Day 27 – Broadview to Elkhorn, MB (T.D. 114km; S.T.: 5h44min)

Woke up, early enough, to an already-hot day. Luckily, we don’t seem to feel the heat quite so badly when we’re riding. Not sure what the temperatures have been like, but I’m guessing somewhere in the low 30s. We had only a vague sense today as to how far from the Manitoba border we were (turns out we were almost exactly 100km away – how ‘bout that?), but we knew we wanted to get there, and a bit beyond. Yesterday’s headwind had vanished in the heat, and we made good time to Whitewood, where we picked up some Subway sandwiches to take with us. Made it all the way to Moosomin before we stopped to eat them, and there treated ourselves to a peanut buster parfait at the DQ. Fast food. You are what you eat. (How unhealthy are we?)

In Moosomin, the skies started to look a bit ominous, which lent an air of urgency to our run for the border. Fortunately, the stormclouds never caught up with us, which gave Saskatchewan a perfect “no-rain” record. Way to go Saskatchewan. (This, in a summer of record rain for the province.)

We stopped for the requisite photos in front of the “Welcome to Manitoba” sign (Batty, this one's for you!), and then poked our heads into the Welcome centre. The staff there were the most helpful bunch of people we have yet encountered in a tourist info place. Moreover, they were surprisingly pro-cyclist, and even had a special guestbook for those who had brought themselves there on two wheels. (We found Dan and Ally’s signature a few pages back.) They helped us find and reserve a campsite in Elkhorn, about 14 kilometres away, and to our amazement, they even stopped in later to make sure we had gotten there alright. With folks like this running your Welcome Centres, it occurred to us that Manitoba might do well to adopt a slogan emblematic of such friendliness. Something like: “Manitoba: So Friendly” or “Manitoba: A Friendly Province”. When we finish this bike trip, we’re going to write a couple letters to the premier and suggest it.

The friendliness didn’t end at the tourist booth either. When we got to the campsite, we made friends with fellow travellers Edward and Juanita, who invited us to have dinner with them in their camper van. Edward and Juanita are siblings who are on an epic road-trip all over the Western half of the continent. They’ve been on the road 6 weeks and show no signs of slowing down. Both of them are retirees from jobs that hold great significance for travellers like us: Edward was an asphalt mixer, while Juanita worked in a factory line making the sort of handsoap you find in campground bathrooms (if you’re lucky enough to be at a campground that has a bathroom. The one in Elkhorn did). Anyway, they were a great pair, and we were very pleased to eat their food and spend some time with them.

Stats:

Av. Spd.: 19.8km/h

Mx. Spd.: 29.0km/h

Provincial borders crossed: This makes 3

Hours lost to time zone differences: Add another to the pile

Ability to sleep through train whistles: Not yet acquired.

Temptation to sell bikes and purchase camper van: Present

Candies taken from strangers: Some

Evidence that human kindness still exists: Yes