I love a rainy night

We left Thunder Bay…actually Kakabeka Falls, this morning expecting to see smoke from forest fires. Instead, it began to rain about an hour into our journey and continued off an on until we reached Manitoba. It was then it really began to rain and as I sit looking out the window of the RV, it is still coming down like it’s the time of Noah.

We pulled out of the campsite at about 815am. We had a head start today because I decided not to unhook last night. Everything went fairly smoothly until I decided to move the truck forward off the levelling blocks (we were a tad low on the passenger side). All of a sudden I heard a pop. I figured it was Roger, our neighbour from Moncton, but Zach and Connie started waving at me frantically and giving me some incredulous looks. You forgot to remove the wheel blocks! The pop was the sound of the plastic disintegrating as the trailer tire rolled over the relatively new wheel block. You see it’s not the first time yours truly has done this.

Despite this Roger seemed impressed with our progress and suggested to Zach that since we were doing so well packing up, we should come over and help him. Zach replied “I’m really not sure we’re doing that well.”

As we pulled out, we waved goodbye to Roger and his girlfriend, and a few of the Good Sam Club ladies, and made our way toward Kenora, which in fun we suggested is pronounced Nora since the “Ke” should really be silent. At about 930am, we crossed into the central time zone and it became 830am.

The country is beautiful in its own right but it was kilometres and kilometres of the same scenery.

Most of the vehicles on the road with us were other RVs and transport trucks. Any cars or pickup trucks we saw only briefly as they blew by us like we were standing still. We stopped for gas in a place called Ignace and paid $1.41 per litre – the most expensive yet. Had we waited until reaching Dryden, we would have paid $1.28.

After topping up the Tundra, Zach offered to drive and I was more than willing to accept. He drove until shortly after noon, when we stopped for lunch along side the highway and had a bite to eat.

After lunch, I jumped back into the driver’s seat and we pressed on. When we arrived in Kenora, we decided to drive through the downtown (there is a highway 17 bypass) as we needed gas. I was really glad we took the detour as Kenora is situated on the shores of the Lake of the Woods, and the drive through is well worth it.

Within minutes of leaving Kenora, we were in Manitoba and highway 17 became highway 1. It was at this point the rain began to fall and it hasn’t stopped. As luck would have it, the side of the highway heading west is under construction, so we got to drive about 30 kilometres on gravel – oh joy! I know prairie people drive on gravel all the time and when I was a kid, we had lots of gravel roads but honestly, I’m done with gravel. Further, in BC we remove the old pavement and lay down new at the same time. Why can’t this be done elsewhere?

Once through the construction, we were back on pavement and after driving 30 kilometres through the pouring rain, the mud had been pretty well washed off. When we arrived in Winnipeg, the GPS lady direct us to the wrong end of the road where the campsite is located. This meant driving 5 kilometres on (you guessed it gravel…dirty, muddy gravel). I was deflated and close to telling the folks at Toyota tomorrow that they can take the GPS from this vehicle and…

When we arrived in the campsite, the rain was coming down so hard that I got completely drenched simply by opening the window to ask the lady to open the gate (it’s like Fort Knox here). This is what it looked like at the time.

Connie jumped out to run over to the office to register and landed right into a mud puddle. I know what you are thinking. I could have parked in a better spot but honestly the whole parking lot was a mud puddle. When she returned, she was drenched and presented me with a stack of sopping wet campsite papers.

We pulled into our site and debated whether we should set up or just wait it out. We decided to set up, which was a good decision because waiting it out would likely have meant sleeping in the truck tonight.

After we were done, all 3 of us were soaked to the bone.

We changed into dry clothes and agreed to skip the dishes and eat dinner in town. Zach suggested pizza, so we went to BP.

If all goes well, the rain should ease up by mid morning tomorrow. After that we will tour a bit of Winnipeg and then I’ll leave Connie and Zach to explore the town in more detail while I take the Tundra in for service.

Until then, I will be humming the words from Eddie Rabbit’s song: “I love a rainy night. Such a beautiful sight. I love to feel the rain on my skin, feel the rain on my lips.”