Well, what a fantastic three relaxing days we have just spent with Miss W’s genealogy friend, Just M and her husband Jim.
Last time Miss W visited Just M, she lived in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan but now she has moved to a small town that is SOOOO quiet at night. It is about 30 miles from the border with the USA.
One thing we have noticed, all the roads are either North/south or East/west which makes it really easy to find your way around. Even Mrs Watanabe couldn’t get lost here. If you go travelling south then east, to get home you go west and north. We must have travelled every gravel road south of Brandon and Winnipeg during the last few days. We even drove over an old disused railway line for about 10 miles. Just M doesn’t like the narrow rail bridges but she drove extremely well.
In fact we have travelled the world – we visited Holland, Miami, Killarney in the Emerald Isle and even went through Deloraine which is near my old stomping ground. Miss W and Just M even went gambling at the Sky Dancer Casino run by an Indian tribe near Belcourt in USA. They wouldn’t take me in because I am not 21 years old.
Yep, we crossed the border for the day – Miss W had to fill in a form at the crossing at Snowflake but she told the officer, she had already filled in one of these that would last 90 days. Eventually the officer realised the stamp in the passport was for this year not last year as he misread it.
We also visited the International Peace Garden which is on the border between Canada and USA. The North loop which has been left in its natural state is in Canada and the south loop, which contains both a music and an athlete camp, is in the USA. Even though very few flowers were in bloom, it was great to be able to stand with one foot in Canada and the other in the USA. SnowyBob, Miss W’s dad, left a comment asking for a picture of us on the 49th parallel, so we are going to put that in a separate post and ask our readers to suggest a caption for the picture.
The other really interesting thing we did was visit a Hutterite colony. This is a religious group who are virtually self sustainable in their way of life. Produce all their own food, have electricias, plumbers, carpenters etc, their own school, a communal cooking and eating area. Just M, her friend Monique, Miss W and I were lucky enough to have a tour of one of the local colonies. Miss W even got a chance to visit the school where students still follow the curriculum set by Manitoba education. In grades 9-12 they participate in an online version of education over a TV channel. The students sang three songs for us, two in English and one in German which is their first language. Miss W told them a bit about Australia and left them some stamps and a book about Tasmanian Devils.
On our last night, we headed over to the local hotel which Monique owns. They let me in because I am nearly 18 days old – but the locals plied me with the Canadian beer.
I am afraid Miss W was rather embarrassed by my behaviour. I am going to have to behave myself next time we are in a motel bar, if ever we get there. So sorry, Miss W, I won’t do it again. I just kept looking at those deer head in the bar and the locals kept filling my glass. I didn’t realise I had drunk so much.
Please remember to leave a comment about something highlighted – but not when you got drunk (hiding head in shame)
Miss W and Davo what an awesome experience to have you both visit us for 3 days.
So many roads travelled, so many laughs, so much fun.
I thought the coolest thing I learned at the school was that after classes ended for the day that the students each had their own job cleaning the school. The were almost done by the time we were done our goodbyes with the teachers. Amazing that they have no janitor.
Davo I am so sorry I upset you teasing that I was going to kidnap Miss W and leave you on the American side of the bench. I think maybe the stress from that, being left all alone in the van while we had fun and ate dinner, being tired from all the driving in the country and not having anything to eat is why that Canadian beer hit you so fast and hard. But is is ok as the locals found it pretty entertaining even if Miss W didn’t. Everyone is allowed to make a mistake once – right? Thank you for forgiving me, I was worried you would leave me with hard feelings.
It was a wonderful time Miss W and Davo, we only wish you could have stayed longer.
Thanks for a great and fun time. Have a safe journey.
Dear Miss W and Davo,
Oh my, I laughed and laughed when I read your post! While having roads go only N/S and E/W is helpful, I’d still need my GPS because if I pulled over to fill up the tank with gas (petrol), I’d have a 50% chance of getting back on the road going in the right direction. If the gas station is on a corner, then I only have a 25% chance of continuing in the right direction. Unfortunately, that occurs even if I’ve been there before. Hence, the need for 3 GPS, just in case one is misinformed of the roads. With that said, do you suppose I’d only need one GPS there?
Kind regards,
Tracy