Day 21 – Maple Creek to Swift Current (T.D.: 131km; S.T.: 6h10min)

After we found our way out of the enormous bed in Loree's guestroom, we made our way to the kitchen, where our host was waiting with some delicious homemade porridge to help us get the day started right. A couple of french twists later (Loree also braided Caroline's hair – I have no idea if they were french twists or not), we loaded the bikes into Loree's truck to get through a few miles of gravelly dirt roads and back to the highway. Since we hadn't actually seen the town of Maple Creek, Loree also gave us a little tour of the place before dropping us off. We had to do a bit of convincing in order to persuade her to not drive us any further than the highway junction, as she would have happily given us a lift all the way to Swift Current if we'd let her.

It was good to get back on the bikes though, and the thought of a 130km day ahead of us eased any guilt we had for having cheated our way out of 15km the day before. Since it was ten o'clock before we started pedalling, it wasn't long before the mid-day heat arrived, which made our penance all the greater. Purgatorial though it might sound, we had heavenly stops along the way in Piapot, Tompkins, and Gull Lake, during which we refreshed ourselves with the hearty lunch Loree had packed for us (what a saint she is!). Today was also a day where the road ran closely alongside the railway, a bonus for people like me, who derive great joy from the sight of a passing train. I'm not sure if Caroline gets the same thrill. She did, however, give one engineer a big wave, to which he responded with a blast of the train whistle. What fun! Nothing stirs the spirits like this! The last time that happened was somewhere outside of Abbotsford. I really like trains.

Trains aside, we were pretty exhausted by the time we reached Swift Current. Loree had arranged for us to tent in the backyard of one Sandy Larsen, former Mayor of S.C.. Sandy was out at her farm for the weekend, so we let ourselves in (well, not really IN – more like around) and set our tent up under her second-story back porch. This way, we wouldn't mess up her lawn, and we could sleep without the tent-fly. We discovered that this had been a most fortuitous course of action around midnight, when the sprinkler system in the backlawn came on, and proceeded to douse the grounds about every hour. Most fortuitous indeed.

Stats:

Av. Spd.: 21.3km/h

Mx. Spd.: 45.2km/h

Greenest lawn award: Sandy Larsen, of Swift Current.

Most horrifying roadkill: A deer. Or, more accurately: half a deer. The other half was about a kilometer down the road. Perhaps our dreams have been too sweet of late, and we needed a nightmare-inducing sight like this to balance things out.

Best way to feel like a real-life hobo: Brush your teeth in the bathroom at a Smitty's restaurant. Bonus hobo-points if you didn’t actually buy a meal there (we did – no bonus points for us).

Best way to feel like a real king: Eat the chocolate suicide cake at a Smitty's restaurant.