Inspired by chickaDEE

Oscar loves chickaDEE magazine.  He especially loves the jokes on the back page, which are generally cheesy puns.

Inspired by those, he came up with his own, which I think is pretty darned good:

Q: What kind of math do fish like to do?

R: Algae-bra.

UPDATE:

chickaDEE wrote back!

Day 19 - Sleeping Giant

We had a fairly short stay in Winnipeg  - again at the Fort Garry Hotel, which we all liked.

In the morning we skipped breakfast, stopping at Tim's and for gas on the way out of town then hustling to Sleeping Giant, an impressive park about 20 km East of Thunder Bay.  We had hopes of going for a swim in the afternoon.  Unfortunately we got our first spot of bad weather while camping.  I scrambled to get the tent up between showers.

For people who don't watch Doppler RADAR daily like I do, the green is rain.  Sleeping Giant is a peninsula in Lake Superior right underneath the words "Thunder Bay" in this photo.

While the kids hung out in the tent I lifted the moratorium on Rock Paper Scissors.

The next day the sun came back.  Here the kids are happily chatting away after breakfast.  Seeing the kids just talk - and not antagonize each other, as they like to do when they think I'm out of earshot - was really pleasant.

 We went for a hike in the morning but really didn't get too far.  Just stretched our legs.  So much more at Sleeping Giant to discover.  Next time.

We did find this beautiful dead bird.  We think it's a peregrine falcon.

"This dead bird is beautiful." by Lost in the Trees became our unexpected song of the day.  

On our way to our next destination we also saw some Whitetail deer.  They were completely unafraid of us.

 We also took the time to drive to the scenic lookout, a hundred feet or so above Lake Superior at the top of impressive cliffs.

 These kids look like they've done some stuff on this vacation.

 More cliff action.

Why did the cow cross the road?

To get to the udder side.

     After Yoht it was back to the prairies, via a detour around Calgary.  Slurpees in hand, we were making good time on the back roads of Alberta.  Google maps provided us with an interesting shortcut just south of Drumheller.  We stopped the car on a winding dirt road leading down into a heavily eroded river valley where Oscar tried to use the nitrogen stream technique to reveal dinosaur bones (didn't work this time, but maybe next pee).

    We continued our trek on the largely deserted highways.  I had my eyes peeled for wildlife (saw pronghorn) and coppers (saw none) so when I saw silhouettes on the highway in front of me my foot was probably already hovering over the brake.  Good thing - there was a small herd of cattle on the highway.  I don't want to give cattle too much credit, but they clearly scampered back to their pasture when they saw me coming - I'm pretty sure they knew they weren't allowed to cross the highway.

Scoot!  Get back on your side!

Down the road we stopped for burgers in Kindersley.  Not as many burgers as Bob Close (who balls up his burger wrappers to make artery-clogging globes).

Quick detour past the Glass Place in Rosetown.

At the risk of getting my butt kicked by my sister-in-law, some people make apple crisp, but Erin makes apple CRISP!  (A button got pushed on the oven.)

Uncle John took us for a tour in Bob.

You know how wooden rollercoasters add the extra thrill because you're not sure if that rickety old thing is going to just shake itself to pieces and send you hurtling to your death?  Pretty sure that explains the expression on Oscar's face going for a ride in Bob.

I could see John making some money on the side as a bus driver.

The Toon Towners also took us to Apex where we exhausted a bunch of trampoline muscles that I haven't used in about 35 years.

I did pretty much the same flip, but accidentally.

I don't actually know what this thing is that they're grabbing for.

Lauryn made it to the top of the high platform.  Some say she's still there to this day.

After Saskatoon it was off to Regina to spend some quiet time with the raisins.  

Emma alerted me to the fact that we were about to tick over to 50,000 on the odometer.

Being the baby does have some perks.  "Say mom, do we have any Saskatoons berries?  A pie would sure hit the spot..."

Even if the raisins' house is new to them, it's not without its historic significance.

Speaking of history, we stopped at Milky Way (new sign - boo) for a soft ice cream.

My cone is the vanilla-chocolate twist, chocolate dipped, with sprinkles (that's right, sprinkles.  Not "sprinkle dinkle.")

YOHT - You only hike twice.

Rather than inflict Jasper on myself and the kids, what with the fresh snow and all, we opted for a shorter route back to the Prairies via Yoho and the now-familiar Takakkaw Falls.  We were able to witness the strange weather pattern that was forcing cold air down over the Eastern Rockies first hand.  The temperature dropped from the mid-20s (and sunny) over the central Rockies to the teens as we reached Golden.  When we arrived in Takakkaw, there was also intermittent rain.

The view at our arrival.  The snow falling in the distance came down as rain on us.  In a way we were disappointed not to have had snow.

I noticed evidence that they're not joking about the bear warnings.  The garbage bin has a door knob that apparently bears can't open.  It also has plenty of claw marks.

 We woke up to an incredible day.

 Sunrise on some of the fresh snow in the distance.

 I thought I'd repeat my photo from a week earlier.

And with that, it was off to Saskatchewan.