Saskatchewan Landing, Elkhorn and Winnipeg
We left Canmore, which is on the last edge of the Rockies, and had a weekend of three days of driving ahead of us. Our first stop was in Saskatchewn Landing Provincial Park (which is north of Swift Current) for the Saturday night, then to Elkhorn Campground (which is just inside the Manitoba border) for the Sunday evening, then the 3.5 hour drive to Winnipeg’s Bird’s Hill Provincial Park Campground on the Monday.
The landscape in Saskatchewan Landing was suddenly so different from our time in and around the rockies, but was stunningly beautiful in its own way.
And who cannot like a provincial campground that has flush toilets (instead of pit toilets) with a sign that refers to varmints:
We were only there for the one night, but we wandered around and enjoyed its beauty while we were there.The next morning we drove to the metropolis of Elkhorn (pop. 461), where we did our laundry in a laundromat attached to a car wash, and watched the comings and goings of people, laundry and cars. In our travels I have seen many different shower controls in various campgrounds and parks, but I think the one at the Elkhorn Campground one was truly my favourite:
Yes, that is a toggle button (on the wall outside of the shower stall) that causes water to come out of the shower head, and I never would have figured that out without the labels. The next morning we hit the road again for Bird’s Hill Provincial Park which is about a half hour northeast of Winnipeg. We had stayed in a different area of the Bird’s Hill Park last year when we were there for the Winnipeg Folk Festival.This year we stayed in the actual campground area where we could connect to electricity instead of boondocking (which we had to do during the festival last year) and wow! The facilities there are beautiful. Those of you that have known me for a while, you know I have a love for concrete, and I was awe struck when I walked over to check out the shower and washroom building.
I discovered that the facilities were designed by MMP Architects and were completed in 2011. They have aged really well, and I love how the natural light filters into the interior spaces from light wells above.
We drove into Winnipeg a few times, for groceries and to visit Disc Republic for Adam to buy more discs. Across the street from the store is a park with a Disc Golf course in it called “Happyland Park” (which reminded of our stay in Happy Land Campground near Kakabeka Falls). We were quite happy to see the course is quite busy during the week with people coming to play a round after work. On one of our rounds, Adam got an ace on a hole 8 where you have to throw across a ravine with water in the bottom of it to the basket.
Part of the reason we were in Winnipeg, was for Adam to compete in one last disc golf tournament, which was the final tournament in Manitoba Disc Golf Tour (which was a year-long tournament that was made up of 9 tournaments in various locations and this was the final championship round). Adam was able to be on a card with two other people that he has played with in quite a few tournaments. It was great to see them again, and made it a fun and (relatively) relaxing two days. The tournament was at the Stony Mountain Disc Golf Course, which is in an abandoned quarry and the wooded areas surrounding it. So you go from playing on what feels like a lunar landscape with howling winds up to 70km/hr:
To trying to throw around and through trees in the surrounding forest:
It was a really fun two days and Adam won for his age group. (you can see him in first place for MA50 here) It was quite a fantastic way to end this year’s disc golf season.
The weather was cool, but sunny, and I was quite happy to sit outside and work from the picnic table (and my co-workers enjoyed the view as well). With the chillier temperatures we enjoyed our evening fires even more.
In looking for a coffee shop near the campground, we stumbled upon an amazing little development called “Pineridge Hollow”. It was an easy walk from our campsite, and there we found: one of the locations of Empty Coffee (they have locations scattered throughout Winnipeg - and I am now a proud owner of a “Running on Empty” sweatshirt); and The Farmer’s Kitchen (which is a locally sourced grocery store that has a bakery in it).
We really enjoyed our time in Winnipeg (again) and after the tournament, we hit the road to go back to Kenora. From my wandering around Elkhorn waiting for the laundry to finish its cycle, here’s a reminder to look down every now and again, you might be surprised at what you see.
