Friday 9-29 Having Fun!!!

We had a fun day in North Dakota

We woke up to fog. The fog was so thick we couldn't see the trees in the park or the highway so we hung around until the fog had lifted. While waiting we straightened up the Minnie. 

After spending the night at Archie Campbell Memorial Park we headed south to Jamestown, North Dakota. Larry did some research on different things to do in North Dakota and found they have the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown. Jamestown was 50 miles south of New Rockford and the museum didn't open until 10:00. We left the park around 9:00 and got to the museum about 10. We were glad they had signs to direct you to the museum because there was only one way in. Our GPS got us to Jamestown but tried to send us someplace that would not have been the museum. Larry had read that the museum was located in Frontier Village, which is a cute little town for tourists to walk around. It looked like an old west town with different buildings from that era and you can see how people lived during the era. There were a couple of shops for people to walk through and buy stuff. One was an antique shop with a lot of different leather items such as belts, wallets, hats,  moccasins and coats. Another shop had art items. The items in both shops were made locally. It was fun walking around the town and through the two shops. The biggest attraction in Frontier Village is the World's Largest Buffalo Monument, it is 26-feet tall, weighs 60 tons, it is made of steel and concrete. It's been watching over Jamestown since 1959. The statue is named Dakota Thunder. There is a herd of buffalo on site and there is a white buffalo in the herd. After walking around Frontier Village we walked through the museum. The museum was very nice. It had a twenty minute movie and exhibits about the American buffalo. The biggest attraction in the museum was the Albino buffalo which is known as Dakota Miracle. There is a viewing area, where you can see the herd of buffalo. We saw the herd and the white buffalo really stands out. We had fun walking around Frontier Village and the National Buffalo Museum.

Entrance to the National Buffalo Museum

Frontier Village

The World's Biggest Buffalo

The white buffalo 

The white buffalo exhibit in the museum

A tepee exhibit in the museum 

When we finished walking around we went back to the Minnie and had a sandwich. Then we continued south to Fargo. Fargo is the most populated city in North Dakota. Fargo got famous via the 1996 movie Fargo, it was about a murder where the body was destroyed in a wood chipper. The Visitor Center has the original chipper from the movie. It was a nice visitor center and the workers were very helpful They served freshly made popcorn and coffee.

A statue of a buffalo on the Visitor Center grounds 

The Visitor Center in Fargo

After picking up information in the Visitor Center we swung by Walmart, we did a little grocery shopping and picked up a chicken for dinner. We hadn't had a chicken from Walmart in a long time. Usually we when we're on our long trips we pick one up multiple times. We can get a couple of meals out of it. They're delicious. 

After doing our shopping we drove to Hankinson. Larry found a casino that is right outside of Hankinson called Dakota Magic. The RV parking area was closed due to the casino expanding but there was a truck parking area. We went to the truck parking and it was in a dirt area so we moved over to the main parking lot and parked there. After having dinner Larry walked me to the casino. It didn't have a non-smoking area which was very disappointing but I still gambled. I gambled for a few hours and did very well. I didn't lose any money, in fact I came out a little ahead. We had a very fun day.      

Thursday 9-28 Archie Campbell Memorial PArk

Early in the morning a rain storm came through and when we woke up the rain was still coming down. The forecast had not called for rain. We hung around in the Spirit Lake Casino parking lot waiting for the rain to go away. The weather channel said the rain was going to be gone by 9:00 and they were correct. 

Our next destination was only 40 miles away at Archie Campbell Memorial Park in New Rockford. As we were driving down the road our GPS stopped telling us where to go so Larry looked for a place to pull over to try to fix the problem. He found a place which happened to be Sully Hill National Game Preserve entrance. He was not able to fix the GPS but we decided to check out the game preserve.

In 1904 President Roosevelt made the Sully Hill a National Park. A few years later congress made it a wildlife game reserve and during the Great Depression in 1931 it was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service. It is 1674 acres of marshes and woods hill in the Spirit Lake Tribe reservation. It has 20-30 plain bison, 25-40 elk, 20-30 white-tail deer and a colony of prairie dogs. There is a short loop for cars to drive to see the reserve and a Visitor Center. We drove the loop. It was a beautiful loop with a lot of trees. We only saw one bison but we still enjoyed the drive.

