Category Archives: Manitoba

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August 31, 2018

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Canada Travel, Chinook Motorhome, Dogs, Manitoba

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Wonderful Winnipeg

August 21 & 22, 2018

wpg_museum

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

After the boler bash, we stayed a few extra days in Winnipeg. It’s surprising that I had never visited this city before. Yes, I’d driven through and bought fuel or had a layover at the airport, but I had never spent any time there. It is a wonderful city! Growing up in Ontario, I had always referred to it as “Winterpeg”. It has so much to offer. Yes, some roads are really rough, but the traffic flows. That’s right. It was a breeze to drive even the Chinook. This always elevates a city’s status in our books.

A small group of us stayed on a Red River Exhibition for 2 more nights.  These are the only trailers left after everyone pulled out on Sunday:

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This was our little “circle of boler love”:

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clockwise: Our Chinook, Brenda’s boler, Heidi’s Trillium, and Sheila’s Escape

One of my friends (Lynn) emailed the Tourism Winnipeg to ask if there was RV parking downtown for 3 small rigs where we could spend the night. Someone got back to her and gave us a location in the French quarter, St. Boniface – right in the heart of the city! We were able to walk to trendy coffee shops, restaurants, The Forks, museums, and Fromagerie Bothwell. What fun! So Yves & Lynn, Sheila, and we did some boondocking in the heart of Winnipeg.

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Yves & Lynn and their Trillium Jubilee, Sheila’s Escape, and our Chinook (and Kenzie & Bunnah)

Along with our friend, Sheila, we toured the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. It is an architectural wonder on the outside, but a somber experience on the inside. Will we humans ever learn from our history?

Garden of Contemplation
Garden of Contemplation
Ramps leading to the 7 floors (onyx walls)

Entrance to the exhibits:

Wall of signs
Letters people sent about their experience
Timeline

A few of the exhibits:

–Women’s rights and aboriginal women’s continuing struggles

–Religious rights (and the creation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms)

–Racial rights and Viola Desmond’s bravery

There were also many separate exhibits on the various regimes that have oppressed humans.  Of course, the largest was the Nazi exhibit.

There were also bold messages about one’s behaviour when others around you are being persecuted.

This museum is a must-see for all.  It requires much reading, but there are some interactive exhibits and video interviews throughout to break up the reading.  We spent several hours there and were disappointed to discover that it closed at 5pm, so we had to rush through the last few floors.  Those last floors were the most uplifting.

The next day, we took Daisy and Poppy, and Sheila brought Kenzie (Westie) and Bunnah (Scottie) and walked all around St. Boniface and The Forks.

The Cathedral was destroyed in a fire, but the ruins remain, and a new cathedral was built inside the ruins.  On the grounds of the cathedral is a cemetery which includes the grave of Louis Riel.  Riel led an uprising (The Riel Rebellion) against the Canadian government in 1885.  He was hanged for treason; however, he is honoured as a hero in many parts of Canada.

The Forks is where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet. It has a very long history and is now a National Historic Site.

Bridge connecting St. Boniface to The Forks

There is an interesting astronomy installation in the park.  There are huge structures that point to various star clusters and a description below each one.  You have to get the full effect at night, of course.

We had lunch at The Forks Market. The dogs really enjoyed helping Sheila with her fish and chips! Afterwards, Sheila and her girls left for points east to meet up with Donna Dee and her pack. They are heading to the east coast. We will meet up with them in BC and head south together this winter. Happy trails Sheila and Donna!

Kenzie
Bunnah

 

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August 27, 2018

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boler trailer, Canada Travel, Chinook Motorhome, Manitoba

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bolers Away!

August 15-19, 2018
Red River Exhibition Park, Winnipeg, MB

454 fiberglass trailers (including one Chinook) registered

420 fiberglass trailers (including one Chinook) attended (321 bolers)

930 participants (from 10 Canadian provinces and 23 US States)

1800+ public attended Saturday

What do these numbers represent? The gathering of molded fiberglass enthusiasts for the 50th anniversary of the boler trailer!

