Day 88 - 29th August, Broadview-Wolseley-White City, 88.24 miles

Tesne predtým než sa preženie menšia búrka, prichádzame na poštu, posielame listy pre SaraJane. Krátky dážď prečkáme v miestnej pekárni. Chvíľu si vychutnávame chládok mrakov, ale čoskoro je opäť horúco, dnes nám fúka dobrý vietor tak cesta odsýpa jedna radosť. Okolie je niečo ako préria premenená na polia, ale s mnohými malými jazierkami a mokraďami. Vo Wolseley obedujeme pri lanovom moste. Nakoniec ťaháme nedobrovoľne dlho do noci, lebo kemp čo bol v mape, nebol v tejto realite. Spíme až v kempe vo White City, dostali sme sa až takmer do Reginy.

In the morning we sent letters for SJ. Come and passed small storm, we were hidden in the bakery shop, having a sweet breakfast. Again it is very hot day, but with good wind, so we are quite fast. Had lunch in Wolseley near swing bridge. Today we biked late till night, because campground which was in map doesn't exist. Well, at least we are nearly in Regina, sleeping in campground in the White City.

Pictures:
Swing bridge in Wolseley

Day 87 - 28th August, Kirkella-Moosomin-Whitewood-Broadview, 65.63 miles

Ráno prechádzame do Saskatchewanu, v turistinfe dostávame zadarmo peknú mapu tejto provincie a získavame jednu hodinu. V Saskatchewane nemajú letný čas.
Potom v Moosomin meníme zopár amerických dolárov za kanadské, je to skoro 1:1, kanadské sú trocha slabšie. Zvyšok dňa šliapeme po diaľnici, okolo len polia a polia, občas rozďobané malými mokraďami či jazierkami. Večer píšeme list pre SJ.

Today we crossed border to Saskatchewan. In visitor centre they gave us another nice map for free and also we got one extra hour. In Saskatchewan don't have summer time (or winter? I don't know, they just don't switch time). In Moosomin we changed American money to Canadian (basically we switch cotton black & white for colourful plastic). Rest of day we spent biking between farm fields with occasionally wetland or small lake. The evening was filled with writing the letters for SJ.

Update From SaraJane

 Greetings from SJ

I made it to Detroit on Thursday 8/22/13 after 28 hours of traveling (which seemed really fast as I passed through all the towns and parks we had camped in). Spent the past few days on the Island getting ready for a garage sale of all my extra stuff. Carrying my own weight for the past few months has given me a new perspective on possessions. I'm not down to the "100 thing challenge"...yet, but this is a really good start

My muscles miss riding everyday--not being a very athletic person, I was not prepared for this. Pete and I are on our way to the bike shop now to double check that he was put back together correctly. My dad and I had an extra piece when we were done --never a good sign. Hopefully I'll be back on the saddle tonight, but in the meantime I've been enjoying my other helmet and switched from pedaling to paddling

In the next few weeks I'll be on my way to visit Cleveland to celebrate a friend being sworn in as a United States citizen, then an Imagine Dragons concert with my sisters (WOOT!), before I head north to Song of the Morning Yoga Ranch to do another stint as work exchange

Peace love and bikes

Day 86 - 27th August, Oak Lake - Virden - Elkhorn - Kirkella, 43.27 miles

Ráno, po fantastických raňajkách (plných proteínov), sme vyrazili na Garnetovu bizóniu farmu. Takže sme videli aj nejaké naozajstné bizóny. Sú trochu menšie ako naše zubre. Farmičku mali peknú (o rozlohe menšieho mesta, tu sa s tým nepárajú, nikto tu asi nemá farmu menšiu než pár tisíc akrov), zo stodoly spravili niečo ako salón z divokého západu (s výhľadom na bizóny).
Po tejto exkurzií sme opäť vyrazili na cesty. Horúco bolo, že až. Baška hneď po pár míľach dostala defekt, ale s menšiu zastávkou na zmrzlinu a obed sme na večer dorazili k hranici so Saskatchewanom. Prespali sme pri miestnom Visitor Centre, kde bolo aj odpočívadlo pre kamióny. Bolo to v pohode, akurát tu celú noc hučali kamióny.

After super-nutritional breakfast we went to visit Garnet & Nora's buffalo farm. It was pretty big farm and buffalos really huge, but a little bit smaller that ours bisons in Slovakia :-) It was nice visit, we met another of theirs sons, saw barn changed to something like saloon with view on buffaloes. Then it was time to say good bye to this wonderful people and go back on the road. It was very hot day again, Baška very soon got flat tire, but in the evening we were on border with Saskatchewan, tent nest visitor centre on trucks rest stop. It was ok, but trucks, were very noisy. We met two another touring cyclist heading east, but the highway was too wide, to stop and speak.