The bison we saw

We arrived in New Rockford a little after 11:00 and went to town to fill up the Minnie with gas. Then we went to the Archie Campbell Memorial Park, which is the city park with RV sites with power for $12.00 a night. We were the only ones there so we had no problems getting a site. We setup for the night. It is a gorgeous park along the James River and is very well maintained. It has a swimming pool with a great slide, playground with a playscape, teeter totters, football field, baseball fields and a cool bridge that crosses over James River to get you from the RV area to the day area. After we had lunch we walked around the park. Then we went back to the Minnie and read. A little later I walked around for an hour. When I finished we went over to the restrooms to take a shower. The restrooms weren't heated but they were fine. The rain had left and the sun came out so it warmed them up. 

Camping at Archie Campbell Memorial Park

The bride that goes over the James River

The playscape for the kids

About 3:30 the football team showed up to practice. It such a small town that the high school only had nine players on the team. They practiced until 5:00. We watched them play a little. When they were getting ready to leave we had dinner. After dinner we went for another walk this time we walked through town. We had a very nice stay at Archie Campbell Memorial Park.          

Wednesday 9-27 Back in the United States

North Dakota Welcome Sign

After spending the night in Canada at Spruce Woods Provincial Park we headed towards the United States. We were going to spend a few more days in Canada but most of their Provincial park campgrounds were closed for the season. We were only 91 miles from the border.

We woke up to a beautiful sunshiny day. We hadn't had sunshine in a few days so it was nice. It didn't feel as cold as it has been in the morning. We had breakfast and then got the Minnie ready to go. The road out of the park going south was much better. Larry could drive the speed limit and not worry about tearing up the Minnie. As we were driving to the border we saw a coyote standing in a farmers field. When he saw that we stopped he ran.

We crossed the boarder on a small two lane highway. There were only two cars in front of us and we quickly moved up. The border patrol lady came inside the Minnie and checked the refrigerator to ensure we didn't have any fruits or vegetables. She was very friendly and even gave us a North Dakota travel guide. At the border crossing the Canadian's had a very small booth but the US had a really large facility.

We stopped in a parking lot of a convenience store and had a sandwich in the Minnie. After lunch we headed towards our next destination which was a county park for the night. As we were driving Larry saw a sign for the Spirit Lake Casino and he knows I like to gamble so we headed to it. We had to cross a big lake for a few miles. They had made a four lane road that went across the lake. As you drove on the road the lake was on both sides of the road. When we got to the casino we had a gorgeous view of the lake. I was only going to gamble a couple of hours and then we were going to move on but when I finished gambling we decided to stay considering it wasn't going to get too cold and we didn't need any power. We could stay in the parking lot for free. Well, I did return to the casino a couple more times to do some gambling. It was after midnight when I left the casino.

Entrance of the casino

The lake we drove over

I liked the casino because they had a smoking area, which was a room away from the main casino. It was nice to gamble and not smell of smoke when you leave. We had a great day.        

Tuesday 9-27 Spruce Woods Provincial Park

Overcast Day

We spent three nights at Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. We had a magnificent time hiking and walking around Wasagaming but it's time to move on. Our next adventure was Spruce Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba, which is about 110 miles away.

It was a little chilly, in the 30's so we took our time getting ready to leave, we left around 9:00. The drive was mainly two lane highways through rolling hills and farm fields. When we got to Brandon we stopped and filled the Minnie up with gas, there was a Tim Horton's donuts right next door so I walked over and got a couple of donuts. Next we found the Walmart and did a little grocery shopping, we weren't able to get everything we wanted considering they didn't have the items. Some items they simply don't have here in Canada. Afterwards I walked over to the Dollarama to check it out but left empty handed. I wasn't impressed by the store, it reminded me of a Michael's arts and craft store more than a dollar store. I will stick with Dollar Tree considering everything is $1.00. When I got back we had lunch.

After lunch we were back on the road. We drove on highway 5 to get to the park, it was the worse road we have driven on. In places it was so rough Larry couldn’t drive any faster than 15 mph. We had to drive many miles on it. At one point Larry was thinking about turning around and skipping Spruce Woods Park but he decided to continue on.

