Last night was finally warm enough to have a window slightly open. Woke up to bright sunshine streaming in the windows once we took down all the curtains. We can hear the loons this morning. That alone has made my day.
Since we are only 3 1/2 hours to Winnipeg, we are going to spend some time in Kenora first. We need to restock our fresh food supply. I still have enough homemade muffins/scones/cookies in the freezer that I brought from home and my sister-in-law gave me in Timmins. Enough for at least another week. We eat well when we camp. Lunch might be a quick meal along the way at a Tim Hortons or a diner, but breakfast and dinner we usually eat in camp, simple meals. We eat a lot of salads, meat/fish we can BBQ, fresh fruits and vegetables for the most part.
Kenora, ON
Kenora previously named Rat Portage (French: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about 210 km (130 mi) east of Winnipeg by road. The history of the name extends beyond the time of white settlers arriving in the region. The name Rat Portage had its origin in the Ojibwa name Waszush Onigum, which roughly translated, means portage to the country of the muskrats. A shortened and somewhat corrupted version, Rat Portage, was adopted by the Hudson’s Bay Company in naming their post, then located on Old Fort Island on the Winnipeg River. When the post was moved to the mainland and a town grew up around it, the name Rat Portage was assumed by the community.
Forestry, tourism and mining are the three largest sectors of the Kenora economy. The population balloons in the spring and summer to almost double the normal population when summer residents move in. The Lake of the Woods and numerous smaller lakes situated all around Kenora are the major draw for cottagers who summer here. Many are from the neighbouring province of Manitoba and the state of Minnesota.
After leaving Kenora, it took about an hour to get to the Manitoba border… finally!
The landscape of Manitoba didn’t change much for the first hour. We drive through Whiteshell Provincial Park named after the cowrie shells the natives gathered on the lakes here for wampum. We stopped at Mcgillivary Falls trail head for a walk and our first roadside picnic lunch on this trip.
Almost as soon as we left the boundaries of the park, we emptied into flat farmland, just like that.
We have a nice campsite. Quite private. Very windy. Keeps the bugs away. I spent about an hour preparing egg bites for our next few breakfasts, cleaned up the inside of the van etc.. By cleaned up I mean washed the floor, cleaned the mats, tidied up the fridge and the food cupboards. The van is never messy. In such a small space, everything has its place and is put away every day. Also did some email, some hand quilting and now my blog.
Life is good!
Tomorrow is our day in Winnipeg. We have been here a few times and we don’t need to ‘tour’ it again. I do however want to visit the Human Rights Museum which is new since we were last here and the area around ‘the Forks’. More about that tomorrow.
Just starting to see some smoke from the Alberta fires although the wind is driving it elsewhere. The sun last night was red again. Not sure about tonight.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
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