This campout was at the Kipling Regional Park, and we had a few problems when we first arrived. Our wagon master's spot had someone parked in it, and some of the units had an electrical problem. There is no office on site at the campground, but we managed to flag down a fellow running around in a town truck and he got us all straightened out very quickly. It ended up being a great little campground - and the firewood was plentiful and free!
The drive down was lovely with puffy clouds in the sky and all of the canola in bloom:
Rilla used to live in Kipling and is very familiar with the area - she was a huge help to our wagonmasters, Fred and Pat C, in planning our activities. Here is our itinerary:
Kipling Regional Park
July 16 to 19, 2024
Tuesday, June 16
4:00 Happy Hour 50/50
6:00 Supper at J & J Bar and Grill, 608 Main Street, Kipling
7:30ish Campfire - dependent on fire bans
(when I spoke to the owner, she said she could take better care of us
Thursday, June 18
Attendees at this campout were:
Tuesday - Happy Hour - Jim and Carolynn set up their canopy by their unit. They had a nice big area that accommodated us all nicely:
After Happy Hour we all heading downtown to the J & J Bar and Grill for supper, then back to the campground for a campfire (there was no fire ban). Roger and Marlene C had a nice big area behind their motorhome that worked really well for the campfire.
After lunch we drove 9 km south to Békavár (fortress of peace) where we given a presentation by the lovely lady in the white blouse on the right:
Built between 1911 and 1912, the Békevár Church is the last remaining building from the Hungarian settlement of Békevár:
It is very beautiful inside:
The seating arrangement was as follows (from the left): first section - women and small children, second section - younger women, third section - married men, fourth section - young unmarried men:
After the presentation the gal offered to take our picture at the front of the church:
From there we headed back to Kipling and the Kipling District Historical Society and Museum:
Starting on the right and working backward to the left, the first building displays artifacts and a pictorial display of Kipling during its early years:
The second building is a service station with original Esso gas pumps:
The third building is an old Christ Lutheran Church:
Some of the guys were wondering if the hammered metal on the walls was aluminum or steel, and mused that if they had a magnet they could tell. Gus, who has the tiniest little class B motorhome but who carries more stuff in it than anyone could imagine, said here - and pulled a magnet out of his pocket! It would have to be Gus! (and the metal was steel):
The next building was the schoolhouse:
Harv (standing to the right) and Terry (sitting) were reminiscing about the bad deeds they performed with the ink in the bottles that were once kept in that hole to the right on the top of the desk:
Our guide (in red) had one of those ink bottles on her desk! (Sans ink, of course!)
The next building was the dental office (shudder) - no pictures. Then the blacksmith shop, with Kathy and Barb talking to our guide in front:
You can just imagine how hot working here would be on a summer day:
The next building housed an elevator engine. Not the type of elevator that goes up and down in office buildings, but the type of elevator that stores grain for shipment. Harv and Fred were talking with the fellow running it for us:
Behind all of these buildings was a row of old farm equipment:
At the end of the row was the Heritage Building, which was full of a lot of historical info:
The models of old buildings were wonderful. Most of them were on turntables so that you could see them from all angles:
If you look closely you can even see toilet paper on the roll:
Kipling was named after the poet Rudyard Kipling. They have a collection of most of his books, some of them actually signed by Rudyard Kipling himself:
Just opposite all of the buildings is an original heritage home built in 1903. The interior décor is intact with various furnishings retained from earlier years and displayed in their original settings. The exterior was bricked in 1906 at a material cost of $100 and brick laying cost of $96. The young lady in the next two pictures gave us a tour and answered all of our questions:
Then it was back to the campground for happy hour, supper on our own, and then a campfire. Our wagon masters (Fred and Pat C) had a special treat for us at the campfire. Campfire rice crispy treats, and boy, were they delicious! No pictures but if you follow the link it will show you what they are and how to make them.
