Winnipeg here we come

Cell tower access as been unavailable for the most recent leg of our journey so I have not been able to make my blog entries. Here is the catch up.

The drive to Thunder Bay was very scenic. We drove up the shore of Lake Superior from Sault St. Marie enjoying some very nice weather and some beautiful scenery. I was surprised at how little there was in terms of towns and rest stops along the way.  Everything we came across was closed for the season - "see you in May".  Did find this 2 story with basement fixer upper though.

The shoreline of Lake Superior reminded me very much of the drive down the pacific coast.  Very rocky with a few small beaches, at least I assume them to be beaches and not just piles of ice and snow.  There are also many small islands rock outcrops  just a little ways of shore.

We were excited to get to Thunder Bay because a friend of Joel's was in a play at the Magnus Theater.  The play was called Hanna's Suitcase and is an interesting story about a Japanese historical Museum tracing the story of a 13 year old girl who was killed in the Holocaust. The show was very well written and performed excellently, receiving a standing ovation at the end of the performance.  After the show we went out with the cast to the Mad House and visited - a very nice evening.

Tim Horton's are everywhere in Ontario.  Which is good because I enjoy their coffee and who can resist their donuts.  However, at the recommendation of the cast members we checked out this restaurant located in the basement of the Finish community hall (Thunder Bay has a very large Finish community) called the Hoito Restaurant. Nothing fancy here. Basically a room with tables and chairs, fluorescent light, and a kitchen. But the food was amazing, and very, very reasonable.  If this place franchises, look out Tim's, McDonald's, Robins Doughnuts, and anyplace else that wants to compete for the breakfast market.

We left Thunder Bay in the morning and headed for Winnipeg.  It was another long travel day because there is really no place to stay in between.  The weather was still good but there had been a storm chasing us for the last couple of days.  We have been lucky enough to stay in front of it but the long term weather forecast is not in our favour.  I have found it interesting that during the stretch from Sault St. Marie and Winnipeg, cell reception  has been poor.

The road to Winnipeg was fairly uneventful.  We listened to podcasts and played guitar while we made our way along the highway.  The damage from this winter is evident in the number of collapsed buildings we saw. They collapsed from the weight of the snow on their roofs.  We have also been tracking a storm that is supposed to happen on Friday.  Winnipeg as warmed up to 0 degrees.  The expectation is that starting Friday afternoon it will start to snow - up to 30cm.  If it warms up a little more, the snow will turn to rain. On Saturday the temperature is expected to drop to -12 degrees which will make this place a giant skating rink, and most likely covered in snow.  This means that the Trans Canada Highway will be closed so we have decided to play it safe a stay in Winnipeg for at least one day while the storm passes.

Well that's it for today.