First things first on Saturday the 11th: we had to fix that cursed air conditioner. I don’t wake the kids, preferring to let them rouse on their own, so they were up by 9 AM. With the late nights they’re keeping, this is what passes for the crack of dawn for them. They rushed down a bowl of cereal and we piled into the car and headed\u00a0into town. I wanted to be first in line at Canadian Tire when it\u00a0opened, to give their ‘mechanics’ as long as possible to look at the vehicle. Unfortunately, even though we were the first there, we were told that there wouldn’t be a free mechanic for 3 or 4 hours. We left, disappointed, but looking forward to a swim back at Campland RV. The day was already hotting up.<\/p>\n
It was while we were looking for our swim suits that we made a terrible discovery. We had left our pack in Wasagaming, Manitoba, the day before! When we stopped to fill our water jug as we left town, we had left behind our knapsack containing swim suits, goggles, towels, and worst of all, Holly’s camera. Lake was unperturbed as he had another pair of shorts to swim in and that was his only concern. Holly was disappointed at the loss of her little camera, which had been a birthday gift. I was most troubled by the loss of the pictures she had been taking.<\/p>\n
I immediately called the Tempo gas station in Wasagaming, as we had stopped there shortly before leaving, and it was close to the water house. They said that they would go over to have a look when they weren’t so busy, and took my phone number to call me back. Still concerned, I was able to get through to the Riding Mountain visitor centre and explain our situation. The very helpful young lady that I spoke to, Lindsay, offered to walk over to the water house immediately to see if the bag was still there. Within 20 minutes she had called me back to say that our knapsack had been found and turned in to the visitor centre. They promised to hold it until we passed back through Manitoba in August. And all was right with the world again! Even sweeter, about 2 hours later the gas station
\nproprietor called back as well. She had gone to take a look and, like Lindsay, found the bag missing. She also found a note that Lindsay had missed, that read that the knapsack had been found and turned in. So you see, people really are good.<\/p>\n
Or my damp Speedo banana hammock didn’t fit the finder. You know, either or<\/em>.<\/p>\n With the camera\u00a0crisis happily solved, it was time to return to Canadian Tire. Naturally our AC didn’t last the 20 minutes it took to drive to the garage. Also naturally, they couldn’t see our vehicle yet. They unhelpful lady at the counter suggested that we come back first thing in the morning, although she wouldn’t make an actual appointment for us on a Sunday. I ground my teeth. I can make or fix just about anything – accept cars. If I was at home, with my full complement of tools, I would have at least given it a shot, but on the road, there’s not much I can do.<\/p>\n We logically turned our minds back to swimming. A swim can cheer the most grim mood. We found Baby Girl a nice new swimsuit in a SportChek near to Canadian Tire and went back to Campland for some liquid therapy. This prompts another observation of RV life. Almost everybody is white and, to my eye, kinda unhealthy looking. I bear a parent’s bias, but in the pool I couldn’t ignore the contrast between Those Johnston Kids, who are wiry looking and browning nicely, and the pale, well-fed children around them. I don’t want to make unscientific conclusions based on my limited observations, but RV life seems to bolster the correlation between race and affluence in Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First things first on Saturday the 11th: we had to fix that cursed air conditioner. I don’t wake the kids, preferring to let them rouse on their own, so they were up by 9 AM. With the late nights they’re keeping, this is what passes for the crack of dawn for them. They rushed down … Continue reading Lost and Found<\/span>