Brief Update from Canada

This is Susan, writing from Quebec. I have had no phone service in Canada until today but will write a quick summary of the first days of our trip.

Thursday, 8/10
We spent our first night with dear friends from Bolivia, Kevin and Elaine Brown.

Friday, 8/11
We had no trouble crossing the Canadian border. They didn’t even notice we had a dog! We arrived in Macgregor, Manitoba, and it was wonderful to see Natasha, Joel, Nathaniel, and Benjamin! What a privilege to hold our two great grandsons!

Saturday, 8/12
We spent the whole day with Natasha and family. We drove about an hour and a half to Riding Mountain National Park, enjoying beautiful clouds and sunshine, alternating with rain. We enjoyed the views of fields of yellow sunflowers and canola, along with sweet, corn, oats, barley, and potatoes. Lovely countryside! We took a long hike and got back to the car just in time to miss a downpour. We enjoyed great hamburgers and fries on Clear Lake and walked out onto the pier. The lake is stream- fed and up to 134 feet deep.

Sunday, 8/13

Joel fixed crepes before we attended church with them at West End church. After a quick grilled cheese sandwich, we headed east across Canada. At 3 PM we passed the longitudinal center of Canada. Soon after Winnipeg, we entered forest and wilderness. Near the Ontario border there was a sudden change with beautiful rocks and lakes surrounding us as we drove. We arrived at Rushing River provincial Park at 5 PM to set up for our first time camping on this trip. It was 74° with the sun peeking out. Absolutely gorgeous! Before supper we walked about 1 1/2 km on Beaver Pond Trail. We had the trail to ourselves except for a garter snake eating a live frog right in front of us. Our camping mattress is super comfy! Chilly night, so thankful for our warm Eddie Bauer sleeping bag!

We will try to write more today. It is challenging without our normal technology. We do have some new photos on the "Photos" page.