7/17 Heading Across

We rode out of the woods and onto The Plains.

Route 17, Ontario's portion of the Trans Canadian Highway, rode us west for most of the day. Open and free-running, it belied the winter version. Contorting around splatters of lakes, the road found its way on narrow spits of land and over marshy, moosey swamps. Then, finally feeling like we were making headway, we dove out of the woods of Ontario and onto the Plains. 

Riding into Manitoba, we crossed another Province off our list. The change in terrain was sudden and drastic. The road flattened out and farmland forever melted into the horizon. Gone were two lane roads and charging moose signs. Route 17 became 1 and we were in a different world.

Closing in on Winnipeg, we decided to roost for the night in Steinbach, a smaller town off the highway. Thrilled to have a motel with a laundry, I washed us up! Rested and clean, we slept soundly in the middle of the continent.

It's interesting to longitudinally compare where we are in Canada to the states. We would now be about to enter the Dakotas or Nebraska, the Plains personified. Waving their grains north to Manitoba, this stretch of geography has remained constant. Tomorrow we will immerse ourselves further into farmland and perhaps on to Saskatchewan, the only province we have not yet ridden. 

From forest to farm the TCH has treated us well. With fires raging in Alberta  and B.C., the prospect of completing the crossing is clouded by smoke, but I'll take today and whatever else this journey brings and revel in the good fortune granted to us to witness all that we have.

Route 17 winds around lakes

Picnic - notice the mosquito repellant!

Roadside Moose Mountie


Into another world

Farmland forever

                                                   





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