Elkhorn / Hamiota

At the end of April, Darren, Mom, Mimi & Suddi went to stay for a week at Elkhorn Resort (http://www.elkhornresort.mb.ca/), right beside Riding Mountain National Park in western Manitoba. It's part of the timeshare network that Darren & Naghmeh have joined. Aleta and I joined them for a few days.

VISITING HAMIOTA

While there, we visited Dad's old stomping grounds in Hamiota. His brothers Reg and Bob both live there, with wives (and sisters) Gerry and Marguerite respectively. Brian (Reg & Gerry's eldest) joined us for awhile too.




Reg & Gerry live next door to the old house where Dad was raised, and which I just remember as Grandma and Grandpa's house. I actually have had so many dreams of that house. Inside there are two staircases, one of which goes from the front door to the second floor. The second one led from upstairs to some unknown subterranean location, as far as the seven-year-old who was mystified by its existence was concerned. Although I eventually figured out that it was the "servant's stairway", and just led to the kitchen, the mystery of it was stamped on my soul and I have had so many dreams about where that mystery staircase might lead.



Anyway, the house is no longer in the family's hands, which I am very sad about, but that's the way life goes. And sadly, the house is not in as good shape as it used to be.



I am quite certain that it was a catalogue home, which was a popular way of building houses as the West was being settled. See for example the following excerpt from the T Eaton & Co Plan Book of Ideal Homes: http://www.abheritage.ca/pasttopresent/rural_life/eatons_home_catalogue.html

We spent the better part of the day with our uncles and aunts. We even all had an opportunity to ride Uncle Reg's ATV.

We also spent a bit of time in Neepawa visiting Auntie Merle. Her son Dean and his wife Doris run the Chicken Corral restaurant there, something I never realized when I passed through there a couple of times on the way to Winnipeg. Now I know where to stop!

It has been really wonderful to start reconnecting with relatives whom we have not seen in many years. Funny how it gets to be more important the older one gets.

RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Riding Mountain National Park was not yet officially open. The town of Wasagaming was practically deserted. Darren said as he jogged around town he noticed maybe 2 or 3 cars parked in driveways. So we managed to get in during the low season, which is cheaper, fewer crowds, but fewer facilities within the park available at that time.

We spent a bit of time walking around the park. There was still ice on most of the lakes of any size. At Loon's Island, we were quite fascinated by the ice breakup. Mimi and Suddi spent a long time retrieving chunks of ice to show us. Aleta couldn't quite figure out why her hand was hurting as she held pieces of this ice.