We had an easy drive from the St. Croix River, Interstate state park up to Fargo, N. Dakota. Arrived in plenty of time to enjoy a swim and do a load of laundry. Stayed at a KOA that was tricky to find because of road construction. On Friday we headed north to Winnipeg, fighting a strong head wind the entire way. Lots of corn fields, and straight flat roads. The border crossing was easy -took only 15 minutes. Gypsy did a marvelous job of taking us directly to Laurie's Aunty Melvie's place.

Aunt Melvie is an amazing lady, originally from Alberta -of Swedish descent, married Laurie's Uncle Alf Savage, and they lived in Winnipeg (where Laurie visited when he was 14) and later they retired to Salmon Arm, B.C. They have 3 children, Jamie, Karen and Clayton - more about them in the later blogs.

Melvie astounded us with her marvelous food, and her vigor and mental acuity. She routinely goes to the library, to follow up on things she wants to know more about. She plays duplicate and contract bridge many times a week. She could run circles around us, - what an inspiration!