It’s summer in Canada/Thank heavens for duct tape

Brandon, Canada

Yesterday I spent a great day at Grand Beach. It was cloudy and cool in the morning, but cleared and warmed up as the day went on and I was able to get in some quality beach time; sitting in the shade, and reading a book. A day like that every once in a while is a great break. The experience at Grand Beach was a lesson learned in “dry camping” in more of a rustic environment. I had an electrical hook up but no water or sewer. I hadn’t used the water holding tank and pump before so I had to remember how to do all that. It also was a lesson in how much water 40 gallons really is, and the answer is, not much! Let’s just say it’s a good thing I’m travelling alone and one shower could do me for 2 days. I enjoyed the slower pace though and it certainly was quiet sleeping. The mosquitos were pretty ferocious, and I’ve been a Vancouver girl for a long time so am spoiled about that. Don’t think I’d do that kind of camping on a regular basis, but glad to have tried it out in such a beautiful spot. Today was a travel and visit day and an example of the extremes of Canadian summers. I started out in Grand Beach under overcast skies, and cool temperatures. (18 degrees) I only went as far as the northern outskirts of Winnipeg where I met up with my friend and former political colleague, Aaron, to have a visit. Great to catch up with him as it’s been quite some time since we’ve had a chance to chat and he’s really not an email kind of guy. 🙂 As I was arriving to meet Aaron, one thunderstorm was going through and the ominous clouds were to the west, the direction I was travelling. Between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie the next band of storms hit and I had to pull over because of so much rain, wind and hail. No dents in the new car thank goodness. Behind that front was a heat wave and so by the time I got to Brandon, and my next visit spot, it was 32 degrees. I expect we’ll be in for another thunderstorm tonight. In Brandon I was able to meet up with my elementary school friend Brenda and her husband Don, who were on their way back to Winnipeg from a camping and bicycling trip in Alberta. Again, great to be able to catch up, although Brenda and I have recently been in touch lots both in person and through email after she found me through mutual friends. We hadn’t been in contact for decades. And it was fortuitous timing indeed, since just 25 km out of Brandon I noticed that some weather stripping on my trailer seemed to be flapping in the wind. It’s a moulding that covers the joint between the front and sides of the trailer. It looks like something lightly hit the moulding and caused it to come out of it’s channel and the heat and wind did the rest. Don is very tall and handy and so between he, Brenda and I (mostly he and Brenda) we managed to get a band of duct tape on the moulding to hold it on until I can get it repaired. I have made an appointment to have an RV Service place look at it first thing in the morning.   I seem to be single handedly keeping them in business as I travel across the country and hope I can look back at this blog in the future and laugh at all the adventures I’ve had. Tonight I’m sure not in that place. So I’m sitting in Tim Horton’s catching up on email and doing this blog until it cools down a little. My car said the external temperature was 41 at one point. My trailer does have A/C and I haven’t used it yet, so we’ll see what adventure that brings. Thankfully it runs on electricity which is supplied by the RV Park.