It is more than a thankful thing that we headed straight to the campground Saturday rather than out onto the highway after the sad installation of my new back tire. As I began to install new brake pads the first thing that I noticed was the tube had been put in backwards with the stem pointing the wrong way. When I proceeded to loosen the caliper I became curious about why it would not swing up as it normally. Why did the brake line looked pinched? A good look over the situation soon identified a horrible fact. The all important bolt that holds the caliper bracket solid to the frame was not screwed in. Therefore, when a brake application was made the caliper spun with the rotor. Fortunately, to some degree, the caliper struck the rear shock getting stuck there. The shock is damaged but only cosmetic and it still functions fine. I had to loosen the wheel axle, re-align the bracket and secure the frame bolt. When this was all done I installed the new pads and was happy to see the pinched line did not leak when I tested the brakes. I really had some words for the shop that did the installation.
Monday was a bright sunny morning, already warm by the time we were ready to leave around 9:15. The first stop would be R&L Cycle before leaving town. At the shop I spoke with a chap who seemed to be the owner or manager, not there Saturday. He was quite horrified by my story and the possible risk. I got a complete refund with some humble pie and a vow to have strong words with the young guy who did the job.
We left Saskatoon on Hwy. 14 delaying our breakfast till our first fuel stop. We went as far a Biggar and stopped at a station that boasted a restaurant. The little station was run by an oriental couple who worked hard on their little enterprise. The restaurant could use a coat of paint but the breaky was good and they did have premium fuel. I was a little surprised to see the wife who did the cooking also come out to the pumps when we filled up. She couldn't believe that our bikes were six years old.
Our planned route was to leave via Hwy. 14 then turn onto #51 to travel on a quieter secondary highway. Quiet it was. The secondary routes are often more scenic and less traveled . The same held true this time. The fields of crops rolled like the swells out on the ocean. The intense yellow of the canola fields interspersed with the soft blue of the fields of flax.
Little dips and valleys added variety to the landscape that is quite lovely. The roads are long and straight but the prairies are by no means boring. We both enjoyed the flatlands a lot. The road surface of #51 is a bit rougher than the bigger ones but still easy to ride and the new tire certainly makes a difference. As we rode along my thoughts began to dwell on the issue of gas station frequency. We were well beyond the point of no return and my imagination started to run amok. One of the advantages of the straight rolling road is that you can see a vehicle coming for some time. I saw a pickup coming and pulled over and waited for it's arrival. Waving it down we met with a couple of friendly farmers curious about where we were from. They told us the next town was about 20 kms. ahead and it was a BIG town with 3,000 residents. We graciously thanked them and were off to checkout this big town. In Kerrobert we found the gas station, topped up and never worried about fuel supply again. The fellow there commented that it was surprising that the wind was not blowing 100 mph, yet. Luckily we didn't encounter any wind.
Our intended stop for the night was Coronation, Alberta. At the point of entering Alberta the road changed from #51 to #12. That was not all that changed. The road surface became wonderful. Coronation is a wonderful little town. As you come in there is a very attractive welcome sign in a park like setting with a CN railcar, some old buildings, some farm implements and just a real feel of a lot of pride in the little town. Because of the crowded situation in Saskatoon campsites, I had called ahead the day before to reserve a campsite. I spoke with Bob and when I asked if they were busy he said 'if making coffee is busy, I guess I am'. We followed the signage to the campground at the dam and found Bob and buddies at his trailer. Bob told me not to talk to the other two guys cause that would start a conversation and sure enough it did. They were a happy group of gentlemen who had done a bit of traveling themselves. Bob told us about a B&B he had stayed in out in Vancouver a few years back. About 20 minutes later we headed to our campsite. Clearly there was no need to call ahead.
The campground is located by a stocked pond with a resident pelican swimming aimlessly around. A large brood of other waterfowl also grouped together out near the centre of the pond. A group of young men were down on the dock fishing. After dinner we took a walk around the pond. We got some nice pictures of the pelican and of a fabulous sunset. We never did see the pelican catch a fish, he just swam around. There were however lots of fish jumping and feeding at the surface. Back at the campsite we enjoyed a big campfire thanks the kindness of Bob. Earlier Jill had gone over to confirm that we could have one and he gleefully took her for a ride on his tractor/quad unit and dumped a pile of nice wood at our site. We polished off the Sambuca and basked in the warmth of what could be our last fire. Likely we will not be able to have any in BC.
We had the campsite to ourselves. Our only neighbours were coyotes who gathered for a revival meeting during the night. They entertained us with spirited versions of old spirituals like, "The Hills Are Full of Fat, Glossy Gophers. Hallelujah!" and "There's A Hole In The Hen House and Farmer John's Gone to Town".
Tuesday morning we left Coronation and headed to Calgary. My dad had his first surgery ever and is in the hospital. My sister Kerri is also arriving today from Victoria. So we will stay till dad is home from hospital and comfortable.
Our first stop was in Stettler were we found a super little coffee shop and enjoyed coffee and a cinnamon bun. As we headed westward from there, the sky in that direction began to look very threatening. Fortunately, the way we were going was to turn south on #21 rather than go to Red Deer and onto #2. This was a very fortunate decision and we only met with a few raindrops and headed toward sunny skies. A fuel up in the one pump town of Elnora and onto Strathmore. Strathmore Husky had a restaurant were we had lunch and were served by one of the friendliest waitresses we ever met. Surprisingly, or not, it began to rain about three minutes after we arrived at my parents house.
Mom and I took a run to visit dad at the hospital while my sisters Melanie and Kerri looked after dinner. Dad is feeling well and in good spirits and hopefully the doctors will let him go home by the weekend. Back at the house we had a terrific dinner with mom, Melanie and her husband Kim, daughter Lisanne, son Josh, Kerri, Jill and me.
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