Got from St Cloud, MN to Winnipeg no problem. Across the border and I got nervous, hoping to not say the wrong thing. My experiences with border crossings has usually involved guns and bribes, so...in case I raise any flags with that statement, I was renewing my visas while living in Thailand and I had to go to Burma and walk across. There are guards with guns. Same with crossing into Cambodia and Laos. Fun.
Winnipeg is where I woke up yesterday. Today it's Saskatoon. In between there's a long line of mud and wind and coffee and gas stations and skunks, dead and alive. There are also some of the kindest and gentlest people I've ever encountered in my travels. I don't know if all Canadians are like this (I know my cousins from Toronto are!) but I hope to meet more of them.
We left Winnipeg fine. Stopped for coffee and breakfast at Starbucks. The coffee is so much better up here. Maybe they use Nabob;)? Drove for a while, then stopped to top off both vehicles. We were warned by a couple of truck drivers and some friends that the gas stations are far apart, and infrequent, so we had decided to stop often. Also gave us a chance to stretch. Remember, Duane is driving the UHaul and I'm driving the RR with the kids behind me.
After about 100 miles, we stopped again. Little place out in the middle of nowhere. Bought a ton of candy (not American stuff!) and chatted with the nice folks there. We have had people approach us and ask if we are moving, as if the truck and Virginia license plates aren't indication enough. Then off again. Ate all the chocolates and listened to the Beatles and Veggie Tales and Bolt soundtrack while cruising AK-1. Very coo.
We stopped next at a Tim Horton's. More chocolates and coffee and a chat with a lovely guy who spent the night in a mobile home. A tornado came out of nowhere and did some damage just up the road a bit, and we would see it when we passed through. Made us nervous because all the way so far we'd been fighting with consistant 30-40 mile per hour winds. Hard on Duane in the box truck. Ultimately the only evidence we saw was some electric poles knocked down. Unless all the dead skunks were killed by tornadic activity? Naw...And we did see one live one. Duane just barely missed it.
On the way to the next gas station the wind picked up, gusting really hard at times. We were told this is pretty unusual for this area. Everything is so flat it just races hard straight at you. I kept thinking about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family traveling across the western plains of the US. We saw some of that passing through Minnesota. Completely gorgeous; I can see what the draw would have been for Charles Ingalls. But Caroline? If there's no Target, will anyone come visit?
The wind got harder and the rain started to fall. We watched clouds break up and reconnect, swirl over our heads and disappear into the larger mass. All along the road are largish ponds, right up to the roadbed. One good gust and in we'd go...
More rain and dead skunks and an eternity later, we found a town where Duane decided to stop for info on the nearest gas station. We pulled into a farm equipment dealership and found they were closed. As we tried to leave the car park, the UHaul stuck in a mud pit. Absolutely unbudging. Duane wandered across the street to look for help in the cold wind. He found the owner of the business, who said he had a tractor to pull us out with. Again, more kind and friendly folks. The power was out, and that was why he had closed. But it came back on as we were leaving and he said try up the road for gas. Got that sorted out, and then ran straight for Saskatoon. We had thought about going to Edmonton, but that was just way too far.
So here we are, after a good night. Another coffee-fueled day ahead of us. Onward to Whitecourt.
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