We  did another day today similar to yesterday.  Driving from Selkirk to Kenora takes about 2 3/4 hours.  We took five – after we did some sightseeing around Selkirk.

I wanted to see Lower Fort Garry which is a National Historic Site located just south of Selkirk.  Fort Garry was THE trading center and boat building center for access to the West.  Unfortunately it was Sunday and the park isn’t open on weekends until July 1.  Fortunately the actual compound is open all the time so we could still wander around.  The interpretive center and all the buildings were locked but we were able to look in some windows and had a good walk around the grounds. We stopped briefly at the Manitoba Maritime Museum in Selkirk on our way north out of town but didn’t tour any of the boats.

Our northward destination today was Grand Beach, located on the opposite side of the end of Lake Winnipeg from yesterday’s drive.  Grand Beach is considered one of the best beaches in North America.  It has 12 miles of beautiful fine white sand and is a very popular weekend and summer spot for people escaping Winnipeg – an hour’s drive south.

Today’s weather was similar to yesterday’s with forbidding dark clouds covering the sky.  Over night the wind had blown quite fiercely and it was still blowing hard.  We drove to the main parking lot for beach access but the sand was blowing around so much John was afraid for Poppy’s paint and we went back to another place along the road where we could climb up a brush-covered dune to the beach.

Beach on the other side . 

Very windy.

It is pretty impressive to clamber 50 feet up and across the top of a sand dune and find 12 miles of gorgeous sandy beach spreading out to the left and right.  Not exactly a beach-type day, but there were people not only on the beach but in the water. Br-r-r-r. Standing in Lake Winnipeg                  Back down the dune to the truck

After we left Grand Beach we turned southward again and drove a winding road through forests (and intervals of heavy rain) to connect with the Trans-Canada Highway just before the Manitoba/Ontario border.   We arrived at Kenora at 10 minutes after 4 pm.                  The view from our hotel room

Kenora is on the north shore of  Lake of the Woods, an area of 12,500 islands and LOTS of avid fishermen and boaters.  So many people live on the nearby islands that the Safeway store is built out over the water and has boat docking facilities beside the parking lot! Sunsets are supposed to be gorgeous here but all we saw tonight are grey clouds and rain drops.  Maybe tomorrow the sun will shine….