Now this was a day we were looking forward to. Way back last fall when we were planning this trip in detail, not as a “maybe sometime” but as a for sure thing to do come next spring, I leaked our plans to Rebecca. Charlie was not pleased; he’d rather do something and then talk about it rather than talk about it and maybe  not do it. But I was excited and I spilled the beans.

Well, it actually worked out extremely well as Rebecca, our sister-in-law and Willy, Charlie’s brother    decided to take some vacation time when we got to Ontario. They drove their RV up from Normal, Illanois and met us as we were headed south from Kenora to Fort Francis.  Willy will ride with us every day and Rebecca will drive the RV. She has a “boot” on her right foot as it is healing from a biking injury. We will meet up with the RV for lunch and again at the end of the day. Talk about being cared for!!!

Today was sunny and bright from the moment we got up. It had rained so much the night before, everything looked shiny and clean. The landscape is different again; much rougher, rockier. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the first settlers when they came across the country. Also difficult for those who later paved the roads, blasting through solid rock as they came. There is a lot of very interesting rock too.  

 I was so glad that we’d stayed in a motel last night. It was money well spent! We had been considering the different routes to get to Thunder Bay. One, the Trans Canada , or the northern route would take us through Dryden. The pavement /shoulder was supposed to be good up until Dryden and then poor beyond it and as it was the #1 highway, busy with many trucks and traffic. The Fort Francis  route was reputed to be quieter and very up and down (whereas the more northern route was supposed to be flatter.) The Canadiens Biking Association suggested the Fort Francis route. Even so, we were still trying to figure out the best way to go. What did decide it was that Charlie awoke and bolted up at 4:30am with the very certain feeling that we were putting ease above safety and then we both decided to do the route suggested by the CBA.

The shoulder, for the most part was pretty good all the way down to Caliper Lake.

It was very exciting when we saw the RV and knew that Willy and Rebecca were in it. We pulled over into a rest area and hugged and talked. Willy got his bike out, we unloaded all our panniers into the RV and we rode off.    Wow! So much lighter without all our stuff! Rebecca rode ahead 40km and made us lunch. Yes! It was wonderful! After lunch we three biked another 35km while a Rebecca drove ahead, found a free place for us to camp tonight. We will be sleeping in the RV too Thurs night through to Monday night. So wonderful! Rebecca made us a dinner of chorizo sausage, buns, sauerkraut and broccoli. We had just finished dinner and we were sitting around checking email , chatting and blogging. Charlie jumped up! ” There’s a bear outside!”

The bear, a big black one, walked very confidently across the roadway and into the bush, paying absolutely no attention to us. We scrambled to get pictures but only Charlie got a photo. I was all thumbs but I felt safe as we were in the RV.  

When we got ready for bed, I had a very weird sensation. The camper was rocking with the wind and with the transfer of weight by four people within it. I suddenly had vertigo. Everything started to move, up, down, sideways. I wasn’t nauseous but knew I would be if it kept up. Willy gave me a bucket. Fortunately I did not have to use it, the sensation went away and I slept well.

Some days you get up and you’re full of go! And some days that go is nowhere to be found. Today was one of those days for me. We packed up and (I) reluctantly got on my bike and got going. There’s a lot of road construction going on in Manitoba and that’s a good thing, because there are a lot of rough spots.  

Ontario! We are in Ontario!   

Amazing! It hasn’t been easy but I’m sure that it’s going to get even harder now that we’re in Northern Ontario. Currently we are at an A&W trying to find a decent but inexpensive hotel/motel. It is not just raining, it is pouring buckets of water at us. Before we got to A&W we were at MacDonalds. I was indulging in my coffee addiction and Charlie was drinking his peppermint tea. It was raining then too and at that time we were still planning on camping at the Rushing River Campsite about 35 km from here. We called to ensure there was room and of course there was. But it was $57 plus tax to pitch a tent and for the awesome privilege of getting every single item you have totally saturated. No. I don’t think so. Some nights we won’t have the option but tonight we do and we found a small family owned hotel not far from the A&W.  