Pictures:
Visit on buffalo farm.

Day 85 - 26th August, Carberry - Brandon - Oak Lake, 66.63 miles

Náš prvý deň na Diaľnici č. 1. Po tom hrboľatom zázraku medzi Spruce Woods a Carberry sme zrazu akoby dostali krídla. Nevadila ani hustá premávka a kopec kamiónov, krajnica bola široká ako jeden celý jazdný pruh a bola len pre nás.
Do Brandonu sme dorazili nezvykle rýchlo, na jednom úseku sme opäť prechádzali cez niečo ako boli Spruce Woods včera. Brandon leží pri rieke Assiniboine, z jednotky to bol celkom slušný zjazd. Dokúpili sme tu potraviny a využili miestne free wifi. Bol už obed a neuveriteľne teplo a to, keď sme sa vrátili na jednotku, nás čakal kilometer dlhý kopec von z riečneho údolia. Ďalej už bola cesta viac menej rovná, všade naokolo len polia, trochu to vyzeralo ako nekonečná Podunajská nížina. Po ceste vedľa nás húkali vlaky, každý, aspoň míľu dlhý, občas nás pozdravili šoféri alebo motorkári. Pred nami bola celkom slušná búrka, išli sme priamo do nej, ale stihla pred nami ujsť, takže sme dostali len zopár kvapiek. Na váhe pre kamióny sme zvážili bicykle, oba majú po 60 kg. Dnes sme chceli prespať v Oak Lake. Pri odbočke na nás zavolal akýsi chlapík, hovoril, že nás videl ísť do tej búrky a opýtal sa nás kde budeme späť. Skôr než sme niečo stihli povedať, pozval nás k sebe domov. Predstavil sa ako Garnet. Jeho žena (Nora) akurát zavárala uhorky a bola mierne prekvapená, pretože celý dom smrdel octom a kôprom (aspoň nebolo cítiť nás), ale hneď nás privítala, mohli sme sa osprchovať, vyprať si veci a na noc nás uložili do hosťovskej izby. Pred spaním nás čakala kráľovská večera (pizza a hamburgery z bizónieho mäsa). Ukázalo sa, že Garnet je bývalý farmár a má bizóniu farmu (teraz ju riadi jeho syn). Rozprávali sme sa s nimi dlho do noci, ukázala sa aj jedna ich vnučka, neskôr prišiel aj jeden to synov s deťmi (celkom zaujímavá debata o poľovaní na losy s lukom). Garnet nám ukázal obrovskú kožu zo svojho obľúbeného bizóna (ľahko by pokryla celú stenu a kus stropu) a ešte sme mohli aj skontrolovať emaily.

Our first day on Trans-Canadian Highway # 1. After bad road between Spruce Woods and Carberry, it was like to fly. Traffic was very high, many truck, but we had nice, wide shoulder, only for us. Very soon we got to Brandon, passing something similar like Spruce Woods. In Brandon we did some shopping, had lunch, used free wifi from Safeway and nearly died because of the high heat. And to get out from Assiniboine river valley, where is Brandon, was also challenge, 1 km long steep hill... Luckily after that, road was quite even. On the road was weigh station for trucks. We found out that our bikes have about 130 pounds (60 kg), well maybe we shouldn't bought so much oatmeal :-)
Later in the day was a storm ahead, but it just passed around us, we got maybe three drops of rain. Our final destination for this day was Oak Lake, but before we got there we were invited for dinner by local buffalo farmer Garnet, he saw us pedalling toward that storm and wanted to help us. We were really glad, because otherwise we had to tent somewhere in the farm fields. So we followed him to his home, in was in the Oak Lake anyway. His wife Nora was a little bit surprise when we suddenly appeared in her kitchen, but mostly not because us but because she was doing pickles and hole kitchen was smelly from vinegar and spices (good for us, it was less obvious how smelly we are :-). Garnet & Nora were amazing, very soon we were clean, also our clothes and we could enjoyed fantastic dinner (pizza & buffalo burgers) and conversation with them. We met also their granddaughter, one of their sons with his kids, talked with him a little about hunting with bow and arrows. Garnet showed us huge skin from one of their biggest buffalo. It was very nice evening.

Pictures:
Garnet's favorite buffalo skin

Day 84 - 25th August, Spruce Woods - Carberry, 19.62 miles

Po včerajšku oddychový deň, do obeda sme v kempe, spíme, dopĺňame kalórie, kúpeme sa v rieke. Po obede vyrážame znovu na cesty, po veľmi rozbitej a hrboľatej ceste prejdeme cez zvyšok Spruce Woods. Vyzerá to tu trochu ako v našich horách, všade lúky a smrekové lesíky. Akurát toto je ploche a všade je korec piesku. Dnešný deň ukončujeme v Carberry. Mali tam výbornú zmrzlinu. Baška je už úplne v poriadku, akurát na nohe má stále nepeknú červenú vyrážku, už od Grand Forks, asi z nejakého chemického postreku z trávniku v kempe.

