June 20, 2014 in Brandon

It is now Saturday morning and we are up and running.  Ward is leading the charge!  More later on today, but I think I should start with yesterday.  The rain let up long enough for the boys to get the bikes put together.  This took awhile but by the end of it they knew what tools they were missing.  Where was Andrew with the extra screwdriver, wrench and cleaning cloths?!
Meanwhile Helen and I were working on the shopping list--granola, power bars, trail mix, dried fruit and, of course, Cheetos!
We all set off in our very large and very glamorous Ford Expedition complete with the new bike rack.
Helen and I did the groceries and the boys hit Home Depot and the liquor store.  Then off to the other end of town to Canadian Tire for a bucket, degreaser and cleaning cloths.  We also bought a couple of storage containers to act as our traveling pantry cupboard.
Then Ward spotted the sign for Marshall's used cars and we stopped in to meet Jason who had been such a help in choosing the van in the original plan for travel.  Now you will understand who Jason is if you saw the photo from yesterday!
By this time we were starving so we searched out Komfort Kitchen in downtown Brandon.  Had a great lunch in this funky old-fashioned place.
After a quick nap, under gathering thunder clouds, Ward and Gordon set off to test out the bikes.  Helen and I met them at the beautiful Riverside Linear Park which has been created over the last few years along the Assiniboine River in Brandon.  We had a short walk while watching the lowering clouds carefully!  Gordon and Ward decided to bike back to the Super 8.
Helen and I  explored a bit more in the car, finding two Ukrainian churches within blocks of one a mother.  We never did find the perogies though!
The area around here is low lying and there was ground water left over from the 70 cm. of that Brandon had received the day before.  We found a huge fenced garden complete with gnomes and other fun things.
We also found the Lady of the Lake Restaurant which turned out to be a fun and delicious place to be on a Friday night in Brandon.  Though no lake!
Off to bed with dreams of the first ride.