Canada is a big place. 9.9 million square kilometres (3.8 million square miles)! It is made up of ten provinces and three territories. The newest territory, Nunavut, coming to be in 1999!

Sadly, I have only visited a few of these areas. Alberta, where I live, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Ontario. Until 2023… When I visited not one, but technically TWO NEW provinces!! While I only got gas and bought a bottle of water, I entered Québec. I drove across the bridge while in our nation’s capital and visited Hull, the city that joins with Ottawa. Try as my son did, I did not drive the three hours to Montréal. It was tempting, but we’d been on the road for four hours by then, toured a science museum, wandered around our Parliament grounds, and still had a three-hour drive back to Oshawa, where we were staying. Montréal was out of bounds for this trip!

However, this is about spending time in Manitoba! Which means I have now been to and spent time in all the Canadian Prairie provinces. Amongst the farmland and heartland that feeds our country (and the world). Spending my summer in Manitoba last year, with different farming operations was an absolute eye-opening privilege and one of the best summers I’ve had in a long time.

From the time we touched down in Winnipeg, the provincial capital, in July, to the last farewell, in a blizzard in October, we were welcomed warmly every time. While I was there for a project, and worked for a few weeks at a time, there was so much laughter and comradery, it was, at times, easy to forget that I was there learning and working.

While I’d been working with Chris remotely for a couple years, when I landed in Winnipeg that July day, it would be the first time we met in person. And wouldn’t you know it? He walked right past me in the airport. I literally had to chase him down! Don’t worry – it happened the second time as well. Even though I sent him texts with pictures as to where I was standing! Only the third meeting, did he not run past me at the airport!

Our drive to the smaller city of Brandon, Manitoba was lovely. Rolling prairie tumbled out before us. Farmland for miles spilled out, pristine and untouched. Coming from Alberta, it was a similar landscape, but we don’t have uninterrupted landscapes like Manitoba has. Breaks of trees dotted the landscape in Manitoba, occasionally, a building. The odd sign pointing you in the direction of a small hamlet some 50 plus kilometres off in a different direction. Nothing seemed to be right along the highway. The sky was blue, the sun was bright. It was amazing.

But what of our hosts? Canadians have a reputation of being friendly. However, we can be closed to outsiders, especially when we are unsure of people’s intentions. Our team was coming to Manitoba as part of a research project. We needed the people’s help, but they didn’t know our intention or our plans. Our intentions were good, we wanted to listen, we wanted to help, but we were met with skepticism, but we were also met with great kindness and generosity.

That is my Canada.

Open doors, kind words, thoughtful actions, and SO much food. The coffee cups were never empty and just like most farming communities, the best discussions were held over a plate of food. We learned a lot about the area, the practices, needs, and upcoming requirements of the area. It allowed us to put together our research and get to know the people and the community over the coming weeks.

But it wasn’t all work! My team knew of my 50×50 list and during our second visit to the area, Chris, Hannah, and Julia surprised me with a trip to Riding Mountain National Park (visiting new national parks is another item on my list)! It was a gorgeous day. The sun was out, the sky was brilliant blue, and it was some 30 Celsius out! We drove through the park, took a quick walk around Moon Lake, then doubled back to Clear Lake.

Once down by Clear Lake, we went into the little village of Wasagaming and wandered around. I spent some time alone down by the beach. Not having great mobility, I chose to enjoy the lake from a grassy hill and reflect on life. My companions walked down to the marina. Once reunited, we were successful in finding a place to have ice cream (two scoops of mint chocolate chip, thank you very much) and enjoyed some shade and good company before making our way back to Brandon.

I fell in love with Manitoba. It is a vibrant, active, friendly (appropriate since it actually says “Friendly Manitoba” on their license plates) place. I could happily move to this vast prairie province! Sadly, our last trip in October rounded out our research and I have not been back. I do hope that summer 2025 will see me going back on vacation in our RV. We have always planned to go see Riding Mountain National Park, so I’d really like to take a trip there and spend time exploring the park!

Thank you for having me Julia and showing me your Manitoba! I can’t wait to come back.