Swift Current, Saskatchewan - LOVE sayin that name!

A couple of quiet days in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.  I picked the campground we're staying at based on  the fact that they hahd a pool, only to get here and find out that they had it filled in about 2 years ago!  It would have been nice if one of the reviewers on RVParkReviews.com had happened to mention it, but they didn't.  Oh well, we'll be moving on tomorrow afternoon.

Not much to talk about in Swift Current, last night we went out to do some shopping and then to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  The food was nothing special to speak of, I'll have to continue my search for good food elsewhere.  Here's a photo of Michael enjoying his Nookie burger when we were in Minneapolis...

It's a little crazy (maybe sad) to think that this is the BIG CITY of southwestern Saskatchewan, with the biggest mall this side of Regina!  (A Walmart, a Safeway, and a handful of little stores... LOL)Tomorrow on to Calgary, and Calaway park, which is an amusement park with an RV park attached, king of like Knoebels back hiome.  We plan to spend Friday in thhe park, so I'm sure I'll hahve some more good pictures then.

Friday morning I took the kids to the Minnesota Science Museum, where they had a great time exploring. Well, "they" except Ryan, who succeeded in his quest to have a perfectly miserable time. He really didn't want to come, but I pulled rank and made him...what a terrible mother I am! The afternoon was spent exploring Maple Grove, this time without Ryan, who stayed back to do the laundry. (what a good son!) We picked up dinner at Q-fanatic, another Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives haunt, but Mario felt (and I don't disagree) that Skeeters in Selinsgrove has better BBQ. Today we've made it to Bismarck, ND, and had time for a dip in the pool. Michael biked 1 1/2 miles to a bike shop to get a new pair of bike pedals for Ryan. Isn't he a great brother?!?! Tomorrow we're back on the road early, and heading up to Swift Current, SK, about 500 miles, which should take us about 10 hours. Hopefully we won't get held up at the border crossing too long...."nothing to declare", right? I'll try to get some more pictures loaded too. I hope you're all enjoying the reads, give me a comment and let me know you're out there!!

Shopping Heaven!

Yesterday (Wednesday) started out rainy, with the kids staying inside to play some games, including Parcheesi.

In the afternoon, we went to Casper and Runyon's Nook restuarant for Juicy Lucy burgers (burgers with the cheese stuffed on the inside!).  So, where did the term Juicy Lucy come from?  I haven't looked it up yet, so tell me if you know!  Mario tried the 'Guy's Big Bite', named for Guy Fieri, of Diner, Drive-ins, and Dives, who went to the restaurant for the show.  We'll have to see how many more of the show restaurants we can stop at.  I'll have to agree with Guy, they were yummy!!

After an early dinner it was off to the Mall of America, 4 stories, 500+ stores, and an amusement park in the center!  Three hours just wasn't enough time for us girls, but I think the boys had had it!  Genny and I could easily spend three days!

She does look happy, doesn't she!  I think she wants to move here after college (right into the mall!).  Well, that's all for now, today we may go swimming again.

Swimming at Wildwood Haven

Yesterday was quite warm here in Wisconsin, but thankfully there was a good amount of wind. so it didn't feel all that hot. The kids and Mario all went swimming, and Michael rented a paddleboat!  Here are a few photos...

Back in the US!!

Well, coming back through customs was much easier this time!  "Nothing to Declare!!", makes life SO much easier!  Today we're in a little town called Mellen, Wisconsin, population 761, I'm curious to know who that 1 is....

Michael made up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, but it's been too hot to have the oven on!  This morning is a bit better, so he took them out of the fridge, and has put in the oven ala slice-n-bake!  They look yummy!

The campground is a bit small, but they do have a lake to swim in, and also boats/kayaks/canoes to rent, so we'll have to check that out a little later today.  Tomorrow we're going to move on to Minneapolis, in search of a bit more civilization.  We're also hoping to escape the mosquitos that are raging around here!  I think the kids are looking forward to cable  :-)

Tonight we drove around the little town of Renfrew. It's always interesting to go into the grocery store to see what kind of different things they have, especially in a new country. We found dragon fruit, which we brought home to try, and what the kids think is most unusual, bagged milk! Apparently these are meant to fill your milk pitcher. We bought a half gallon carton (the largest size they have), and are refilling it with the bagged milk. Mario has put some new photos on the website, so don't forget to take a look on the gallery page at www.gordonsgrandadventure.com. One more day here tomorrow, and then it's on to Chutes Provincial Park....more from there on Saturday.

Renfrew, ON

Okay, so we've moved on to our next location, Renfrew, Ontario.  We're now about an hour outside of Ottawa, at a campground that has MUCH better internet access!  It also has mini-golf, a lake, and a spray ground for the kids, which they are really grateful for because it seems that the weather is warming up again.  After a few wonderful days in the 70's, we are now into the low 80's, and looking at near 90 on Friday.

Mario went out today and visited a few hotels, in hopes of getting our name out and maybe getting a little business.  He did get some positive feedback from one general manager, so we can only cross our fingers that it pans out.  I think all he needs is one sale to really justify the whole trip from a business standpoint.

That's all for now, it's time for a little baseball with the kids (that's what this trip is REALLY about, isn't it!)

In Canada!

Well, after being delayed in customs for over an hour, the Canadian government saw fit to let us through!  Mario had thought to bring his shotgun with us for "protection purposes", but the mounties seemed to feel that there wasn't any real reason we would need such protection in Ottawa!  Go figure...I'm pretty sure that's what I told him before we left!

We did make it to the campground in time to go see the Parliament buildings, but not early enough to get one of the coveted tour passes.  Oh well, we still got to go to the top of Peace Tower (the big clock tower in the middle building).

I might not be able to post tomorrow, because the only place to get WiFi is sitting on the picnic table out in front of the campground office.  At least the weather here is so much better, 70 degrees, and low humidity. 

On our way!

Well, we're on our way. First stop is at a state park just north of Syracuse. I've got butterflies in my stomach at the thought of not being home for 10 months, but I know this will be a good adventure for all of us.