A MEMORABLE VISIT

We’re in Winnipeg primarily to visit my Camino Brother, Len.  Having met in 2015 while walking the pilgrimage on Camino de Santiago in Spain, we have each paid visits to our respective homes.  The connection one has with other pilgrims while walking across Northern Spain is long lasting and a special relationship one can only understand by experiencing the Camino for themselves.  So, we visit Winnipeg and Len and his wife Janet are the best of hosts.

Our first day was spent dodging the rain which we did with a tour along the Red River.  We made a stop at the St Andrews Church Rectory Museum, which depicted the history of the area.  Of course any drive in the countryside wouldn’t be complete without a stop for ice cream at a roadside diner.  The following day, with clear skies, we took a look at downtown Winnipeg with it’s many old historic buildings.  For lunch a Canadian staple Poutine, which if you haven’t tried it, it’s a must at least once. But be carful, it sorta grows on you and the desire for more can be irresistible.  Consisting French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds in it’s simplest and original form, it can be taken up a notch or two with just about any other ingredients one desires.  With a calorie count up to a billion, depending on ingredients, a 500 mile bike ride would be required as a counter measure.

Winnipeg is home to the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League and as luck would have it they were playing a pre-season game later in the evening.  Len just happen to be a fan and a season ticket holder.  So while the girls stayed home to watch a chick flick, the boys headed to the game.  With an official Jets jersey provided by Len, I fit right in with the locals as long as I didn’t start chanting, “we want a touchdown”.  Anyway, a really fast paced game, interrupted about every 10 minutes or so, with the shovel crew skating around the arena scraping off the loose ice.  In the end, Jets win over the Calgary Flame 4 to 1.

Also in store was a trip up to Lake Winnipeg for fish and chips and later because it was my birthday, ice cream.  Made from the local fish pickerel it is on par with any good white fish.  The area around the lake that we visited is home to what seemed like thousands of “cabins” owned by local families.  On our visit, most are vacant as the beach season is over in Manitoba.

We were treated like royalty during our stay, with many home cooked meals prepared by Janet.  Before leaving, Len, who considers himself a vintner of fine wines, gifted me two bottles of his Pilgrim’s Merlot.  At the appropriate time, each will be opened for a toast to Len, Janet and to Pilgrims everywhere.

As I write this, we are now at Itasca Lake State Park, in Minnesota.  It is here where the mighty Mississippi begins in long and winding journey to the Gulf of Mexico.  You can walk across the river at it’s source, but with the wind blowing and the air temperature hovering around 45, we opted to stay dry.  After our visit here we will be heading south looking for warmer climes and more opportunities to take a hike, ride a bike or paddle a kayak.

THE PUSH NORTH

In the past it was our custom when leaving on a trip to leave early, like “oh dark thirty” early.  Our thought was to get through the desert, which you must past through to get just about anywhere from Southern California, before the heat.  So up and out the door at 4 was our mantra.  As we got older the departure time began to be later and since we’re retired, what’s the rush anyway.  So instead of trying to get 500 miles under our belts on the first day, we usually settled for a respectable 350.

But this trip is different.  We are headed to Winnipeg, Canada to visit my Camino Brother Len and his wife Janet.  It’s 2000 miles from home to Winnipeg and we want to get there and then back south before winter sets in.  Now, Len tells me the weather is fine and it won’t be winter for some time.  But in the next sentence he’s telling me about how they winterized their cabin at the lake on the 1st of September.  Why is this Len?  Then I find out he has winterized his RV.  I’m thinking it’s not called Winterpeg for no reason, so we’re gonna get there, stay about a week and get outta there before it’s time to go ice fishing.  This past winter Len sent me a message one day saying the it was colder in Winnipeg than at the North Pole!  I’m not taking any chances.

So, we’re out the door at 4 am heading north on I-15.  With a stop for breakfast in Victorville and fuel in Barstow we pretty much drove straight through to Beaver, Ut.  After an overnight there, we continued on to Laramie, WY for a quick visit to our grandson McKyle who is a student at the University of Wyoming. (Go Pokes).  He has only been there for two weeks, but Cathie was all ready missing him so we had to stop.  We got a tour of the campus, took a look at McKyle’s cramped living conditions in the dorm.  We shared a couple of meals, giving him a break from a collage student’s menu of Top Ramen, before continuing north.

