Parks Canada is in a party mood. This year marks the 125th Birthday of our first national park – Banff – and the Centennial of Parks Canada, the world’s first national park service. Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP), Travel Manitoba and the Province of Manitoba decided a celebration was in order, and so, on August [...]

I have a history with the west side of Lake Winnipeg. As a punk, my parents packed me off every summer to a spot north of Gimli called Camp Morton. The memories are still fresh in my mind – like sneaking out after curfew, stumbling barefoot down to the beach in the dark and other such [...]

Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg made it “Around the World in 80 Days” so it would seem logical (if you’re to believe a fictional character), that new-world adventurers should be able to circumnavigate Manitoba in 5 days. Phileas’ mode of travel in 1872 was rail and steamboat. In 2010, the Prairie Pathfinders Walking [...]

The Winnipeg Folk Festival takes place every summer around the second weekend in July at Birds Hill Provincial Park, 25 kms north of Winnipeg on Highway 59. The weekend is sacred in my household, and yes, I was there this year with the usual gang of suspects. I did a quick headcount and just about everyone [...]

Mountains are easy. So is the ocean. Anyone can just step out of the car and there they are. Beautiful. However, when you’re on the prairies and exploring Manitoba, that Kodak Moment may require a little more effort on your part and you might even have to get down and dirty. But it’s worth the [...]

Children find it funny to stick their fingers in their noses, and funnier still if they can get their finger into your nose. And they ride teeny bicycles. Clowns tend to be the same. They both give me the shivers – and for most of my life I’ve made an art out of avoiding them. [...]

I was up before the birds Friday and my ride would be arriving soon. I didn’t have to wait for my alarm to sound, a wicked thunderstorm was right on top of me and the ka-boom could have woken the dead. One strike was so close I peeked between the venetian blinds just to make [...]

I’ve been writing this blog since January and if you’ve been following the stories, you’ll know that my passion is being active in the great outdoors. I’ve tried to introduce you to all kinds of interesting corners of Manitoba where you can hike, ski, cycle, whatever. I’m happy to tell you that Travel Manitoba has [...]

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of trekking to wonderful destinations all over Manitoba with a group of walkers called the Prairie Pathfinders. Usually these sojourns focus on hiking: many, many kilometres of hiking. It figures then, that just when you think you know the formula, the co-founders of the Prairie Pathfinders mix it [...]

Manitoba has 4 distinct seasons. Imagine living somewhere where the seasons meld into one another all willy-nilly (I must be channeling Gomer Pyle. I’ve been wanting to use that in a sentence for a long time). I like a beginning and an end. For example, I like it to be very clear when winter is [...]