finally, manitoba

I didn’t mention meeting up with Reid, Eric, and lively Theo in Ottawa, nor did I mention a catch-up tea with Michelle, at the Tea Party like three years ago. Both wonderful and too short. Glad also to have been able to see Nathan just off Sparks Street, and on the way out of town I drove West through Chinatown to show Eowyn my old neighbourhood, a sleepy little corner of Ottawa called Hintonburg, now offering a trendy knitting store and some kind of fusion restaurant.

We found our way to the highway and the road stretched out before us, like it had almost 10 years ago when my van carried Eric, Amaryah and I West for adventure and tomfoolery.

Eowyn at work at Boston Pizza, Thunder Bay

I have been amazed by the way Northern Ontario reminds me of parts of BC; curvy roads, jagged rocky outcrops and evergreens right up to the road. The long drive from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg was one I dreaded – would we make it before the sun set? – but instead I marveled at the scenery, talked to Eowyn about Canadian history (and she was actually interested), and made good time.

Except for that speeding ticket. Sometimes "town" is easy to miss and slowing down, not so easy.

So far it’s my favourite leg of the journey: where the Canadian Shield gives way to prairie, in a transformation so sudden it’s shocking, even when you’re waiting for it. With the sun setting on our left, and the buildings of downtown Winnipeg just building blocks on the horizon before us, I thought of a story a friend once told me and laughed.

Finally, Manitoba.

He was driving West from Ontario to Alberta, and after days and days on the highway north of Toronto, he reached the Manitoba border and noticed the new license plates on cars around him. “Finally, Manitoba,” he read, only slightly inaccurately (it actually says "Friendly Manitoba"). The most appropriate statement ever, he thought at the time. So when I drove out of the rock into the flatlands, I couldn't help but think, “Finally!”

(Though I wouldn’t mind spending more time in Kenora someday).

Great pit stop: a sheep farm and giant store selling all things sheepy: rugs, slippers, mitts, and sheepskin rocking horses, just outside Dryden, Ontario.  All locally made too. See them at www.eglifarm.com.

Sundog! It's the first time I've seen this in "real life", and it was a marvel.

We’ve now made it to Winnipeg, the city I loved as a kid for its tall trees, its boulevards and its library. It's the furthest East that we had family, growing up, and the furthest East I made it until I moved to Ottawa for university. Fourteen hours here is clearly not long enough, but a late evening collage session with Jackie and a couple of her friends made the time feel cozy and well spent.

The Prairies really do feel like home.