The days will be broken up with a morning drive, midday lunch and sightseeing, afternoon drive and evening entertainment. None of our overnights will be anywhere special, so we are just going to see what we see and stop when it feels right.

So the trip will consist of the following:

• Day 1: Drive from Winnipeg to Grand Forks to the Super Target to stock up on supplies and then through Fargo and finally to Ashby, Minnesota.
• Day 2: Drive to Minneapolis and visit the outlet stores, then continue on to Oakdale, Wisconsin.
• Day 3: Drive through Madison and then over to Lake Michigan for some beach time in Zion, Illinois.
• Day 4: Drive through the beautiful city of Chicago, then down through Indianapolis to end at Edinburgh, Indiana.
• Day 5: Drive through Louisville, where we were in January, and end in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Day 6: Drive through Chattanooga and on to Atlanta, Georgia.
• Day 7: Drive to Warner Robins and move into our home away from home at the Sandpiper Apartments so that we can do the laundry.

Seeing how the trip works out, we were able to delay the start of our trip by one day. That’s one more day to ensure we can pack everything into the van…and to get me a GPS unit for easy directions (and friendly conversation). There are some great deals on the Internet and I even found something in town that I should be able to pick up tomorrow.

Tomorrow I will probably write about the 3D puzzle that our van will become when I pack up tomorrow. Maybe I will even get you a photo of that. Here’s a sample from when we moved from Ottawa to Winnipeg. I hope we will do better this time.

I was born in Winnipeg. I grew up not far from Winnipeg. I went to university in Winnipeg. While I did leave for about 8 years, I now live in Winnipeg. And whenever I leave Winnipeg, I always find people from here. As a matter of fact, I often find people who have lived somewhere else and come back here.

That’s crazy given the fact that winters in Winnipeg are about as cold as you can get living in a capital city. But it’s a dry cold. That’s what people say to get them though it. It also helps that it is sunny most of the winter.

This weekend, I attend Doors Open Winnipeg and took advantage of it to see some areas and buildings of the city by foot that I have only ever seen by car, if at all. Through the two days that we spent in downtown Winnipeg, I also learn a great deal of history that I was never taught in school and never saw on television. Thank goodness that there are people out there that have a passion for different parts of the city’s history and are willing to share their knowledge and memories with interested visitors.

I didn’t know it, but over the years Winnipeg has seen many firsts, number #1s, fastest, longest, etc. etc. They have been such an important part of the history of Manitoba, Canada, North America and even the world and have left their mark in many ways.

If you want to experience a good bit of history, make a date to visit somewhere in the city that you have never been before. If you are a visitor, be sure to check out the City of Winnipeg for visitor information. I suggest visiting the Exchange District to start.

I have been taking the city for granted for nearly 40 years (aahhhhh!), but I think I will do what I can to take as much in as possible this summer.