June 24 - Alberta -- ready or not

A 9:00 start with sunny and blue sky -- nice. Oh, oh --- we just started and the rain clouds appeared in the south -- rain gear time -- a nice rain storm (no mud!!!). Managed to find a really bad road (50 km) with lots of pot holes to be avoided -- tiresome; Sask. seems to have a number of roads in relatively bad shape -- what we heard from others and certainly our experience --- noticed a major improvement once we crossed the border into Alberta. What views on the road -- this is definitely 'big sky' country. Lots of deer and newly formed lakes. Since we have been travelling much further north than planned (actually somewhat NE of Calgary), we headed south to Lethbridge to visit with Susan's cousin Sheila and husband Ray. Got in about 7:00pm. Great to see Ray and Sheila again, and they provided accommodation to the three of us for a couple of nights -- a nice rest not having to be on the road again. However, riding time is always on the schedule! 784 km today.

June 23 - Saskatchewan today

An 8:30 start today. Route change due to flooding of the roads and wash-outs. We decided to head NW to Watrous and Manitou Beach resort and spa (the detour will add about 400km to our overall trip). Mainly backroad travel. Had to get off one of the roads to let a 'house' travel by, also managed to overcome some flooding by travelling down the centre line of the highway while water flowed over the road --- they do have water here -- ponds and lakes where farm land usually exists. Today was 477 km. Lake Manitou has very high salt content (more than the Dead Sea) -- it is impossible to drown in the lake as you bob like a cork!!! Saw lots of deer today. Had a wonderful room, nice meal. A good walk around the town --- took a 'traveller' (a Rye and ice!!!) with us. Great little vacation resort and an historical dance hall (check out the pic).

June 22 - Manitoba -- here we come

First activity of the day was to clean the mud off the bike -- looked much better!! Got a later start after a previous long and tiring day -- away at 10:00am. The plan was to go to Winnipeg today and stay with a friend for a couple of days, but due to a newly 'broken ankle' on the part of our host, we thought it better to skip the visit and bypass Winnipeg. Just a few kilometres inside the Manitoba border, the trees that surrounded us much of the trip come to a sudden and abrupt end --- welcome to the prairies where at times you seem to be able to see forever. Warm and sunny. Oh, oh ---- some major storm clouds to the west and north. Maybe we'll get lucky and miss the 'severe lightening and rain storm' since we're heading off to highway 2 (south of the Trans-Canada) to get more of the small road and small town experience. Yes -- we did bypass the storms and that was a good thing. Made an ice cream stop in small town Manitoba -- the pause that refreshes. Decided to go to Virden for overnight. Nice little town and a rather good and inexpensive meal. Beer goes well with whatever we were going to eat. Nightfall is late, as we are now 'north of 49'. 665 km today.

June 21 - Still travelling in northern Ontario

An 8:15 start to the day at 14 celcius. Sky is clear and sunny. Stopped at Schreiber for coffee/lunch. Generally speaking a good travel day until we started to get closer to Fort Frances --- two things arose -- rain (not really a bad thing, but..............) and road construction that went on for about 20km. The construction included potholes (hidden by rain puddles) and some sections with large stone gravel that made it seem like we were travelling on large ball bearings -- not a particularly comfortable experience. While we travelled this section at reduced speed, the drivers behind us were courteous and didn't attempt to pass. Lots of lightly coloured mud covering the bikes and us. Finally ran out of the mess near Fort Frances and we were looking forward to a rest. Not to be -- wouldn't you know, a convention in town and a couple of tournaments. The tourist bureau advised that Nellis Falls was our best bet and we headed further NW, arriving just over an hour later (about 7:30) -- 948 km. A 'rustic' motel and clean. A homey / country place to eat. What wines do they have here to go with dinner -- red and white is the answer; French or Canadian we ask -- we are advised that it is French since it has a 'french name' -- further investigation of the label on the bottle reveals a Canadian wine. We're in the north; this is beer country -- we need to stop asking details on wine --- red or white is all we need to decide on. Well fed and a little drink --- good night after a long day.