Winnipeg, Manitoba

Our tour to Churchill began in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It just so happens that our good friends and neighbors in Yuma live in Winnipeg. We drove from our summer place in Wisconsin to Winnipeg, and left our car parked at Susan's home. That was so nice of her to allow us to do that. Otherwise, our car would have been parked outside the hotel we stayed at the night before our tour with all our stuff in it that we were taking home to Yuma.

The afternoon and evening of our night in Winnipeg, Brant, Jan and Susan showed us around the Forks area of Winnipeg. We stayed at the Inn on the Forks which was in this historic area right on the river. There is a riverwalk with restaurants, bars and shops. We found a place for some beverages and had dinner on a beautiful day.

Inn at the Forks

After our Churchill adventure, Brent and Jan picked us up at the airport in Winnipeg, and we returned to Susan's house. We went out for dinner, and then spent the night at Susan's house. The next day we did some exploring around Winnipeg. 

We started out at Assiniboine Park which had some gorgeous English gardens. They also had the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden and Gallery. I had never heard of him, but he is a big deal in Canada. He was an artist who immigrated from Ukraine in 1948 at 33 years old. His works can be seen all over Winnipeg and the world.

This is the entrance to the gallery with a sculpture of Moses. I also tried to take a selfie with a deer statue. As you can see, my selfie skills are not too great!

There was a pond with purple lilly pads in it. I've never seen purple ones!

After exploring the park and enjoying an ice cream treat, we drove to Jan and Brent's home in Stonewall, about 20 minutes outside of Winnipeg. This home was Jan's mom's before she passed away. Jan and Brent purchased the home and have done a beautiful job remodeling it. Then we headed to Brent and Jan's lake home, about an hour from Winnipeg on Lake Winnipeg. It's a beautiful three bedroom home right on the lake, so they had room for us and Susan to stay for a few nights. 

We golfed twice with Brent and Jan. Susan was recovering from cataract surgery, so couldn't golf. Friends Dave and Anne who also have a place at our resort in Yuma are also from Manitoba. They joined us for golf another day. We had a nice lunch after golf.

This small pine tree was growing out of the trunk of a hardwood tree on the golf course. Isn't nature amazing!

Dave and Anne were camping nearby in Gimli, Manitoba. They invited all of us for lunch. We walked around the town of Gimli and found this Viking statue. It is 15 feet tall and was built by the town of Gimli for the Canadian centennial. It was unveiled in 1967 by the President of Iceland. In 2017 a new park was unveiled around the statue in recognition of the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba's 125th anniversary and Canada's 150th birthday.

We had a few days with some smoke in the air from wildfires to the west. It made for a beautiful sunrise!

We had a wonderful time visiting our friends in Manitoba. We can't thank all of them enough for their amazing hospitality!! 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!