Spring 1997 - Cincinnati to Yukon
Journals - 5 June 1997
Day 66 - Martensville, Sask.
5 June 1997 (sunny, hot SE winds! mileage = 50.2) -- X - We woke up a bit
late, since the wind was already howling at 4:00 AM and we didn't want to
get to the city before anything opened. The mosquitoes that were bad last
night were worse this morning, even with the rippin' wind. Go figure. So we
hustled for a quick take down, but I did the outside work and A did the
inside work since I had better bug armor. They were swarming us both pretty
bad by the time we left. Since we had a nice tail wind, we thought we were
in for a nice and easy ride to the city. Wrong. Mosquitoes were still
pestering us and during an early rest break, we were flooded with them. And
they clung to us as we tried to speed away. I was slapping April's bike,
body and pannier on the fly while constantly brushing them off of me. What
a nightmare! Thanks to the super wind, we did manage to make it into
Saskatoon OK. We found out that cyclists aren't allowed on some big city
freeways in Canada. We stopped at a donut shop and rested and ate and
planned. We then dropped off our film and went touring the city. We found a
good, little camping store whose prices would have been on par with
Benchmark -- if the exchange rate was 1:1! We bought a dry bag for the
food, a bug suit and bug hat, and a mesh canopy and we even got a muffin
replaced. Not bad, T.N.F. We stopped for a snack by their river. It was
very pleasant. We then rode around a bit. They were having a kid's fair in
the river park and we were amazed that there were more kids than
mosquitoes. We got our pix and headed out. We stopped at Ellers (Canadian
Wal-mart) to complete the bug armor. We got gloves and in the mall, we
bought rad, Californian pants which we think will be great for mosis. While
waiting, I met a cool kid, Nathan, who figured out by himself that we'd
need a yard to camp in. He called his folks to ask and they said nay. Good
try, Nathan. Good kid. We headed north and stopped in Nathan's town. A went
into the city office to ask about camping and got a generous invite from
Debbie, the town clerk (or something). Actually, another town employee
offered his lawn, so we had a choice. On the way to Debbie's farm, a guy
stopped to chat. We'd just bought O.J. and were in a hurry to drink it
before it got warm. So because he couldn't buy us a drink (non-alcohol) he
gave us $10 quite emphatically and offered us his lawn, too. That's 4!
people in one town!! We had a shower at Debbie's and pet horses and Nixon
look-alikes and Finley-like dog. Mosis not too bad here. We're ready!
Thanks to Debbie, Colleen, Charlie, Chandra
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