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Published: September 10th 2017
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Sparwood coal mine
The primary economic force in Sparwood. Haven't posted in awhile, so thought I would update a little.
Last you heard we were in Sparwood, BC. Stayed overnight there and in the morning had a chance to see the coal mine that dominates the economy in this area, as well as the really big truck that is the town's claim to fame. They park it right next to their Visitor Information Centre. Not one you'd like to drive in Portland traffic.
After dropping down out of the Rockies we traveled across the wide open spaces of Saskatchewan and then into Alberta, making it into Regina in time to settle in for the evening on Day 3. The smoke from the British Columbia fires still drifted east into Regina, and it created a pretty spectacular sunset that evening. The picture here is the view from our hotel room.
Day 4 saw us continuing east with a planned destination of Winnipeg. We made it into town around 4:00 or so and decided to have a late lunch at one of the several local brew pubs in town, one called The Peg. This place was a real mixed blessing. We got seated around 4:30 or so, but had
Sparwood Truck
The "claim to fame" for this Rock Mountain community. to wait about 15 minutes before someone came to take our order. Thankfully the beer came fairly quickly, and it was pretty good. But 30 minutes later we were still waiting for our food, and when the table next to us that sat down 20 minutes after we had ordered got their food order, which included one of the same items we had ordered, and there was still no word on ours, we got up and left. Too bad because what we saw of the order next door looked pretty good. So on the way back to the hotel, we spotted a Safeway so thought we would simply stop in and grab a bite from the deli. Unfortunately, because it was Labor Day, the store was closed up tight. So we stopped instead at the Subway located just next door.
Day 5 saw us up and on the road to once again just put some miles behind us. But before we left town, we stopped into an Antique Store located in a shopping mall right downtown Winnipeg, only about 3 blocks from the VIA Rail station. Was able to pick up a couple of nice lanterns to add to
Regina Prairie Sunset
A gorgeous sunset through the smoky haze drifting in from the west. the collection, and also saw a variety of railroad related floor tile pieces that were scattered throughout the mall, each of which depicted a separate Canadian railroad, both modern or historic. We hit the road about 11:00 and by mid-day we started to get out of the open field country and start to find more forest cover. We stopped for a short roadside break and were able to enjoy a nice copse of Birch trees. A few miles later we crossed in Ontario and started to pick up a lot more water, both rivers and lakes, and around mid-afternoon we rolled into a lovely lakeside community named Kenora. Lucky for us Kenora happened to be the hometown of the Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, a great place for both craft beer and good food. By the end of the day we had made it to Dryden and settled in for the night.
Day 6 we continued to travel through lake country heading toward the northern edge of Lake Superior. We made it into Thunder Bay late afternoon.
The next day (Day 7) we headed out toward Sault Ste. Marie, with the plan to spend 2 nights there.
Railroad Decor
One of several railroad floor decors in the antique mall in Winnipeg. Our first evening we discovered the Northern Superior Brewery in an industrial area of town right next door to the Bush Plane Museum. Quite an interesting spot. Met some gentlemen from Nova Scotia who were in town on business and got some good leads on places to go and things to see when we get there. On Friday, we had made reservations to ride the Agawa Canyon Scenic Railway (ACSR) that leaves out of Sault Ste. Marie and travels north about 115 miles into the Agawa Canyon Park which is owned by the provincial government. The train is the only way to get to the park other than to hike in. The tracks were originally laid down by the Algoma Central Railroad starting in the late 1800's, then bought out by The Wisconsin Central in 1995. Canadian National took control when they purchased the Wisconsin Central. The tracks are still owned by CN, but the ACSR has rights to operate daily excursion trains up to the park. The train ride was fun, but the trip took the whole day and for the most part the scenery pretty much always looked the same - a dense mix of yellow pine, birch
Coming off the prairies of Canada
A nice rest stop as we came into Manitoba off the Alberta prairie. and other trees.
Our next planned stop is North Bay on our way to Ottawa, where we plan to spend several days. My next update will come from there.
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Taras Manzie
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Thanks for coming!!
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by our brewery - glad to hear you enjoyed your time, drink and food with us! If you are ever coming back our way please get in touch, I am happy to take you through the back on a gratis brewery tour! Drive safe, and keep on keepin' on!