On a pretty short whim, I opted to drive from Minneapolis to as far north as you can reasonably drive in Manitoba. That road ends just shy of 1000 miles north in Thompson, MB. Thompson was founded in the 1950s as a mining town, and its very utilitarian in layout and services. Of the several major hotels, I opted for The Burntwood because it was locally owned and it seemed to have solid facilities.

The location is as good as you can really hope for in Thompson. Everything is a reasonable walk or very short drive away (depending on the weather). The hotel has a decent restaurant attached, and it also has one of the bigger nightlife establishments in town --the Regal Beagle (a strip joint, but in this part of Canada its where everybody goes, including many women). Neither affected my room on the far side of the hotel. The hotel has an indoor pool, work out facility and complimentary wife internet for guests (a big plus this far outside of mobile phone service). The... more