Fort William Historical Park

Last night after work and a stop for some grocery shopping in Fort Frances, we made the drive east through Ontario to Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park where we camped for the night. This morning, after a quick exploration of our temporary home, we headed into Thunder Bay and Fort William Historical Park.

The first stop was the interpretive center, where we paid our admission and posed for a silly voyageur photo.

Then we headed outside for the walk to the reconstructed fort. There's a pond at the start of the trail, and Noelle noticed that the ground near the pond was covered with tiny frogs hopping here and there. We probably stepped on a few and didn't realize it. We spent a few minutes observing the frogs,

then headed into the woods for the rest of the hike to Fort William.

Our first stop near the fort complex was the Anishinabe campsite just outside the fort's walls. Here we learned about the fur trade from the Anishinabe perspective,

tried on a few furs,

and got a taste for living in a waaginogaan.

We then headed inside the fort's walls

to see what life would have been like in a fur trading post. There was even a lookout tower where we were able to get a bird's eye view of the fort.

We walked around in the summer heat and inspected all the buildings that were open to the public. I enjoyed the canoe shop.

Sierra liked the farm.

We spent some time visiting all the animals; the sheep,

pigs,

and even a little chick.

The most impressive of the buildings was the Great Hall.

It was interesting to think what it would have been like to eat in such a massive place, especially if you happened to be of higher rank!

There were numerous warehouses for storage of pelts, and other goods.

The goods above are headed to Lac La Pluie, or Rainy Lake as we call it today.
We worked up quite a thirst exploring on such a warm day and had to pump ourselves some water.

Our last stop was the blacksmith shop where Sierra got a chance to try making her very own nail!

Then it was on to downtown to cool off a bit.

Riel House National Historic Site

Today was the last day of our Winnipeg Road Trip. We packed up camp at Bird's Hill and headed back over to the Forks so that Sierra could play in the splash pad one last time. We ate lunch in the market again and then headed south to the Riel House National Historic Site.

It was the hone of Metis leader Louis Riel and the site of some fun activities for Sierra.

We toured the inside

and outside

of the home on our own and then got back in the car to head a little bit further south.

We headed down to the Trappist Monastery Provincial Park and the ruins of a monastery (of course).

We spent about a half hour exploring the grounds there.

Then it was a long drive back to the border crossing and then to International Falls.

Birds Hill Provincial Park

Bird's Hill Provincial Park has been our home base for our Winnipeg trip the last few days. It's a pretty big park, with pleasant aspen parklands scenery. Our campsite is a bit primitive, which is okay with us. The only issue has been the squirrels. They are very brave and have been constantly trying to steal our food. They are mostly Richardson's Ground Squirrels.

There is a nice swimming area that Sierra really enjoyed,
though it wasn't the warmest day for swimming when we visited yesterday.

While the park has mostly been a place for us to eat

and sleep,

we did go for one hike while in the park.

It was a hike to the site of an old community called Pine Ridge. There's not much left of Pine Ridge today; just a homestead cabin,

some rusting farm equipment

and a barn.

We walked

from the homestead site to a lookout tower

and then retraced our steps back to the car. Along the way we saw a few wildflowers in bloom.

Besides the squirrels, the only wildlife we saw were a few frogs.

Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site

We ate breakfast this morning, organized camp a bit, and then headed out to explore Lower Fort Garry. Lower Fort Garry is another Parks Canada National Historic Site, like the Forks. Being the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, all Parks Canada sites are free, so we didn't have to pay an entrance fee. Thanks Canada! We checked out the interior of the visitor center there for a bit

and then headed outside to check out the fort

which was a Hudson's Bay Company property.

Outside the walls of the fort were a garden and the garden manager's home,

a native encampment,

blacksmith shop,

and the Red Chairs!

We went inside the fort and checked out some of the buildings within its walls. Unfortunately, the big house was closed for repairs,

but we did get to sit on the lawn to watch some of the fort's inhabitants read their mail.

There were warehouses,

and sleeping quarters. We learned that the fort had been operated as a Motor Country Club for a period of time

and a jail as well!

When left the fort and had lunch in the shade near the parking lot. Then we headed to another nearby National Historic Site, St Andrews Rectory.

The church there is one of the oldest in Manitoba

and the rectory has some exhibits inside

and Red Chairs out on the porch.

On the way back to our campsite at Bird's Hill Provincial Park we noticed Skinner's, a hot dog place with ice cream and so we stopped to get a cool treat.

The most interesting part of Skinner's is the old abandoned water park behind the restaurant!

Noelle and I both thought it would be really cool to do some snooping around the grounds, but it was fenced off and off limits. Instead of exploring the abandoned water park, we headed to the St Andrews dam at Lockport.

Just below the dam, hundreds of pelicans congregated and fished in the turbulent waters.

It was mesmerizing to watch them and you can get really close!