Day: May 18, 2015

Day 17 – Chaplin

Day 17 – Chaplin, SK (May 18, 2015)

I had breakfast at the gas station by the transcanada and met Robin Edgar-Haworth, a native artist who had become another long distant traveler. He had set out from Penticton walking to Ottawa on a custom made three-wheel cart. He said that his kids had all grown up and he took this opportunity of a lifetime to protest against Steve Harper and to gather interest in his art. You can check out Robin’s facebook and article here…. Rogin’s Facebook Page and Robin’s Support Page.  His art is available here…. Robin’s Art.

Although the temperature had dropped to -7 at night the day looked perfect. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I made up my mind to cover as much ground as possible. I had lunch at Swift Current at a little before noon and set my sites on Chaplin.

Although the day was uneventful the head wind subsided considerably and it continued to be a great day for biking.

I arrived in Chaplin a little after 6pm, ordered a 15 inch pizza (half of which I will save for breakfast) and a beer. The restaurant was run by an outstanding Chinese fellow who had immigrated to Canada with his family and had only been here for six months. He struggled with the language and was generally determined to find out what I was saying.

I rented a fully furnished flat from him for the night at 5 8th Street in Chaplin and crashed a little later than usual.

Robin the long distant traveler. 7:51 am 2015/05/18
Robin the long distant traveler. 8:00 am 2015/05/18
Old farm machinery on the prairie somewhere Swift Current and Chaplin. 2:12 pm 2015/05/18

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Day 16 – Gull Lake

Day 16 – Gull Lake, SK (May 17, 2015)

I got up and cleaned up camp while it was snowing lightly.      Nature couldn’t really decide whether to rain or snow so I ended up with a bit of both. It was miserable!

I was on my bike by about 6:20am and worked my way through the drizzle to the restaurant and the gas station on the Transcanada.   I was disappointed to discover that it didn’t open until 7am so I found refuge in the lobby of an old run down motel.

When the restaurant eventually opened I struck up a conversation with a talkative Korean waiter. He was an electrical engineer who quit his job to work in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  He explained but I couldn’t quite figure it out!  He mentioned that he had traveled across Korea and back on his bicycle and complained about chaffing. (luckily I’m probably too skinny to have his problems)

It was a miserable day; cold, windy and wet. The forecast called for a low of -3 which would put my sleeping bag to the test. I decided, given the wind it would too risky to count on making my destination at Swift Current. Instead I initially decided to stop a Tompkins.   Tompkins resembles a town out of a western movie.   I had lunch at a diner that appeared to be the “respectable” town hangout. Then at 3pm made my way down to the hotel.   The hotel had better days. In any respectable city it would have been torn down. There was an old pub down stairs and a sorry looking bar maid that also looked after the hotel.  Her kids apparently had been sleeping in rooms 1, 2 and 3 so she was forced to give me the suite.

I settled in, took a shower, and was taking precautions from bed bugs when the electricity went out and I decided that the next town may be a better bet.

So I thanked the lady, packed up my things and took off for Gull Lake 24km East. As it turned out the electricity had gone out in a large area of Saskatchewan and Gull Lake didn’t have power either. The town was only marginally better but I was happier in a small motel room.   Because there was no electricity the restaurants were closed and I had mixed nuts and beef jerky in my cold room before hitting the hay.

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