell Provincial Park two days later. Marina is the daughter of an erstwhile
colleague and longstanding friends of ours, Jakkals and Chrissie Reinecke of
Potchefstroom in South Africa. She is a
physician in Winnipeg and husband, Joel, a native to the area, teaches
mathematics in Winnipeg. We arrived fairly early on Friday – hence the ability
to choose our campsite, # 27. By the evening the camping area where we were, in
Bay 3 had filled up quite a bit with weekend patrons and lots of kids
anticipating a great time at the beach of Stephenfield Lake. That materialized
only in part because the climate had tuned a bit chilly, which placed a damper
on swimming aspirations. However, water skiing was still an option.
This park is
conducive to hiking, offering a number of trails and one does better with a map
than without, as Willem discovered when trying to take a shortcut to the office
where Wi-Fi was available, through the maze of perhaps a couple of hundred
campsites distributed throughout six camping bays. With no one else in sight,
he ultimately started tracking two ladies walking their dogs and found that the
faster he walked to catch up to get directions, the bolder their attempt to
increase the distance! Eventually they reached a cross roads and paused to
decide which way to go. This provided an opportunity to get acquainted, after
which we continued together cheerfully and Willem learned that they were
actually from the area, and their doctor is a South African fellow. Willem got on track and could find the
coordinates of our next destination for the GPS.
On September
7 we headed for Falcon Beach Campground on Route 1, close to the Ontario
border. The initial road surface was a bit of a butter maker again until we got
onto the bypass, south of Winnipeg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg and https://www.google.ca/search?q=winnipeg&client=firefox-a&hs=wbr&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Ux0eVNaWJo-SyATio4KQAg&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622
, from where we called Joel and
Marina. They drove to their cottage from
Winnipeg that morning and arranged to meet us at Falcon Beach. We got an
excellent campsite where we could leave the RV for the two days we expected to
be at the cottage and shortly after things were set up and hooked up, they
showed up. We followed them for about 45 minutes on beautiful winding roads
north into the Whitesell Provincial Park
https://www.google.com/search?q=whiteshell+provincial+park&client=firefox-a&hs=lGb&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=c9omVNnTJ8GMyATzvYGYAQ&ved=0CEkQsAQ&biw=1348&bih=614 , where their cottage is on Red Rock Lake – a
gorgeous place with a breathtaking view over the lake and a board walk stepped
trail down to their boat landing. It is easy to understand why they spend every
free weekend during the summer there and why Jakkals and Chrissie were also at
Red Rock by them self for a while during a recent visit. By the time we’ve
briefly taken in the surroundings, David and little Chrissie were also awake
after the ride to Falcon Lake and quite taken by the little gifts we brought
them.
Having
learned that Willem’s boat motor was in the aluminum box on the truck and with
some uncertainty in the weather prospects, Joel thought we should get his boat
into the water and use Willem’s motor for a spin before sunset. His boat motor
needed some work and the substitute did the job just fine. It was fun and if
the weather held the next day, perhaps there could be more of the same. That
evening Joel did a tremendous job of cooking chicken and steaks to perfection
on his grill, for a meal to remember! Marina had recorded the US Open Tennis
ladies final which held our attention in a limited sense only after dinner.
Simply visiting was much more interesting, and we retired fairly early.
The next
morning Joel was overcome by an urge to take little David and Willem out
fishing while the weather held, which proved fishing-wise unproductive but fun-wise
great, including the boating and nature appreciation aspects. The latter even
produced a low circling eagle with its white cap scouting out the waters around
us and ultimately disappearing behind the trees on the island next to which
we’ve sheltered ourselves against a mild but strengthening wind. An hour later
the water became choppy and we returned to shore and snacks for lunch. With
inclement weather we removed the engine, pulled up the boat and after securing
things on shore and back on the truck, started working on dinner, which Willem
and Stella prepared in celebration of Susan’s birthday the next day, when we
would be back on the road.
Having once
before asked a fellow shopper in Canada where we could find brisket, Willem was
a bit surprised that she was puzzled, not knowing it at all. Thereafter we
couldn’t find it elsewhere either and when returning to Canada, Willem made a
point of buying some in the US exactly for the anticipated occasion at Red
Rock. It turned out that neither Marina nor Joel had it before and our cured
variety with potatoes, carrots and cabbage proved a real hit, capped with Stella’s
baked dessert and typical South African custard. The latter had some authenticity
to it due to the powder from South Africa having been brought for Stella by her
son, Marnus, when he visited us in Florida. Marina tripped over nostalgia and
simply withdrew to a corner with a good helping of dessert! The men’s final of
the US open tennis was an improvement over the day before, while outside
conditions increasingly strengthened our appreciation for the cozy cabin.
