Manitoba

The Besnard Lakes show last weekend was definitely fun! A lot more psychedelic-rock than folky for sure. They transformed the room by putting all the couches in a row and adding chairs, and the tv room became the stage. Perfect venue for it, although the space was a little small for how loud the music was. Afterwards the band hung around on the porch and chatted to fans and I went to sleep soon after. Sunday morning I headed off to Manitoba and whatever awaited me at Littlepath Farm, just outside of Minnedosa...

Littlepath Farm

Me and Black Beauty at Littlepath Farm

I was definitely happy that Wes turned out to be a young guy with a nice girlfriend instead of a creepy middle-aged man living alone in a tent! Before I had found their place, I had been driving around in search of it and ended up at this run-down house up the street that had no one around and I had the feeling that I might not get out of there, but it all turned out. I backtracked to another house and got some directions from some very friendly Manitobans on how to find the farm (the province's license plates are accurate) and finally found it down a gravel road.

Minnedosa Beach

Monday I wandered around Minnedosa. I went to the beach and enjoyed the breeze and read, then went into town to Chipperfield's Cafe and sat on my computer drinking freshly brewed iced-tea. Side note - it's interesting that when you are in Saskatchewan or Manitoba the first thing you see before you enter the town, or when you know a town is coming up, is big grain towers or oil buildings. Also, Manitoba is definitely more hilly than Saskatchewan, and the canola fields turn into sunflower farms.

Tuesday Andrea works at a bakery near Onanole, so Wes and I spent the day in their 2-acre garden weeding thistles and this demon ivy stuff away from the green bean plants. There was a forest of weeds around the plants, so much so that it was hard to see where the beans were. But we rescued three long rows by the end of the day and then I went off to Minnedosa beach to jump in the lake, because they don't have a shower (no power or electricity).

Broccoli

Wednesday was another day of weeding - this time carrots. And the weeds were worse. Everytime I pulled out a carrot I had to eat it so it didn't go to waste, of course, and it's suprising how delicious a long, thin carrot is in comparison to the huge beasts they pass off as carrots at the grocery store. Fresh vegetables are amazing! A bunch of Wes's friends that he works winters with at a resort in Riding Mountain National Park came up for the day to help weed as well, and then we harvested carrots, beets, onions and broccoli. On Wednesdays Wes runs a box program in Onanole, where he meets people in town and they come pick up their box of veggies for the week.

Once we got to Onanole and had helped Wes set up his table, I went with Wes's friends Andrew and Erin to grab bbq stuff to take to their apartment in Riding Mountain Park. The park is right on Clear Lake, and it's a beautiful little town with shops that only run during the summer. In the winter everything kind of shuts down and people have to go to the few shops open in Onanole. Erin and some other people that came for the bbq are all on work visas from Australia, and her and Andrew might be moving out to Victoria for the winter when things die down at the resort.

Winnipeg

Inside The Forks

Thursday morning I got up and headed to Winnipeg. I spent the day at The Forks, which is a Granville Island type market right where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet. There's a beautiful park around the area, with an Oodena Celebration Circle to celebrate the many cultures that have met in this area for thousands of years. 

Oodena Celebration Circle

The circle is really neat because when you stand in the center at the bottom you can look through different sighting circles at specific times of year and see stars from constellations like Orion and Cassiopeia.

After spending about an hour in traffic to get out of the downtown area (it was a hot day and I thought black beauty might overheat!) I finally got to Assiniboine Park, where the Royal Winnipeg Ballet has been putting on free ballet in the park for something like forty years. The show was more than an hour and a half; sitting outside on a blanket watching some amazing dancing on this outdoor stage. I was planning to sleep in my van in the Walmart parking lot, or in the park itself because I found out it never closes, but I met this great girl - Leanne - and her cousin at the ballet and she invited me back to her place to hang out and crash on her futon. My overall impression of Manitoba is that everyone is really nice.

I slept in and Leanne picked up some delicious croissants for breakfast and then I went to the Royal Canadian Mint, where I took a tour of where money for Canada, as well as some other countries around the world, is made. It was kind of nerdy, but there were lots of interesting facts about how they make coinage and how they put different coins in circulation or not depending on what is out there already. You can also design your own ideas to go on money and submit to them and if they pick your design you get the first coin minted, as well as your initials on the coin!

I then drove to Kenora, Ontario, where I'm staying with my aunt and uncle for the weekend.

Calvin, Parker, Lily and Francis

Downtown Minnedosa

Ballet in the park

Fruition Orchards

Inside of the church house

Still on the orchard, but I thought I would let everyone know what's been happening at the farm over the week.