So now, showered and warm, Charlie is glued to the TV watching soccer. We are getting ready for our gourmet dinner of potato salad, canned beans and tinned fish, tuna for me, salmon for Charlie.    I had nothing to do with this combination. Charlie came up with it by himself. If it turns out to be better than it sounds, I’ll let Derek know. 

We are in a cottage overlooking a lake. The view over the water is spectacular. We didn’t book it, we don’t know the person who owns it, we didn’t expect to be here. But we are and it’s lovely.  

What a beautiful morning we walked out into this morning as we left Ian and Sheri’s home. It was bright enough that I had trouble seeing between the sunshine and the glare off the wet streets. Refreshed after having enjoyed a day off, we took a convoluted route towards the highway, passing painted polar bear display, ( like the painted cows we have in Calgary) and the Canadien Mint in the process. There are a lot of cyclists in Winnipeg but they don’t enjoy the quality of bike paths that we in Calgary do. On and eastward we rode. Eventually we passed the longitudinal centre of Canada. Charlie and I did a little celebratory dance but we are not deceiving ourselves; we know it is not our halfway point by road.           We’re actually not sure where that is. Eastward bound….the landscape was turning yet again. Saskatchewan with its gentle curves eventually becomes more dramatically differentiated as one travels eastward into  Manitoba and beyond. There’s  more rock, more bush, and suddenly, trees. (There are more bears too but we haven’t seen any.)

We stopped at a little roadside fruit and vegetable stand. I bought a tomato but my real goal was to win access to their bathroom. Charlie perused their wares and deciding that they were perhaps more than we wanted to spend, went back to our bikes. People often stop to talk to us. They’ll ask where did we come from, where do you go (Cotton Eyed-Joe! Lol, couldn’t resist!) Yeah, they just ask us all kinds of questions and we are always ready to have a chat. Well, this man started talking to Charlie. The woman he was with said she’d love to do a trip like this. They asked where we were headed for that day and  Charlie told them we were planning on camping at Falcon Lake. I came out of the washroom in time to hear the woman, Lisa Patrick, (who also lives in Calgary), offer us the use of her family’s cabin for the night. Wow!!! Wow!!! They were going there to do some yard work and would be leaving around 6pm and they would leave the cabin unlocked for us!  That sure put some steam in my whistle!

Dave is walking across Canada. He started April 21st and we met him between Winnipeg and Falcon Lake. He’s a retired medical vet from the Canadiens Armed Forces who lives in a tiny condo in Pentiction.     He said he has always wanted to walk across Canada and this was his time to do it. He had a large Thule cart he was was pushing before him, loaded down with everything he needed for the trip. He said he was loving this minimalist existence and he was making serious progress with 50-70 km a day. Walking!!!!! He said that this was the worst day so far for bugs and indeed it was. Drone-sized horseflies or deer flies dive bombed us as we moved along, darting, swirling, soaring at us from every angle. ( I bought us bug suits and put mine on. Charlie, of course, was way too cool for that, but I was undeterred. I felt much better. When you put it on it looks mostly light tan in colour and I thought nothing of it until I went into the front office at a campground. Charlie and I just wanted to buy something at the camp store and when the guy behind the counter saw me, all covered up in my bug suit, he stepped back.      I think he thought I was there to hold him up. “Gimmie all your Twizzlers. Yeah, hand ’em over, and all the Smartie boxes too! Don’t hold back! And gimme the gum! I want all the gum! Haha.)

We got to the Patrick cabin around 6:30. It has that homey, comfortable family vibe going on and we felt instantly comfortable. Dinner was simple; a salad including that perfect tomato, mashed potatoes with Campbell’s Chunky Soup over them. Not recommended but worked in a pinch. We had wonderful showers and called it an early night. 

