Friday July 10, 2015

We headed down hill towards Fort MacLeod, we had a great tail wind for the first 40 kms. Then the wind changed direction, we had a constant cross wind – not as bad as a full-on head-wind but still a battle.

It is amazing how much you notice when you cycle. Who would have noticed crayons as gate posts, or the coyote in the field.

We are now in Alberta prairie country. How quickly the scenery has changed.

The transports today were not as good as the past few days. One transport went by me so fast that it lifted the back of my jersey up!

Once again we are in Alberta, which is known for its oil, however, this is the first time we have seen wind turbines on a grand scale.

We got to the campsite, quite early, the owner gave us a deal in the over-flow site, $21.00 no water, no power but a picnic table and the use of the all the facilities (showers, swimming pool, laundry). I had an afternoon power nap! (2hours later I was awake).

Ralf is not enjoying the “rip-off” factor of camping, we still pay for a shower $1-2.00 for 5 minutes, and in his opinion a bit of dirt with a table!!

While we were eating dinner we had a really good discussion about what we want to do at the end of this leg of the Grand Adventure, it will involve cycling, but how and where we sleep is still to be decided.

Fort MacLeod has had a boom and bust history most of the boom years depended on the railroad. The NWMP police started here, there is a fort and a nicely maintained downtown historic district.

The Town fell into debt in 1934 and with the agreed bank loan was not allowed to take on any more debt for 50 years.

We have to be aware of week-end campers, a lot of Canadians will go away for the week-end filling up the campsites – we may have to book ahead.

Today I found that my great niece Sophie Rose, cooked for Gordon Ramsay. She is a student at the Derby College of Culinary Arts – well done Sophie Rose – always remember to enjoy your work.

“The Magnificent 7 led by head chef Carl. Takes me back to Banbury College, the beginning of a life full of Passion, it\’s never called work”.