Last Sunday I did end up going to the Farmer's Market by myself. It was a later start and pretty slow, so a nice day overall. Because Sunday is a smaller market everyone is inside, and a lady with a hula hoop was dancing, so that kept me entertained for a while. Afterwards, Carmen came and helped me pack everything up and then we met up with Keith and the kids and went to Ruckers. It's sort of like a Cyber City place, with different games you pay tokens to play with and then you win tickets which you can use to buy cheap junk. But the kids love it! It was so bright and colourful in there though. Then we went for dinner at this place called Bonanza, which has a buffet of numerous things to eat and a sundae station.


Road out to the dump

Monday I spent the day taking care of the kids and then we made burgers for dinner. Tuesday we made sour cherry juice by boiling frozen cherries from the orchard, then straining them. I think they usually mix it with something else to cut the bitter/sourness but we had some with dinner and it was pretty tasty. Wednesday we took a trip to the dump just outside of Aberdeen (a small town that you can take some back gravel roads to get to from the farm) and cleaned up the house. When Keith got home with Parker - who is 3 - he was asleep in the car so Keith got out to do something for a few minutes and when he came back Parker had woken up and locked the door, with the keys in it. We had to bribe him with marshmallows and asking him if he wanted to jump on the trampoline, and finally he hit the unlock button. Good too because it was a warm day.

I was originally planning to head out to Manitoba Thursday but tonight there is a house concert here. This organization called The Neighbour's Dog puts on house concerts in different people's homes and since the house has a huge living space with a stage it's the perfect place for a show. The band playing is called Besnard Lakes and it seems like it will be a fun night. They are currently setting up chairs, instruments, etc. upstairs and I think they are even catering dinner for all the workers, musicians and everyone in the house. The show is a ticketed event and starts at 9pm. Here's a link to some of their music:
Youtube - Besnard Lakes

Thursday we cleaned up a bunch of the yard - sorting trays used for fruit in one of the garages and cleaning up garbage around the house. In the afternoon I looked after Parker and he kept asking for things, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. Good times! Calvin, Nathan and I went out on one of the shed's roofs and watched the sunset. You can see for so far because it's so flat, and it was gorgeous. The weather is definitely improving - no more huge mud puddle for a front yard.

Friday I spent all day at Keith and Carmen's bakery in Saskatoon. All the bread and sweets for the farmer's market all weekend get baked there, and most of its' done Friday so everything's fresh. I was mostly bagging and labeling everything, but it was interesting to see how things are done there and reminded me of when I worked at the bakery in Port Alberni.

The delivery driver, Lorne, invited Nathan and I to hang out after we finished work and we ended up going to a steak night (they nicely made me fish) fundraiser at a bar in town. It was a fundraiser for Canada World Youth and all the money raised from raffles and fifty-fifties throughout the night went to a girl going to Peru for two months. A girl who had recently returned from the same trip told us about her experiences building clay ovens for families and learning better leadership and communication skills. Sounds like a great program. After we went over to Lorne's friend's place and had a fire in the backyard. Shannon had just come back from the island and told me about this great little town/beach area near Duncan, so I have a mission when I get home to go visit this place and an amazing house. She was a really interesting lady - she renovated her entire house and has had some interesting jobs, including being an air quality tester in a uranium mine.

It was a late night, so kind of nice that I didn't have to wake up at 6am to go to the market today. But I did go to the dump 3 times, (it's only open Wednesdays and Saturdays) one of which was by myself and I was a bit of a mess when I got back to the house. Hopefully it won't be too late of a night tonight because tomorrow I head to a farm near Minnedosa.

Now I'm just waiting to see how tonight unfolds...

Saskatchewan

My last night in Alberta, Laura and I went to Whyte Ave in Edmonton, which is a street lined with different shops. Most were closed by the time we finished dinner, but we had delicious drinks and Mexican food at Hoolio's Burrio. They had this brilliant idea to put a beer upside down in a margarita, which Laura had.

Matching dresses from West Ed. Mall

Saskatoon - Fruition Orchards

Wednesday I left for Saskatoon when Laura went to work, so it was a nice early 8am start. I felt a lot less rushed and stressed than my previous drive and stopped in Lloydminster, which is on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan for about an hour, and then again when I got to Saskatoon. The farm that I am staying at is just off a gravel road about halfway between Saskatoon and a smaller town called Aberdeen. When you're first driving up to the farm you can just see the steeple of the church, which is the house, and it looks almost like a castle hidden among trees.

