The skeeters have followed us from Alberta through Saskatchewan and have caught up with us in Manitoba. There is no escaping them. No sitting outside enjoying the evening. As it is Canada Day we were going to go to the local fireworks show but no amount of bug spray would keep the pesky blood suckers away so we paid homage to the country’s birthday huddled in our trailer. We Islanders have become somewhat sissified over mosquitos.

The morning finally dawned  so before we hooked up the trailer and headed down the road again we decided to drive 30 kms to the southwest to the small town of Souris, pop 2,247 souls (as of the 2021 census) Souris is located on the Souris River and is famous for a couple of things. The free ranging peacocks that originated when a local resident donated a pair of the birds to the local bird sanctuary. The pair bred and the flock grew and were contained in the Victoria Park Bird Sanctuary until the devastating floods of 2011 destroyed the sanctuary and the birds were set free. Since then they have become the towns ambassadors and roam the streets, yard and parks of the town. You can hear their calls throughout the town.

The other famous attraction is the Souris Swinging Bridge. Built by William Henry “Squire” Sowden in 1904. He was a land speculator, developer and politician who found the town in 1881. He owned property on the east side of the river and built the original bridge in 1904 to enhance access to land he owned on that side of the river. The original bridge was only 582 ft long but was continually swept away by major flooding and rebuilt. The current iteration was completed on opened in 2013 and has the distinction of being the longest swinging pedestrian bridge in Canada.

We enjoyed some yummy, freshly baked cinnamon buns at the local bakery, washed down with tea from a sidewalk café. Sufficiently sated we drove back to Brandon, hooked up the trailer, filled the truck with fuel and headed down the road. Next stop Winnipeg.

A comment about fuel. I am running diesel in my truck so I try to find the least expensive around. I have the Gas Buddy app on my phone so I check out the local prices and the prices at the location down the road where I will for sure need to fill up. Amazing differences in price.  In Edmonton I filled for $1.51 per liter. Calgary was $1.64, Medicine Hat $1.89. Crazy!!! Here is Winnipeg on the same street within 3 blocks of each other one station had it at $1.66 and another at $1.89. Makes no sense to me. The Gas Buddy app sure comes in handy.