Summer plans, part 9: Back through Ontario

Part 1 - The prep

Part 2 - The trip west

Part 3 - Okanagan

Part 4 - Smithers

Part 5 - Eastbound

Part 6 - The badlands

Part 7 - Saskatchewan & Manitoba

Part 8 - Assiniboine Park Zoo

Part 9 - Back through Ontario

Our short stay in Winnipeg was over. We made our way to the Forks Market for a peek and a quick breakfast, then took a little eight-hour drive to Thunder Bay.

In Thunder Bay, we had booked the seedy 2-star Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel in a lousy part of town. It had very few redeeming qualities. We found a restaurant down the street, where we were seated at an outdoor patio next to the sidewalk. A homeless guy decided we were worth talking to, so we didn't get a whole lot of quiet time. I tried to buy him dinner; actually I did, but he was gone when his food arrived and still gone when we departed, so I can only hope he came around to collect his free meal.

Waterfront view but no access, as the walkway was closed.

Anyway, if you're in Thunder Bay, I wouldn't suggest this hotel. Lily and I did better tenting 45 minutes away at Kakabeka Falls park a month earlier. I guess if that was among the worst of our summer experiences, we can count ourselves blessed.

Then it was off to Wawa, less than six hours down Highway 17. Halfway there, we stopped for lunch at Pebble Beach in the town of Marathon. Can't say I understand why they named the beach after pebbles.

Beach of giant pebbles

Once we reached Wawa, we had a job to do: find lodging! This was one of the few times we were winging it, and we hoped we could find a place easily enough. Well, that turned out not to be the case. We called or visited every motel around, but everything was full. We went on to Lake Superior Provincial Park, but it too had nothing for that night. So back we went to Wawa and finally found a private campground where we could rent a little bunkhouse, basically a shed with a few beds. This was one step up from camping and didn't cost much more, so we happily took it.

The next morning we headed a little ways down the highway to Lake Superior Provincial Park. Carrie has always wanted to do some hiking along the shoreline, so that was our plan for the day. We got a couple hours of hiking in.

The trail wended in and out of the forest.

Boardwalks kept us dry.

Once we were done with exercise, we headed to the campground to find our spot for the night. This one we had booked in advance. Strangely, things seemed pretty booked up online, but there were a ton of empty campsites to be seen.

Giant beaches. These were more pebbly.

Drinking tomato soup for supper.

Chillin'

After a night of camping, it was finally time to get home. We drove 10 hours with hardly any breaks. Turns out this driver needs more pee breaks than his wife and daughters; they do make great travel companions, even if I don't haha!

Donut break.

And then it was done. Lily and I spent just shy of six weeks away, Carrie and Nora a little less. The Suburban was of course the ultimate road trip vehicle, and we put on 12,000 km with nary a hiccup. I would totally do this again.

Summer plans, part 8: Assiniboine Park Zoo

Part 1 - The prep

Part 2 - The trip west

Part 3 - Okanagan

Part 4 - Smithers

Part 5 - Eastbound

Part 6 - The badlands

Part 7 - Saskatchewan & Manitoba

Part 8 - Assiniboine Park Zoo

It was a lovely day to spend at the zoo, so that's what we did. Every kid (and adult) should get to see a zoo. It wasn't exactly cheap, but my research tells me it probably doesn't get much better than this one. Zoos are crazy expensive.

They had antlered guests...

Rudolph? Is that you?

...guests that would happily snack on the antlered guests...

Wolves survey their domain.

They had felines...

Soooo cuddly!

The cat of many names.

Just pretend you can see the tiger. He was not cooperative.

...and other fluffy creatures...

Red panda. Not a bear like the giant panda, but more like a raccoon.

The close-up.

And some horned characters...

Blizzard the white bison.

Musk ox selfie.

Sichuan takin.

The aquarium was near/below the polar bear pen, and the bears were supposed to swim around and let us see them from below. I guess they didn't get the memo or were too modest. Too bad for us.

Looks like this one didn't make it. Did they forget he's supposed to live in water?

Some birdies...

A sad-looking eagle

Mmm... clean water.

There was a butterfly garden, but there wasn't much going on in there.

An obligatory photo.

Monkeys!

Well, at least one.

They had a dinosaur section for some reason.

That rope should keep him in.

Looks legit.

Complete with sounds and a bit of movement, the dinos were a hit.

And that, friends, was our visit to the zoo. We had to visit some pens multiple times before we caught a glimpse of the animal hiding inside, but I think we managed to see everything we'd hoped to.

Summer plans, part 7: SK, MB

Part 1 - The prep

Part 2 - The trip west

Part 3 - Okanagan

Part 4 - Smithers

Part 5 - Eastbound

Part 6 - The badlands

Part 7 - Saskatchewan & Manitoba

Eastward bound, we hit the province of Saskatchewan.  Our next stop was Moose Jaw, where we stayed at the same inn that Lily and I had used on our way west a month earlier.

Back in the pool!

Complimentary breakfast

We spent some time downtown, checking out the murals that grace a lot of the buildings.

Next up was a visit to the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, a theatrical tour about Prohibition-era goings-on with links to Al Capone. No photos were allowed; it was quite worth seeing.

Then, downtown's Crescent Park treated us to some impressive sculptures carved out of the trees.

When Moose Jaw exhausted itself of cool stuff to offer, we hit the road again. This time we were headed to humbler accommodations: camping! As we drove towards Spruce Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba, the weather turned and we enjoyed driving through copious amounts of rain; we hadn't seen much (any?) rain in weeks. Despite the wet welcome, we enjoyed camping out for a night.

Sandy environs

Nearby was the Spirit Sands trail, a hike through the province's sand dunes. Walking in sand isn't particularly easy, but maybe it helped that it was wet. The downside of wet was, well, that we got wet! Rain was in the forecast, and it definitely found us.

Carrie was so gung-ho to hike, she even offered to carry Nora.

Had the weather been nice we would have spent more time exploring, but it was not to be. Once we were drenched, we called it quits and went back to the car to dry off and move on. We were already packed up from camping, so we started the two-hour drive to Winnipeg.

Soaked.

Ooh, it's Holland!

Winnipeg! The wonderful land of, um, I don't actually know. I do recall some restaurants and some zoo stuff.

We'd booked at the Victoria Inn, a hotel with a pool and waterslides. It was a busy place, unlike all the other hotels we'd been to. And the pool area... what a zoo! Insanely loud and busy. We let the kids have their hour in the water before we hauled them away.

I think they're happy?

One evening for dinner we went to P.F. Chang's, a Chinese chain I'd heard of but had never been to before. It was okay. Carrie had seen a busy Indian restaurant but the wait time was too long. Instead, we did a late lunch the next day at the Indian place. It was very good and enjoyed by all!