Thank you Lisa and Danny.  We appreciate the use of your cottage. Expect a call from us when we get back to Calgary.  Your pub or ours?

It was fabulous! No alarm jarring us awake at the break of dawn. We stayed, snuggled and comfy in our little nest room atop Sherry and Ian’s Winnipeg home until well after 9m. Then we continued in our laziness to lie around blogging and reading between naps. This was our rest day and we rested.

After a breakfast of leftover quinoa salad we hoofed it over to the nearest bus stop. I say “hoofed it” because our bikes were at MEC being serviced. It’s good to use some different muscles for a change. We went downtown where Charlie had an appointment, then walked several blocks to the Human Rights Museum.  

If you’re in Winnipeg, I would recommend that you make a point of visiting this museum. Architecturally it’s very unique and the long ramps that lead from floor to floor give the viewers time to process some of what they’ve seen.  Canada is, in my opinion, the best country in the world. However, this exhibit brings injustices to light and shows us that Canada, past and present, does have things to answer for.  

MEC was supposed to have our bikes completed by early afternoon but when we arrived to claim  them, the mechanic was still working on Charlie’s. We had them tuned up, chains replaced and I had my stem shortened. Charlie’s wiggle-wobble was because his cassette was loose and his rear hub was misaligned. They fixed that for him and put more cushy bartape on his handlebars. We were a bit panicked because we had promised to make dinner for our hosts. Fortunately dinner was ready on time because we power shopped and team prepared it. Our team is Charlie and me. We’re a good team.;)   After dinner they served dessert which was pavlova. Mmmmmmm……..good! We watched a slide show about their last cycling tour in Europe and then I was done! So tired , I fell asleep in minutes.     Zzzzzzzzzzz

Experimental breakfast.   I love coffee. I love it, but refrain from that enjoyment when I’m cycling because I try to minimize the number of times I have to search out a little bush, peel away 3 pant layers, (yes, three. My cycling shorts, my long underwear that I wear as light weight pants and usually, my MEC rain pants.)  Everything’s usually a bit damp if not outright wet and resists removal so I like to limit that whole ordeal as much as possible. But I have an idea and I’m going to try it first thing this morning!

I bought a jar of Nescafe ground instant coffee! Not the regular instant coffee. No, this is soft, finely ground, like flour. I mixed it, two good sized dollops, into my instant milk powder, added water and vanilla yogurt and threw it all over my mound of raw large flaked oatmeal and chopped apple. .( Ohhh…..chocolate powder! That would be good too!)  I know it probably doesn’t sound that appealing and if I invited you for breakfast you’d likely decline, but I thought it was pretty good! And put to the test, I was still buzzing along happily after 60 km. It is now a new staple to my morning diet.

What a beautiful, gorgeous fantastic day! We were headed into the heart of Winnipeg, to the MEC store where we have appointments to have our bikes checked and serviced as needed. We had to call them to let them know that we would not be there to drop off our bikes at 11am as Charlie, for some reason, had booked. We were going to be late because I chose to sleep in until 6am that morning.

We do like to start early in the morning and that is particularly important when the weather is stinking hot. We’ve been fortunate thus far. I’d way rather deal with these cool cloudy conditions. On we went, the wind from the north west ousting us along. A little group of red-winged blackbirds swooped and scolded me overhead, believing they were successful in driving me away from their nests where their young awaited, sheltered in the bulrushes, mouths agape, awaiting their next knat.  I felt good, enlivened by my caffeine boost. Charlie felt good too. He just loves to ride!

We dropped our panniers off at the home of Ian and Sherry, our “Warm Showers” hosts for the night. They live just a little off of Portage, a roaring street heavy with traffic even on a Sunday afternoon. Two houses in from Portage it was quiet and green with trees lining each side of the road, their branches forming a canopy overhead. Sounds lovely, and it would be if not for the caterpillar infestation. As we ride towards their house, I hear myself shrieking like a girl when I come in contact with the many, many suspended, swaying insects. I don’t like them.

