On the Road Again 2012 #2

Continuing with the journey............ the train to Winnipeg arrived almost an hour early. The station wasn't "ready for us" so we were not allowed to disembark for 30 minutes. None-the-less I was still out of the train station by 7:40 and on my first bus by just before 8:00 AM.

I have always liked Winnipeg's bus system. The routes are direct and especially on a weekday, there seem to be lots of buses on the road. I have also liked bus travel in Winnipeg because the drivers have almost always been wonderfully helpful and frequently quite talkative to me. Riding an efficient, friendly and helpful transit system has been a great way to start this leg of the journey. My two bus drivers this time were not nearly as friendly as other times but then it was rush hour and the streets were busy. I was quite satisfied for them to do their job well. And when my stop was approaching, while I knew it was time to get off, it was nice of the driver to remind me that she had taken me as far as she could.

It was a grand day. There was a nice breeze, the sky was generally clear and I was off on another adventure. Could things get better than that? After the usually 30 minute walk to the highway, I dropped my pack, put on my smile and showed the drivers my sign that said "Edmonton". Because both "Edmonton and "Yellowknife" are long names I had created an extra large signs to make it easier for my potential drivers to see where I was going and hopefully to pique their curiosity enough to stop and offer me a drive. I had had such exceptional luck last year in getting quick rides that it was hard to temper my expectations as to the frequency and length of my rides.  In the dark days of winter, my travel fantasies are almost always about quick, long and enjoyable rides. I always seem to forget that for long periods I am in the middle of nowhere, talking to myself and every time a car goes by I (silently) beg for a ride.  I was fortunate that I only had to wait about twenty-five minutes for my first ride of the trip.There would be much longer waits in the future.

Dennis who was 67 was a fount of information about the area. While he was now retired he had been buying and selling land, doing deals with people and flipping houses for much of his life. As we drove the 81 kilometers between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie he talked about the people he knew who owned property along the way, the deals that he had missed out on as a young man and the Mennonites who worked some of the land we were passing. It was a fascinating both because he had known so many people and because unlike perhaps one's perception of real estate people - Dennis seemed like a generous and caring man.

 I was sorry he had to let me out on the east end of Portage la Prairie (or just Portage as we local or frequent travellers call it). I was sorry for two reasons: one because I liked him and his stories and two because the Trans-Canada at the east end of Portage is a really crummy spot to get a ride. There is a lot of local traffic (or so it appears), there is a long curve that makes it difficult to find a good place to stand and there are too many cars that are going far too fast to stop. This year the spot was made even worse by the fact that it was windy. So windy that I had to tie my hat on my head so that it would not blow away, so windy that I had somewhat realistic visions of being blown across the highway in to be crushed by some transport truck.