So much Mennonite

We got up late this morning and had breakfast with Dar, George and their grandchildren. Dar and George insisted that they pack us some food for the trip. They sent us on our way with bananas, oranges, pop, and some pepperoni bums. (Apparently when they lop off the pepperoni bums to make all the sticks the same length, they save them and people who work at the factory take them home and give them to their friends, which is how we ended up with some. They taste just like regular pepperoni and they are salty and good.)

After saying goodbye, we drove down to "The Forks" kind of in downtown Winnipeg. It is like the Granville Island of Winnipeg in the Stanley Park of Winnipeg. The Forks is so called because it is where the Red River and the Assinaboine River meet. It is a big park with a market, some historical displays and all kinds of neat stuff. We walked around and had some good perogies for lunch. Then we crossed the river on a neat footbridge and wandered around St. Boniface, the French area. We saw the cathedral, the cemetary, and the controversial Riel statue.

Next we drove to Mennonite Central in Steinbach. We went to the Mennonite Heritage Centre. (Greg's mom's side of the family is Mennonite so it was of particular interest to us.) It is a museum set up to look like a traditional Mennonite Village from whent he Mennonites first came to Canada. There were also galleries explaining the history of Mennonites in Canada and demonstrations of traditional life, like biscuits made on a wood-burning oven and a working windmill!

Afterwards we drove towards Ontario and stopped at an infocentre for maps and an awesome Ontario Provincial Parks guidebook, our new Bible. We drove to Kenora to pick up stuff for dinner, then drove out to our chosen campsite at Rushing River Provincial Park on Dogtooth Lake. It is gorgeous here. Too bad we arrived a bit too late for a swim.