I've made it to the province of Alberta, 1171 miles into the trip. I am still running about a day behind the pace of the trip in 1967, but as I've found out, keeping up with 19-year olds isn't easy. I have had three good days, hot but little wind, rolling through the Saskatchewan plains and their biggest cities of Regina and Saskatoon.
Yesterday evening, I got caught briefly by a spectacular prairie thunderstorm, so black and ugly it wouldn't give my camera a light meter reading, taking refuge on the lee side of a large hay bail, my bike and I under my Integral Designs Sil Poncho, waiting out the wind, rain, and hail, thinking about the times that things have been worse. But they did get worse. The town I was heading for was listed as having a hotel and a city campground, both of which were closed, so I spent the night camping in a small park with a large number of vicious prairie mosquitoes.
Today, I passed the point in '67 where I caught up with Howie Graham, one of the foursome that were on the early part of my trip in 1967. The memory I had of seeing Howie ahead on the curve of the highway with the view of the North Saskatchewan River valley matched the spot I saw today, even though the road now is a four-lane divided highway.
Tomorrow, I make the final push towards Edmonton, the mental half-way point as I head into the forests and foothills. I am mostly beyond the wheat belt, but there are a few more agricultural areas to pass through on the approach to the Alcan Highway.
Because I have only gotten to a computer every 3 or 4 days, and I have been calling home via cell phone more often, my daughter Kaitlyn, will help from now on with more frequent updates, so keep checking in!
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