Back in the Saddle

53 53.428N 114 54.882W Today 65.7 Km Total 2113.6 It was a very emotional day today as it was my first day back on the road. We had company all weekend so Phil and I wanted to spend as much time to together as possible before I left. The first leg of the journey I was very excited. This time I was depressed and didn’t want to go. Petty things that I wouldn’t have batted an eyelash at before were very annoying. Phil drove me to Whitecourt and we said our good-byes there. The first couple of Km were very tough, with a big lump sitting in the back of my throat. Then suddenly I was right back where I was six weeks ago, excited again and raring to go. I left Whitecourt at 4:45 pm. I had planned on staying in Mayerthorpe but I felt strong and pushed on to Sangudo. The Lion’s campsite was only $6.00 and that included a hot shower. It was very picturesque but very loud. I couldn't rotate this image on Mom's computer it anyone knows how to do it once its on Blogger could you let me know. My camp hosts were half pickled by the time I got there and fully in the jar by the time I had finished setting up camp, showering, and having a meal. I went up to their site to find out what kind of critters were in the area. Bear bagging for a raccoon is a whole different degree of difficulty than it is for rodents. (Feel free to start imagining the banjo music from Deliverance about now.) I asked the camp host who was seated outside of his trailer, “Do you have any critters around here?” Out came a torrent of sounds that I could not decipher as his lips were moving at a completely different tempo than the rest of his mouth. “Pardon?” I said. “We sure do." he said very slowly and loudly. "Why?” he asked. “I just want to know how to hang my food.” Out came another torrent of indecipherable words. “Pardon?” “Just put it in your car.” Yes he was there when I pulled in and not only did his site over looked mine, he had been watching me for most of the last hour. “I’m on a bike.” He's now looking at me like I'm a little thick. (I'm sure it mirrored the expression on my face.) Again speaking very slowly and loudly he said, “Well take it in the tent with you.” ‘Great,’ I’m thinking to myself, ‘you got a ham hock I can snuggle with too?’ What I actually said was, “I’m in a hammock.” At this point he broke into a great half toothed grin and beamed up at me, “You’re cute.” He was drunker than I thought. His wife at this statement came out of the travel trailer to rescue me. “He’s drunk.” No kidding. “There’s a fox and four kittens that have been getting into people’s stuff you can put your food in our beer fridge.” I thanked her. I made sure when I went to bed that I took my bear spray in case I became a radiant (although slightly slow) goddess before Jethro passed out. So as I was saying it was a noisy site. Jethro had a friend show up and they slurred very loudly at each other until 1 am. I wasn’t about to go shush them for fear my woolen long undies would excite them. The campsite was geographically close to the highway in a river valley. So the trucks added to the noise jake breaking down the hill and gearing down to go up. I was just fading off when the first of two trains pulled through, rocking and knocking their way across the creaky trestle bridge. Yea it was very picturesque but very loud.