So of course, we didn't...And henceforth, will never again fail to heed Shirley's advice. Shirley is famous for knowing just when that extra turkey is required when putting on a party, and never gets her quantities wrong...
Suffice to say that 100 kms of 'no gas stations along highway 8' later, we almost had to roll Ruby into mac's gas at Gimli. It happened to be the day that 500 vintage cars taking part in the annual Gimli car rally were also gassing up, which meant not only that it took 3/4 of an hour to gas up, but that they had run out of regular by the time we reached the pump. But there is a felicitous ending to all this...Premium gas was being sold off at the price of regular, so Ruby got a boost...And we got ice cream on the hottest day of the year in the town founded by folks from Iceland back in the 1860s.
Then it was on to meet up with Deb and Judy who live on the 5th hole of the Sandy Hook golf course. We grabbed cocktails and headed for one of those long spindly wooden piers that jut out into beautiful Lake Winnipeg.
Rona did some Pier promotion of wwp...Urging bathers Diane and Kia to put on salons during next year's roadshow. And Linnet Pier-talked family lore with her cousin Deb.
We were wined and dined royally back at the 5th hole penthouse...Next day, we did a tour of art galleries in Sandy Hook and Gimli, sampled pickerel cheeks at Kris's fish bar, enjoyed the murals depicting Gimli's history along the lakefront, and discovered the fish fly - an insect that lives for but one day, smells like rotten fish, and hatches out of the lake. Sometimes the corpses of these short-lived creatures pile up so high on the streets of Gimli that snow ploughs need to be brought in to clear them away...incredible!
After a swim in Lake Winnipeg that evening and more sumptuous wining and dining, we played fiercely competitive euchre well into the night while black labs Abby and Cinder - truly the best behaved dogs in the entire world - entertained us with some highly unusual party tricks...All in all, a perfect visit!
Many thanks to Deb and Judy for showing us such a good time and making us feel so welcome in their home. We're looking forward to seeing them in Montreal when Judy gets that trailer sorted out and they head off on their road trip out east this year?...okay, well maybe next year then?...well how about sooner than later, eh prairie girl Deb?!
