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August 10 Wednesday Bicycle touring from Amisk Alberta - Provost Alberta This morning Mark's mom, Mrs Kile, came over to our cold camping spot. "I bet a hot chocolate would be pretty good right now," she says. We have to agree and hurry to pack away our tent and sleeping bags. Last night at about midnight it poured torrentially. I had left the vestibule open, after convincing Sharon that we should leave it open to see the stars (In truth, I wanted to be able to see the bikes at the picnic table in case anyone tried to ensconce them, even though it's a small town with a low to non-existent crime rate, and, besides, who would want touring bikes anyway? Especially when the bikes are chained and covered with a full chain link fence surrounding us). Sharon had me figured and said I was paranoid. "There are 300 people here, you know," I countered. "Exactly!" she hooted. Debating never was my strong suit. When the floods came, Sharon closed one-half of the vestibule. Her side. A few minutes later, I remembered that our ground sheet was poking out past the tent. Usually, it is covered by the vestibule, but the vestibule was half open. Worse, the closed vestibule was acting as a funnel and was pouring water onto the ground sheet which created quite a pool of water -- inside the tent. Fortunately it was on Sharon's side and she did the mop-up job. The fly was completely soaked this morning. So was the tent floor under the lake and the sides too that didn't quite manage to sit on the ground sheet. The good news is, ah, the good news is ... let me think some more on that and I'll get back to you. Okay, our camp rest pads kept us off the floor and the tent was water tight. That's the good news in this weather fit for ducks only. The hot chocolate offer turns into offers for toast, as well. Then Mrs Kile offers us pancakes, but quickly changes her mind saying that would be too heavy for the road. This brought more toast with mounds of peanut butter and some homemade gooseberry jam. Mrs Kile, or Luella, as we are now on a first name basis, tells us that her husband works up north in construction at Resolute Bay, Pond Inlet, Inuvik. Next comes cinnamon Cheerios. Then Luella says, "I bet a hot shower sure would feel good right about now." So into the shower for me. I emerge as a squeaky clean new man. Then Jeannette called and came over for coffee. She showed us a bunch of pictures of a wedding she had gone to. It turns out that she knows a couple of people that I had gone to university with: David and Brenda Stokes. Sometimes it really is a small world. We exchange addresses. Jeannette wants to give us phone numbers for some of her family in Toronto, but she doesn't have the phone numbers or addresses with her. We hop in her bomb of a car and go to her place in the country about a mile and a half away. It is a neat old farm house that has been completely redone. There is a high A-frame ceiling all in wood and glass. The snug loft holds a library. There are lots of nooks and crannies throughout the house. The sunroom is done with old paned glass. Upon our arrival back at Luella's, she says, "I bet some hot homemade vegetable noodle soup would be pretty good right about now." Once again we have to agree. Jeannette's mother is not feeling well. She is 83. Jeannette's brother-in-law, Phil, just arrived from Calgary to visit. They all decide to bike 10 kilometres with us to the next town. It is great with all five of us riding down the highway without a care in the world. We leave them partway and Sharon and I continue along the road, cycling towards the Saskatchewan border. An old beat-up pick up comes towards us. It is Mark -- he's on his way home from work. He honks and we wave as he flies past. Today we camp twelve kilometres past Provost in a small Alberta campground. The weather was great today. Finally! Sunny, but not too hot. |
