Single Older Woman – Canadian Vacations- Outings # 2- Manitoba 2017

July 27, 2017

After a restful evening with my B&B hosts at #AWeeBitofHeaven, I prepared for a day long adventure in and around Morden. As the temperature would reach over 30 Celsius, I was grateful for the A/C and the cooler bag filled with ice and water and fruit, of course – grapes, I recall.

This road trip would also be one of my first, on my own, using only a road map and my great sense of direction. By the time I returned to the B&B that evening, I had logged over 800 kilometres.

My first stop would be Holland, Manitoba. The significance is my parents are from the Netherlands and have called Canada home since the late 1950’s.

I’ve been to the Netherlands ( Holland) and I’ve been to Holland, Michigan. Once I discovered a Holland in Manitoba, I knew I had to see it for myself.

Thing is – the origin of this town has nothing to do at all with the European country of my ancestors- there is a windmill but no gouda cheese, wooden shoes or canals, for that matter.

“Holland was named after someone of significance, the first postmaster Arthur Holland, who moved his post office to the village”

Here you will have to indulge me. The play on words, to me, is just hilarious….In order to get to Holland, I had to drive past Miami.. which is no small feat considering “Holland” is in Europe and Miami is in Florida, USA. There is however a Miami, Manitoba and a Holland Manitoba…..hahaha.

The next stop was a visit to #RidingMountainNationalPark, one of Canada’s National Parks. In celebration of our 150th birthday, #Canada150, all visitors received free admission. I stopped in for a visit, strolled along the beach and had ice cream at one of the local shops.

Now time to head back to Morden. Other than the TransCanada Highway, there is a shorter version which connects BC east to Manitoba, known as the #Yellowheadhighway. In each province, there is a statue or monument along this route for traveller’s enjoyment. I came across the Happy Rock!

It was close to 9 pm by the time I got back to Morden. Time for a glass of wine and sharing a recap of my day with my hosts.

The next adventure is a trip to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

Thank you for reading and letting me share.

Joye