As is our custom we try to stay of secondary roads on our travels which we did after leaving Laramie.  Years ago I read a book called Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon.  He wrote about his journey in a van around the US, traveling on highways the on road maps were in blue as opposed to the major routes that were depicted in red.  It is a better way to see America and it our preferred way of exploring our country.

So we continued north traveling through vast cattle ranches in Wyoming.  We overnighted in Spearfish, South Dakota then onward as the landscape leveled out in the Dakotas and the ranches gave way to vast fields of hay, corn and soybeans.  This is the American Heartland.  More recently called “fly over country”, to me this is the best of our country.  Friendly people who wave as they pass going the other directions.  The woman who was working in her garden who stands and waves to us as we pass.  Small towns where the gas station attendant still pumps the gas and washes your windows.  Where many communities offer campsites free or a small fee for an overnight stay.  My kind of travel.

A MUST STOP

FREE CAMPING

Our last day before arriving Len and Janets was spent dodging thunderstorms.  The weather report said it was a possibility later in the day, but a few arrived early.  So by watching the radar on the iPad we were able to pull over and seek shelter beside a building as the storm approached.  So, we waited out several storms in local coffee shops and what was to be a 4 hour drive turned into 8.  But eventually we arrived a Len and Janet’s and we are now safely ensconced in their driveway enjoying some fine Canadian hospitality.

UPDATE....UPDATE

Well, we have good news.  No, British Air didn't send a special flight just for us, but they did refund all of our airfare.  The car rental refunded everything we paid them as did our hotel in London.  Also the Mac's Adventures, with whom we booked our walk, refunded 50% of our fee.  And today, the trip insurance folks, Allianz Global Assistance, approved our claim in full and in 10 days!  The have already deposited the funds directly into our bank account.  So when all is said and done, we only lost the experience of going, we didn't loose any money.

WE'RE OFF TO ENGLAND.......OPPS, NO WE'RE NOT

After months of planning, reservations and deposits made, we were headed off to England for 5 weeks.  The plans included a 12 day walk on the Cleveland Way, then a rental car for the rest of the trip with stays in B&B's in various locations.  We're all set, Right?..............Not if British Air has anything to say about it.

Turns out the pilots decided to go on strike.  And for how long is this strike you ask?  It's only three days and those days are not consecutive.  Huh?  Yep, that how they strike in the UK, a day here, a day there.  As luck would have it one of the days they picked was September 9th.  Well we were leaving on the 8th, so we should be good to go.  Nope, not so fast.  You see, we leave on the 8th, but we would still be in the air on the 9th and rather than having the pilots just leave the cockpit mid-flight, our flight was cancelled.  Oh, British Air said that they would re-book us, but since they were on strike the 9th, we couldn't get re-booked until the 10th......maybe.  That would mean that we would arrive on the 11th, the day we were to check in to our first lodging at the start of our walk, in Northern England.  Well, that was impossible and with 12 nights of hotels and B&B's booked for each night of our walk, that just sucked.  So we decided to cancel.  There's always next year, right?

Anyway, British Air is refunding our tickets and because they couldn't get us there in time, they have to give us $700 each for the convenience.  We've got trip insurance, so we should be reimbursed for lost deposits.  The outfit that set up our walk refunded half their charges and trip insurance will pick up the rest.  So, on the bright side, we'll be $1400 ahead once everything gets paid back.

What to do now?  You guessed it, we'll hook up the RV and get out of town.  We leave in a week and figured we might make it to New Orleans, since we cancelled going there last year.  Since Winnipeg, Canada is on the way, if you take the long route, we will stop in there for a visit with my fellow pilgrim Len and his wife Janet.  Minnesota sounds interesting in the Fall, perhaps some kayaking in one of the 10,000 lakes.  Of course our Grandson left for collage last week, so we'll have to swing by the University of Wyoming on the way a pay him a visit.  And who knows where we'll end up.  That  folks, is why its called, Gassaway's Adventures.

Stay tuned.........................