From ND to MB

It was a fairly quiet drive on I-29. I guess everybody must have been at the lakes already, being the second day of the long holiday weekend. Or maybe this freeway was just not one of the popular routes.

About halfway to the border, I was surprised to find a decent-sized town with a big mall right by the freeway. I couldn't figure out what the name of the town was; I couldn't read the name on the water tower. Now that I looked it up on the map, it's called Grand Forks. Then towards the north end of the town was a large building called Alerius Center and, guess what. They have Cirque du Soleil's "Delirium" coming there on August 23! This town is not so out of the way after all; there's still civilization this far north! ;-)

Further north, just south of the town of Drayton, I stopped at a rest stop which exited on the left and I thought that was strange. But then it turned out that the rest stop was right in the middle of the freeway! Right between the lanes going in opposite directions! I thought that was cool. It was fairly new too. They even had an internet kiosk inside.

After Drayton, there were very few cars, but I didn't have the road all to myself for too long.

I got to the border a little after 2pm. They had two lanes open for cars and one lane for trucks. I was the fourth car so it went fairly fast. The border patrol asked a lot of questions -- was I the only one in the car, where was I heading, how long was I staying in Canada, was it my first visit to Canada, when was the last time I was in Canada, did I make any duty-free purchases, did I have any commercial goods in the car, did I bring any gifts, was I meeting anybody in Canada, did I have animal products with me, was I carrying flammables, was I carrying weapons, was I carrying any products like mace, was I carrying ANY means of self-protection (I think he was incredulous that a woman would be travelling a long distance alone with no means of self-protection), did I have hotel reservations. well, at least he didn't make me pull over to the side to have the dogs sniff my car.

Last week, one of my classmates Tony told me a story about the border patrol asking a lot of questions, then bringing in dogs to sniff the car, then unloading the car, then inspecting every item inside the car, then dismantling the car including the door panels, then saying, "Okay, you can go" without putting the car back together for you because they're not required by law to do so. He doesn't know anybody personally to whom that happened, so it might be an urban legend. But I'm sure glad Tony wouldn't be telling people horror stories about me and the border patrol.

South of the border, the speed limit was 75 mi/hr. North of the border, the speed limit was 100 km/hr which is about 63 mi/hr and it just felt too slow. Thank goodness for cruise control.

Unfortunately, PR 75 is just like Hwy 1. It runs through the middle of towns and you have to slow down to 50 km/hr then speed up again. I got gas at one of those little towns Morris, just south of Winnipeg.

But before I got to Winnipeg, there was this cute little country chapel on the highway divider. It even had a cute little cemetery with probably a dozen tombstones on it.

Well, I finally got to Winnipeg proper, and my GPS has proven its worth. I probably would have had to search for my hotel for at least a couple of hours without the GPS. I made so many turns and the roads twisted and turned, that I lost my sense of where north is.

First impressions of Winnipeg: Driving in, it reminds me of the outskirts of Las Vegas. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was the strip malls. I think my hotel is in the middle of an industrial section. It looks like the seedy part of town.

Inside the hotel, the hallway lights are dim and the walls are tiled. One wall is exposed painted brick and hollow-blocks. There's a casino, a bar, and a little cafeteria downstairs by the lobby. It feels more like Manila than North America.

I guess I'll see the rest of Winnipeg tomorrow. Then I'll have a better feel for the city.

PS: I'm learning French, compliments of the Canadian transportation agency. Each English sign is followed by a French one. And sometimes, both translations are in the same sign. Word of the day: "sortie", which means "exit".