Birds Hill Provincial Park, Winnipeg, CA
The sunset last night at Itasca State Park was a deep red orange that filtered through the trees. It set the tone for the quintessential campground experience. It was a packed campground and the guitar playing, sing-a-longs, smoky fires and teenage horseplay went on till at least midnight. We didn't mind and got a chuckle out of the very sincere folk singing guitar player belting it out. Ned was cracking me up doing a bad imitation, only to have the folk singing guitar player continue playing sounding exactly like Ned. We had to bury our heads in the pillow to keep from laughing so loud.
Reluctantly we left Itasca State Park and once again headed north. We had about a 5 hour drive into Winnipeg, Canada. It was gorgeous driving though the unplowed prairie, but I couldn't help thinking what this area must look like 9 months of the year covered in a blanket of white and several degrees below zero. We decided that since this very Northern part of Minnesota has such a short summer season that everything just goes crazy at once - mosquitos, flowers, birds, etc.
We entered Canada on a very obscure road and noted that the entry into the border wasn't open after 10 pm. Some very enterprising American had set up an RV park on mowed down grassland not far from the border with a sign that said "Canadians Welcome". Gotta love that Yankee entrepreneurial spirit!
We finally reached Winnipeg and I wanted to explore the city on bike. There's a section appropriately called The Forks where the two rivers (Red and Assiniboine Rivers) meet. The Forks area was originally settled by the Cree Indians then French trappers and traders and finally pioneers. Today it's a big city park that has numerous bike trails, restaurants, a market center and outdoor areas. We had a great time riding our bikes through the area and reading all the interpretive signs. When we went up the observation tower to get a view of the city and rivers we noticed huge black clouds lurking ominously on the horizon and decided we should high tail it back to the car. We arrived JUST in time before it absolutely down poured. We decided it was a good time to find the campground for the night.
Birds Hill Provincial Park is only about 15 or so miles outside of Winnipeg and it could be a million miles away. It is unlike any campground I've ever seen before. It has a little bit of everything; bogs, prairies, woods and 200 different species of birds. The most unusual thing is that it is laid out like a city, with campground circles (12 different areas) that hold at least 400 campers. It doesn't feel so much like camping as living in the future. What a contrast to last night's quaint CCC buildings. The shower building is a totally green structure with grass roof, state of the art plumbing and radiant floor heating. Each circle has it's own bathroom with a wifi connection. (Ned snapped a picture of me seeing if I can connect to the wifi for posting tonight's blog. My data plan no longer works in Canada so I'm at the mercy of wifi connections). By the time we got settled in, the skies cleared up and we took advantage of the sun by going on another bike ride. This park has miles and miles of paved bike paths that wander through the various areas, including around 3 manmade lakes. It was a little sad to see a lifeguard at each beach with hardly anyone there.
The campground host is very sweet and much friendlier than any of the campground hosts we've come across in the States. U.S. hosts generally just leave you alone or come around on their golf carts to make sure you've paid. This lady, Mary, rode her bike to our spot, was impressed we were from California and wanted to make sure we had everything we could possibly want. She even came back later to give us tons of brochures and little collector pins that say Manitoba and The City of Winnipeg. How cute is that!
Today's menu is bbq pork chops (that we picked up from the smoked meat shop) and grilled asparagus. When Ned first put them on the grill the skies were blue and within minutes things changed and another deluge of rain came. I got a great pic of my hubby grilling with his rain poncho. Ahh Californians, what we'll do for BBQ. Fortunately the downpour only lasted about 5 minutes. I have absolutely no idea what's in store for tomorrow, but I'm sure Ned will keep me laughing no matter what.
