The day we arrived in Regina we discovered Neil and Nancy from High River, AB had driven through Regina on their way to Kenora ON at the same time as we were setting up the RV. We have known them for over 30 years and heard about their camp on Lake of the Woods. They pointed out that Kenora is only an 8 hour drive from Regina. Hmmm?
We have options and very few scheduled dates. Let’s go!
Tuesday, June 24th we started getting ready to head east when Ralph noticed the surge protector was flashing red. That usually means the power from the park is a problem. The maintenance man checked the park source and confirmed it was OK. Well, we will check it when we arrive in Winnipeg. In Winnipeg it was still giving the same message so we contacted a local RV repair centre but no appointments were available until Wednesday.
We decided to leave the RV in Winnipeg while we were in Kenora. We only needed power to keep the fridge running so left everything off and set out for Kenora, now only a 2-hour drive.
As we drove east the scenery changed very quickly, with bedrock showing in many places as we approached the Canadian Shield.
There are miles and miles of trees, muskeg and rock.
It is a rather desolate drive on that stretch of the Trans Canada with only a few small communities and no Telus cell service.
We left Surrey May 10th. Since then we have only had one full day of sunshine. We have been waiting for summer and thought we had brought it to Kenora with us. As we approached the city we were blinded by blue sky and sunshine. It is on Lake of the Woods and is a summer tourist destination. At the waterfront we saw a brand new restaurant surrounded by water. It is supposed to be ON the shore, not IN the water.
Neil and Nancy have a cabin on Coney Island, less than a 5 minute boat ride from the city.
Their cabin has all the comforts of home plus a beautiful, peaceful view of the lake and forest.
A friend of theirs made very good use of stumps in the yard.
We saw deer crossing the lawn and heard many birds. The highlight was seeing a turtle that had come ashore to lay her eggs.
Thursday dawned overcast and muggy - so much for sunshine. Neil always has a project underway. Ralph was able to help him and have an opportunity to work hard and feel good about it.
We made time for a patio break in Kenora to enjoy local beer and food in the converted fire station.
The men were very productive and the ladies caught up on family news and life in general. We walked to the beach and saw the floating docks being weighted down to keep them from floating away.
The owners likely did not expect to use the large blue flowerpots as dock weights.
The water was cold but some people made the best of the weather.
Friday the men kept working despite the mosquitos. We have been spoiled in Surrey with very few bugs. This was a refresher about mosquitos and lots of water. Nancy and I escaped to Kenora to check out the local shops.
Saturday Ralph helped Neil as much as possible then we headed to the boat. The lake had continued to rise and water was sloshing over the dock.
I like to be on the water, not in it. That was a bit unnerving.
We really enjoyed our visit and finally seeing their camp after hearing about it over so many years of friendship.
We checked out Husky the Muskie and headed west.
That was our farthest point east in this adventure.
