Happy Canada Day.  (Sorry ... no photos today ... connection way too slow.  I'll add them tomorrow.)

When in Canada on Canada Day ... celebrate!!

Our staying up late caught up with us today. We didn't wake up until 7:45, the time we're usually close to hitting the road. Good thing we didn't have anywhere we HAD to be.

In addition, we woke up to pouring down rain, so figured we'd settle in for a little while to see if it passed since the weather was calling for showers today.

You can see it's wet, but not that it was pouring.

That gave us more time to enjoy our coffee, Kaladi Coffee … the best. Jaz has a 1-pound bag she brought with her, pre-ground for a French press, which is courser than the usual. Having Kaladi coffee in the morning certainly puts us in a better mood than drinking the weaker-than-weak, not-so-flavorful stuff they put in the rooms. But most folks probably don't know any better anyway, or just don't care. I'll certainly drink the hotel stuff, when necessary, just to get a little jolt to start my morning.

There's nothing more to say ... it's Kaladi Brothers.

One thing I did notice with our hotel room was that the window coverings were purple. I was going to take a photo to share, but forgot in the massive effort to get out of the room after putting on all the rain gear, and getting loaded up between rain drops.

Finally took off and just went across the parking lot. There's a statue of a camel, named Sara. She's the emblem for Manitoba's only desert, which was located close to where we were. We chose to not go there since we were geared up to ride in the rain, and wanted to get moving. It had quit raining, but there were puddles and the road was wet when we first left.

This is Sara ... beautiful and regal.

Jaz's luck held and we did not have to ride in the rain. We got down the road a bit and ran into some construction and so had to stop for several minutes. Across the road were some hay covered by tarps, which we called hay bunkers. The flagger said they were flax and they make toilet paper out of it. We visited with her for a while and gave her gum as we left as she's trying to quit smoking. The contruction crew was working until 3 p.m. and then were getting a 3-day weekend.

On we went, just cruising along, looking at things. I saw some ducks playing in a puddle out in a field, Canada geese standing on a rock in a lake near the road, and some calves chasing each other. Looked like they were having fun, just being young ones.

We came upon a little town named Holland, and to mark their community they have a little windmill.

Windmill reminiscent of the real Holland.

Of course we stopped to take photos of it, as well as the grain elevator nearby. We've got this thing going with grain elevators, and I believe we've taken photos of them every day.

Another grain elevator ... great buildings.

By now the clouds had cleared, and the temperature had heated up, and we were sweating to death in our raingear. We pulled off the main highway into a little town called Elm Creek, Manitoba. When we rode down the main street, all the townspeople were lined up, sitting in chairs, standing. They were waiting for their parade. We were not exactly what they were looking for, I'm sure, but we did it up right. We were the pre-parade we like to think. We rode slowly down the street and waved, then parked so we could get out of that gear that was slowing melting us. As the gas station where we pulled in was closed, for Canada Day, we went behind the building and changed clothes. We really didn't care if someone saw us, but with all the little children out front waiting for their parade, we really didn't want to scare them.

After changing, we wandered out to the street, and watched the parade. I've never seen a parade pretty much made up of fire trucks, farm equipment, old cars and a couple of horses. It was great … and old-fashioned parade in a small town.

Farm equipment is the best.

And there were clowns.

And a purple car.

How can you not love a parade with farm equipment, and a female driver??

Red tractors are great, too.

The little cart and pony were perfect.

My personal favorite ... a '57 Chevy.  They've always been the best!!!

No parade is complete without a covered wagon and big, good looking horses.

See the Duke on the back?

Even the Duke made an appearance. Small town celebrations are the best.


After the parade was over, we got on our horses and rode. This time we tried to get gas at a little town called Starbuck. Again, this one was closed, too. But across the street was a two-bottom gang plow. Of course, we had to have a photo on it.
 

A two-bottom gang plow ... always appropriate.

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There was also a little mini-grain elevator. It was not the first little building we've seen in these parts. Kind of cool.

We've seen lots of little buildings, but different kinds.

We got on the highway that took us south of Winnipeg, so got to avoid the big traffic. However, you could smell it first , and it was nasty… a garbage dump. It's the kind you want to put your hand over your nose and hope you've got some scent on your hands, like maybe hand lotion or someting. We passed right by it and you could see the mound of garbage. YuK!!! That's one of the disadvantages of riding in the open air. But we quickly got by it, and on to better things and smells.

We finally found a gas station in the next town that was open. By this time I was ready to eat, so we went to a little burger joint next store called Roxy's. The food was great. They also had a grape soda so Jaz and I shared a bottle, and took a picture because it was so purple. The photo doesn't do it justice. So why am I on this kick to take pictures of things that are purple?

Grape soda, great taste.

Sorties = exit, the French word of the day. It's just so easy to learn the language. Of course, there will be no complete sentences spoken, just single words.

Another fruit stand, another stop for cherries. This time we got cherries, blueberries, pears and nectarines. The fresh fruit tastes so good. The blueberries didn't really make it out of the parking lot. There were maybe 20 left at the bottom of the container. It's hard to pass it up when it's right along side of the road.

I come bearing fruit.

This was also the site of another licensed dining room.  The
sign said it was open,but there was no one inside.

We arrived in Kenora, Ontario, just a bit past 4 p.m., figuring to stay here and maybe do a load of laundry. Found a great little place on the lake. It was built in 1939 and was the first hotel on the lake to have indoor plumbing and toilets. It's very quaint and clean.

Was great, clean and right on the lake.

When's the last time you saw a little room separated off with a curtain?

We went around to find a laundry, but then one was closed and another was just closing. So, no clean clothes for us. Good thing we got a little in reserve.

We took a walk and found an old train to play on for a while. Then we found a park where we could see a different view of the lake. It's a beautiful lake, with lots of boats, and activities. All in all, this has been yet another great day. Jaz did not lose her Fairweather Rider Patch, and all is well in our neighborhood.

The lake, from a different vantage point as Jaz and I took a walkabout.

There was an engine, handcar and a couple of other things to play on during our walk.

Like to get on this stuff.  I should have worked with big machinery.

Trains add something to life.  We got another one to honk at us. 

I've been having some issues with the security system on the bike. It keeps screaming at me like I'm trying to steal it, and it won't start. I usually keep the fob in the tour pack, but now have moved it closer to the ignition. Maybe it's just the battery. Jaz and I went and bought new batteries just in case. But we'll try to get to Thunder Bay and have them check it out. If it's the battery, they can change it; if not, they can maybe take care of it.

I did phone home tonight, and found out that the tracker was not activated today. Yet another computer-type of problem … what's new. I must not have pushed the button long enough to activate it … and will surely do better tomorrow. I'm unable to get online either. May have to post from Jaz's machine … again.
And tonight … we're all in.