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Back to the Rodeo

Sunday, June 24th – Morris, Manitoba to Vermillion Bay, Ontario - Day 163 

The kids were promised a petting zoo and a petting zoo they demanded. The rodeo had free entrance to the grounds, so we stopped in quickly to see the petting zoo before we got on our way. Our first distraction was free face painting; John was Elsa, Charlotte was a butterfly and Aisling had a mermaid crown. Gen snuck off to buy a hot dog and a poutine. We ate while watching amateur cowboys isolate cows. 


Finally, we reached the petting zoo, the kids were satisfied petting kittens, ducks, rabbits, a pig and some goats. Time to get on the road, well, except for the coffee stop, ice cream stop, time for kids to run around on a big platform, shopping for necklaces, washrooms and, finally, exploring the exhibits building. My pleas to leave fell on deaf ears. At least I got to see some of the rodeo from behind a fence. 


 Farmer’s sausage was a must in Manitoba, so we needed to purchase some at a Ste. Anne’s grocery store. John was napping and Gen and Jo-Ce took the girls for a tour of the local church grounds. We then hit the TransCanada to head for Kenora. 

 Finally, we were back in Ontario after 161 days! High fives were thrown as we celebrated. Our next big moment will be when we get back to Eastern Standard Time. Our next stop was Kenora to have a picnic in the presence of Huskie the Muskie, a gigantic fish. You could see the water level was high in the lake as paths and benches near the edge were underwater. Apparently, they had the most snowfall since the 1940’s and the rain started before the ice melted causing huge flooding issues. We drove through downtown to get gas and see more flooded buildings. 


 Onwards we drove, we wanted to reach Vermillion Bay for a prospective free campsite. The site was an overgrown gravel lot between the train tracks and a few small buildings producing a high pitch noise. We tried to get the camper level, away from the high pitch noise, but couldn’t and gave up on the site. It was midnight and we needed a place to stay. We pulled off the TransCanada to look at a campground and found a pull out just off the highway. Perfect, well, the highway noise was not perfect. Also, the tremendous amounts of mosquitoes were not perfect but we set-up and got a little bit of sleep.

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