Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Grande Prairie - Night in the hotel






OK, made 340 miles today to Grand Prairie. 55.14 N, 118.48 W I figure at this pace, it is another 6 days to Alaska. I doubt that I will keep up this pace of 350 miles per day. Too hard to see stuff, take the time to walk the dog, find places to post the blog and replenish ice and beer.

Anyway, after Edmonton, it started to rain and get cold and windy. As far as I could see - rain. So I called Dorene for a forecast and she said rain would stop around 11:00 pm tonight. So, she looked up pet friendly hotels and here I am at the Days Inn. Quite frankly, good to take a break and not have to snuggle up to a wet and dirty dog. Yes, sometimes even I think I am crazy. But all in all, it is great fun. I also have a little time to comment on some other things that I have seen - like rolls of hay spontaneously combusting in the fields of Manitoba. And the two giant oil refineries. One is in Saskatchawan right at the Alberta border in Lloydminster. That one belongs to Husky. The other one is on the east side of Edmonton (the Oilers ) and it belongs to Co-op which is something akin to Sams Club or Costco. I can buy gas and groceries at their stores and they ask for a Co-op membership number. Without one they charge you more. And how about this? - $81.00 for an oil change at a Lube-X - their equivalent of a Jiffy Lube.

Also, the number of crazy (even crazier than me) cross country bicycle riders. These folks have solid metal saddle bags on their bikes, little orange flags and are apparently going very long distances on their bikes.

Finally, the craziest group is an organization out of Saskatchawan - www.wagonadventures.ca I cruised by one of their covered wagons on the Alaska Highway today - looked like Gypsies - with a big yellow tarp covering the wagon facing right into the driving rain. I have attached a picture - but it is not my original - I could not get to the camera in time - so I grabbed it off of their website.

While it is still pretty flat here in Grande Prairie, the land is starting to change. I have seen some impressive foothills - up to 3000 ft. Along with that, some pretty valleys and rivers. Plenty of Moose Crossing signs on the highway.

So, tomorrow I will be somewhere in British Columbia around Pink Mountain or Buckinghorse. Don't know when the next post will come.

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