Day good to take the rest, we deserve it after yesterday. In the morning we mainly slept, ate, than we swam in the river...
From Spruce Woods our next destination was Hwy #1, but first we had to get to Carberry. Road was bad, full of cracks, bumps and uphill :-) but the views were spectacular. Meadows, small sand dunes and hills, spruce forests, it was very nice.
In Carberry we decided to tent, they have small campground there, next to the football field. And they had very good ice cream in Carberry too.

Day 83 - 24th August, Manitou - Swan Lake - Holland - Spruce Woods Provincial Park, 79.16 miles

Baška má od rána trochu horúčku. Nemáme vodu takže musíme pokračovať. Po ceste do Manitou stretávame kolegu - dievčina sama ťahá s napakovaným bicyklom. Chvíľu sa rozprávame, cestuje len na krátko, asi 500 km okruh z Winnipegu do Mordenu. V Manitou si dávame sprchu, dnes riadne fúka od juhu, takže väčšinu cesty ťaháme na sever. Za Manitou sa polia náhle zvlnili, prechádzame cez malé kopčeky, na západ od nás sa točia vrtule. Obloha sa mračí, zdá sa že bude búrka, je dusno a Baška sa stále necíti veľmi dobre. Krátka pauza na obed trochu pomôže, potom opäť zdolávame zvlnenú prériu, vlastne pšeničné polia, prechádzame cez indiánsku rezerváciu Swan Lake, ale nevidíme nikoho. Trochu prší, ale je to len taká spŕška na ochladenie a za chvíľu je už modrá obloha. Vyšlapali sme na vrchol nejakého hrebeňu, všade naokolo sú malé kopce, polia, pasienky, dokonca nejaké stromy, vyzerá to tu veľmi malebne. Po oblohe krúžia pelikány, neskôr narážame na jazero, plné vodných fóglov. Nasleduje parádny zjazd do “nížin “ a ukrutný boj s vetrom pri mestečku Holland. Už máme v nohách cez sto kilometrov tak to ide ztuha. Posledných 10 km už šliapeme po tme a Baška ma zrejme dosť preklína za to čo som vymyslel. Ale horúčka jej už prešla :-) a záver sa v podstate len vezieme dole kopcom k rieke Assiniboine. Ešte prefičať cez mračná podeniek a už sme Spruce woods Provincial park a jeho podivnom kempe.

Baška has fever, luckily only a little and she is able to bike. Well, we don't have any other choice, because we need water. So our first stop was in Manitou campground to get a water (and to have a shover, today was very hot day again). On the way there we met one biker like we are, but she was only on "short" trip (about 500 km), between Winnipeg andMorden. Way from Manitou was fast and we really enjoy it, wind was in our back (today was south wind, so we biked mostly to the north, there is Hwy #1, which we would like to follow our way through Canada). Flat landscape changed here to the small hills, on the west are some wind turbines. Sky there is very cloudy it looks that storm is coming. Baška didn't feel very good, but small pause for lunch helped. When we passed through Swan Lake (aboriginal people reservation) it started to rain, but only a little bit, small refreshing. From Swan Lake we went to the north again, passed through small hill range. Many nice views. Farm fields were mixed with meadows and small woods, hills everywhere and gorgeous ride downhill. We found a lake with many water birds, what really surprised us were pelicans, we didn't know that they are also here. Last part of today trip was against nasty wind. It was in Holland, but then when we got to the Spruce woods we enjoyed (well maybe not Baška, she was really tired) downhill ride to the Assiniboine river and when we biked through a few swarms of fish flies there was Spruce Woods campground and Baška finally could go to sleep (I was cooking dinner).

Day 81 - 22th August, Drayton - Pembina - Emerson - Altona, 55.29 miles

Znova šliapeme proti vetru. Chvíľu sa nám darí vyhýbať sa diaľnici na paralelnej ceste, ale tá sa čoskoro mení na štrkovú takže sa vraciame na diaľnicu. Najprv však musíme prejsť okolo továrne na asfalt... A v protismere asfaltujú takže cesta je voňavá. Okolo tretej po obede prechádzame hranicu, opäť musíme zodpovedať kopec hlúpych otázok, ale už v tom začíname mať prax, takže za chvíľu už ideme Kanadou. Sme v provincii Manitoba, vo Visitor centre dostávame zadarmo mapu. Večer ukončujeme v meste Altona. Všade naokolo sú mestečká s nemeckými menami. V Altone stretávame miestnych členov cykloklubu. Zrejme tu takých exotov často nemajú, hneď nás zasypali otázkami a odprevadili nás do miestneho kempu. Jeden z nich, Bruce, vlastní cykloobchod a tak sme sa dohodli, že ho zajtra navštívime. Večer varíme na smrekových šiškách a pečieme lievance.

