Manitoba Welcomes You!

Day 2: Saturday August 11, 2012

So apparently I need to unwind more quickly and settle into bed earlier than I’d like to. Mom is an early to bed - early to rise kind of lady. I was rudely awoken at 6 am as she was checking her email. I kept sleeping until 8 ish when she woke me up with a kiss on the cheek, slightly less rude. I suppose I was rude to be typing away on my laptop the night before when she was trying to sleep! She wanted to get up and hurry off, whereas I wanted to take my sweet time and enjoy the morning in “the other bay.” We had a nice continental breakfast and were on the road around 9am. I had some mail to sendwe needed to gas up so we stopped in Kakabeka falls. I drove for the first while but somewhere along the way we gained an hour, so that made it confusing. 

Our bickering became more entertaining and day 2’s disagreement almost caused me to choke on a peanut. I was frustrated about something and dramatically threw a handful of trail mix into my mouth, which sent a peanut flying further into my throat than it should have gone at the time. It was not a good idea, especially not while driving. We then burst into laughter and I had a difficult time opening my eyes. It turned into a beautiful moment for us both. Mid-afternoon (either 2 or 3pm, depending on where you live) we pulled into a picnic area to eat our subs. I don’t consider myself to be a very high maintenance country girl - but where the heck are all of the handwashing stations? Shouldn’t outdoor toilets come with SOMETHING? Mom solved that issue for me at the next gas station stop - my vehicle is now fully loaded with wet ones!

In the Telus vs. Bell debate - Telus still has the gold...unless it has something to do with age? My 3G is not consistently providing me with service - so I’m sorry to any of you who feel ignored! Papa is t-bombing like a pro. He wins for best communicator and is serving as our travel guide from Niagara Falls! He says he likes to “watch us” on our journey and I think he’d love to be with us. Papa was with us when we selected this beautiful green Toyota Highlander and I’d like to let you all know that it’s serving us well so far on this trip. Once again - thanks for your prayers, especially to those of you who prayed for a Toyota! :)

We said goodbye to Ontario and were welcomed into Manitoba at 4:25pm (Ontario time). The scenery didn’t change right away but it quickly became flat with less trees. I enjoyed the view of the cloudy sky and it started to rain as we neared Portage. We are at another Days Inn, though this one is much older...I love the country style atmosphere and am looking forward to meeting my new home province tomorrow!

I heard from my boss and it’s a likely possibility that I won’t have a bed when we get to Patuanak...he said that we may have to stay somewhere else temporarily until the furniture gets sorted out. Here’s to adventure!