Yorkton Fire Command and Engine crews escorted me out of the city and into a huge blizzard, the Chief was a bit apprehensive of letting me leave in such poor conditions but I assured him I would be OK. The snow was coming down wet and heavy making travel on he shoulder slippery and slow, the driving lanes were wet and slushy causing a lot of spray and splash and before to long I was basically a drowned rat. A few miles out of Yorkton the snow plow turned around and plowed the shoulder in front of me almost all the way to Saltcoats, then turned around honked and waved and headed back, nice! By the time I reached Langenburg I had to find a gas station to change out of my wet clothes before I froze to death.

At the Manitoba border I was met by Engine One Russell Fire rescue and a large welcoming banner.

Deputy Chief Rick and the Russell Fire Department hosted a BBQ at the station attended by the Mayor, Reeve and a few towns folks etc. After a delicious Chicken cordon blue dinner and a slide show from endms93 the Mayor and the Reeve presented personal donations and the Fire Department presented me with a $500. donation from their association. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Next morning a fog had rolled in so fire command took me to the next town straight south down 16 to Binscarth, next stop was Foxwarren home of Edmonton Oilers Ron Low.

At the intersection to Highway 83 South I was met by a crew from the Birtle Fire Department who presented a donation and some encouragement and well wishes before I pushed of to a lunch meeting at the Shoal Lake Fire Hall with Michelle and Dillon. Back on the highway and with wicked head winds I was more then happy to eventually meet up with yet an another amazing person on stage two, Chad Davies, CAO, Regional District of Park and Deputy Fire Chief Station 2, RM of Harrison and my host for the night. We loaded the fat bike into Chads truck and he took me on a tour of the RM of Harrison Fire Halls and local attractions then we headed north to Sandy Lake to spend the night with Chad and his family, Chad described Sandy Lake a quiet lakeside community where most of the population appeared in the summer months in the form of cottage owners and tourists. As we arrived in town we witnessed the RCMP in the middle of what appeared to be an armed take down on main street, lol (Nice try Chad)
Chads wife Melissa organized an amazing Ukrainian dinner, the best on Highway 16, with a great bunch of people.

The next morning yet another delicious Ukrainian breakfast and Chad an I were off to find highway 16 again so I could resume my journey east, and get to Neepawa for lunch and the famous town of Gladstone to meet up with my Brother Tom and Rachel. After I left Neepawa I was treated to a wind shift and a steady tail wind all the way to Happy Rock (Gladstone)

Brother Tom arrived and the weather was warm and sunny, lots of daylight left so we decided I would keep going as far as I could and he would pick me up before dark and take me to a motel in Portage la Prairie.
That night we had dinner at Boston Pizza a few IPA’s in the motel room and next morning Tom dropped me off back where he picked me up, unfortunately it was pouring rain!