Tuesday, February 9th, 2010.
After the gas drama in Wawa, Taylor and I settled in for a long night of driving. Upon leaving we noticed a large road sign advising motorists of 'Night Danger'. For a split second I dismissed the Moose warning as I had never seen a wild one in my entire life. The hazard instantaneously became real when all of a sudden I saw two beady eyes and a large shadowy figure looming on the side of the road! Although I didn't sleep much during the day it was hard to feel tired while being the self-proclaimed moose spotter. Lucky for Leanne, Dennis, and Taylor, I was very good at my job and we managed to keep the hitchhiking moose at bay.
Through the night Taylor and I made numerous coffee stops and as the caffeine invaded our bodies we felt wide awake. We shared deep conversations about life, opinions on worldly matters, and were able to really emotionally open up to each other- as only two people can when experiencing this adventure like we have together.
Time seemed to fly by as the conversation infected us and before we knew it we were only 100k from Thunder Bay. That's when we passed a sign announcing that the section of the highway we were about to travel was dedicated to Terry Fox. It stirred some emotions within and it caused me to write this:
'An hour outside of Thunder Bay I gained a new appreciation for something that to me has lost it's meaning over the years. Ever since I can remember we celebrated the Terry Fox Run in school. We learned the tragic story of Terry's diagnosis and his passion to make a difference in our world. However, as the years passed it sort of became routine and in turn I found that I became ignorant to size of Terry's accomplishment. That was until this morning- at 6am we entered the Terry Fox Highway of Courage. To drive across Canada and see how far he actually made it was such an emotional and humbling experience for me. He dedicated his life to raise cancer awareness and to make a difference in our world. Who would've thought that driving on a highway could be so enlightening? I'm very grateful to have shared this with my close friends and to have this new perspective on the Terry Fox Run.'
We then stopped to visit the Terry Fox Memorial Look-off, which provides a great view of Thunder Bay. It was early in the morning and still dark out so we took the liberty in driving the Sable right up to the monument. We then had a brief, but memorable photoshoot before continuing on our way.
A few hours later Dennis was behind the wheel and Taylor and I tried to catch up on some must needed sleep. After only an hour of shuteye I awoke to the car shaking. There was no immediate panic visible in the front seat so I checked the GPS to find out how fast we were going. It made me angry to see Dennis was driving 130km/h as we agreed to take it easy on the car and to drive safe- oh and might I add the speed limit was only 90. I told him to slow down and probably called him a few names before trying to go back to sleep. Literally (and I mean literally), a minute and a half later Dennis said 'F#!k.'
An Ontario Provincial Police car passing on the other side of the road made an immediate u-turn and began following us. They didn't turn on their sirens right away so we thought maybe they didn't actually clock us or maybe, just maybe, they thought are car was super cool and wanted a better look? After being tailed for a few minutes the wishful thinking became nothing but and the OPP pulled us over. We shared a laugh with the female police officer and she gave us a little bit of a break on the ticket but in the end Dennis still ended up with a $130 fine.
A few hours later we all let out a great sigh of relief as we crossed the border into Manitoba. With the dreaded Northern Ontario trek behind us our spirits were once again rekindled. I phoned ahead to our friend Dave Anderson to let him know we were getting close. Dave told me that we might have to kill some time as he was picking up Switzerland's Olympic women's hockey team. They arrived in Winnipeg to acclimate for Olympic preparation and Dave had the pleasure of chauffeuring them around for a couple hours before we arrived.
Now to paint you a better picture of our weekend I'll give you a little bit of background on Dennis and I's relationship with Dave. Before our stop over in Winnipeg we simply knew him through our sport- Dave was a senior member of the National team and we knew more of him then he probably did of us. We had the luxury of going to breakfast with him a few times in the past as friends of friends. So as you can imagine it came of a bit of a surprise to hear from him after announcing our initial cross-country itinerary. Dave offered to put us up while we were in Winnipeg and we were much obliged!
Upon our arrival we grabbed some lunch and finally headed to Dave's. We turned onto a narrow street and began looking for his house. Dennis asked me for the house number and I responded with '256.' We found the house and parked in a nearby parking lot. As we approached the house we discovered a different side of Dave we were unaware of. A motorcycle built from scratch acted as a lawn ornament and a pirate flag hung from the upstairs window. We had a chuckle and thought it must've been a joke. Dennis knocked on the door and two kids came running down the hall. A short slender man with long hair approached the door to find the four of us standing there with our luggage.
'Is Dave home?' Dennis asked.
The kids were yelling simultaneously in the background,
'Daddy, Daddy, let them in!'
Clearly we had the wrong address. I checked my email on my phone and soon realized we were supposed to be at 265, not 256. A short walk down the street later and we arrived at the right house.
Dave introduced us to his girlfriend Liz and we all quickly got along. We settled in and took the liberty in having warm showers and put on clean clothes before heading over to the Winnipeg Quiksilver location. Avid readers of our blog, Dave and Liz (more so Liz) knew all about our Quiksilver connection from Toronto. Dave was excited to hear about this as he's good friends with Bob Rohmann, a Quiksilver rep near Cocoa Beach, Florida. Bob, who was inducted into the East Coast Surfing hall of fame last month, has always been great to the paddlers who train down south for a few months each year. Dennis and I have actually had the pleasure of meeting Bob and his lovely wife Tess and visiting their house a few times in the past. So in knowing Bob and Tess, Dave was naturally excited to take us over to the store for a little meet and greet session.
When we arrived at the store we were stoked to find out that Karen from the Toronto location had advised them we'd be stopping by! Although they were busy, they still made time to hook us up with some sick promo gear. We left our car at Dave's so we promised to stop by the next day for a little photoshoot. The manager, Lisa was awesome but unfortunately told us that she wouldn't be around the following day. It was awesome meeting her and we greatly appreciate everything she did for us!
