We're Back!

We're back from Manitoba! Did you know we were gone? :)

I'm happy to be home, but sad to have left the simple, but complicated life of the Sundance grounds in Manitoba. I always find coming back to the city hard, particularly walking into a grocery store or shopping area. After being out on the land it is always very clear just how opulent our society is and how much we have that we don't need.

I find it a good reality check for me when I get swept up in it all. Particularly when Victoria just opened the biggest Walmart in North America or some ridiculous thing. [shudder]

We headed out to Manitoba last Tuesday and got back yesterday. No photos are allowed during the ceremony, so I actually didn't even bring my camera, which I regret a bit now, but I do have a couple photos from other people's phones. Where we were is about a 2 hour drive from the Winnipeg airport.

It's amazing how the weather in the prairies is so much different than what I'm used to. We pretty much never get thunderstorms in Victoria and we were either in on or watching one build or pass us almost constantly for the whole week. I think we averaged about 3 a day, punctuated by 30 degree weather when the clouds lifted.

The grounds are beautiful and we set up pretty close to where we were last year and near a family from Vancouver that we hung out with last year; they have a son who is 2 days younger than Brynn. It's great getting together with them because we all get a bit more sanity time when the two of them are playing and someone can get a rest, afterall camping for a week in rainy, then hot, then cold weather with a 2 year old can be challenging. Luckily they get a long really well; as do their parents. :)

Sundance is lot of hard work, but such a rewarding time.

Yes, those are teepees on the plains. :)

One of the other things I love about this area is the variety of plants and grasses. I'm used to seeing a variety of plants in our forests, but not natural grasslands. Instead of cedar trees this are has ground cedar and cacti, and natural sage grows throughout the area. The first year I was here I just sat down and stared at the variety of plants. I don't think this prickly pear got me, but I did have to pull a different one out of my heel.

For the last night we decided to head into the prvincial camp grounds and rent a Yurt. I figured this would be a good transition back into society, not quite camping, but definitely not a hotel in the city. I really like the Manitoba parks programs. They have a lot of the stuff BC used to have when I was a kid and they are super friendly.

For those of you who don't know, a Yurt is sort of a permanent canvas tent, although these ones were pretty cushy, with bunk beds and a futon, as well as power. It was a bit weird to be able to flip switches and plug things in again. lol. I'm really glad we did that though, it made packing a lot easier because we didn't have to pack the tent and everything early in the morning and it was a bit easier to go back to the grounds to say goodbye once we were set-up elsewhere.

So tomorrow is back to work. Mike had to go in today, so hopefully that goes well. I did that last year and it was not a great experience, so I'm using today as a bit of a transition and chores day.