Denny Across Canada: On the road again

Winnipeg was a good spot for a long rest. I had battled almost constant headwinds and heat across the prairies and was intensely drained.
Aside from all the family and friends from my university life to visit, I also had a list of things to do or buy before heading east.
I won't go over my rest week, but I stayed in Winnipeg from Friday June, 29th until Sunday, July 8th.
Leaving Winnipeg on Sunday morning, I had a bike full of food, with new, fatter tires mounted. It took only an hour to get back into the swing of touring.
Luckily, Sunday traffic was light, and the wind was more often than not at my bike. With the sun behind clouds all morning, it was a great day to get back in the saddle.
Well, aside from a 15 minute dousing by a passing rain cloud and the general lack of highway shoulders.
I opted long ago to avoid Kenora and the Trans Canada, instead choosing to travel south of Lake of the Woods and through Northern Minnesota to Rainy River.
Unfortunately, this means I missed out on a small bicycle tourist ritual of seeing the monument to the longitudinal center of Canada, which sits east of Winnipeg on the Trans Canada. However, even if I didn't see it myself, I have now passed the middle point of Canada. Taking into account my tendency to wander north and south and the Vancouver Island warm-up, I can probably say I am also halfway through in terms of raw pedalling distance as well.
Anyways, the only camping option in southeast Manitoba a reasonable distance from Winnipeg seemed to be in Woodridge. The access was provides by a triple digit highway, which usually does not bode well. Sure enough, I turned off Highway 12 and encountered two midly upsetting revelations:
1) A road of very dusty, very loose gravel
2) a sign indicating that Woodridge was about an hour down said road
What ensued was a pretty intense hour of fishtailing through piles of gravel, getting coated in dust by passing traffic, and general frowning.
Pulling into Woodridge at around 4 pm, I purchased a powerade, some lemon tarts, and some candy from the general store before heading to the campground I slogged so hard to reach. To my amazement, I discovered that the campground was home to at least 5 different varieties of wild berries, all in perfect ripeness. I gorged myself on blueberries and saskatoons in the forest, discovered zero ticks (bonus!), cooked dinner and settled into bed by 10 pm. Back home in the tent after a week of beds and pillows. I passed on showering, as I just came off a 8 day rest of showers and civilization and must cultivate the bike tourist aura once again.
The next morning I awoke to find light blue skies with not a cloud in sight. An idyllic sight for the average person, but an ill omen for the bicycle tourist. The sun is not your friend when you are riding 5 - 10 hours a day on open blacktop.
A very berry breakfast later, I packed up and hit the road. More gravel to reconnect with highway 12 but in better shape. A light tailwind danced at my back, and I easily blew through 90 kilometers of mixed forest and small hills to the US border.
The border officer seemed to question my sanity in cycling across Canada and doing it in almost the least direct route possible, but he let me into his country so its all good.
I took lunch in the town of Warroad, Minnesota, where most of the town was dominated by a sprawling window and door factory. The rest of town seemed dedicated to hanging as many US flags as physically possible. I could practically cut the freedom in the air with a knife. After some donuts and coffee, I continued on towards Canada again.
Very hot afternoon in the sun and I had to make an emergency and clandestine stop when I felt the Manitoban blueberries forcibly coming out the other end.
I eventually crossed back over into Canada around 5 pm, at the town of Rainy River, Ontario. I sluiced the sweat and sunscreen from my skin at the nearby wading pool and settled in. As I was cooking dinner, a man in a mobility scooter rolled by missing a leg and most of his teeth. He talked at me for about 30 seconds, during which time I understand zero words.
Looking ahead it seems camping in Ontario is very expensive, so I may have to start doing some stealth camping again.