From Buffalo to Alaska. Day 18 - 9/3/96

Medicine Hat to Regina for gas, then on to Winnipeg. Current Map. Fly a heading of 070 for 5 hours, with average groundspeeds of 130 knots. We didn't stop at Moose Jaw, just west of Regina, because the airport belongs to the Canadian Air Force. Also, we're beginning to feel the onset of "get-home-itis", which means we really want to capitalize on the good weather.

No pictures today from the air, but the ground looked familiar. In fact, this photo taken earlier on the trip could have been taken today.

Winnipeg is by far the largest city we will visit in Canada. After almost two weeks in small towns (even Juneau only had 20,000 people), Winnipeg is a reminder that the trip is almost over. The reality of traffic, office buildings, and eastern haze for pilots is about to set in.


Winnipeg sits at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. Those rivers were the primary means of transportation and commerce for a hundred years, and established Winnipeg as the commercial hub of central Canada between Toronto and Vancouver.

Today the city has made the rivers the focal point of the community. Winnipeg is the capital of the province of Manitoba, and the legislative buildings sit on the shore, along with the cathedral of St. Boniface.


We walked along the river, and took a rest opposite the cathedral. For the first time in the trip, we found a use for the mosquito netting in our survival gear.

The visitor center contained a sports hall of fame, including clear signs that we were still in a foreign country.


Tomorrow it's back to the U.S., as we head for Duluth for gas, and on to Mackinac Island in the Upper Michigan peninsula.

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