Thursday we left at 9am for Kenosee in the Moose Mountain Provincial Park. At Kenosee we visited the Artist's Colony. The colony is a group of four buildings, housing a number of artists, who could be either local or from anywhere in the world:
Our first visit was to bronze sculptor Ken Frederickson. Here he is on the right explaining his art to Roger:
These are the steps he takes to make a bronze sculpture. It could take months to go through all the steps:
The next building housed the Prairie Fire Studio:
Chylisse Marchand, a multidiciplinary artist, whose art includes henna tattoos, indigenous inspired beadwork, watercolour, oil, acrylic, acrylic inks, and more, was in the first room with some examples of her art:
The second room contained the visual art of Margaret Delainey (The Sunflower Lady):
The third building housed Elemental Quiltworks - quilting and other fabric art of Trudy Griffin:
The wall hangings are done with snow dyeing - sort of like tie dyeing:
Once the following steps are taken, she determines what pattern she sees in the material and quilts it:
The fourth building housed Prairie Girl Gallery, the art of Eli Barsi - recording artist, song writer, musician, author, and visual artist:
She uses a multitude of mediums, materials, and subjects:
We particularly liked her paintings on old cupboard doors:
We then headed over to the Kabin Restaurant in the Kenosee Inn for a lovely lunch. Bob and Marlene T joined us again for lunch, as did Barry and Bonnie.
First table, from the left, going around the table - Carolynn, Janet, Elaine, Pat G, Darryl, Peter, Diane, Tony, Doug, and Jim:
Second table, from the left, going around the table - Bonnie, Pat C, Marlene C, Nancy, Marlene T, Rilla, Barb, Gus, Terry, Bob, Harvey, Roger, Fred, and Barry:
Kathy was the only one missing - she was back at the campsite with her puppy, Gracie. She joined us later for our picture at the World's Largest Paperclip.
After lunch we headed over to visit Cannington Manor Provincial Park. An aristocratic English colony was established at the site in 1882 by Captain Edward Michell Pierce. It became a provincial park in 1986. On our way over Rilla had given us some information on other sites to stop at, but unfortunately Google gave our Wagonmasters a different route to take than the one Rilla thought we would be taking so we could not stop at them.
When we arrived at the Park we were taken on a tour by a couple of very knowledgeable gals, both dressed in period costume:
This is a bachelor's cabin - neat that a fellow was on the veranda roof painting it when we arrived!
The ceiling was quite low - Harv had to duck to get through the doorway:
The couch at the back under the window had an infamous history - Apparently a gentleman fell asleep on it and never woke up. The bachelor cottage owner who bought the sofa was not at all upset about the story - he figured it added to the couch's value:
Just outside the cottage was a rope making station. The gals showing us around made a rope with the help of some of the Sunshiners:
Finally done - and Jim got to take it home!
This next house was a carpenter's house and shop. The stove was in the center of the room because the wife was disabled, and this made it easier for her to use it:
A canary in a cage warned them of any deadly fumes!
Next was the blacksmith's shop:
Fred and Pat C are holding up some handmade pipe wrenches. The twist at the end of the handle was the blacksmith's signature:
Our last stop was the Maltby house, the largest and most extravagant in the village. You can tell it was a rich person's house by the intricate curtains, and the maid's cubby underneath the stairs to the left:
We sent Cannington Manor Historical park a cheque in leiu of admission fees for our group, and received this lovely letter back:
Our last stop of the day was at the World's Largest Paperclip (see story in the Paperclip Cottage link on Tuesday's lunch):
Kathy had a story of woe to tell us when we all returned to the campground. While we were all gone she was just sitting in her camper when their awning fell off! They'd been meaning to fix it but just hadn't gotten to it yet. Campground handyman service to the rescue! It really does take that many to help fix things when you are camping!
Tony (on the ladder) got the awning secured so that Terry and Kathy could sleep well and drive home the next day. Both Gus and Doug followed them in the morning and they arrived home without another mishap.
Of course all that work required a happy hour before we had supper on our own, and then a final campfire before bed and we all headed for home Friday morning.
Thanks Nancy enjoy your blog. Roger
ReplyDeleteNancy this is a fantastic account of our outing, you have done a very great job. I am enjoying reading your blog.
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