June 10,  2017, Day 20, From a Beautiful Home in Redcliff , Alberta to Tompkins. Saskatchewan. 154km

“No, I don’t know the wifi code. I only work here.” 

Charlie and I are at Woody’s Tavern in Tompkins, Saskatchewan. We came in, hot and dry, hoping to have a little R&R with a cold beer and catch-up on our emails and blogs. There is wifi there, except that nobody knows the password. Even the owner doesn’t know, “My wife knows though. I’m not into that techy stuff.”

We have done over 1700km, 154 of them today. Woody’s is a local watering hole and we are meeting some of the local characters out on a Saturday night. It’s a class act spot and exactly what we’re looking for tonight. There’s a stagette happening a bit later but I’ve had 2 beer and some French fries and I’m pretty well done. Charlie is still hamming it up with the local guys and really enjoying himself. They’re talking about a sign at the edge of town about some guy who bites into pigspleems and then predicts the weather for the next 6 months. The cowboy beside me, who has just bought us another round, gafaws, “Proof that bullshit goes all around the world.” Soon we will leave and set up camp at the campsite close by.

We left our “Warmshowers” host’s home at about 6:15 this morning. It was a bit cool but the wind was at our backs all day and that made a huge difference! We set a personal best record of 154 kms. We discussed pushing through another 25km to get to what we’ve heard is a really nice camp spot at Gull Lake. I could do it but I think it’s better to rest a bit since this is day to-day riding and I don’t want to burn out.

Great day, really. We were excited to cross the border into Saskatchewan. Two down, eight to go! Saw 2 coyotes, an antelope with two babies, (anties?, lopettes?) and a nest with baby birds of prey and a very observant parent . . We were later told that they were hawks. The prairies are full of gophers too and they dance and cavort across the roads. So cute! But I know that the farmers hate them and I do understand why. There are many gophers strewn  in tragic death poses and we  manouver our ways around them. I like to talk to cows. They perk up when you talk to them. At one point I got a whole herd to run alongside us as we sped beside their fence line. They are quite beautiful and I wish they didn’t taste so good. I wonder how many cows I’ve eaten in my life?….

When you’re biking for a long time you have time to think. About everything. Then suddenly, inexplicably, I’ll find myself counting.    ……57, 58, 59…… When did that begin? Did I start with number 1? I don’t recall. Another thing…… It seems that I don’t know the words to any whole song! I can only remember one little part and sing it ,whether it’s right or not, over and over again,

We met another  cyclist tonight. His name is Kingo , from Japan and he is biking to Quebec City. Turns out he left Vancouver the same day we left  Sooke and followed exactly the same route we did. Why is it that we only meet now? As we were preparing to turn into Tompkins, he was ready to do the 90 km to get to Swift Current. Maybe we’ll see him again,

We left the  bar around  9pm, just before the stagette ladies were due to arrive. The campsite was just around the corner. We had it totally to ourselves. There are a few RV’s there and Charlie joked that that’s where the guys who live 6 miles away go to “get away from it all.” We set up our tent. The poles are bent askew from the dilemma 2 nights before, but it went up well anyway. We’ll ask our friend Chic how to fix them when we get home. He knows everything!!!