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