We got to MEC. I told them about Charlie’s wiggle wobble, how the whole back end of his bike fish tails. They will also be adjusting the angle of his handlebars and rewrapping themwith cushioning gel. I have opted to shorten my stem a bit. Both bikes need tune ups, maybe new chains. We’ve done over 2500 km now. In the meantime, we both felt great to be off our bikes and walking for a change.

There was a jazz festival going on and we sat and listened and people watched for a while. There seem to be a very large number of homeless and poor, at least downtown, and of course, a festival draws them out. Every few metres people were calling out to us, some quite aggressively, to give them money. Our host’s had warned us to never leave our bikes unattended, not even for an instant, as bike theft is rampant in this city. He said that bikes are taken to “chop shops” where they are taken apart, their components mixed and then reassembled back into functional bicycles. I’m sure that Winnipeg is a great city. Tomorrow is a rest day and we will explore a bit and try to see it’s positive aspects.

Sherry and Ian,      both in their 50’s are warm, welcoming and full of energy and conversation. Sherry says she has been in the news a lot lately because as a Ph.D. toxicologist/pharmacologist working for the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, she has been trying to educate people about the lethal dangers of phentanyl and now, car-phentanyl. Ian is a teacher, an outdoor education specialist. He is a transplant from England and he is passionate about the kids he teaches and about the city he has adopted as his home. They are enthusiastic bicycle tourists and prefer cycling in Europe. Warm Showers hosts, they take regular advantage of the reciprocal hospitality when they are away as well. What a fantastic way to meet other interesting people! I have been bowled over again and again by the amazing generous people we’ve met on this journey! Charlie and I have hosted many, many couchsurfers, which opens the playing field considerably, as the only common thread you can count on then is that we all need shelter, sleep and food. We have only had 1 set of “Warm Showers” guests since we joined the site; two very thin, ravenously hungry Korean guys who had been subsisting on ramen noodles. They didn’t go to bed hungry that night!                            

Sherry and Ian had prepared us a delicious meal of guacamole and chips, salad with candied pecans and strawberries, homemade pizza and pavlova with lemon curd, whipped cream and fruit. After lots of conversation, they showed us to their “cottage”, a room high up in their house that they have redone with storage units underneath, cushions atop those units and windows all around. It’s a perfect little nest and we are very comfortable.    They told us to feel welcome to stay more than 1 day so we will take our rest day here as well. Monday evening we will make them dinner. It is in no way repayment for their hospitality but at least it’s something we can do to attempt to express our gratitude.

Plop

Plop, plop,      Plop.                 Plopplopplop….

Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop……

We left in the mist. The sky was grey and there were no signs that the weather would lighten up anytime soon. 

The individual raindrops patterned the surface of my raincoat, eventually got friendly and held hands,  moving ever closer until they soaked the surface of my clothing.  It wasn’t a heavy deluge but it continued off and on throughout most of the day. We’d put our raingear on just to rip them off 15 or so minutes later. And then we’d need them again.

We had been warned to expect some good hills just east of Brandon. They were long and slow,, many looking , from a distance, far worse than they actually were. It was a good ride. Manitoba has more brush and  trees  than does Saskatchewan. Or so it seems from the very limited perspective of a Trans Canada cyclist. 

Around 60 or 70 km in I started to realize that I was losing my focus. I was literally falling asleep on my bike. I have some ideas about how to deal with that and will write about that later.Finally though, when we got to MacGregor, outside of Portage, I insisted we go in for coffee. We ended up making our lunch there, outside the T off start for the golf course.        PING! Unused to the sound generated when the club whacked the ball, I cringed each time someone Teed off. It sounded like something was breaking. I ended up having 2 large coffee and whether it’s physical or psychological, or more likely a combination of the two, I felt better and was strong and alert for the rest of the day,

We had received confirmation that another “Warm Showers” host in High Bluffs, east of Portage la Prairie had accepted and was awaiting us.