We arrived at Spruce Woods Provincial Park around 2:00 and drove around to find a site. We had no problem finding one. Once we found one with power we drove to the office and paid for a night. In Manitoba you have to get a day pass to use their parks and the day starts at midnight so we had to buy two day passes at $5 each and then pay for a night of camping. When we stayed at the parks in Alberta and Saskatchewan there was not a separate charge for day use, it was included in the camping. The lady in the office said we could buy a year pass for $40 or a three day pass for $12. They also charge for showers while the other provinces were free. We originally planned to stay in the park for three nights because there were hiking trails but it had rained and it was muddy so we decided to stay only one night. 

After resting for an hour we went on a walk around the campground to the day area. The day area was very nice with a beach, a dog beach, picnic area, educational area with a tepee and an area that looked like a fort for a vendor to sell food. It had a miniature golf course. We took a bridge over the river to get to the beach area. We thought it was so cool that there was a dog beach. By the time we got back to the site we had walked for an hour and a couple of miles. The walk was an easy walk.

The Dog Beach

Larry standing on the bridge to the beach and picnic area

The tepee we saw 

After resting Larry browned up some hamburger and put in some taco seasoning for our dinner. When we were finished with dinner I walked around the camping loops for 45 minutes to get my steps in. We had a long day but it ended up being real good. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!    

         

9-23-17 to 9-25-17 Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba

Moving on to a new adventure

Saturday 9-23-17

After spending 11 days in Saskatchewan Canada we moved on to Manitoba Canada. The campgrounds in Canada are closing for the season, most are already closed and by Oct 9th they will all be closed. 

As we were leaving Duck Mountain Provincial Park in Saskatchewan we dumped our tanks and filled the water tank. Our plan was to go about 50 miles to Duck Mountain Provincial Park in Manitoba, We drove 16 miles and the road turned to gravel so we decided not to go there, instead we decided to go to Riding Mountain National Park. We were planning to go there in a few days anyways. From where we turned around it was 145 miles away. That was ok we weren't in any hurry.

As we drove to Riding Mountain National Park we saw a few farmfields but they were more rolling hills than the ones we have been seeing. We saw a lot of trees full of fall colors. The roads were all two lane highways. Some were rougher then others. We stopped on the way and had lunch in the Minnie. 

When we got to the main entrance of Riding Mountain National Park there were no one manning it. We were headed to Wasagaming campground which was 33 miles across the park. The drive was very nice with a lot of beautiful forest scenery. We saw signs saying to watch for moose and we actually saw a cow and a calf on the side of the road. No one was behind us so we stopped and took pictures. When we started to move on the Minnie spooked the calf and it started to run but it didn't want to get too far away from mom. The mom didn't care and she kept eating the grass. The road was rough and at places they were working om the road. One place we had to stop and wait. It was a very nice drive to the campground.

Moose along the road

When we got to the campground we checked in at the gate. The gentleman manning the gate was very friendly and helpful. He explained where the hiking trails were. It's a big campground so Larry asked him to assign a site for us. It's a great site right by the bathroom. The bathrooms aren't heated but they do have showers. The campground is a couple of blocks away from Wasagaming. 

Camping in Riding Mountain National Park

Once we setup the Minnie we decided to walk to town. It's a quaint little town with shops, restaurants and a Visitor Center. We walked around town for about an hour. We walked through a few of the shops to see what they had to offer. We didn't buy anything but it was nice to walk through the shops. 

By the time we got back to the site it was time for dinner. After dinner I walked around the campground for an hour to get my 15,000 steps. Then we spent the rest of the evening reading and relaxing. We had another great day.

Rainy Day

Sunday 9-24-17

We didn't do too much today. The rain came in around midnight and stayed around the whole day. Larry and I spent the day inside bundled under a blanket reading a book. Around 3:00 the rain let up so Larry and I went for an hour walk around the campground. We walked through the full hookups part of the campground. When we got the bathrooms we checked to see if they were heated and they were. Then we walked around the no power sites. We continued walking around areas that were closed for the season. As we walked we saw some cool tent like cabins that you can rent. Each tent cabin had a gas heater and they also had a charcoal grill. While walking it started to sprinkle again so we looked around to see the fastest way back to our site. There is a bike trail that goes through the campground so we ended up taking it. It went through the trees so that protected us from the rain. Even though it rained all day and it didn't get out of the 40's we still had a good day. 

