Always The Best Times In Winnipeg
We made one more stop the other week in Saskatchewan, at Kenosee Lake in Moose Mountain Provincial Park. We camped for a couple of nights (you have to be a Saskatchewan resident to make online reservations but they welcomed us with open arms in person) and lucked out because we had the entire overflow campground to ourselves. The only people passing by us were locals who lived in the nearby neighborhood and who came to walk their dogs. As I sat outside one morning I heard a voice say, “I already knew I liked you. Do you want to know why? Because you live in that truck and I know you have a cat.” And that’s how we met Pat Butler and her darling dog, Two Bits. (Hi, Pat!) Thank you for welcoming us into your home and making our stay that much more special. As for the park, there was just this quiet, gentle energy throughout the whole place. It’s almost as we’ve recaptured that feeling of summer as a kid, when the world was a more idealized place. The park was just magic, and we're just at this point now where we're even in sync with the animals around us.
Ok, so we finally were able to snap a shot of the elusive prairie dog, on the beach!
Soon enough it was time to leave and make our way into Manitoba.
And this was the welcome sign to Manitoba, lol. Granted, we weren't on the main highway but c'mon guys! (Still, this is just the best.)
We aimed for Brandon since it nicely broke up the 4 hour drive to Winnipeg. We caught at a roadblock on the way, they’d apparently had quite a lot of flooding and several evacuation warnings. A nice lady whose house we stopped in front of came out after she noticed the BC plates (her daughter goes to school out there). And asked about the truck, told me that her dream is to convince her husband to pack everything up with her into a truck of their own and just travel around until they find a new place to settle. Sounds ever so familiar. We eventually made it to Brandon and parked at big box store central, where we could nab some sweet, sweet free wifi. And Xiao Meow is by now becoming a full-fledged kitty of Walmart (which is a little bit alarming, lol). He was so excited for his night time walk around the parking lot, which was as surprising as it was entertaining.
Before heading out the next day, we stopped for lunch at Brandon’s Lady of the Lake, a true gem. It’s a cafe/pub/consignment store with all kinds of cool knick knacks and products. And lunch was delicious, homemade food. And the owner came out as I was sitting in the truck and asked about it. She shared that she’s been in business for 30 years and her biz will survive covid, happily. Now her daughters help her run things. We were equally admiring her truck sculpture that’s covered in crushed teacup mosaics and tchotchkes. She said she took a course in how to build a monument for your business, and that it’s worked.
Next up, a pit stop in Portage La Prairie to gape at "The World's Largest Coca-Cola Can" because, well of course. And they also had a few other oddities in town:
We afterwards made the final push to Winnipeg, always home to some of the greatest people (anyone you ask in the country agrees). What I’ve come to love about Winnipeg people is that they’re as authentic as they come, genuinely nice, at ease in their own skin, and the opposite of neurotic. They really don’t sweat the small stuff at all or get too precious about things. But they’re always showing you kindness or offering a helpful hand. Upon arrival, we tried to hit up a brewery by the airport (Half Pint Brewing) but they were closing shop. But we saw that we have a wifi signal and I said, "Hey, they open at 11am. We can park, crack open some beers from the fridge and have our night, sleep, wake up, have breakfast and then roll in there as their first customers tomorrow." So that's exactly what we did, our first brewery park!
We also decided on the next day to change up the phone providers - me, because I realized that my service with the old provider only worked in three provinces and Shane because he was able to score the same service for less. And so far it’s been working out so much better for us both. (Thank you, Lucky mobile.) Then we went to meet up with Shane’s family at The Forks, Winnipeg’s riverside hub of shops and restaurants. We met a couple as we parked who approached us to ask about Kitty Kitty Bang Bang and then shared about their renovated ambulance/tiny home, which sounded so cool. Then we had a really great family dinner on the Forks patio. Which was a treat because up until then, I’d only ever trekked down to The Forks in the ice and snow. Winnipeg in the summer is another Winnipeg altogether.
