Winnipeg, who knew it was so awesome?

June 7, 2016


After a brief stop in Paris (of the prairies, aka Montmartre, Saskatchewan) we made it across the border to Manitoba.  We were welcomed by Manitoba's 'friendly' skies and big beautiful...ahem, roads.  The 'Welcome to Manitoba' sign on highway 48 was nothing to write home about and we didn't notice it until it was too late to stop to take a picture, so maybe we'll catch it on the way back.


We arrived at our pre-booked Winnipeg RV park and campground in the late afternoon and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the playground while Lori made dinner.  Unfortunately during that same time period our one and only set of keys to the motorhome went missing.  Why would you rent a huge motorhome and only have one set of keys?  That's a good question.  I don't know.  Lori calmly retraced our steps while I embraced my full blown panic attack and walked a grid pattern over the playground staring at the ground all the while contemplating what it would be like to have a permanent vacation place just outside of downtown Winnipeg.  The keys turned up just before dark.  They were inside of a bike helmet in a storage compartment located outside the motorhome.  Weirdest thing. (Lori - He's blaming me because he should. Oops.  He no longer lets me use the keys.) 

Winnipeg has some terrific public spaces and attractions in the Forks area.  Today we parked the motorhome downtown, which was an adventure in its own right, and checked out an outdoor playground, the Children's Museum and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.  

Missing from this photo: Greg, who is taking the photo and Sawyer who is standing to Greg's right, yelling at him.

Parker picked up a temp job doing construction to help pay for some of the costs. He loved the digger Ryan!!

For me the highlight of the day had to be the human rights museum.  The galleries are deeply moving and the building itself is incredible.  We're grateful for the opportunity to bring our kids here to learn about the things in life we take for granted.  Grace and Sawyer recorded a video message about education rights for girls and I was impressed that they grasped a bit of what human rights are all about.  Parker is too young to understand but he enjoyed guiding his brother around in a rented stroller just the same.

Tomorrow we cross over into Ontario enroute to Kenora.  Did you know that Kenora was named 'Rat Portage' until 1905?  No, you probably did not know that.  Here are some other pics from the playground at The Forks.