Day 4 was an amazing day starting in Winnipeg and heading to Riding Mountain Provincial Park. It was already in the low 50′s when we left Winnipeg and headed west. The first 50 miles or so were pretty bland, all Interstate on the Trans-Canadian Highway until we could turn north toward the park.

By the time we got to the part, it was in the 70′s and headed toward 80. We stopped to take off our jackets to enjoy the gorgeous weather and blue skies. We never thought it would be this nice.

The scenery in the part was beautiful as well. The trees are already in advanced stages of color change, the grasses are all browning, in the sun, it all looked amazing.

We stopped at Moon lake in the part for a break and to take in the scenery. The water was like glass.

After leaving the park, we passed through some beautiful country. Hay seems to be the dominant agricultural pursuit here.

We stopped and had dinner at the Roblin Motor Inn. We ate relatively early, and we were lucky to do so. Apparently they were hosting some male strippers later in the evening. We didn’t want to be mistaken for the entertainment.

Tomorrow we will start heading back toward home and expect to spend the night in North Dakota after a brief foray into Saskatchewan.

Location:Roblin, MB Canada

After leaving Demidji this morning, we headed north up to the land of maple syrup and hockey. Crossing the border at Rouseau, MN was an easy affair, with just a couple questions asked by the friendly border agent. What was striking was the small size of the Canadian border shack compared with the American one. I’d say the American one was about 4 times larger, and had a stockpile of razor-wire next to it. What in the world is that for? In case Canada invades?

The temperatures hovered around 70 for most of the day today, and we found ourselves shedding layers as the day went on. We traveled westward on Canada 1, the Trans-Canadian Highway into Winnipeg. We got in about 6 PM and headed out to eat at “The Keg” Steakhouse. GOOD STUFF!! A couple drinks and some good steak, the over to look at the Fort Garry Hotel. Pretty impressive architecture for the canuks.

Finally we ended up back at the Country Inn and Suites where we planned for our day tomorrow, one that is supposed to be in the lower 70′s again. Killer stuff!!

I didn’t download pictures today, so I’ll try to put a few more up tomorrow.

until then…

Location:Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Location:Bemidji, MN

Just a reminder to look in the right sidebar at the bottom of the page to see my most recent flickr uploads. I’ll be posting from the trip when I can. Click on any image in the sidebar to see all my pics on Flickr…

Today was a short one in honor of the Bears vs. Packers game. We left Jason’s about 10 AM and started heading north after filling up with gas in Coon Rapids. West on US 10 and then north on MN 65, ending up in Bemidigi, MN at the Hampton INN and Suites where we got in about 3:00 P.M.

We are hanging out at the Green Mill restaurant and Bar next to the hotel so we can watch the Bears game. With 1:51 left in the 1st half we are losing 17-7 . We’ll catch them in the 2nd half.

We are heading to Winnipeg, Canada tomorrow and the discussion at the table to day is about whether we should base in Winnipeg and do a couple of day trips, or to head north, possible toward Flin Flon to see more of Canada.

Above is a picture of the beautiful Lake Bemidigi, home of Paul Bunyon.

Location:Bemidigi, MN

After much reflection on the weather over the past week, the group (Kent, Jeff, and I) decided to head north through Wisconsin and Minnesota into Canada rather than head to the Northeast and New England. This is the third year in a row that Kent and I have wanted to get out there to see the changing leaves but the weather just hasn’t cooperated with us.

After we departed my house about 10 AM, we headed west on I80 into Iowa where we turned north on US 61 and took that all the way up to the Twin Cities where we stayed at Jason’s house for the night. He is joining us for the rest of the trip.

What started out as a pretty easy going trip got a bit more in exciting where we had a small brush with some of Wisconsin’s Finest. Through some fast talking, I was barely able to keep Kent from going to prison.

The ride up along the Mississippi river was beautiful, but we didn’t get to catch the very end due to the sun going down.

We caught dinner at my favorite place in Coon Rapids, Acupulco’s resturant where I had the Chili Colorado and a goliath sized XX.

Today we are looking at heading toward the Canadian border with a stop somewhere along the way to try to catch the Green Bay/Chicago game if we can.

Location:Coon Rapids, MN

Migrated the blog to a new server today. The xserve was just too noisy in the office. On a Mac Mini now.