Friday, October 15, 2010

October 15, 2010. Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.

No line at the border at all. Just welcome to Canada and have a great visit.. It took thirty seconds.

The Peace Gardens are impressive, but at least it would be if any flowers were in bloom. Today all the leaves are off the trees and all the ducks have headed south, but the parkland itself is lovely and well worth the visit.

In the country, the homes in Manitoba and North Dakota are always surrounded by trees, of course being used as a wind break. You can barely see the home for the trees. This is true whether the home is small or large, or big or small. And the barns are quite close to the home itself. In Newfoundland we saw the same thing. The home was built on the ocean but the home was surrounded by trees so there was no view at all. The same is true on the great plains. You can see for ever across the flat terrain but when you are inside the homes, all you can see is the trees, that are very close to the house itself. The winter storms must be severe, with strong winds and much snow. Every large field also has a long wind break of trees, separating the fields and protecting the crops. This weather must be fierce.

Tonight we will have dinner with Darwin and Wanda and their son and of course Wilma and Keith. We have not seen Darwin in seventeen years, their son, and had never met his wife Wanda and their son. It is always nice to see relatives. And tonight we have tickets to the hockey game. Great fun indeed.

We made the whole journey on Highway 281 from Texas to Manitoba. I must say, it was a lovely drive. We discovered that driving four hours a day was a breeze and a luxury. We might leave early just to ease the drive home to Texas.

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