Home » Camping » A Drive West – What Pegman Saw

A Drive West – What Pegman Saw

Posted on by

This week Pegman takes us to Manitoba, Canada. Feel free to use the location/picture supplied with the prompt, our take your own tour of Manitoba via Google Maps and find a view to inspire you.

Your mission is to write up to 150 words inspired by the week’s location. You may write poetry, prose, or essay. Once your piece is polished, share it with others using the linkup below. Reading and commenting on others’ stories is part of the fun!

Now, I find this quite humorous that Karen has chosen the whole province of Manitoba over a single region or city. (I tease you, Karen.)  That said, I am totally cheating and using my own photograph, taken in August 1993 when I went on my first honeymoon.  Yes, I had one of those starter marriages that was over before you could say Boo!  That said, we have remained friends and all is well and it was a wonderful trip.

Hurry up! I’m being eaten alive!

A Drive West

“We’re going to drive west, camping along the way till we get to Vancouver, stay a few days and drive back through the States.”

“Exciting honeymoon. Not.”

“Pffft! I drove across with my folks when I was 21.  We have a beautiful country.”

“If you say so.  You should fly over the boring Prairies. There’s nothing to see there!”

“Says you who has never been outside Quebec.”

“I hear–”

“Never mind, you hear. Until you DO, you’ve nothing to say.”

“You know what we should have done? Skip Ontario! Bloody hell. Three days to cross it seeing nothing but trees and rocks!”

“And what is this about the prairies being boring? It’s beautiful here. You can pretend you are in Tuscany with all these beautiful sunflowers!”

“Yeah. That said. In Tuscany, they don’t have skeeters big enough to take you away! What the hell? Are they fertilized to grow so big?”

106 thoughts on “A Drive West – What Pegman Saw”

  5. I seen them beatsties flying like drones around the playgrounds. Them are BIGGGGGGGG.
    (and they bite, too. oy).
    Loved the story of the honeymoon. Someone should’a told the skeeters that they were not invited and were DEFINITELY a fifth wheel.
    xo

    Liked by 1 person

    • They are! And they take a chunk outta ya.
      Tell me about it. I went out at one point to attempt to take a photo of a field of purple phlox. Yeah. Photos were all blurry!

      Like

  6. Lovely story, Dale!!!! Eventhough I’m a summer person, I can’t wait for the cold to arrive and kill those creatures! This year they’ve been having a feast out of me. I’m pretty certain I’ll soon need a blood transfusion! They bypass mosquito repellents, clothes… you name it! Beautiful shot of you in the field! xoxoxo

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Q,

    What in the blessed name of Nosferatu are those things? Surely they cannot be mosquitoes. I mean, you can plug some turbine engines on those fuckers! Do they bite you or take you for a ride first?

    What is it about the mid section of our respective countries? The west is beautiful, the east has its glorious destinations. But the middle seems like one big parking lot filled with plains and crops and convenience stores. Which is why Chicago feels like Vegas, smack dab in the middle of all that blah.

    This post had some . . . wait for it . . . bite.

    B

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Dear Dale,

    I don’t think it’s considered cheating to use your own photo if it’s in the general vicinity. Of course I don’t run this show. 😉 I’ve heard that your close neighbor, Alaska, has made the mosquito their state bird. Some day I’ll have to tell you about our honeymoon or, better yet, I’ll write about it. Ticks and long hair don’t go together very well. 😉
    I’m guessing you weren’t the one who wanted to drive cross country.
    Enjoyable story…although I’m sure the skeeters were anything but enjoyable.

    Shalom and lotsa hugs (and some bug spray)

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dear Rochelle,

      In all fairness I did search for a field of sunflowers off the Pegman 😉
      The Skeeters are ridiculous and yeah, I heard that about Alaska.
      Oh, I had no trouble with driving across.
      They were a definite drag.

      Shalom and Lotsa love and long live fall!

      Dale

      Liked by 3 people

    • He he he… I think if either of us had had the cojones to say, yanno what? Let’s not do this, The peeps are invited (only 50) so let’s just have a party and fuggetabout the whole “Till death do us part” thing 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  11. My hubs had a starter marriage that was rather fast too – and their honeymoon involved a foggy day at Grand Canyon (saw nada) and so your post here really resonated.
    —
    and this was a nice play with words:
    “Until you DO, you’ve nothing to say.”
    the do of the action and the Do as in “I do”
    —
    and had no idea about the large mosquitos and never would have thought that with your wonderful cold winters to eradicate certain pests –

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ah yes… I know I am not alone as they did coin the expression.