We drove through Portage. It’s small but  big enough that you wouldn’t get cabin fever and close enough to both Brandon and Winnipeg that you wouldn’t feel lost out in the middle of nowhere. I like riding around these little towns, seeing what’s there, imagining what it must be like to live there. We stopped at a grocery store and bought a few things we would need as well as a couple of things to take to our host’s home,

Darlene and Marvin live a little off the beaten track. One has to access it by taking a bucking bronco dirt road just off the highway for about a kilometre or two. Once I realized that if I picked a rut and stuck with it, that the dirt was almost like cement in that it was fully compressed, the ride was almost comfortable. We turned into a long driveway . Their home is beautiful; lots of flowers and trees, vines climbing along the wrap-around porch.  Beautifully groomed yard! That must take time!  

Our host’s, Marvin and Diane,   both lean and fit, look like they might have teen aged kids. They met when Darlene was 15, married when she was 19 and started having the first of their 3 kids right away. Their kids are all grown and they in turn have had kids early, two families with 3 kids each and one that broke all the rules and had 4. That makes Dar and Marv grandparents of 10 and they’re barely into their 50’s!!! They had kindly prepared a meal of roast chicken, kale salad and bread for us and after we had cleaned ourselves up, we ate their kind offerings. Marvin unfortunately,had to drive in to Winnipeg. His elderly father is in a care facility and is not doing well. He went in to settle his father for the night.              

At this time, Dar and Marv are living vicariously through the many guests they have hosted through “Warm Showers”. When the tine is right they plan on taking their own trips. So far they have purchased their touring bikes. Both have Trek 520’s which are reputed to be good bikes. They ride to and from work together every day.  It was wonderful to get to know them a little bit.  They are wonderful, warm, interesting people! We have a lot of the same values and share the same faith. Maybe one day we’ll get the chance to bless them too. Thank you Darlene and Marvin. It was awesome to stay with you!

“I’ll take you the scenic route! It’s a bit longer but it will get us off the highway and it’s a lot nicer”, he said sprightly. 

We left Moosomin around 7:30 on what promised to be a beautiful day. The wind, coming from behind us, was cool, steady and slow. The important thing was that it was westerly, which meant that each effort we made would be further enhanced by the wind.

Every part of Canada is different and each area has its special appeal. Sometimes you must really look and allow the place and the beauty particular to that place seep into you. I love how much sky there is out on the prairies and how one can look for kilometres and kilometres in almost any direction. One word I would never use to describe the prairies though, is flat. The prairies have subtle curves and indentations but they can not be called, in my opinion, flat!

Alexander is a small community west of Brandon. We had made pretty good time when we pulled in there for groceries and for coffee for me. The park opposite the grocery store was the perfect spot to have our picnic and afterwards Charlie, who has not been sleeping well, wanted a nap. I was fine with that and settled into my book as he stretched out on the grass.

With about 130 km behind us already, I quickly lost all my determination and grit as I sipped my coffee and read. Thus, when it was time to motor on, it was a real effort to get things going again. Charlie quickly pulled ahead, then turned left, eastbound, along the highway,. It was then that I saw him; robust,trim amd full of energy, a lone, unencumbered cyclist running perpendicular to me and quickly catching up with my husband. He was our host for the evening, and out for a bit of exercise, he thought  he’d see if he could find us.  

