Day 9 - Monday, June 9 - Manitou Lake, Saskatchewan

We left Allan at about 9:45 am as I had to call work first thing.  Today we are heading to Manitou Beach just past Watrous.  It is dreary today and looks stormy.  The landscape so far is flat, flat, flat - it's no wonder the early settlers thought the world was flat!  Ha.

We noticed that most of the fences are under water as we drive along, side roads are detoured and some even closed.

We had to turn just past Colonsay on Hwy 2 and go through Young to get to Watrous.  We pass another Potash Plant on the way.  Young, like any other Prairie town has a Grain Elevator, a baseball field and a pool.  But this town is also advertising New Family Homes for $120,000.  There is very little farming in this area so we assumed all were working at the Potash Plant.

We entered Watrous and stopped at the tourist info but it was closed.  Wanted a coffee shop but none to be found, just a coffee to go at the local gas station.  Watrous is a rail town and it's motto is "Men of Iron".  So we left there headed for Manitou Beach just a short 8 km down the road.  We stopped at the Manitou Regional Park to get our campsite and get set up for the night.   We went down to the beach and had lunch at the best little coffee shop ever - The Village Perk is tiny, but has a 50's decor.  The chrome tables and chairs are in sets and are blue, red, yellow, green and white.  All homemade food and real cozy overlooking the lake.  Awesome - highly recommended.  

Then off we went to Danceland - a 5000 sq ft dancehall built in 1930 with Maple tongue and groove on the floor and the subfloor is horse hair tightly wrapped and gives the floor it's cushiony bounce.  It is also what helps the acoustics sound so good in the dance hall.  It is still operating and has dances throughout the summer.   Again we are too early for the events.  

We then went for a drive around the town before donning our bathing suits and taking a splash into the healing water of the spa.  The springs are noted for healing the sick back in the day and are now visited by many the world over.  The water is a murky golden color and full of minerals.  We may have been healed at Manitou!  

The campsite has no tv reception so no hockey game and no intranet - so our evening was spent map reading and lively conversation over a glass of wine from the House of Rose called a Senior Moment.  During the evening a bird kept flying at the window trying to get in, not sure what that was all about.