The Prairies

On 17 June, we finally left Ontario and reached Manitoba. You're not all of a sudden on the Prairies but rather the thick dark forests gradually change to scrub pine forests, then rolling hills and then the flat landscapes we all think of as true Prairie. Once we actually reached the prairie, I was amazed at how big the sky seemed, you were surrounded by it; it was like being inside a snow globe. I checked online to see how far you can see: on a flat surface, a human can see about 5 km (3 mi) but imagine being able to see 5 km in all directions; it seems like you can see so much farther than that.

Our first campground in Manitoba was Birds Hill Provincial Park outside of Winnipeg.  We would stay here for three nights.  Each campsite was pretty private being surrounded by tall bushes. This actually was a bit of a problem with Teddy, who usually barks just at other dogs and some vehicles; in these private sites, he began to bark at anything that moved.

While in Winnipeg we went to the cemetery where our dad's father is buried. We spent over half an hour looking for his grave until we realized we had the cemetery map the wrong way round. We also visited Louis Riel's grave at the St Boniface Cathedral. The second day we were there we went to Assiniboine Park and visited the Leo Mol sculpture garden. We had planned to visit the newly opened Leaf Gardens but it was so hot we ended spending much of the afternoon on a pet friendly patio that was part of a pop up bar in the park. How hot was it, well in Winnipeg that day it was hotter than Phoenix Arizona.

Birds Hill Provincial Park

Grandad Stewart's gravesite

Louis Riel's grave

St Boniface Cathedral

Winnipeg skyline

Assiniboine Park

Leo Mol Sculpture Garden

Our next stop for one night was Grand Valley campground near Brandon Manitoba. This campground was right off of the Trans-Canada highway so it was little noisy but not bad in the  overnight hours. 

There was a bit of a situation going on when we arrived, the owner of the campground was missing and there was a search party working from the campground. We had been assigned different sites than those we booked but were told we could take any site that was open. They closed the campground a day or two after we left and later we heard on the news that a water search had turned up his body.  

Trans-Canada highway in the distance.

Grand Valley Campground

The next stop would see us in Saskatchewan at River Park, the municipal campground in Weyburn, Sk. They had a lot of rain this summer and many campsites were pretty water logged, even the path to the bathrooms was a stream and the sanitation station was flooded. Luckily, our sites were pretty dry.  

This campground is located in a municipal park that has a splash pad, playground, picnic area and trails. There's a road in for the park and another one for the campground but it seemed to be a local past time to drive around and check out the tourists.

In Weyburn, we walked up to the lighthouse water tower.  It's no longer in use but it's one of very few lighthouse water towers still left. 

River Park Campground

Lighthouse Water Tower

Our next stop would be Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park but on the way we stopped at Rouleau, Sask, otherwise know as Dog River of Corner Gas fame. There's not much left of Dog River even the grain elevator is gone so I was glad I had taken a photo of one at a gas stop.

old style Prairie grain elevator

Rouleau Sk, aka Dog River

We stayed two nights at Sask Landing, here we had a tornado alert but still had nice enough weather to get in some hiking on one of the shorter trails. We also found out how small a world it is when it turned out the couple camped in the site next to us were the brother and sister-in-law of a former work colleague of another of my brother-in-laws.  

Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park

Prairie views

Prickly pear

Red River Cart sculpture

Goodwin House

South Saskatchewan River

Buffalo Rubbing Stone

Our next stop would be one night in Tillebrook Provincial Park near Brooks, Alberta. Tillebrook is only about 50 km from Dinosaur Provincial Park which would be our next stop; stopping at Tillebrook gave us the opportunity to go into town for some groceries and a liquor run before heading to Dinosaur. Tillebrook is a small provincial park just a kilometer off of the highway. Most of the sites are pull through, the park is set up in a number of loops each with vault toilets and there's a central shower facility for the whole park.  Since the forecast for the evening was rain; after setting up, we went into Brooks and, for only the second time time, we had our evening meal in a restaurant.  Our sister Annette had also contacted us to let us know that they weren't letting people check in at Dinosaur until check in time so with our errands done we were able to relax the next morning before the short drive to Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Tillebrook Campground

Relaxing Morning

Train on the Prairie

We would meet up at Dinosaur with another of my sisters, her brother-in-law, her daughter and her grandsons, also a friend and her husband would join us there. We would stay at Dinosaur for four nights before heading to Airdrie, which was our final destination on the trip West.  Dinosaur Provincial Park will be the next installment.