Ian Giles of Calgary, Alberta spent roughly 4 years organizing this historic event. Along with his wife, Joan, he worked tirelessly to create a memorable experience for all. Please visit myboler.com for detailed information and media coverage.

There were 6 snowball caravans arriving from points in Canada (West A, West B, and East) and the US (West, East, and South), with campgrounds along the way. Unfortunately, we didn’t join an official caravan because we were volunteering and arrived a day early. However, we had our own little caravan of 6 rigs arriving early. We met in Regina, SK, where we were treated to a wonderful dinner and driveway camping at Brenda Williams’ house. Then, the 6 of us headed east to Winnipeg.

Heidi, Brenda, JJ & Donna, Don & Glorie, us, Sheila
pit stop in Indian Head
Almost there!

We were the first arrivals on Tuesday. We set up camp, toured the grounds, and met the other volunteers as they arrived.

Sheila, Brenda, and Heidi are first in their section
Hey where is everyone? We’re the first in the generator section

That evening, we had an orientation by Ian, and then it was Show Time!

The first caravan arrived Wednesday at 10 am. Now that was a sight to see! A quarter of a mile of bolers! Spirits were high in the extreme heat. There was lots of cheering and honking. Paul was on parking duty for the first caravan. Ian arranged for specific parking areas: electrical, generators, groups, and general. Then, the participants were parked accordingly. There were only a few hiccups. Since there were waves of trailers arriving, Paul stayed parking people all day. His shift was supposed to be only 2 hours, but everyone was so excited that most of the first shift kept working and helping out the next shifts.

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One wave in the first Western Canadian caravan

Arrival of the Eastern Canadian caravan:

Arrival of the Eastern Canadian caravan
The Scholar Hauler (see more below)
Yes, that’s a boler!

The party was on!

One of these things is not like the others

We had some new manufacturers in attendance such as Oliver Travel Trailers, Armadillo Trailers, and Happier Camper. Sadly, Airstream did not send a NEST, though they had been invited. If our current Airstream is ever written off like our previous one was, we would definitely consider getting an Oliver. What a sweet trailer! It has some serious features for full-time living. The only drawback is the wet-bath.

Armadillo Trailers:

basement storage slides out for easy access

Oliver Trailers:

Here come the Olivers from Tennessee
Optional composting toilet

Happier Camper:

We started our days with ukulele lessons by Long and McQuade and then the seminars began. We had seminars on topics such as boondocking, batteries & solar, sewing cushion covers & curtains, and photography, and there were also guest speakers as well as nightly entertainment.

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Even Randy Janes from Create Café in Saskatoon presented his 3-D printed trailer prototype. We have known Randy for about 14 years. He sold us our first Airstream. He is a long-time fiberglass trailer owner, and since he dealt with so many customers in sales, he knew what people wanted in a trailer, so he set out to create the world’s largest 3-D printer and printed a trailer! It is just a prototype, but it is the future of manufacturing.

prototype
scale model

On Thursday evening, we were treated to a wine and cheese social sponsored by Bothwell Cheese. They brought 500 lbs of cheese for the 930 participants! The family that owns Bothwell Cheese also owns a boler and they parked it for the event too. If you are buying cheese for yourself, choose Bothwell! They are such a generous company.

Mayor of Winnipeg welcomes us
Bothwell preparing the cheese trays

Saturday was the Trailer Open House from 10am-3pm. It was open to the public, who paid $10 per person to attend. Over 1800 people attended! We weren’t sure that anyone would want to view our Chinook, but we had a steady stream. Some wrote down all the information about it so that they could search for one too. At 2pm, we shut our door so that we could run quickly and see a few trailers we had to see. Unfortunately, we didn’t see nearly enough. This was a HUGE event. But, here are a few highlights:

There was always a line-up at the Yellow Submarine (1968 boler)
Eriba Puck
Pysanka boler (Ukrainian Easter egg)
Oxygen

Biod from The Netherlands:

Scholar Hauler:

double take!
Under the “hood” of the boler is a bbq disguised as an engine
Yes, it has a fireplace
Ron Schellenberg, the genius
I’ll take this circus and its monkeys!