We decided
to return to Falcon Beach early the next morning and catch breakfast along the
way so as to free Joel and Marina to wrap up at the cottage and get back to
Winnipeg at a reasonable time to prepare for returning to work the next day. It
wasn’t until we got back to Falcon Lake that we found a restaurant open in the
chilly drizzle to get Susan’s new year off to an entertained start with sunny
side up eggs, hash browns, thick slices of light white bread toast with
strawberry preserves and ‘delicious coffee’, in her own words The company was
enhanced by a handful of regular diners and the local police cop who also
needed a warmish start. There wasn’t much to prepare for taking off the next
morning and the day saw us cloistered and attending to communications and blog
related activities.
And then we
were off to Kenora, Ontario, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenora hoping for the weather to improve so we
could get our boat launched in one of the famous fishing lakes. At Redden’s
Campground http://www.reddenscamp.com/about-us.php we had a fine full service site across from
a condo occupied seasonally by folks
from Minnesota. One knows when people are long timers when their name is
affixed to the mooring site of their boat at the dock. From them we learned
that we were in prime fishing territory and that the lake we were at, Longbow
Lake https://www.google.com/search?q=longbow+lake&client=firefox-a&hs=ZOk&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=G9ApVNeUNo6PyAT71oDgCg&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622 was
not a bad choice for people not familiar with the lay of the waters. The vast
adjacent Lake of the Woods http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_of_the_Woods has 14,500
islands and one has to know it well to venture into it https://www.google.com/search?q=kenora+on&client=firefox-a&hs=Xyj&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zckpVNfSDsX4yQTNooGoDQ&ved=0CDgQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622
. There is a means from getting from the one to the other, which are on
different levels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feYGLq817Fc
. Then, with all of this understood and
further assistance offered by our friendly neighbor for the next day, the
weather deteriorated, prohibiting us from launching and rather had us drive
around the area for sightseeing and shopping
.
Inclement
weather had us omit our next stop and head straight to Dog Lake http://www.doglakeresort.com/ north of Thunder Bay. This was a long haul and
we were happy to get to this place, which Willem and Susan together with Paul
and Kathy Keller had visited 40 years ago. At that time they were en route from a
biophysics conference in Minneapolis to Pennsylvania along the route north of
the Great Lakes. Susan wanted to experience a log cabin and was directed to Dog
Lake in Thunder Bay. The 30 mile road was dreadful but after some hours we
arrived there, got one of the about 6 log cabins from the Dutch owner and were
pleasantly impressed by the setting. Not long after a boat with a couple came
in and they headed for the fish cleaning station. We were utterly amazed at
what they were cleaning: northern pike especially impressed us appearance as
well as size wise https://www.google.com/search?q=Northern+Pike&client=firefox-a&hs=3x9&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=xhkqVKKaM5KxyASVqYDwBA&ved=0CJoBEIke&biw=1366&bih=622#facrc=0%3Bnorthern%20pike%20eating%20duck&imgdii=_&imgrc=_ . We’ve seldom before seen fresh water
predator fish such as those, although African tiger fish of similar size could be
rivals https://www.google.com/search?q=tigerfish+Africa&client=firefox-a&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&biw=1366&bih=622&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=iB0qVJX5BYShyQTHmILoAQ&ved=0CCoQ7Ak
. But such we’ve not seen before either. Later the evening the lady had
prepared their catch and sent some over; delicious.
This time
circumstances were different. Gone was the quaint setting, having made room for
over a hundred camp sites with no approved fresh water supply and at best 2X15
amp power, which was difficult to sustain. Resetting circuit breakers was an
ongoing walking exercise to the centralized board through high entropy terrain.
When the weather stayed unfavorable and we couldn’t even launch our boat in 5
days, it was time to cut short our stay and head for Thunder Bay http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunder_Bay for 3
days, where we got a fine site at http://koa.com/campgrounds/thunder-bay/
.
The Kuper’s are second generation owners and
managers of this award winning KOA campground and it is obvious that they enjoy
every minute of what they are doing. A
comment on the web site, It's not just
the amenities that makes Thunder Bay KOA Kampground of the Year, it's the
people. The Kuper's center every decision they make around honouring their
kamping guests and making them feel special, undoubtedly echoes one’s own experience.
