Day 14 - Riding Mountain National Park

We started the day a little later as there was a slight drizzle but about 10:00 am we started out towards Audy Lake which was about 18KM drive. We turned at the intersection to the lake but we immediately saw down about 50 feet, a gate across barring us from going down the road. With soggy rain soaked grass on both sides and no where to turn around, not wanting to get stuck I had no choice but to back out onto the highway - did I mention that I’m driving a 24ft. RV?!?!?! It’s a good thing that it’s not a very busy highway and this is Manitoba where you can pretty much see for miles. You’d think they would put a road closed warning on the highway turnoff sign!

The Audy Lake Closure - rain washed out the road to the Buffalo Enclosure

We headed back towards Wasagaming and decided to turn off at the “Wishing Well” - one of the places that was a “must see” in the Guide to RMNP (like the Bison Enclosure). Again the road was blocked but at least there was room to turn around here. I remember seeing another road to the “Well” on the way out which also had a parking lot so we decided to see if that was open. There was a parking lot but signs indicated that the Wishing Well was a bit of a hike up a dirt path and with my ankle still giving me a lot of trouble we decided just to head back to town and find a laundromat.
We found the laundromat with no trouble and an added bonus was free WiFi! We surfed to our hearts content while we did our three loads of laundry that had piled up over the last two weeks on the road. An even bigger bonus was the intermittent, misty drizzle had turned into a full fledged downpour. Nothing like being warm and dry with WiFi!
After the laundry was done we had Hot Dogs in the camper for lunch and as the rain had stopped and there was even a small sunshine behind the clouds so we decided to walk around town and see the sights. We explored the Visitors Centre where we learned that the road to the Buffalo had washed out with the rain and they had no idea when it would reopen. We watched a movie about Wolves in Banff National Park (?) in their theatre and saw their wildlife exhibits. Kasey did most of the quests in her “Young Explorers” booklet and so we continued around town the get the rest so she could open “The Chest” and claim her prize. 

Checking the "Mystery Chest".

Receiving her "Young Explorer" reward.

The last clue was at the opposite end of town and my ankle was now very swollen and hurting like h**l and wouldn’t you know it - the deluge began again like nothing before! 
The rain was running down the sides of the roads like raging rivers - no exaggeration! People were wading ankle deep through them to cross the roads. Of course I could only hobble and even in our BC rain gear we were absolutely soaking wet as we headed back to the Visitors Centre to claim her prize - a certificate and a “dog tag” necklace with RMNP and the date on it. I told her she needed to keep it safe until she could one day bring her own kids back here to share her memories of her visit. I bet they’ll be a lot different than mine were as a child! 

Liquid Sunshine

Lakefront Boardwalk - 4 inches off the ground and the water is coming up between the boards.

Back to the campsite about 4:00pm to get into PJ’s, nap (Kasey), read & watch movies (me) and play video games (Dillon). We had a good dinner with apple pie (bought from the bakery in town) with custard (made by me) - one of our favorite desserts. More movies and off to bed!