From Cornfields to Pine Trees to... Wait, Where Did All the Trees Go?
I've been a terrible blogger lately, but I have a good excuse—been head down wrapping up the summer quarter at Sofia University. We've transformed our little dinette into what Chris calls my "professor pod," but I think of it more like a nest...cozy and incubating ideas and productivity.
Working while traveling isn't always graceful. But honestly? It's a pretty sweet deal for a couple supposedly living the "retired" life when one of us is still having too much fun at work to actually retire.
Ontario: The Province That Spoiled Us
We've been making our way west through the provinces, and after many, many days, we finally said goodbye to Ontario. Sadly. Because wow, was it gorgeous. We spent a couple of days at Kakabeka Falls doing some serious walking, and I have to say, we're seriously impressed with how Canada treats its natural resources.
These provincial parks—think of them as Canada's version of our state parks, but with better manners—are immaculately maintained, clean, well-equipped, and full of trails that make you feel like you're in a nature documentary. We even found a dog beach where Lieba could run wild, which resulted in the happiest wiener dog in all of North America and two hoomans remembering why we pack extra towels.
The Great Tree Disappearing Act
Here's something we didn't expect: after countless trips crisscrossing the U.S. where we'd trade endless miles of corn for endless miles of... different corn, we've been driving through pine trees for days. Days! It was like being inside a green tunnel that stretched from here to forever.
Then we hit Manitoba, and poof—the trees just... ended. Like someone drew a line on the map and said, "Trees stop here, folks." Now we're in the high plains, which is beautiful in its own vast, slightly overwhelming way, but the sudden transition from "forest forever" to "sky for miles" was a bit of a sad goodbye.
Winnipeg and The Forks
We spent a couple of nights at a campground outside Winnipeg and treated ourselves to our first dinner out in ages at a place called "The Forks"—a fantastic tourist destination that actually lives up to the hype. Good food, great atmosphere, and the kind of people-watching that reminds you why travel is so much fun.
Next up: more prairie, more sky, and hopefully fewer technical difficulties during my online office hours. Though I have to admit, "Sorry, I'm teaching from the middle of nowhere, Canada" is probably the most interesting excuse for connectivity issues, since the last time which was "sorry, I'm teaching from a boat on the Intracoastal Waterway!"
Stay tuned for more tales from the academic nomad life...