Herman is a farmer, one of those to whom we owe our thanks each time we go grocery shopping, each time we eat. He, his brother and nephew farm 6800 acres of yellow peas, destined to be ground up into pea flour to feed many mouths in India, canola, wheat and soybeans. A chart on the wall in their spaciouś office shows each field, what it’s current crop is and what the crop rotation is. The land is never allowed to run fallow. I am not a farm or country girl. I know nothing about farming, so I looked with astonishment at the machinery they use. There is a mammoth seeder, with widespread arms that seed 80 plus, super straight rows at a time. Something under it creates a furrow, the seeds are dropped and then a little wheel runs over it, covering it with soil. I asked how they could drive it so straight and Herman explained that their field is mapped by computer and basically, the computer directs the machinery. Wild! There were several other farm machines too, all far too complicated for this simple mind to comprehend, but modern farming is very complicated and I was and am amazed!   

Diane, Herman’s wife of over 40 years is not a cyclist but as she has a husband and two sons who do, she is fully on board. One son, Matt van den Hamm, based in Edmonton, is the top cyclocross competitor in Canada. He is sponsored by Garneaux. Diane works at her church office. She and Herman were so warm and welcoming to us and she prepared a wonderful meal for these two tired , hungry travellers.   They have a well behaved golden lab named Gracie, and I can see why they love her so much!  They have hosted many cyclists through “Warm Showers” and we are fortunate to be amongst that group. 

Herman did take us the long way to his and Diane’s lovely home, but it was beautiful and worth seeing and in the end, even though I thought it might, it didn’t kill me. We are very grateful to the van den Hamm’s for everything they did for us. Good luck Herman, on your upcoming fund raising ride from Vancouver to Calgary, part of the Sea to Sea ride to raise money to combat poverty!

I forgot to tell you…….I kissed my new saddle goodnight last night…… 

Yech. Who wants to get up at 5:30 in the morning, shrug on partially dry, (or another way of looking at it, partially wet) clothing. That’s what we did. Breakfast was our usual: uncooked oatmeal, powdered milk, tap water, chopped apple and sliced banana. Often we have yogurt but there’s none today. 

We left around 7:30 in the grey cloudy morning, the wind once again at our backs. We try to use the wind to our advantage as much as possible.We play little games on the road, like we each guess how far a certain building or tree or whatever is. And we’ll give ourselves little motivators, like let’s do 20km for a protein bar, or let’s do another 40km and then have lunch.

The sky was grey; showers were expected but it was dry throughout our ride. We made great time, stopping only for a protein bar mid-morning and again in Whitewood to eat the lunch we had preassembled that morning and to supplement it with a few things from the Co-Op grocery store at which we were parked. People look up at us when we enter a premise. And no wonder! We are all layered up, often dripping wet with helmets and reflective construction visibility vests. When I look in a mirror, I barely recognize myself! Oh, I never knew I could look this bad. And I mean BAD!  Usually I go to bed with clean but wet hair. When I awake it’s still damp and sculpted into very unusual configurations. But that’s ok. I’m only going to cram my head into a helmet for the day anyway. No makeup. Sunscreen only, sometimes applied in layers that eventually look chalky white. I’m wearing SPF 120 now in an attempt to prevent any sun rays from getting to my face. My nose is very brown, especially on the right side, as are my chin and cheeks. I have great white ovals around my eyes from the sunglasses. My hands are white where they are protected by gloves and I have little dark brown fingers. I’m dressed in the same clothes every day and generally look like a homeless person. What a prize package!

Moosomin, Saskatchewan is about 15 km from the Manitoba border. We were going to a “Warm Showers” there but we got in earlier than expected. We went to a little worn-out pub there and talked with a few local guys who had stopped in for a few pints before going home to their wives. Dilemma…..should we stay here for their steak sandwich special or go down the street for a Chinese buffet? Well, Chinese eventually won;Charlie was enticed by the word buffet. This picture shows him on his 3rd plate! 

