Day 4 - Moose Jaw to Winnipeg

Km travelled today: 651
Number of pictures taken today: 108
Total km travelled: 2432
Total km to go: 1971
Total pictures taken: 889
Pictures have been uploaded to Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/4500kmtogo/ in the Day 4: Moose Jaw to Winnipeg album.

After a long day of chasing down places that supply legally addictive hot substances (ie. caffeine!) the drive was pretty and uneventful.  Unfortunately the scenery did not change much between yesterday and today!  There was one discovery and that was just how many dragonflies are present and swarming in the prairies.  They were like kamikaze pilots attacking the car....

The best part was that this happens about an hour and a half past Regina, which also happened to be the city where we got a deluxe car wash done as the silver paint on the hood of the Matrix was unrecognizable beneath the dead bugs.

We made it to Winnipeg safely and are now adjusting to the Central Time zone.  Colin and I were treated to a "Tour of Manitoba" dinner by my dear friend (and soon to be blushing bride) Mel who loves to cook and does it extremely well (check out her food blog - A Weekend in Food).  We had no problem being guinea pigs to an amazing meal of local pickeral, fresh & local veggies, tasty appies, and the BEST red velvet cupcakes that either of us have ever eaten - SO MOIST and tasty!  Thank you for an amazing meal! (Please send me the recipe for those cupcakes!)  Mel then took our stuffed selves down to The Forks for a tour and picture taking session.  She fully fulfilled her job as our "Manitoba ambassador"!  :)  Thanks Melly and can't wait to see you and Darryl get married in two weeks!

Other than that, the hotel room is huge with lots of space and the kitties even get their own queen-sized bed, although I don't know if they will use it but instead take up space on our bed...

Tomorrow we are off to Thunder Bay for some sight-seeing.  Unfortunately we have no friends to meet there, so we will be on our own for restaurant/meal suggestions!  If anyone has been to Thunder Bay - where is a good place to eat?  Also we cross the last time zone tomorrow....cannot wait to no longer do the automatic mental math of "if it is ______ am/pm in BC, what time is it in Ontario?".

The Coils' Report - safe and sound.  They are currently rewrapped and the car is outside of our window with Colin promising to check them frequently.  Also there is a security company that monitors the lot, but the blackout/sun shades on the back windows help to hide the big blanket-wrapped metal box in the cargo bed.