It's my birthday

Monday 9-25-17

Today is my birthday. I'm a year older and having a great time. My day was outstanding. 

We started the day with overcast skies but the rain was gone. The temperature was in the low 40's and is not going to be out of the low 50's. We couldn't do any hiking yesterday so we made up for it today.

After breakfast we went on a five mile hike. We started the hike from the campground to the town of Wasagaming. It was early and it's Monday so the street were very quiet. We walked through town to Clear Lake to the Lakeshore Hiking Trail. As we walked around the day area of the lake. We saw a cute little miniature golf course, tennis courts, rentals for paddle boats, the marina, the playground and a gazebo. The trail went along the banks of Clear Lake and through the trees. As walked through the trees we saw beautiful fall colors. The fall season is really short, they normally have snow before the middle of October. The trail itself was very easy to hike. At places it was a little challenging because of the tree roots and small hills. The trail took us to where people launch their boats. There was no wind so the lake was very smooth. When we got to where the trail goes to the marsh area we took the Ominnik Marsh Trail, it was a 1.18 mile loop. We took a floating boardwalk through the marsh. While walking the boardwalk there were a few places to stop and read about the marsh and its ecosystem. As we walked the boardwalk we saw a ferret running down the boardwalk and looking over the side of it. It looked like he was trying to figure out how to get off the boardwalk. After doing the boardwalk we took the Lakeshore Trail back to town. When we got to the boat ramp we rested a little bit. Then we continue our hike to town. 

The gazebo

The cute miniature golf course

The hiking trail we hiked

A view of the marsh from the boardwalk

Larry on the boardwalk

Once in town we decided to stop and get ice cream considering it was my birthday. We stopped in at the Lakehouse. When we were walking through town the other day we saw people eating ice cream cones. They were coming out of the Lakehouse. It was 11:30 and we thought maybe the Lakehouse would have sandwiches but they didn't. They only serve ice cream, coffee and pastries. Lakehouse is a motel and ice cream parlor. They had a lot of different flavors of ice cream. We decided to get a scoop of Birthday Party and Blackberry. They were both delicious, Larry liked the blackberry and I liked the Birthday Party. After having ice cream we walked around the town and looked at the homes. There were a lot of pretty homes and cabins. We had a very peaceful hike through the trees.

Celebrating my birthday with Birthday Party Ice Cream

Lakeside

We rested for a couple of hours and then we went on another five mile hike. The trail started in town but not in the center of town. We hiked the Lakeshore Trail to the bay, which was 2.25 miles long one way. We started hiking the trail on a pathway by some of the local homes. Then we took stairs down to the shores of Clear Lake. This trail is also a bike trail. As we hiked the trail we saw people riding their bikes and other people just walking like us. When we got to the end of the trail we took a path that went to a parking lot. By the parking area there was a bike trail which was black topped. We walked about a half mile of it  As we were walking it we met a lady and her chocolate lab. He was very friendly We also saw a few people riding their bikes. After walking a half mile we turned around and headed back to the campground. As we were walking back the sun came out and it started to rain. It was weird because the sun was out at the same time as it was raining. We had a great hike.

By the time we got back to the Minnie we were exhausted. We rested for a little bit.Then we walked over and took a shower. The showers weren't heated but the water was nice and warm. After our showers we spent the evening relaxing and reading. I had a great birthday.                 

9-20-17 to 9-22-17 Duck Mountain Park

It's time for to move on

Wednesday 9/20/17

After three days at Greenwater Lake Park it was time to move on. The rain had stopped and the roads were starting to dry so it was time to say good-bye and start another adventure. 

After we finished breakfast Larry and I went over to the bathroom to take a shower. The showers were excellent. Each shower had a button to push to turn on the water. Usually it takes awhile to heat up but not this morning. We have used many showers that had a button to start the water and you have to push it multiple times in order to finish your shower but today I only had to push it once. The last park we stayed in the bathrooms were very cold but the bathrooms at Greenwater Lake are heated.