Our hosts tonight were Blanche and Harvey, and their well loved family pets, their dog, Jordy and cat, Smokey. Harvey was born in Moosomin, Blanche came from Manitoba. They brought up 4 kids in their well tended home and when the kids left home they opened their doors to everyone and anyone who needed a place for the night. For a while they even ran a bed and breakfast. Now they see mostly people on “Warm Showers”, providing a bed and indeed, a warm shower. After Charlie and I had showered, we joined them for tea and conversation. Charlie left early as he was tired. He’s having trouble sleeping at night, whereas I’m comatose almost instantly. In fact, as I was riding today, I felt myself falling asleep, which is surely not recommended. Anyway, they told me about the tent caterpillars   and how much damage they’re doing. Blanche went out and retrieved one from a bucket to show me. I’ve seen them before. On the roadsides there are many trees, many of which are still brown and leafless. They explained that that was the result of the caterpillar invasion.  

Blanche and Harvey, both in their 70’s, with no family connection, love to follow Moosomin boys basketball and they go to every game, every tournament, whether at home or away.  The boys look for them and count on them being there. With a gleam in her eyes, Blanche pronounced that their dedication to those boys and the team gives them the right, at graduation, to give each boy a Bible, inscribed with a personal note of support and encouragement from these good people.

Thank you Harvey and Blanche, not only for providing us with accommodation and fellowship, but for your lifelong unwavering generosity to all who have come your way.

“Ok,  so what kind of hell are you going to put me through today?” I eyed my brand new brown unisex Brooks B17 saddle with trepidation.    Sure, it felt great for the 2km ride the day before from the bike shop to our accommodation. But what was it going to do to me on a real ride. Reputedly Brooks makes the best and most comfortable saddles, but their downside is that they take quite a long time to break in. Well, I figure I couldn’t be more sore than I’ve been on that effing Body Geometry seat so lets go! I’ll break that saddle in sometime over the next 2/3 of our country.

Drizzle. Slow continuous drizzle from the time we left our host’s house at 7:25 and all day. Merciful, welcome moisture. We had overheard the farmers in the coffee shops talking about how much they needed the rain. They got it today. It was pretty cold too. Charlie and I dressed in layers. I had biking shorts, light merino wool long underwear and waterproof pants, a biking jersey, merino wool  long sleeved top, a windbreaker and waterproof jacket, a buff, waterproof shoe covers and full biking gloves. We started off nice and dry but we were assaulted by drenching rain from the sky, rain slammed towards us by the wind and spray misting up as the trucks thundered past us. Eventually, as the day went on the wetness managed to seep through all our layers and our sweat rose up to meet it, thus ensuring a nice thick layer of wet fabric against our skin. But it was a warm wet, as long as we didn’t stop.

The road straightened out. Thankfully we were riding the wind and we made good time. Several people had warned us about the construction to both the west and east of Regina and we briefly considered alternating our route. We decided to take a chance though and it wasn’t bad. It was probably because it was more mid-day. We skirted around those pilons and headed straight to Tim Hortons where we had hot chilli and buns. Graffiti on the bathroom wall inspired me. Take your encouragement from wherever you can get it!    A couple behind us offered to drive us to Grenfell where they live for the night but in the spirit of EFI we gratefully declined. Back on the road again, it took us a while to warm up. We aimed for Indian Head as our destination for the night.

We got there. Charlie struggled that last part as his hands were giving him problems with the constant cold and his right brake had given out. The Indian Head information booth is just off the highway there and we went in.    The woman there was totally clueless. She knew nothing about available accommodation or really, about anything we asked her, but she told us that every day she goes out in her car and feeds all the stray dogs and cats in the area. Frazzled, yes, but she has a good heart.

Indian Head has 2 places to stay and we chose one because there was food available right there. Believe it or not, it is run by Punjabi people.  It is about as basic as you can get  and it was super cold! Fortunately there was heat and we felt much better after our lousy showers. We draped the entire room with our wet items, parked our bikes right in the room and went for Indian food at the pub. It was good, I had a Mikes Hard Cherry Lemonade which I drank too fast and a Bud Light. Charlie went over to talk with some Hutterite escapee boys and I struggled to stay awake, lapsing every few minutes into sleep right at the table over my blog.