Through Alberta...

I left Calgary yesterday (Sunday June 14th) morning, and I am now in Brooks, Alberta for the night.

Yesterday was a bit of a confusing day, and a very very long one. I started peddling around 9am and was pretty sure as to where I was staying that night- about 20km passed Gleichen and therefore had to ride about 110km; not too bad I thought. The weather was actually pretty nice most of the day. I rode under a couple big black clouds but never got rained on, and I was nicely sheltered from the sun, although I would have liked the wind going the other way. So I continued on my way...I had forgotten to check my odometer at the beginning of the day so I didn't really know how far I had gone- that was a mistake. I had a general idea though. I think my estimated distance was a bit off too, because I was coming from Northwest Calgary so that lengthened the day. Sometime around 6pm I found out there had been some confusion in communication and the place I thought I was staying was not available. I was getting a bit frustrated by this point, and pretty tired, but I had seen a campground sign about 5km back so things were still okay. By this point I was actually already off the main highway on my way to where I thought I would be staying. Fortunately I was offered another place to stay along that same road, in fact on the same property. I was given directions over the phone and things were looking good but...I had already gone past where I was supposed to turn off and didn't know it! I ended up going about 10km too far eventually knocked on a frontdoor and got directions back the way I came. I finally got to Madge and Phil's farm house around 8pm. I'm not entirely sure this is accurate but I think I did about 140km yesterday, and I was exhausted!

Today was better, but probably (hopefully) wouldn't be one of my favourite days of the trip. I left the farmhouse just after 9:00 this morning and I was heading to Brooks. It was already above 30C at this point. I don't know what the temperature got up to today, but it was really hot! This distance I had to cover was about 95km, so not nearly as long as yesterday. Although, many people have told me that the prairie winds blow west to east- I have yet to experience that haha. It was pretty much the opposite all day. I managed to travel about 40km by 12:30 and arrived in Bassano. I stopped for lunch by a gas station. I found some yogurt, fruit and a muffin in the store (I'm learning very quickly what gas stations usually stock their shelves with) So I sat outside for a bit on a picnic table, and after little bit another cyclist comes along- I have company! :) His name was David and was also from Vancouver, which meant we got to talk about some common Vancouverite topics such as vegetarianism, recycling and of course cycling. The wind was still blowing but we made pretty good time into Brooks and parted ways there.

I am now at my destination for the night- some more family that I don't believe I have ever met (nobody could remember for sure, so if we have it was a long time ago). I am clean, full, hydrated and very comfortable. :)

One thing I've been told that is very true is that the prairies just get continually more flat. When it doesn't seem possible they just do, and the roads go on for as far as you can see!

Tomorrow I'm moving on to Medicine Hat. I'll be having another rest day here, and then I'll be moving in to the third province- Saskatchewan!!! Hopefully that wind turns around soon :)