When we got back to the Minnie we put things away or laid them down. We were ready to leaving at 8:30. The next park were staying at was only 145 miles away. 

On the way we stopped to do laundry. We stopped in a couple of small towns at their laundromats and neither one of them had a change machine. The laundromats we have stopped at in the past have always had change machines. We were about to give up considering we only had a couple more towns to drive through. We stopped in Kamsack, SK at a hotel that had a laundromat sign. We were in luck, there was a change machine. At first we were a little confused considering if you put $5.00 dollars in the machine you got five dollars worth of Canadian quarters but if you put in a $10.00 bill you received 10 loonies, we had no idea what a loonie was so since we had plenty of five dollar bills we ended up just getting quarters. Later we found out via the internet that a loonie is a Canadian one dollar coin. While doing laundry we had lunch in the Minnie. We were at the laundromat for a couple of hours. This is the first time we had stopped to do laundry and we have been on the road for four weeks.

Doing laundry

After doing laundry we continued on towards the park, it was was only 40 more miles. The park we were headed to was Duck Mountain Provincial Park. We topped at the Visitor Center to check in. The lady gave us a couple of maps and told us to drive through the campgrounds and choose a couple of sites we wanted. The campgrounds were 6 km down the road. We found a couple of sites we liked so back to the office we went. The first site the lady said it was already reserved so we got another one. A bit funny since there was only one camper in the entire campground. We ended up getting site #25 in the Spruce Campground. Larry paid for three nights and back to the campground we went. 

Once the Minnie was setup we went for a walk to find the trailheads to the hiking trails. We found the trailhead and started walking it. We stopped considering we didn't have the right shoes on nor had we brought along any water. We ended up walking around for about a half hour. When we got home it was time for dinner.

Camping at Duck Mountain PArk

The hiking trail

Madge Lake

I baked some HEB poppers dinner. I had cooked them in the stove before and didn't have any problems. Today I cooked them at a higher temperature for 25 minutes. Well, when it was 23 minutes in the baking it started to smoke up the Minnie so I got them out of the oven. Larry opened the windows and I opened the door to clear out the smoke. The poppers weren't burnt but if I do it again I well be more careful. After dinner I walked around our loop for a half hour to get my steps in. The rest of the evening we relaxed in the Minnie.

Awesome Day 

Thursday 9/21/17

We had an awesome day!!! 

We woke up to sunshine and the temperature in the low 40's. We had breakfast and then went on a hike. We hiked for 2 and a half hours and hiked 6 miles. We hiked a couple of trails. We started from our site and walked to the Interpreter's office to start the hike. We hiked an easy trail to where we caught the Woodland Nature Trail, which is a 1.24 mile loop. We hiked half of the loop until we got to the Trans Canada Trail, which is 8.8 miles one way. We only hiked a couple miles of it to the Four Season Resort. Then we rested for a few minutes. While resting one of the park workers stopped and talked to us. We told him we had just hiked the trails from the campground. He asked how they were and we replied they were excellent. He talked about his crew cleaning up down trees and taking dead ones down during this time of the year. He was very nice to talk to. Once he left we continued our hike back to the campground. When we got to the area where the loop and The Trans Canada Trail met we finished up the loop. The trails were very easy to hike considering they're flat and didn't have any roots to worry about. The trails took us through a beautiful forest of pines, aspens and other trees.  As we were hiking by the lake we noticed there were a few trees that had been attacked by a beaver. It looked like the beaver was tasting each one to see which one he liked the best. We had a super hike.

One of the trees the beaver attacked

The Four Season Resort

After resting a little bit I heated up soup for our lunch. We relaxed for a couple of hours and then we went on another hike. This time the hike was from the other campground called Birch. We walked to the campground which was about a half mile away. There are two trail at the campground. We found the first one and walked it. The trail went along the shores of the lake but it was very short. Today there was no wind so Madge Lake was smooth. The Damselfly Trail was clear on the other side of the campground so we had to walk the road for awhile. When we got to it the sign said the trail was .8 km one way. We decided to walk it. This trail was very easy to hike, no hills and very wide. It took us through a forest and over the marsh via a boardwalk. The water didn't look to good and we joked about not falling in. When we got to the end of the trail we had a big surprise. There was a small Catholic Church stand there with a sculpture of Angel Wings. I earned my wings today. After taking pictures we checked to see if the church was open. We had another surprise, the doors opened. It was very small but beautiful. After visiting the church we went back to the Minnie. We hiked for an hour and a half and hiked another 3 miles. By the time we got back we were tired. We had another wonderful hike.