Throughout the season various programs are pursued – some of which to benefit
charitable causes and it being right before closing up for the winter, we were
privileged to enjoy the party with pot luck and an excellent band pitched on
top of the hay ride trailer. Stella held one of the lucky numbers in a drawing
and received a camp decoration of cartoon reindeer faces arranged along a
decorated post with light fixtures! It livened up our setting for the remainder
of our trip but had to stay upon their return to South Africa for lack of space
and already over-burdened luggage. A fur trader’s museum http://www.thunderbaymuseum.com/exhibits/gallery-exhibits/main-floor/fur-trade/
gave us some insight into this important industry that largely catalyzed
exploration of the interior of the North American continent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_William_Historical_Park
. Traces of various European settlements, for instance the Finnish, http://www.genealogia.fi/emi/art/article74e.htm
, remain in evidence at the Finnish Labor Temple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Labour_Temple
where we enjoyed lunch.
And then it
was time to move on to hopefully warmer areas, starting with Duluth,
Minnesota http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth,_Minnesota
, where we had a lovely reserved site at Jay Cooke State Park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Cooke_State_Park
, which was quite a ways outside of Duluth resulting in us not returning
there but exploring the surroundings of
the park https://www.google.com/maps/place/46%C2%B039%2715.3%22N+92%C2%B022%2716.5%22W/@46.654252,-92.37126,503m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0
. The improved climate made for a filled to capacity campground but we only had
time for the two days as planned and on Tuesday September 25 we hit the road
further south into Wisconsin.
Lake Wissota
State Park is a beautiful place http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/lakewissota/ where we had reserved site 007 with electric
hookup. Buried in the woods, we once again had no satellite access and a poor
phone connection. But the village of Chippewa
Falls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chippewa_Falls,_Wisconsin was close enough for Susan to want to explore
hair dressing options (nudging Willem along for a haircut as well). Before
getting there though we followed a lead to Yellowstone Cheese Factory, which Susan was interested
in, having missed out on Tillamook in Oregon ( Things Along the Way 25) . By
the time we got to this small operation the daily production schedule was
finished but we could look around and pick up some mild cheddar for Herine in
Chicago. Back in Chippewa Falls https://www.google.com/search?q=chippewa+Falls&client=firefox-a&hs=W3i&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=TvIqVLWwOof5yAT8zYGADw&ved=0CGMQsAQ&biw=1348&bih=614 , we didn’t find what Susan was looking for
but the 450 AM Coffee House was a small attractive place where Susan stirred up
a conversation with a kindred spirit – a gentle fellow whose life long career
was writing, producing and teaching music in this charming town. Around the
corner was Leinenkugels beer brewery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Leinenkugel_Brewing_Company , of which Matt turned out to be a
beneficiary with a case of Original https://www.google.com/search?q=leinenkugels&client=firefox-a&hs=2SO&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=efMqVJD5I4aYyAT0uILoAQ&ved=0CFcQsAQ&biw=1348&bih=614 by the time we got to Chicago.
We took off
for Mirror Lake State Park, WI http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/mirrorlake/ on Thursday, aiming for Illinois State
Beach, IL on Saturday. The weather was spectacular and during the drive, it
occurred to Willem that with such good weather, it might be advisable to limit
our stay at Mirror Lake, to one night only and get to Illinois’ first come
first serve deal early on Friday. It was a shame not to stay longer at this
terrific place where site 118 was lovely and embraced by humongous trees and
evidence of some having been brought down during a storm this past summer. Having
arrived relatively early, Fickie and Stella felt more like taking advantage of
the hiking opportunities, rather than looking for a hairdresser and picking up
a few food items. So Willem and Susan were off to a close-by Walmart, where
Susan was satisfied with the in house hairdresser and before long the place
secured two pieces of business. After having checked off the items on a
shopping list they made for camp to enjoy some of it and their hike took them
by the water’s edge, way down, where a pontoon boat was slowly moving up a
cove.
On the way
back to camp Willem lingered with a pleasant couple from northern Minnesota at
their inviting camp fire; Susan went ahead to see what could be done for dinner.
He is a retired cheese maker and she still employed as an accountant looking
forward to retiring within a couple of years. They were much interested in our
endeavor and entertained similar thoughts for the future. We provided our blog
address, should they find some of our experiences useful. It would be interesting
to learn from others along the way that did make use of our shared information.
The after dinner consensus was to move early the next morning, which is what we
did.
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