BC Road Trip Post #5 Monday, June 30, 2014

BC Road Trip Post #4 June 30, 2014

Departure from Barwick, ON around 9 a.m.

Several sitings of helicopter surveillance of flooding in the area - flying right over the hiway.  Groups of people sandbagging their properties.  Some rain.

Destination:  Sanford, Manitoba to visit Kim and Bernie Wiebe, Harry's cousins, and their sons, Matthew and Simon.  

We saw smoke coming from the bush near the hiway, and realized the strong winds had just downed a large tree on top of the power line.  After turning around on the hiway, we saw the power line on the ground and several locations of flames and lots of thick smoke.  Here, there have been 9 days of steady rain, so the bush is soaked, but there is still the danger of a forest fire.  Harry calls for help, and minutes later, we meet an OPP office coming to investigate.  Now we know things will be taken care of, so we drive on.

Kenora:

We stopped for lunch and walked around the town.  What a beautiful city, on Lake of the Woods, with stately older buildings, and a re-vitalized downtown.  Art, nature, people - all in the same location.  Street closures for CAnada DAy Celebrations, so there were many re-routed cars and trucks.  We ate poutine at the chip truck right down by the water near a large entertainment area with an enormous tent/ pavillion.  The fries were delicious.  Outfitters were putting huge weights on top of their docks to keep them from floating away.

Weather;

cool - 58 F with strong Northerly winds.  some drizzle, and grey skies. 

Kenora to Manitoba Border:

-sun is breaking through the clouds, but the wind keeps things ' feeling like October' as Maureen describes it.

Arctic Watershed:
we stop for a photo, and discove
r hundreds of huge dragon flies.

Manitoba:
many places with flooding.
huge beautiful farms, but we can hardly see past the rain and mist.

Arrive in Sanford at Kim and Bernie's house, and they are more than welcoming.  There is an excellent Canadian bbq for supper, and Karen and Herb Kroeker, my cousins, have come to join us.  We eat a delicious meal together, go for a nice walk through town and see the river - almost over the bridge.  We sleep excellently well, and next day, Matthew and Simon are still sleeping in.

Good bye to Kim and Bernie.  Thank you for a wonderful stay.

More rain.
more helicopters flying over.