The story is the foundation of the church was rotting so the church sold the land to a developer who didn't want the church, and he sold it to the Jorgenson family. The inside has been repainted with a kitchen put in where the sunday school room was, and then the downstairs has all the bedrooms (and air-conditioning which I'm pretty thankful for since it's been at least 30 everyday!).



The lamby trio

Keith and Carmen have three young, energetic kids between three and seven: Francis, Lily and little Parker. They are adorable, and always happy to jump on the trampoline or play many, many rounds of the Candy Land boardgame. The first night I arrived they showed me the lamby trio, as well as their four 6-week old puppies. They also have a foster son named Calvin and there is another wwoofer from England named Nathan. Nathan went to a music festival for the weekend and was cutting off his long hair (probably to impress the ladies:) and we all took a turn trimming his hair. It actually turned out alright...

Thursday I spent most of the day chasing after the kids. I was definitely tired by the end! I also jarred a bunch of honey from the farm's bees and we made sour cherry juice. Friday I met my cousin Chris and his wife Danine in Saskatoon for coffee before they headed out to BC to visit her family and my grandparents, and then had the day off to explore the city. It's actually pretty nice, and large. I walked along the river, toured the Mendel Art Gallery, and walked around the huge University of Saskatchewan.

I also went and got my oil light checked out at Air-Cooled Classics because it had been blinking on and off (which turned out to be just a loose wire that the mechanic fixed no charge yay!) and it was literally the Saskatchewan Mecca of vws! There were at least four vw camper vans like mine, but in amazing condition, as well as some older ones.

Air-Cooled Classics




I tried to go to sleep early last night (unsuccessfully) and got up at 6 this morning so Keith and I could drive into town and get everything set-up and ready for the Farmer's Market. The farm owns a non-profit bakery which gives troubled youth work experience and Carmen bakes numerous varieties of bread (red fife, marble rye, carrot and celery, etc.) and rolls and sweets for the market there as well. They also sell eggs, deer meat, and jam (of course) at the market. It was a long day with the market going from 8-2, but really fun to be a part of. I think I might go to the market by myself tomorrow, (they run on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays) which is a slower day, and I am much more confident in what everything costs as well as what each bread is. As well as fun facts, like the red fife bread is a heritage grain that has been grown for well over 100 years and is good for people with gluten allergies. After a short nap we made sushi for dinner tonight, which was delicious!



University Bridge, Saskatchewan River





Alberta

Beaverlodge, Alberta

After my last blog on Thursday I met up with Lorissa and we took her husband and his co-workers some cold drinks. That night we went back to the house they're building and moved some wood and trees that were in the way for when BC Hydro comes to hook up their power.

Charlie Lake

Friday I spent the day with my friend Daniel. We went for lunch at a local restaurant called Mondos and then went back to his place and he showed me pictures from his trip to Ghana. He's an electrical engineer and volunteered there last year to help build a hospital in Accra. We went for a walk in the Fish Creek Community Forest near the college, and then sat at Charlie Lake. It was a pretty warm day and lots of mosquitos around! After I picked up my van I joined Lorissa and Arly at their house and we cooked weiners over a fire and spent the night there. First night sleeping in my van for this trip and it was pretty comfortable.

Sherwood Park, Alberta

Saturday I woke up and spent pretty much the whole day driving. The drive takes about 8 hours from Fort St. John to Edmonton, but I was half an hour out of town at the house and by the time I stopped for gas (and bought a little speaker to listen to music on my Ipod - which I should have done at the beginning of my trip) it was already mid-morning. Most of the drive is 110 once you get into Alberta, but that was somewhat pushing it for my van which only potentially reaches 140. I only stopped a few times, once because I thought there was something wrong with my van (which there isn't... faulty light or something) and then to take a picture of the giant beaver and to take a break from driving. I stopped in Fox Creek hoping if I bought something at the Subway I could fill up my water bottle and charge my phone, but there was no water tab on their pop machine and no outlets. I did finally make it to Sherwood Park, just outside of Edmonton, where Laura lives, but with the hour I lost from the time change, I was on the road almost 12 hours! I seriously considered turning around and coming home after that drive...

Since I arrived we have been busy doing a lot! Saturday we went for dinner at Original Joes and Sunday we woke up and went to this cute place called Cora's for breakfast and shared a raspberry crepe and salmon eggs benny. It was amazing! Definitely worth a visit if you're here.