We took a stroll along the river after dinner and caught the sunset. And before we parted ways for the evening, I’d agreed to join Uncle Junel the following morning for a workout. There’s this thing called The November Project, which is free workouts offered in cities all over the world. Winnipeg offers them on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:15 am. You can find out more at https://november-project.com/. I have to admit, the 5am wakeup was a little rough but then the time flew once I got there and we started. We all met up by the legislative building at 6:14am and then jogged, pushed up, squatted and burpeed our way around the grounds for 45 minutes.
It's a great little community, and people form bonds and friendships out of it. I apparently liked it because I ended up going back one more time before we left Winnipeg, this time with Shane in tow.
We parked outside Uncle Alex’s house in Winnipeg’s North End (thank you, Alex!) and that became our home base. As always, Kitty Kitty was quite the conversation starter and we quickly met all of the neighbors. People asked to look inside and get a tour, and some of the neighbors even offered us the use of their homes if we needed a shower, which was really generous. We decided to spend a week in the city, and quickly settled into a routine of daily 20 minute bike rides along the river to get to downtown and The Forks. Winnipeg happens to be an extremely bike-friendly city and we had a lot of fun tooling around and exploring. One of our stops along the way was at Nonsuch Brewing, which had really fantastic beer, a swanky and funky interior, and an easy to-go station. And who doesn’t want to sip beer under gold umbrellas?
We also rode over to Osborne Village and hit up my favorite cocktail bar, The Roost. And it was as flawless as ever. I was, however, disappointed to find out that my Winnipeg go-to spot - G Martini bar, which also offered up the sushi menu from the restaurant below, had shuddered. It looks like Osborne Village has changed a little since I was last there.
And then we hit up a pop-up beer garden that’s going on all summer long.
Every time I visit Winnipeg I also go to Distant Caravans in The Forks and get a card reading with Walt. This time was no different, and Walt was bang on the money like he always is. He said among other things that my business/purpose in Vancouver is definitely over, I did what I had to do there. He also said that this current journey is the right one for me, and that more adventures await. He sees us making it all the way to the Maritimes and Newfoundland. And he pulled the same card as last time with a little dog on it. I’m apparently still destined to adopt one more furry friend. Hopefully Xiao Meow will approve! I also love that he confirmed that Moose Mountain Provincial Park, home of Kenosee Lake, does indeed have “a special energy” there.
On some other free days I explored the Ukrainian Church near our neighborhood, St. John’s Anglican Cathedral. It’s Norman-Gothic style and gorgeous. I also biked around Winnipeg’s French Quarter. First stop was the St. Boniface Cathedral, which is a very striking looking basilica. A fire destroyed it in 1860, so it was afterwards rebuilt in stone between 1888 and 1906. Then another fire in 1968 once again destroyed most of it, including the rose window (hence that hole in the center, which I rather like as it reminds me of a portal to heaven). But now only the facade remains.
I also stumbled across the Fort of Gibraltar, a reconstructed fur trade post that hosts a big winter festival each year.
And I also came across this cool, family-owned French restaurant that’s out of an old train car, called Resto Gare. Shane and I actually stopped there for lunch a couple of days later on our way out of town and it honestly was a perfect meal. He had poutine with blue cheese, bacon and red wine gravy. I had ratatouille. Everything was so delicious and had just the right flavors.
And then Shane and I had to ride out to the North End’s own legendary Mom’s Perogy Factory to sample the goods. We picked up four dozen perogies, two savory and two sweet. Absolutely the best things ever.
And then there was the time when we came home and I had to pee, but what I didn't realize was that when I went to open the valve that connects the toilet to the cassette part, it didn't actually open all the way. So I had to go clean up urine from the compartment on the outside of the truck, with Xiao Meow howling at me through the door (he hadn't had his walk at that point). This is the side of vanlife that you won't see on Instagram.
Also not seen or heard about on IG: Sour cream + poured out perogy water in the grey water tank = driving out of town smelling like one big, roving fart. There just aren't pretty words for that. And who knew?
And just like that, we were off to our unglamorous start up north to Lake Winnipeg to visit with family on their property. But more on that later.
And the wheels of Kitty Kitty Bang Bang go round and round.
More Winnipeg Snapshots:
Winnipeg Cat Life:
