Choice Words in Brandon

My adventures have led me to Brandon, Manitoba.  It just happens that there are also 4000 pipe liners in town.  So finding a campsite in town was wishing for allot as the pipe liners horded them all. I guess that is because it takes 4 to dig a hole. I had to decide if I should start exploring the communities outside of Brandon looking for a base camp or get a room. The rain is coming!

So.. what to do? Should I go for a long drive and find a campsite or splurge and get a hotel room with shower, bed and TV.  Hmmm .. tough choice – let me think about that for a second.  I took the motel room and quickly disappeared behind the shower curtain for a couple of hours. After – I cuddled up in bed and fell a sleep to 3 movies.  Must be movie withdrawals of being on the road. I took the night off and got lost in the movie fantasy world.

My few days in Brandon were full of starts and stops and u-turns.  The road map I had was pretty much useless as the road construction in the town made almost every route a detour.  At one point I could not get back to the main road as construction site after construction site blocked my access.  One park I visited took me for ever to access because of the construction. If you can imagine I mumbled to myself a few choice words on occasion.

The park system in Brandon focuses around the Assiniboine River.  There are trails following the river and there are parks scattered along its banks.  The main paths in town were paved so there were a few bikers and walkers out. The weather was on the verge of rain so I am guessing that kept a few people indoors. Not I.. rain or shine exploring a new community is always a hoot.

Flowers in Eleanor Kidd Park in Brandon Manitoba

One of the parks in town that was a rainbow of colors was the Eleanor Kidd Gardens. What a great flower garden. Not expected to find a flower garden in Brandon. There were colors of all kinds. There were sitting benches, picnic tables and awnings covered in flowers.

The gardens were a great place for reflection and my lunch. The birds were singing and people nearby were laughing.  But having a lunch also makes me stationary and a target for conversation. My good looks (not) attracts attention.

One guy came over and asked about the EH company.  We get that allot. It got to a point where the guy would not leave. I figured he was a bit lonely so I accommodated him for awhile. And like most he left  impressed and was going to go online and check us out.

The wilderness park in the region that I enjoyed the most was called the Brandon Hills Hiking and Ski Trails (main photo).  The park was located on the back country gravel roads south of Brandon. I had a map, but it was useless, there were no directional signs on the roads.  Again this was a park I had to ask about as the tourist info did not even mention it?

I was researching blind again looking for the park so I fired up my internal GPS system.  And with a little north -south maneuvering I found the park entrance. It was nice to be out of the city and in the wild again.  The smells are that much better. I met an elderly women on the trails. She was picking berries.  She was the nicest lady I have met in awhile. She was so happy and so cute.  It is always refreshing to meet good people.

The Brandon Hills Trails are wilderness trails.  The type of trails were your ankles scratch up against overgrown grass, twigs and tree roots. A type of trail were the bug population is high. A trail were there is mud and moisture in the air. A breeding ground for mosquitoes.  But a long time ago I learned my lesson.  Before my hike I took a shower in a can of OFF.  Bugs beware they left me alone.  To finish my day I took my time hiking the trails.  The outdoors does that to me!