Rubber Ducky Resort & Campground – A family campground located in Warren, near Winnipeg, Manitoba

March definately seems to be going out like a lion this year – a long drawn out lion. I think that I can speak for all Manitobans when I say enough already. It seems like this storm has been dragging on and on. The wind is howling like it was January out there and they are not predicting an end until tomorrow when we are down to just flurries.  I just decided to check the 14 day trend out of morbid curiosity and it does not look too good. It is supposed to be below average and barely above 0C for the next two weeks. Not the good news we were all looking for. I was hoping to see plus double digits, but it is just not meant to be.

It seems not too many people are thinking summer and camping right now. The phone and email has been worse than dead this week. We need some sunshine to brighten things up and get on with spring and summer. 

One of my RV newsletters had an article about the top 10 things you should never do with your RV and I thought that I would share. Some if it is kind of amusing click here

Happy Shovelling Everyone! Just remember 1 month and 1 week until camping.

I think April 1 would be a better day to make the first day of Spring. April Fools Day is much better suited for this kind of joke. Today just doesn’t seem like spring when only the day before it was -20 with a wintry wind blowing. I suppose we could give them the benefit of the doubt and hope that the 7C forecast for Sunday will actually come true.

Those of you that live in or closer to Winnipeg would probably be surprised by how much snow is still around out here. I know that I was surprised by the lack of snow inside the perimeter earlier this week. We are starting to see some bare patches of ground fortunately so there is hope however. If we can just get rid of the ice that is around right now it would be a bonus. You would be better of with a pair of skates in some yards and parking lots than you are with shoes on your feet. We were able to drag out the BBQ this week though so that must be a sign of spring. It is always nice to have that first BBQed meal of the year.

This time of year gets a little frustrating around here because camping season is so close and we are anxious to get started on our projects we have planned, but just can’t do it.  I want instant snow melting, none of this slow melt. We have things to do. I will share a couple things that we have planned for this year. We are planting a potato patch and will be selling home grown new potatoes when they are ready and we are planning to enlarge the seating area around the pool area. There are still a few other things in the works, but I won’t let the cat out of the bag just yet. You just have check back later.

I hope everyone has a happy first day of spring or more importantly last day of winter!!!!

It’s that time of year when all the homeless kitties seem to show up on our doorstep.  At least this one is not asking to come inside and she is content to visit us outside – so far. She doesn’t seem to live here exclusively but instead travels around to the neighbors.

I just had to have a chuckle. I wrote the first paragraph at the beginning of December and well things have changed. This past week she had a taste of what inside was like (only about 20 minutes) and decided that she would like to live in our house permanently. And she now seems to live here exclusively. There is no travelling around anymore, just from the shed to the house for visits and pets. Once again you can tell that she was an indoor pet at some point which really makes me wonder how she went from that to living on the streets of the duck. She just can’t get enough petting and will come running whenever she hears us outside.

As you can tell she likes kids and sled rides

At least she has found a warm bed and is able to fend for herself outside. Hopefully she can tell a mouse from a chipmunk and we will be able to put her on the payroll permanently.

 NEW YORK – A London couple visiting the Big Apple have settled into their hotel room – under the eyes of thousands of pedestrians and motorists. Duncan Malcolm and Katherine Lewis are receiving a complimentary five-day stay at Manhattan’s Roger Smith Hotel in exchange for staying in a replica of one of the hotel’s rooms on the ground floor of a nearby building. As part of the agreement, the couple must keep the curtains on the room’s large glass windows open between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. until Friday, allowing passers-by to watch them. The hotel partnered with the Real Live Billboards company, which stages live events for advertising and promotional purposes. In December, heavyweight boxer Tor Hamer was featured in the hotel’s storefront window exchanging punches with his trainer.

Mother Nature did finally come through in the end. We could have used some more snow, but everyone was able to make do with what we had. The Northern Lites were able to groom on the Friday morning which from all accounts made for a smooth ride. We must give a huge kudos to the NL groomer operators for getting out and getting it done. It was appreciated by lots of people. We had around 165 hands sold with the first place getting $230, so a not bad turnout overall. With it being a long weekend and valentine’s day it was a busy day for everyone with lots of other  activities going on.

Now that our last major winter event is done, it is time to really concentrate on the upcoming camping season. The RV show will be happening in a short couple weeks and hopefully before we know it the hot summer weather will be upon us. Or at least the warm spring sunshine anyway.

We have all been wishing for warmer weather and now it is here. Yay!! (insert sarcasm here) This weather is not quite what we all had in mind I am sure. The kids are getting an early spring break with no school for a week. The parents are ready for them to go back to school. I am sure there are quite a few people getting a snow day from work as well. Especially this morning with hwy 6 closed. That will affect a lot of people in this area.

There have been some crazy videos on the news from yesterday’s roads – truck spinning on shear ice, chipping away the ice on the highway and skating down the middle of the highways. This is not supposed to happen in Manitoba.

This does not look good for our poker derby on Saturday. The trails are melting away in front of our eyes. Unless we get a few inches of snow in the next day or so I don’t think there will be too many riders out. It will just have to become a car derby with social and supper. There seems to be a conspiracy against our derby. Blizzards, ice storms, wonder what next year might bring flash floods, tornado? Oh well we will still be going through with everything. The checkpoints are all set up, the social and supper are organized. At this point it is too hard to completely cancel. There should still be enough snow to do the route and it is a little bit colder today so there shouldn’t be anymore melting before Saturday.