Special thank you to Ian Giles, the volunteers, and participants for making this such a memorable event. If you are looking for special boler trailer parts or gifts, check out Ian’s shop: campingtreasures.com.

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May 22, 2018

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Dogs, Manitoba, Minnesota, North Dakota

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The Geographical Center of North America

May 21 & 22, 2018

On Monday, we left Wakaw, SK on our way to get our new Airstream at Can-Am in London, ON.  We made it to Brandon, MB and stayed at a lovely pet-friendly hotel.  This was Poppy’s first time in a hotel, and she behaved herself quite well.  She was so happy to get out of the vehicle.  However, we really miss travelling with an RV.  We have packed most of the goods from our International Airstream into our GMC truck, so we have no room to spare.  Poppy’s crate takes up most of the backseat, but it is worth the loss of space.  She feels safe in there.

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On Tuesday, we got an early start. (We woke up at 5:30! Eek!) We headed straight to the border.  Since we were so packed, we knew we’d set off a red flag.  However, that really didn’t set off the red flag.  Daisy did.  We anticipated some questions since her vet discontinued her vaccinations due to congestive heart failure.  Her rabies vaccine was due in May.  Since her final vaccinations were still valid during our winter trip, all was well.  Thankfully, our vet gave us International Travel Certificates for both dogs (this time for free!) and Daisy’s certificate explained why the vet deemed it detrimental to continue vaccinations.

We had to pull over for inspection.  Poppy stayed in her crate, and we went inside with Daisy.  Paul had to complete a customs form while our vehicle was inspected and the officers waited for the official vet’s response.  They were all very calm and kind and kept us informed about the progress.  Finally, the vet looked over Daisy’s forms and gave her the all-clear.  She told the officer that they don’t really expect dogs over 12 to have vaccinations (Daisy is 15).  That was news to us and the 2 customs officers looking over our case.  We knew there might be some issues with Daisy, and we were willing to take the longer Canadian route.  However, we were worried that if we were turned away, we would always have to answer the question “Have you ever been denied entry to the US?” in the affirmative.  Now, we have to consider whether we will return to Saskatchewan by travelling through the US.

Also, they didn’t confiscate the dogs’ food even though we no longer had the bag.  We were hoping for this, and it was a good gamble.  We just don’t have room for a fresh bag. We have to wait until move-in day!

Next, we were on the road and made an obligatory stop in Rugby, ND to take some pictures of the girls.  We have pictures of our first dog, Honey, here from when we moved West from ON back in 1995.

Rugby is the Geographical Center of North America.  These days, Daisy is the center of our universe, requiring much medical attention.  However, for Poppy, wherever we are, she finds the Geographical Center of Attention!  It’s true!  She always manages to plunk herself down in the middle of a circle. That way, she’s in cuddle distance to everyone.

Next, we passed through Bemidji, MN and had another photo shoot.  Here are the girls with Paul Bunyan and Babe and art in the Rotary park, (and look at what is across the street from the park!):

The girls were pretty restless and weren’t going to pose for me.

We stopped for the night in Duluth, MN.  We found another pet-friendly hotel, but this time it was harder.  We tried at another hotel, and we were directed to this one.  It’s beautiful and smells really nice!  Best of all, we each get our own bed again — real beds!  –not like the uncomfortable Chinook beds (Oh, my aching back!).

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We will end tonight with pictures of Daisy.  A) getting a bath in the Chinook (she requires bathing every week)  B) lying on the Airstream sofa before we handed it in to the insurance company (We had always protected the upholstery with covers.  Why?  So that the insurance company can get paid more in the auction?  We will USE our next Airstream to the max!  No more upholstery covers! And we will cook inside!  And we will use the toilet!  OK.  I’m talking big now.)

Fifteen more hours of driving to go.