Holy Eucharist Catholic Church

Earning my Angel Wings

Interior of  the church

When it was time for dinner I cooked some poppers but this time I cooked them at a shorter time and lower temperature. I didn't smoke Larry out of the Minnie. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing with a book. We had an awesome day. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!
 

First Day of Autumn

Friday 9-22-17

Today was the first day of Autumn but here in Canada the leaves are already falling. Every day we see other leaves turning their autumn colors.

We woke to another brisk morning with the temperature at 36 degrees. We had our breakfast and then we went for a hike. We hiked the Woodland Nature Trail loop and part of the Trans Canada Trail. We did the loop going the opposite way as we did yesterday. When we got to the Trans Canada Trail we decided to take it across the road instead of going toward the resort. This section of the trail took us through the forest on wide trails designed for snow mobiles, horses, bicycles and hikers. There was a creek on one side of us and the other side was the road. The section was called route 66. We walked about a mile of the trail and decided to turn around and head back. The trail had a lot of grass and with the morning dew are boots and socks were getting soaked. We didn't want to get any blisters. The section of the Trans Canada Trail was more challenging considering we had to climb up and down steeper hills and more of them but the majority of the trail was very easy. By the time we got back to our campsite we had hiked 5 miles. We had another super hike.

We rested a little while and then I made soup for lunch. The temperature today didn't get out of the 40's. The blind in the kitchen stopped working correctly a couple of weeks ago and Larry had fixed it where it kind of worked. So today he decided to work on it. While he was working on it he saw how filthy it was so once he got it to work correctly he cleaned it. He did an excellent job. 

About 2:00 we decided to go take a shower. The bathroom across from our site had showers but it wasn't heated so we decided to walk over to the Birch campground where it has newer bathrooms. They had a small heater and they were warmer but not a lot. We decided we could put up with the cold. The actual showers were excellent. The hot water started out almost too hot and you only had to press the button once for the shower to work. After our showers we went back to the Minnie.

Once there we stayed in it for the rest of the day, we read while the heater kept things comfortable. A rain shower came in around 6:00 and stayed around all night. It may be cold but we're having a great time.  

9-17 to 9-19 Greenwater Lake Provincial Park

Sunday 9-17-2017

We had a super Sunday. We have been in Canada for 13 days and are having a great time. Today was another traveling day. We drove about 200 miles.

As we were leaving Prince Albert National Park we saw a few elk. A cow and calf were grazing in the trees at the campground. They didn't seem to mind us watching them and taking pictures. When we drove around the corner a bull elk was standing in the road. We stopped and waited for him to walk across the road, we didn't want to bother him. He walked into the trees and found a tree to pick on. He rubbed his antlers on the tree to clean them and rubbed them so hard he pulled the tree down. When he finished taking the tree down he continued his grazing. This was so cool. I was so excited I forgot to video the scene. We were going to drive through the rest of the park but you had to go down a gravel road so we decided to pass. As we were going to the entrance gate we saw a gorgeous gray fox. This was the first time we have seen one in the wild. He was too far away to get a picture.

The calf we saw 

The bull standing in the road

The cow grazing without a care in the world

Once we were out of the park we continued on our adventure to the next destination. When we got to Melfort we stopped and filled the Minnie with gas. Then we stopped by a Dollar Tree to see if they had the Lance cookies we like but they didn't. While we were parked we decided to have lunch.

After lunch we continued down the road. The drive was back through fields and fields of farmland. I napped during the drive. One time when I was awake Larry pointed out a beautiful red fox looking across a field. We were going fast and someone was behind us so didn't get a chance to get a picture. It was a little weird considering it was noon and we thought it was late in the day for the fox to be hunting.