Laura in the Grekul House

Then we drove east away from Edmonton and went to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Original houses and buildings have been moved from around Alberta to this site and it is set up with people in original outfits representing the people who would have lived and worked in these buildings in the 1930s.

St. Vladimir's Greek Orthodox Church

It was a neat village museum and even though it was about 30 degrees Sunday, (poor people in their period costumes with stockings and long dresses) it was fun to walk around and see the old church and the inside of a grainery. We also got a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and ate home-made perogies.

After, we drove through the Elk Island National Park and checked out the buffalo roaming around. Then we came back to Laura's, got our bathing suits, and spent most of the rest of the day at her friend's place in their swimming pool. It's one of the above ground round ones, but perfect for standing in when it's so hot. Dexter had come with us and the backyard had more dogs than people (about 5). When we reluctantly left the cool confines of the pool we took Dexter for a walk along the Saskatchewan River.

Yesterday we spent most of the day in West Edmonton Mall. It was pretty busy for a weekday but I think everyone was escaping the continued heat wave. I gave myself a budget, which I quickly went over, but there was some pretty good deals, so I bought some more clothes that I don't really need. The mall is pretty cool, though, because it is set up with different areas of the mall representing different places. I think in the four plus hours we were there we made it through about half the mall, but the Chinatown area, with the T and T supermarket was cool to see. And we looked in on the waterpark area, set up like a fake beach, but didn't go in.

For such a big place, almost like a small city in itself, it gets kind of suffocating after a while. We returned to the sweltering heat of the outside and took Dexter for a walk to the grocery store. It was dusk by then so had cooled down a little bit, but was the perfect time for mosquitos - I literally got about 10 bites on my legs. Not fun! Today Laura is at work so I'm hiding from the heat inside and debating whether I'll actually go out... probably not. Tomorrow Saskatchewan!

  



Prince George to Fort St. John

Prince George
Sunday turned out to be much sunnier, which was great because Caitlin, Luke and I celebrated part of Canada Day in Fort George Park. It was pretty busy, if you can see the mass of people behind us, but there was entertainment on the stage, (including a guy twirling fire) and more tasty bannock to eat. No fireworks, but we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so I was happy.

Monday we went and played tennis for a bit (or Caitlin and Luke did and I kind of watched and attempted a few sad rounds) and then went for sushi at Wasabi Sushi. I love edamame! Monday night was definitely a highlight. Caitlin and I put our pajamas on and packed candy and blankets and pillows down to her car and drove a bit out of town to the drive-in theatre! The movies started at dusk, and they play a kid's movie first and then an adult movie, so we went for the later one, which started at 11:30pm. Pretty late night even for me, nevermind Cait who usually doesn't stay up past 11:) They played Men in Black 3, which was okay, but being able to sit huddled in a blanket in my pajamas made up for what the movie was lacking. So fun!

Tuesday I unfortunately had to move on, but I had a really great visit and it was nice to get to know Luke (Caitlin's husband) better. The drive to Fort St. John seemed to take way longer than I thought - perhaps because I ran out of gas just before Chetwynd and had to wait for BCAA to come and give me more. Only took them 15 minutes though and I was less than 10km out of Chetwynd when it happened. Definitely a good reminder to keep my van at least half full of gas all the time! And I do have a jerry can, so I guess I ran out of gas about 20km earlier than that...

Fort St. John

I did make it safely to Fort St. John Tuesday night, where I'll be until Saturday when I head to Edmonton. I'm staying with Lorissa (a friend I met while living up here a few years ago) and her husband Arly. They are building a house about 20km out of town near Cecil Lake, and last night we went out there so Arly could work on shingling the roof. The plan for this house is amazing! It's going to have a big wrap-around porch and a deck for the master bedroom upstairs, and they are painting the outside yellow. The place is also surrounded by poplar trees, some of which had to be taken down to make room for the house. Our contribution last night was burning some of the pile of trees and then watching Arly and his brother Jim while they worked. I am definitely going to have to come up for a visit once it's finished!

Also went for a picnic at the look-out yesterday, which looks down over the Peace River. I really hope it will stay looking this way, and the Site C dam planned for the river won't be built!

Today I'm up at the Northern Lights College while Lorissa is at work. A friend is looking over Black Beauty to make sure the van will hopefully make it the rest of my journey. Yesterday I learned how to change an oil filter! In case anyone was wondering, it looks more like a metal cylinder and less like a coffee filter or plastic funnel, which is what I had thought before. The van looks just as beautiful from underneath! Being on campus is also handy because I can get wifi to write this blog!