A Day of Surprising Emotion

Day #3 - Thunder Bay, Ontario - Winnipeg, Manitoba (700 km)

Northern road construction...

This was a day of surprising emotions.  We woke up early but in good spirits and hit the road by 7:30.  The scenery was definitely not as beautiful as yesterday's and with a not-so-good sleep last night and more infernal construction, I napped for the greater part of the morning, as did James and Patrick.  Charlotte enjoyed the morning with Daddy, and the two of them had some bonding time while the rest of us snoozed.  There was some farmland again, but just small pockets and the farms were not very large, at least in the Ontario portion of our trip.

"Mmm.....Donuts" - Homer Simpson

While we lived in Longlac, we became very partial to Robin's Donuts, which is a chain in the North as beloved, if not more beloved, than Tim Horton's.  You know how sometimes you have a memory of something that was so incredible and then you re-live that memory and you're kind of sad because it's not as good as you remembered?  Well, the kids were eating their Robin's donuts this morning and their shining eyes and big smiles said it all.....some things will always be just fine, and Robin's Donuts will always be better than Tim Horton's, but as for coffee....I'll take my Timmy's any day!

We made good time along Highway 17 to Kenora, which was our lunchtime destination.  Gramma Wilson was born and raised in Kenora, and we promised her we would visit various places, chief of which was to visit the Ukrainian Catholic cemetery to show the kids their various deceased relatives.  We saw Gramma Wilson's parents' headstone, Jack and Nettie Lough (pronounced law).  My nephew Jack is named for him and one of Charlotte's middle names is Anastasia, of which Nettie is a short form.  We also saw the little lamb headstones which mark the graves of Gramma's two little brothers, who both died tragically when they were babies; one died of what is now called SIDS and the other drowned in the river that ran through their backyard. We also saw the headstones of other relatives, some of who died well before their time and others who lived long and fulfilling lives.  While we were there, out of the blue this wall of emotion hit me and I looked over and saw Greg experiencing the same thing.  It is our experiences which shape us, and whatever doesn't kill us just makes us stronger.  This shed some light on particular people in our lives and made us realize how lucky we have been over the last few months.

Charlotte and the deer

While Greg was looking for the headstones of his family, the rest of us were taking some time to get out of the van.  We noticed that a doe was approaching us rather hesitantly, and Charlotte put her hand out to it. The doe was wary, but you could tell she wanted to trust us, and got within two feet of Charlotte before it bolted.  It was one of those amazing moments when you can't help but smile at the wonder of it all.  Greg was searching for the headstones but he saw what was happening and caught the moment on film.

"Hi Gramma!"

Another item on our list of things to do for Gramma was to go to the Greek restaurant downtown Kenora and have lunch.  Most of us 'went Greek' and enjoyed our pita wraps with various fillings, and we were especially impressed with the tzatziki sauce! Just before this photo was taken, we were going to ask the server to take our picture as a group, but the servers were talking about how they have to take group photos way more now than ever before and how annoying it gets so I took the pic myself.

It was especially important to Gramma Wilson that the kids have their picture taken in front of Huskie the Muskie because the little garden around the base of the statue is where Gramma and Grampa had their wedding photos taken, and she wanted the kids to see that.  There was a lovely mixture of rock and flower gardens right beside the lake, and while we were enjoying the grounds, a few airplanes flew over us and landed on the lake.  The kids really enjoyed that, plus it was beautiful and warm out.  It was lovely to finally have some heat to the day, especially after the unseasonably cold temperatures throughout Ontario.

Once we loaded back into the van, Greg and I experienced another wave of emotion, which was when we saw the

Hello Manitoba!

kilometres to the Manitoba border rapidly ticking down.  At six kilometres, Greg looked over at me and asked if I was okay.  We both wiped our tears and held hands as we said our silent good-byes to Ontario.  No matter where we may go, we will always call it home.

I have to admit, I didn't really know what to expect in Manitoba.  I knew it was flat and that there were lots of fields, so I was surprised to see lots of scrub trees, mainly birch and black spruce, and forestland.  Eventually, the rock decreased and then, all of a sudden, we drove out of the trees and there it was - flat, prairie land as far as the eye could see!  There was all kinds of farm equipment in use as the next cutting of hey was being cut and bailed.  After a while, we could see the skyscrapers of Winnipeg emerge on the horizon, and we just kept our eyes on that until all of a sudden, it was upon us!

Once we checked into our hotel in Winnipeg, the kids' jaws hit the ground when they saw the swimming area!  It had a water slide, a whirlpool with a current that sent you around in circles, and loads of other fun fountains and splash equipment in which to have

loads of fun. After chasing Charlotte around the whirlpool I was tired and hungry, as were the kids.

I am pleased to report Day Three of our journey was a success. We plan to take the kids swimming once more in the morning before we hit the road. Like the Robin's donuts, some things are even better when you experience them again!