CCCT 2012 - June21/12 - Day 33

Cross Canada Cycling Tour - Thursday, June 21, 2012 - Day 33
Piapot to Swift Current, SK. Trip 111.72 Time 6 hrs 28 mins Max 42.6 kph
I managed to sleep through until 4:30 AM in spite of the "springy" mattress. I had to get up because of leg cramps. After a few minutes of "hopping" around they subsided and I was able to go back to bed. We got up at 7:00 AM. Bev was up first and warmed up the breakfast sandwiches of ham and eggs on a cheese bun that Glen had prepared for us the night before. They were very tasty. we were all packed and ready to go by 7:45 AM but couldn't figure out how to get out of the Guesthouse. The door to the "SALOON" was locked. The side entrance door at the bottom of the back stairs was alarmed and we were afraid to set it off. We could hear someone using a weed whacker out back. Finally I decided to ignore the alarm and opened the door. NO ALARM!!! I went around the front of the hotel, along the side and finally around the back and found our bikes leaning up against the back of the hotel. Glen was in the garage sorting things out. He was surprised I didn't know that we were supposed to leave by the side door. A small detail that they had neglected to tell us about the night before!!! They are new at this and still have a lot to learn.

Above 2 photos a Goshawk nest

Site of Goshawk nest along Hwy # 1

A nice painting in the WestWind Motel office

We loaded our gear on our bikes after Glen and I brought them around to the side entrance. We set off for SWIFT CURRENT at 7:50 AM. It was a beautiful, sunny and calm day (no tail wind). We stopped in Tompkins and Gull Lake, etc. We saw a little Prairie Dog doing back flips before scooting off into the tall weeds at the side of the highway. We stopped to take photos of a Goshawk nest which was about 20 yards from the side of the highway. Bev managed to start a cattle stampede. Not sure why they stampeded when they saw her coming on her bike??? While we were cycling we passed a bird's nesting area along the side of the highway. Suddenly a black bird (possibly a Grackle) started harassing us. She continued swooping and squawking at us for several hundred meters. Neither of us dared look up Then suddenly we heard a loud "SPLAT" between the 2 of us. We had been "bombed" but luckily he/she had missed or was it just a warning shot???
We arrived in Swift Current at 5:00 PM. We stopped at a DQ before checking in at the WestWind Motel. We walked to a nearby mall and bought some groceries at a CO-OP. Apparently you need a customer number in order to shop there but after we explained that we were just passing through on our cycle trip across Canada the cashier punched in a "guest code" and allowed us to pay for our groceries. There was a pub in the mall so we went in for a beer and the waitress brought over some "dry ribs" for snacking on.
We returned to our motel for a dinner of cold cuts, macaroni salad and mini cinnamon rolls. I checked my e-mail and FB and filled in my journal while Bev watched TV. She was very tired and off to bed by 9:30 PM. She was all packed and ready for an early morning departure.
Roly and Bev