Again biking against wind. For a while we enjoyed road next to the highway, but very soon it changed do dirt road so we had to go back on highway, at least shoulder was better here. Crossing the border wasn't problem, but we had to undergo typical border questionary with many questions, like where are we going, when we go back, how much money do we have, etc.... We already went through this process so it was easy for us :-)
When we got to the Canada first we thought that we are in Germany, all Towns here have german names. We got to Altona where we stayed in the camp. While Baška was shopping I met local members of Altona Cycling Club. One of them (Bruce) has a bike shop so tomorrow we are going to visit it. Also they help us to get to the campground. It was funny and very nice to bike in such a big group of cyclists.

Day 80 - 21th August, Grand Forks - Drayton, 50.75 miles

Po včerajšej večernej búrke sme sa zobudili do krásneho dňa, ale veľmi sme sa z toho neradovali. Dnes nás opúšťa SJ a vracia sa domov, takže ráno sa nieslo v znamení smútku z toho, že sa musíme rozlúčiť. Po troch mesiacoch čo sme boli stále spolu, bolo veľmi divné opustiť Grand Forks iba vo dvojici.
Náš plán teraz bol dostať sa do Kanady a prejsť Veľké Planiny po kanadskej diaľnici #1, vraj by to malo byť krajšie a lepšie ako olejová Severná Dakota s rozbitou cestou od ropných nákladiakov a s mizernou krajnicou.
Išli sme po medzištátnej 29tke, premávka bola dosť hustá, hlavne kamióny, ale krajnica bola široká. Väčší problém ako premávka nám robil protivietor. Krajina okolo nás bola superplochá, všade iba polia s kukuricou či obilím, najvyššie miesto boli nadjazdy ponad diaľnicu. Na obed sme sa zastavili v malom mestečku menom Manvel. Obedovali sme pri tanku-pomník to padlým hrdinom. Tu majú takých pomníkov všade kopec. Celkom socík...
Na blízkej pošte nás pani poštárka vyspovedala, že kam ideme a dala nám vodu. Večer nás zastihol v mestečku Drayton, variac si večeru a čítajúc druhú knihu Harryho Pottera - Tajomná komnata.

After evening storm is sunny day but the morning is sad. We packed SJ's bike and had to say goodbye when her bus arrived. After nearly tree months what she was with us it was very hard and very strange when we left Grand Forks only in two. Now our plan is to cross The Great Planes thought Canada, so we followed interstate highway 29 straight to the north. Traffic was quite heavy, many trucks but shoulder was wide so we were safe. On this highway was very stupid rumble stripe, actually not a stripe it was only couple of waves in the middle of shoulder every 10 meters. Wind blowed nearly all the time against us, and brought tons of dust from fields where farmers harvested wheat. Land around us is super flat, highest points are bridges above highway, and there are only farm field from horizon to horizon.
For lunch we stopped in small village Manvel. Very talkative woman from post office gave us water. The evening caught us in Drayton, cooking dinner and reading second book of Harry Potter & Secret Chamber.

Day 79 - 20th August, Grand Forks, 9.54 miles

Celý deň trávime v miestnej knižnici na internete. SJ zisťuje autobusy späť do Detroitu. Ja s Baškou sme sa rozhodli, že budeme pokračovať ďalej na bikoch a prejdeme prériu cez kanadskú diaľnicu č. 1, čo by malo byť trochu krajšie a lepšie než olejová Severná Dakota s mizernou krajnicou a nekonečnými poliami kukurice a pšenice. Navečer keď už sme mali všetko zistené a vybavené, nám ostávala posledná vec, krabica na SaraJanenin bike. V miestnom cykloobchode sme ju dostali zadarmo. Sranda bola ju prepraviť do kempu. Môj bicykel bol najvhodnejší na prepravu, tak som sa trocha cítil ako tie kamióny čo pripravujú domy. Večer sme si ešte prerozdeľovali veci a chystali sa na zajtra. V noci prišla celkom pekná búrka.

Whole day in Public library on the internet. SJ is looking for the option how to get home from here. Me & Baška we decided to bike through Plains through Canada, so I was checking maps, we had good references about Trans-Canada Highway #1. When everything was set (SJ found Greyhound buses), we need to get some bike box for SJ's bus. It wasn't so easy, after we visited tree huge stores we finally got one from nice bike shop (for free). It was adventure to bike through whole city with this huge box bungee corded on my bike. We camp in the city trailer park. After super hot day, there was small storm in the evening. We were sorting our stuff and deciding what will go with us and what with SJ...