We arrived at Greenwater Lake Provincial Park around 2:30 and the office was closed. We went into the Lakeshore campground and found a site. It's a beautiful campground with a lot of trees at each site and all of the sites are pull throughs with power. After setting up the Minnie we decided to walk around and find the hiking trails. We were having a hard time figuring out where they were so Larry asked a lady who was walking, she told us there was a trail that went to the playground and another campground. She also said there was a trail that went through the trees. We thanked her and found the trailhead. There were two loops and we choose the longer loop which was about 3 miles. The trail took us around a marsh where beavers live. There were signs through out the trail that talked about the beavers, wildlife in the park and the plants. We hiked across the marsh by wood bridges. We hiked up and down small hills. We had a very nice hike. On the way back to the campground we walked by the day area where there was a marina, playground, beach and a picnic area. The park has a laundry and grocery store but they were closed for the season. During the on season you can play mini-golf, tennis, baseball, horse shoes and swim on the beach. By the time we got back to the campground we had walked around for a couple of hours and walked five miles. We spent the evening relaxing.  

Entrance sign to Greenwater Lake Provincial Park

A bridge to cross the marsh

The marina

Some Canadian Geese landing on the lake

Monday 9-18-2017

We woke up to a brisk 34 degrees and had breakfast. We hung around the Minnie until the sun came out and started to warm things up. About 9:00 we decided to go for a walk. We started the walk by going to the office to pay for three nights. The lady was busy helping a gentleman who was paying for permits to hunt deer and elk. She acknowledged we were there and asked if she could help us. We told her we wanted to pay for our site. We weren't in any hurry so she finished up with the gentleman. He was very friendly. He only had enough money to get two permits, which were habitat permit $15 ($12.15 U.S.) and elk hunting permit $40 ($32.40 U.S.). She told him if he wanted the other one he would have to go online and pay for it. After the gentleman left she helped us. We had a pleasant visit while paying for our site.

Afterwards we continued our walk. We walked around the park to the campgrounds that were closed to see if we could find the snow mobiles trails so we could do a little hiking. We never did find them. The Popular Campground, which was the newest campground was the least impressive campground. All the other campgrounds had a lot of growth but when they built Popular they had logged all the trees out so the only growth on the sites were underbrush. The sites were full-hook ups. We sat at one of the tables and rested. After resting we continued our walk. We were going to walk to the overflow parking area to see if the snow mobiles trails were there. We started walking up hill towards it and decided to head back to our campsite considering my little toe was hurting. I had gotten a blister on it and put a band aid on it but it was still hurting. By the time we got back to the Minnie we had walked 4 miles and for two and a half hours. We had a very nice walk.

Before we sat down for dinner we went for another walk. We were only going to walk around for a little bit but end up walking an hour. We walked down to the lake and a walked around the beach area. While doing this we saw a trail we decided to follow it. The trail was very well maintained and it took us to the other side of the lake. As we walked the trail we had nice views of the lake and walked a little boardwalk that took us through a marshy area of the lake. There were a lot of beautiful homes that look over the lake. We saw people pulling their docks out of the lake by using a small tractor and a winch. They were getting prepared for the winter. When we got to the end of the trail we turned around and walked it back to the beach. The trail back and forth was almost 2 miles. In the beach area there were Canadian geese and sea gulls.  At the marina people were pulling their boats out for the winter. By the time we got back it was time for dinner.

Living on Greenwater Lake

We spent the evening reading and relaxing after another super day of hiking.  

A rainy day

Tuesday 9-19-2017

The rain came in last night and continued through the night. It wasn't a surprise so we spent most of the day inside keeping dry and warm under the heater. It sprinkled on and off all morning. After lunch it had stopped so Larry and I walked down to the dump station and filled our empty water bottles with drinkable water. This gave us an excuse to get out of the Minnie. We took the umbrella with us just in case it started to rain. It was only a five minutes walk there so it didn't take too long. Once we were back we went back to reading our books. After dinner we did another trip to the dump station for more water. As we were walking through we scared four deer out of the trees. They ran across the road and down a road to the right of us and stopped to watch us. When we were going back to the Minnie the deer were still on the road which was a surprise because they usually move on. When we got back to the Minnie we didn't leave again. We had a very relaxing day.