Severe Weather

We left Brandon bright and early on Monday morning. Beautiful sunny day and the forecast was calling for winds out of the south east which meant we would have a tail wind all the way to Saskatoon. From Brandon we took Route 10 north to connect with the Yellowhead Highway at Minnedosa. This was a part of the Yellowhead that we had never driven before and found the scenery quite different from the southern TCH.

Got an unexpected surprise when Nannette spotted a bewildered looking moose in a field next to the road between Lanigan and Kandahar (Canada not Afghanistan).

You can tell how wet the west is this year. We saw a lot of fields not planted or flooded out. Water is everywhere! Yet in northern Manitoba the forests are burning like crazy because of the dryness.

Arrived in Saskatoon after an 8 hour drive and was greeted the traffic jams that always seem to occur when we hit this city. The Saskatoon 16 West RV Park we are staying in has gone downhill since our last visit. The sites are not well kept and the roads through the park are rough and full of potholes and mud holes due to the wet weather. We were also told that the mosquitoes were the worst that they have seen for years. The only salvation here is that the wind is blowing hard all day and it’s hard for the little bast...ds to fly around. After we paid our fees and got set up in a “fully serviced site”, I discovered that we had no internet access. I then find out from the office that the repeater for our area is not working. They would not move me to another site as they are full with pipeline and potash workers. Also found out that the reason for the downward slide of the park is that it changed hands. The new owners are from Korea and don’t have much experience in this business. We will stay here until Sunday as planned but will not be back ever!

Our great adventure last night was weather related. The forecast was for chance of showers but by 8 PM the sky was really black and some rain was starting to fall. About then the weather radio started beeping out warnings. Over the next five hours we went from weather watches to weather warnings for severe thunderstorms to warnings for tornados. The tornado warnings lasted for only one hour but that was a long hour.

Neither of us had ever witnessed such a light show. It will dwarf and Canada Day fireworks coming up tomorrow.  The lightning was continuous! Vertical bolts, horizontal bolts and everything in between. Thunder, horizontal rain, mixed with hail and high winds continued for the next few hours. We went to bed around 11PM but had difficulty getting to sleep. The weather radio was going off every 10-15 minutes with a new warning and the trailer was being buffeted around by the wind so hard one could almost have gotten seasick. Hard to believe when your rig weighs 13,000 lbs.

We had a brief discussion as to what we should do if a tornado should happen to arrive on the scene. All of the safety books tell you to leave the trailer and take shelter in a secure building, preferably built from brick or cement or failing that find a deep ditch to lay down in and cover your head. The washrooms in this park are built of plywood and we are in the middle of absolutely flat land with no ditches. Even if there was a ditch to get into, it would mean drowning as it would have been full of water. So we decided to stay where we were and try to go to sleep. By 3AM all was quiet and we finally fell asleep.
This morning we woke up to sunshine and found that we were in the middle of a lake. As I am writing this N spotted three sandpipers running along the waters edge by our trailer.

A lot of the sites are flooded out and for those of you who are familiar with this part of the country, the roads are slowly turning to “gumbo”. When we bought the new truck, we considered buying two-wheel drive only. I would not want to be here without four-wheel drive.

Had to wear our high rubber boots to get around this morning. Talked to one of the locals and he said he has never seen this much water in this location, not for 55 years. The park owners have just advised that the sewer system has overflowed and we cannot dump out tanks until it gets pumped out later today.

We are one of the lucky ones. Our site is still dry. Although partially surrounded by water we are in a bit of a high spot. The weather forecast is calling for more thunderstorms this afternoon and evening and then for rain on Friday and Saturday. We leave on Sunday, providing we can pull this rig out through the mud and water. Oh well, this is what we travel for, the fun and adventure.

Quote for the day:

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.   Franklin P. Jones

Cheers

P & N

Mosquitos & Fogging

Since the last post the alert beeps from the weather radio have be going off on a regular basis. The severe weather warnings still have not overshadowed the fact that the mosquitos are in charge in Southern Manitoba.
The town of Brandon will start fogging for mosquito control tonight. As they use Malathion to create the fog we have been advised to close our windows, shut off any fans and air conditioning and don't leave anything outside ie kids toys etc.
We have to button down tonight by 10 pm and stay that way until 6 am tomorrow morning. The humidity is 100 % and the temp is currently 25C. The result of all of this is that it might lower the mosquito count for about one day!. It is so wet here, fields are under water, rivers are high ditches are full and the mosquitos have a thousand places to hatch out the next crop.
Presently we are under a severe T-storm watch but the sun is shining.
Tomorrow will be our last day here  and we'll be on the road early Monday morning, heading up the Yellowhead Trail to Saskatoon. Should have good internet connections there and hopefull be able to write about something else than mosquitos.

