The Centre of North America
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2010
1
133
366
Trip End
Jul 13, 2012
Where I stayed
Travelers RV campsite
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
We arrived into a town called Neepawa and noticed that the fuel was cheaper here and also noticed that it was 06 cents cheaper than what the sign read making it even better. There was also a Safeway in town and so we decided to stock up so that we didn't have to hunt for one in Winnipeg. Fuelled and stocked up we headed off back on the road until we stopped for lunch and a McD's ice cream in a place called Portage la Prairie. One thing we hadn't noticed until we looked at our receipts, was that we had lost another hour, so it was really getting towards 3pm. After lunch we got back on Highway 1 heading east and started looking out for the campsites that I'd looked up yesterday. The first one we found was a bit closer than it said on the web-site but unfortunately, it was flooded. So we carried on to find the next one on the list which meant going through the city to find it not where google map told me it was! After asking a few people in a garage and getting nowhere, a chap came in and said, 'I know where that is, it's out on Highway 1'. It wasn't too far away, just on the wrong road! At the campsite office we booked in and mentioned the confusion to which they replied that if you were using a GPS the zip code comes up as another road and this happens a lot. A few minutes later, we were parked up in our spot and getting on with dinner.
20th July.
Got up at 8.15am, had breakfast, checked email and then headed off into downtown to find The Forks shopping centre to park. They do have a limit of 3hrs but apparently if you had a ”foreign” plate, ie not from Manatoba then they will let you park as long as you need as they're only trying to stop workers from parking there all day everyday. It is also the place that has a Visitor Centre in as well, so we headed there first. After the nice man gave us a map and a hand with our places to see, we headed off across the river to the french quarter, St Boniface. We had a walk round looking at the lovely buildngs including the grand looking University and part ruined Cathedral. Just before heading back we had a look at Fort Gibraltar and then walked back across the bridge, to the van for lunch. We'd been the 3hrs noted, so as not to chance fate we moved space and hoped that would be ok. After lunch we walked up to market square where the Winnipeg Fringe Festival was in it's second week and sat to watch a juggler and a strange french singing lady. We decided to leave the screeching behind and check out the infamous Exchange District. Well, we didn't think much of that and headed back to the other side of town to see the Manatoba Legislative Building. My what a lovely building and with some strange Sphinx statues on the front entrance and a Golden Boy on the roof. Every side of the building was quite different and by the water fountain there was a couple having their wedding photos taken. Just up from the building and also scattered around the city were some polar bear sculptures in all sorts of guises including one in beach wear under a brolly holding a salmon. Getting sore feet, we walked back to the van and decided to drive up to Winnipeg Lake 50 miles north for a swim and a nice spot for dinner.