After leaving the mall we made a necessary pit stop at the thrift store in attempt to find a pair of black track pants to replace the ones Taylor lost in Toronto. We had little luck in finding a pair as nice as the ones Taylor lost, however we did score a few good items. I picked up a pair of UV protective sunglasses with lime green frames and sporty lenses- only 59 cents, which Dave spotted me. Taylor found a pair of metallic green track pants and although they're awesome, they'll still never be as good as the old ones.
We then left the thrift store and headed to the liquor store, where Dave picked up a bottle of Crown Royal. Until then I had no idea where Crown Royal was distilled, nor had I ever really tried it! Dave may well be one of the biggest advocates for the province of Manitoba and seeing as Crown Royal is distilled in Gimli, Manitoba then it only makes sense for it to be Dave's drink of choice.
After completing our errands we returned to the Anderson residence and settled in for a nice home cooked dinner, courtesy of Liz! Dave poured a few rye and gingers and I think we all discovered our new drink of choice.
Unfortunately Liz had to head off to work, but we were able to enjoy the wonderful meal before a night out on the town. Dave decided he would be the designated driver for the night so that we could go to a handful of places and get the full Winnipeg experience.
On the way to the first bar we picked up one of Liz's friends, Emily. The 6 of us then drove to the Cambridge hotel to sit and have a beer. Dennis, Taylor, and I were excited to find the Cambridge had the same feel as the Mic Mac Tavern from our home town in Dartmouth. It was nice to feel so at home from more than halfway across the country. Dave told us old paddling stories and facts about Winnipeg and Manitoba. We shared a lot of laughs and had a lot of fun.
Soon after we headed to the outskirts of town to visit the St.Norbert Hotel pub where our friend Megan Hunter was working. Originally we planned on being in Winnipeg on Friday, which was in fact Megan's birthday! Due to our troubles in Ontario we ended up missing out on her birthday celebrations, but we were happy enough to see her Saturday night.
After visiting Megan's bar we ventured over to Luxalune, where Liz worked. Now I won't bore you with all the details, after all, you're probably getting tired of reading about our night out and frankly, I'm getting tired writing about it!
So after Luxalune we all felt pretty tired, but Dave still had a few places he wanted to show us. I grabbed a large coffee at a nearby 7/11, but Dennis and Leanne couldn't handle their fatigue. We dropped them off before finishing off our night at 'Toad in the Hole.'
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The next morning I awoke to Dave shaking me. It was 6:30am and seemed like an unreasonable time to wake up after a night out. Once I gathered myself, I soon remembered that we had planned to go ice fishing! What better way to experience Canada then to go fishing in the middle of winter? We scrambled to get our bearings straight and were out the door within the half hour.
Megan joined us, driving her van along with Liz, Dennis, Leanne, and Taylor. I had the opportunity to drive with Dave in his awesome truck as we travelled north to Selkirk, Manitoba! We drove through the city en route and I had the pleasure of getting the Winnipeg tour first hand from Dave. In fact, even after we were outside the city, he still knew tons about the surrounding areas. We passed through the 'Portage and Main' intersection, which is known as the 'coldest' and 'windiest' street corner in Canada. Dave shared with me facts about the 1919 General Strike that took place there, as well as facts about the buildings and architecture. It was a very educational experience for me, not to mention that I am a huge history fan as well, which made it that much more interesting!
After eventually arriving at the river the rest of the crew hopped out of the van and into the back of the truck. We drove onto the ice and headed through the village of fishing shacks towards a less crowded spot. Once we arrived, Dave realized he forgot his key to the shack!! Luckily his Dad lived nearby in Selkirk so it didn't take long to get a replacement key.
Before we knew it Dave had his auger roaring and was drilling through the 3ft thick ice. He drilled 6 holes and then taught us how to bait our lines. The best part about the shack was that it came fully equipped with a wood stove, which was almost unbearably hot if you were seated too close.
At first it seemed we were all getting bites, but couldn't master the technique to snag the fish. Then all of a sudden Dennis got one! He reeled in a small fish no more than 10 inches. I later learned from Dave that the type of fish Dennis caught was called a Sauger.
As we fished Dave took turns teaching Dennis, Taylor, and I how to use the auger! It was such a great experience, one I'm sure we will all remember for the rest of our lives- and one that is truly Canadian.
After a few hours of fishing and missing out on the 'morning bite' we decided to grab breakfast at one of Dave's favorite spots in Selkirk. The breakfast we ate at Brad's Bistro completely lived up to the hype. We indulged in the usual eggs, toast, and hashbrowns, but also had the chance to try kubasa and- believe it or not- rye bread for myself. Kubasa and rye bread were both very tasty and at the rate of liking new things I tried in Winnipeg it's definitely opened my eyes to trying new things more often.
Upon leaving Brad's Bistro we stopped by the 'Selkirk Catfish' to take a few pictures before heading back to Winnipeg!
When we arrived back at Dave's we all settled in for a well deserved nap after a long morning of ice fishing.
In the afternoon we headed back to Quiksilver to hang out with the cute sales associates and to have a little photoshoot. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to visiting the Calgary store tomorrow.. however we have been reassured by the Winnipeg girls that we will not have as much fun there as we did with them!
In the evening we returned to Dave's for the usual Sunday night fish fry. It was nice to relax and talk about the events of the past week while indulging in the fresh fish that Dave caught the week earlier!
Our stay in Winnipeg was an all round spectacular time; from the great food we ate, to the amazing people we met, this trip has already been worth it's while!