Quote for the day:


Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.      Barry LePatner

Cheers

P & N

Trapped by Mosquitos

It's impossible to step outside without swarms of these damn bugs landing on you. Another day or so and I might need to go for a blood transfusion. The locals say this is worse than normal but I wonder what normal is. Can't even go for our regular walks.  Bug spray will work for a few minutes but they always find that one spot you missed.
On the up side, the weather radio hasn't beeped a weather warning for the last 12 hours. There are a few thunderstorms around today so I expect the thing will sound off at some time during the day.
We just realized yesterday that the July 1st weekend is fast approaching. Decided we had better make some reservations for next week as long weekends out here are very busy. Combine that with the number of pipeline workers staying in all our favorite RV parks and spaces become very limited. Spent the whole morning calling everyplace between here and Alberta.
With the southern TCH still closed due to flood damage the options were nil in that direction. Finally found space in Saskatoon. We'll leave Brandon early Monday morning and head for there. It will make for a longer drive than I like but thats life. We will stay there until next Sunday and then head towards the Calgary area. Busy looking over the tour guides to find what can keep us occupied in Saskatoon over the 5 day period that we are there. Could be that the black rum consumption will increase after the third day.
All is well. Enjoying time with grandchildren (up to my four hour daily limit. Too much energy for the old guy to cope with) N is with them now and I'll pick her up later on today.
I've got my list of chores that have to be finished today so must get moving.
 Quote for the day

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

Cheers

P & N

Weather Warnings

N is down with the grandchildren and I've been running around town getting things done. Got the truck serviced and picked up a few things for the trailer. The city of Brandon is busy catching mosquitos to determine if any are the nile virus types. The problem is that the traps are catching so many they can't count them all and determine how many bad ones are in the trap. They will probably start spraying by air in the next couple of days.
Sitting here in the trailer with the weather radio warnings beeping on a regular basis. South Western Manitoba (where we are) is under a severe thunder storm watch which could bring 100 KPH winds, large hail ( my insurance company would just love a second hail damage claim two years in a row) an a tornado watch to the south of us. They also warn that "small" tornados could touch down in the Brandon area. I wonder what the hell a small tornado is? Oh well, got to take the good with the bad so I'll start to close the hatches and windows in a short while.
As a side note, I just saw on the news that they have 75 gravel trucks hauling material to fill the washout on the TCH at Maple Creek. They estimate that they could have part of the eastbound lane temporarily open by as "early" as Friday.
Quote for the day:


Stupid is forever, ignorance can be fixed.        Don Wood

Cheers

P & N

In Soggy Manitoba

Arrived in Brandon yesterday afternoon. Uneventful drive from Dryden Ont. Had fathers day dinner with family. Grandkids, mom and dad were glad to see us.
Things are really wet out here. A lot of fields flooded and the rivers are almost overflowing their banks. In some places they have. This RV Park we are staying at even lost some of their trees during a rain and wind storm last week.
We are in the process of changing our travel plans as the TCH in southern sections of Alberta is washed out and will be closed for some time now. Looks like we will have to reroute to the Yellowhead Trail and enter BC through Banff or Jasper. We'll make that decision next week.
Several towns and cities in southern Alberta and Sask. have declared emergencies due to flooding. The forecast for that area tonight and tomorrow is another 50 to 60 mm of rain.
Of course, all this wet weather and wet ground has the mosquito population booming. If we had small dogs or kids we would have to tie them down as the mosquitos would carry them away. Even bug spray does not slow them down.
However, lots of people traveling in their RVs in spite of the wet weather and bugs. This park we're in is almost full every night.
We're here for the next week so I don't expect that there will be many posts in the next few days. As soon as we decide which direction we'll go next week, we'll let you know.

Quote for the day:

A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.

Cheers

P & N

Always Something New

When you travel like this, every day brings something new and when you're as old as I am, that is quite a statement. We were going down a long hill with a rather sharp turn at the bottom when I noticed an Inukshuk on a rocky ledge beside the highway. Some wayward soul took some time to build this one! You see them along the highways of Canada in every province. But I've never seen one with a ladies bra on it like this one had. Almost caused me to go off the road. I knew that I could never get stopped in time, or find a place to turn around and go back, so, there is no photo to prove it. But I know what I saw!
Arrived safe and sound at our favorite RV park in Dryden Ont. The Northwestern Tent and RV park is run by a delightful older Swiss couple. They even take time at Christmas to send us a letter.
Cold today. The highs all day ranged from 12C to 14C. Misty with a cold breeze that fortunately was behind us giving us a slight push. As I write, it has cleared off and the sun is out but still a cool breeze.
Expect to be in Brandon tomorrow afternoon, which will make the family happy. Going to spend 8 days there before we head further west.
Perhaps by then the flooded highways in Manitoba and Sask. will have dried out.

Quote for the day:

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. - James Thurber

Cheers

P & N

  

In Nipigon

Left the "Soo" this morning between showers. The showers were off and on until we reached Wawa. The wet roads did manage to clean off all the dirt we got on the rig two days ago traveling the dirt roads to a campground.
Had planned to do the "northern route" but decided to do the lake head to see how the truck handles 21000+ pounds on steep hills. Can still pass the semi's going up a steep short hill! Fuel milage suffers a bit but still well within my estimates.
The sun came out after we left Wawa and by the time we reached Nipigon  temperatures reached 25C. Settled in for the night. Good rum, good food and we leave tomorrow for Dryden.
Have been told that I have to be in Brandon by Sunday as it is fathers day. We'll see!!
Quote for the day:

It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously.

  - Peter Ustinov