Day 16 - July 1 - HAPPY CANADA DAY!

We got up, had breakfast and headed out towards Transcona and onto Lower Fort Garry. Heather, my best friend from high school had emailed me and asked us for dinner. She'd been reading this blog and knew we had encountered some slightly unfortunate weather and offered her home for anything that needed to dry out! We took her up on the big sink to clean our numerous pairs of wet and muddy shoes. On the way we stopped at Walmart and right next door at Superstore to pick up a pair of shoes for Dillon as both his were saturated and he was wearing Dale's overly large Crocs that happened to be in the RV. (He loudly complained as Kasey and I were packing 1001 pairs of shoes in before we left - "Why all the shoes - you don't need all of those?" - now which of us have the smug look on our faces!). What a surprise to find out every store (including Safeway and Sobey's) in the area was closed for the Holiday. When Manitoba says holiday they mean holiday - you could starve if you didn't pick up groceries the day before. 
Off to Heather's we journeyed, shaking our heads at all the empty parking lots of the large retail area until we saw one that seemed busy and had an open sign. It was an MLM operated by MLCC. For the uninitiated these acronyms stand for "Manitoba Liquor Mart" run by the "Manitoba Liquor Control Commission". I LOVE it here - you can't buy a loaf of bread or litre of milk but wine is aplenty!!!!!! Who needs the milk anyhow - I'm moving!
We arrived at Heather and her husband Paul's wonderful home where she took charge of cleaning our shoes and making us feel at home. My old pal hasn't changed! She told us to park the RV and offered to drive out to the Fort with us in her car. Along the way we ran by our old house in Birds Hill where I spent from age 14 to 19. There was someone out cutting the grass (quickly in between the rain showers!) and we stopped to talk to him and explained who we were and that my parents had been the first owners of the home - choosing some of the design,colour,features, etc. from the developer as they had bought early in the construction. He let us look around and take pictures and then his wife came out and asked us in! We had a wonderful visit and admired all the changes that had taken place over the years.
Off towards Selkirk and the Fort we went stopping in Lockport at "Sonia's" - the old hangout of my teen years for fries and a shake. It is still there and the fries are still the same - DELICIOUS - just like I remember them - fat and crispy on the outside and dissolving into a soft, fluffy potato on the inside when you bite into them. I've never had any other fries like them and been unable to make them like that myself. I wonder how they do it?

The best fries anywhere!

The Fort was busy as it was Canada Day and free admission with Birthday cake to boot. We looked around a while but it was really crowded, my ankle was sore still and it was very cold and windy (ever wondered why they call it Winterpeg?) so we headed back to Heather's house for dinner and a glass or two of wine.
We spent the evening reminiscing, looking at old yearbooks, Heather catching me up on the people she still knew about and having a wonderful dinner of homemade burgers and salad. Added bonus - homemade (including the filling) - Pumpkin Pie for dessert! The teens watched TV and WiFi'd their I-pads to death.
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Heather and Paul for their Hospitality at "Casa da Bonito" - your welcome to stop by Casa Warcup anytime you want!