Day 10: Neepawa MB to Lanigan SK, July 10

We started the day in Neepawa, Manitoba, breakfasting at the Prairie Seasons Bakery. Where to Eat in Canada particularly recommended their whole-grain cinnamon buns, which were indeed wonderful.

Afterwards we toured Margaret Laurence's childhood home, a charming tour by an older gentleman who supplemented the taped tour with tons of stories about "Peggy" and her life.

After crossing into Saskatchewan, lunch was supposed to be a second Where to Eat in Canada meal for the day, but the restaurant turned out to be open only on weekends; the teenage girl in the tourist office in Langenburg told us all about how the owner works two jobs now and doesn't have time to open during the week. She recommended a place that she said was "similar", and the food did turn out to be quite good.

We pushed on to Lanigan, SK and found a small campground run by the Lions. It was attached to a golf course (a trend we're noticing out here) and eerily quiet, with a bunch of RVs and tents but no sign of people. Registration was on the honour system, and after setting up we walked back out to the highway and Jan's Steakhouse, our third Where to Eat in Canada stop for the day. It was a crazy place - small and cluttered, with paintings and prints piled on half the tables, Avon merchandise taking up a ton of space, and kitsch of all kinds for sale all throughout the little room. There was a big gas grill with a brick surround and massive chimney right at Mike's elbow, and we speculated as to when it might have been in use. Of course she came out soon afterwards and turned it on, and put our steaks on it! The salad bar was amazing, especially since the three of us and one potash worker were her entire clientele that evening. I can't imagine putting all that work into an evening when you don't even know if any customers will show up; hence all her Avon and antique sidelines, I guess.

It was our one chance in the trip to split a bottle of wine over dinner, since we were able to camp so close to the restaurant. It was also the friendliest town we've been in, by far; on our walks to the restaurant and back, almost every person who passed us, whether on foot, on a bike, or in a vehicle waved, smiled and nodded, or said "good evening" to us.

Total so far: 3273 km