      Thank you! I kinda liked it myself!

      Our summers are stupid hot and humid so perfect breeding ground for these beasts. They are way huger out west than in Quebec!

      Liked by 1 person

      • And this is another reason why I like these flash fiction groups – we learn so many tidbits –
        And not sure if you ever heard of diatomaceous earth – but we sprinkle a little in the window sill ledges to kill any flies that might come in – well last month there was a big mosquito (not Manitoba big tho – ha) but I was so glad it died in the DE

        Liked by 1 person

  12. I love prairie, but not those Canadian mosquitoes! I’m delighted that you shared your own personal picture of Manitoba! Thanks for sharing the picture and the fun account of the honeymoon.

    I guess I usually pick a city but I couldn’t decide between Winnepeg or the Hudson Bay, and I didn’t want to constrain everyone to the rather remote location I happened to pick for the prompt…. Lucky I did, because I was rewarded with this delightful tale!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Those skeeters are ridonkulous. And I’m delighted you’re delighted! Considering I just moved, I am rather pleased with myself that I found it 😉

      All good. I just thought it was funny. And opened us all up to so many possibilities.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. The mosquitoes are pretty big on our side of the border, too, in northern Minnesota as I recall. But I found the leeches in the lakes far more disturbing. 😬Looks beautiful otherwise.

    I like the “i hear” phrasing–can almost hear the accent with it. Great comeback, insisting that he “do” the trip rather than relying on what he “hears.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Oh man. You know you’ve had a proper childhood when at lease one leech has found its way on your body! Shudder.

      😀 I don’t know how many people told me to skip the prairies. Seriously… if you’re gonna jump over a section, let it be along the Trans-Canada highway in Ontario. B-O-R-I-N-G!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. How funny that I was just riding through the back country roads of France and seeing field after field of sunflowers! Sounds like I had a much better time than the people in this story. But then, I wasn’t on a disastrous honeymoon, but hanging out with one of my dearest friends that I hardly ever get to see.

    And I love the term starter marriage. I had one of those too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Going solely from the picture and your description of your first honeymoon and your short first marriage …

    As we drove through the center of all that was the Great White North, the vastness of open space hit me.

    I had just married a man I thought was the one. He sat in the driver’s seat, his hands on the wheel. Jack’s jaw was set in that way that once attracted me to him, but now I saw it and compared it to what was all around us. The tense, closed feeling his face gave off and this wide open space. A prairie and flowers and mountains that bordered the horizon. Versus Jack, who saw the limits of each day and cautioned me against my dreams.

    What had I done?

    When I was young and the world was truly available to me I married a man who …

    “Jack, let’s just stay here. Right here.”

    “Honey. We can’t do that. Our life is back at home.” He did that thing with his eyebrows and a half grin that told me he was dismissing me.

    I didn’t dismiss it though.

    What. Had. I. Done.

    Stability and certainty.

    Dreams and possibilities.

    * * * *

    No idea how many words that is, but I just felt the need to do something. Write something. Come up with something.

    Liked by 2 people

  17. The Flint Hills in Kansas is also pretty bare, except during blooming time. Speaking of mosquitos, we were camping on a long run from Kansas City to Florida and back. When we were in Louisiana, I heard the helicopters overhead, nope mosquitoes, speaking. They said “should we eat them here or take them with us.” I was wishing I had my shotgun with me. Anything smaller wouldn’t have worked. Lol. Good tale Dale.

    Liked by 2 people

    • I can well imagine.
      Oh man! You have made me laugh with that one. Yes! Their drone when they are swarming is so loud…
      Shotgun… shaking my head… laughing.

      Like

  19. Wonderful picture you chose. Sounds like a not so pleasant trip. I’ve only been up to the Point Pelee area between the windsor bridge and there. It was beautiful, but gee, it was awfully f-l-a-t… though, I have to admit it was kinda fun to stand on a foreign shore and look across to America.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Hahaha!
    Fun post!
    I was born and raised in the prairies. I love the wide open spaces. A person can breathe!
    Caribou mosquitoes, pfffft! You should have gone a tad more north were we have Double Buffalo Black Flies. They all go to the same dentist to have their teeth sharpened. 😀 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  21. My worst experience ever was when visiting Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. We had an old VW camper and literally had to kill ourselves IN the van with those poisonous spray before opening the door to run for a wee….. She says, scratching her 25 new bites just from watering her garden after sundown yesterday!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.