Day 22 - Outlook to Craik

125.4 km - Total so far 1,955.49 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5127930

We had a solid day of cycling. A bit cold this morning and it did not warm up much. Tailwinds and a bit of rain, we could not have asked for more. We will slep well tonight.

As mentioned before, last evening, we had the pleasure of meeting Harry and Kathy from Saskatoon. They came to our campsite bearing ice cream bars so we just to eat dessert before the main course for our supper. They are both Harley Davidson (HD) enthusiasts and regaled us with stories of their trip to Sturgis, South Dakota. When one owns a Harley there are three must take trips; Daytona, Florida during bike week, to the HD factory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the other to Sturgis, South Dakota. Harry mentioned that the population of Sturgis normally 3,200 people grows to as much as 750,000 during the motorcycle gathering. This year for the 75th anniversary of Sturgis, the population is expected to grow to 1 milion +. As Harry was pointing out their bikes, I suggested we move over to their campsite and have a better look. As expected, their bikes were spotless. We also got a tour of what they refer too as their toy hauler. This is basically 1/3 covered motorcycle hauler and the other 2/3 an extremely well set up camper with all the amenities and an ice making machine.

Harry's (near ground) and Kathy's bikes. Kathy and Hélène chatting in top right corner

We excused ourselves as we had to go back up the hill to use the WiFi at the hospital to work on and publish the blog. They immediately offered us their WiFi which we did use to publish Day 21. Once again Harry and Kathy thank you so very much for the ice cream bars and use of the WiFi. We wish you many safe and dry rides and may they all be rubber side down. RIDE TO LIVE - LIVE TO RIDE!

Today's ride started later than usual 8 am, it is Sunday after all. Destination for today is Craik 125 km away. It is overcast, 12 degrees and a nice tail wind. I forgot to tell you that we had a nice and very windy campsite overlooking the South Saskatchewan River.

The scenery was reminiscent of what we had when we first entered Saskatchewan, enough said. We stopped for our 2nd breakfast in Kenaston. We have made it a habit of checking out the grain elevators whenever we pull into a new hamlet, and we found three in Kenaston. There was also a water tower just like in Harris, but this tower lacked the 'spout' to fill the locomotives. I walked over to one of the elevators. While no longer in use, the owner's have gone to great effort to preserve it. It is completely covered in metal shingles. There was an unlocked door (red door on elevator picture) and I managed to take a peek inside. It looked like a walkway and as you can tell in the picture, there is still a lot of grain dust floating in the air.

Water tower and elevator, Kenaston

Looking straight inside the elevator. White specks are grain dust

We ate french toast at the only restaurant in Kenaston. The place is owned by a man from Laos who has been there for 8 years. He also lived in Estevan and in the Yukon before that. Asked why not Ontario, he replied his sponsor lived in the Yukon. He mentioned how happy he was to be living in Canada. As we left, we noticed 3 horses hitched around the corner. No surprise to us as we had seen horse imprints along the road heading to the elevators.

3 horses hitched behind post office

Back on the road, we stopped for a coffee to warm up in Davidson. From the outside it looks pretty much like your usual truck stop. Inside we found that every table and chair set is different and that some have a theme (see picture below).

We finally made it to the campground in Craik at 16:55. We quickly set up the tent and went up to the restaurant 1 km away to use the WiFi. Upon our return, we checked out an empty building (probably the camp kitchen) and decided to move the entire operation indoors. We will be spending the night in the tent inside a building. No wet tent to fold and carry on the bike in the morning.

We have seen many an old building along our route and often we can see round looking things on them. We have not had time to look into what that could be. Anyone have any idea? Talking about odd looking things we have seen, such as posts with metal cans hanging from them out in the field and spaced one or so kilometer apart, keeps us occupied when pedaling to recover from a small navigation error. :-)

Three round things the one in the middle is lower than the other two.

Tomorrow the destination is Regina to get a new tire for Hélène and take a one day rest.

77.92 miles - Total so far 1,215.08 miles