Day 31 - 08 July, 2011 Portage de Prairie, Manitoba to Richer, Manitoba

Last night we stayed in a truck stop beside Highway 1.  Normally we have trains running nearby and we are used to the whistles at all hours of the night.  By selecting the truck stop, we couldn't see the train tracks and thought it would be relatively quiet.  We hadn't counted on the helicopters practising their night landings in the hayfield behind us!  We thought we would die laughing!  Anyway, we eventually got some sleep and went for a truckers breakfast at the Esso.  I was on the road by 7:25 a.m.  It was a comfortable 18 degrees and a nice, sunny day.  I crossed over the Assiniboine River and found a snapping turtle fleeing the flooding, just outside of Portage la Prairie.  I crossed over the Assiniboine River again, closer to Winnipeg.  (More flooding).  The shoulder was in great shape all the way to Winnipeg.  Traffic started picking up as I got closer to the city.  We took the bypass (Hwy 100) around Winnipeg.  The traffic was manageable.  Then I got back on Highway 1 East again, and the traffic was rockin'!  I made it to Ste. Anne's and the nice wide shoulder disappeared down to about 2.5 feet.  The temperature is up to 27 degrees and we are going through water like crazy! I continued on to Richer.  We are staying in the Rock Garden Campground.  No train tracks or helicopters in sight! 148 km today.