Blog

We woke up today to Fog, and lots of it.  I was a little nervous starting out on the road in that much fog but with my flashing light Svend assured me I was visible.  We made it to the Manitoba border after about 20 km. Its hard to believe I've biked from Victoria BC to Manitoba.  That said we are still not even half way.  We got about 50 km into the ride today and then the rain started, and it poured.  It was quite uncomfortable to ride in and at one point it was raining so hard I got off my bike and sat in the van until the rain subsided.  The rain never really stopped but did let up a little.  We arrived in Brandon at about 3 pm.  Everyone has assured us that it never rains this much in this part of the country (Alberta to Manitoba) and I'm not sure this is that comforting but maybe it means that at some point things will change.  That does not appear to be tomorrow though.  It looks like rain again but its calling for a 45 km/hr tailwind so hopefully the wind pushes us quickly to Portage La Prairie.  Yesterday when we got to Moosomin I did not think we had a place to stay in Brandon but when we arrived in Brandon today we had two places to stay. Sarah's cousin Hope had arranged for us to stay with her families friends and Myrna Hall assumed we were staying with her and her husband.  It ended up working out well and we went over to Myrna and Ferg's for dinner however the power was out and the oven would not working so we ended up out for dinner at a great restaurant and then returned to their house for some delicious homemade apple pie.  Myrna and Ferg have a granddaughter with PKU, and we stayed with their family when we were in Saskatoon.  Thanks to Myrna and Ferg for your understanding with the mix-up and for taking us for dinner.  We really appreciate all your help.  Thanks also to Myrna's singing group for their donation toward the ride.  We are staying with Peter and Kathy Bartlette tonight in Brandon and they have been great so far especially since they never really knew we were coming until a few days ago, maybe yesterday.  So far they have allowed us to do laundry, offered to make us granola bars, offered to cook us bacon and eggs in the morning and make us lunch, offered to pay for a hotel on our stop after Winnipeg and given us a place to sleep.  Kathy has also said she has written a letter to her MLA to see what Manitoba is doing for PKU patients.  After hearing about PKU and the ride she has taken another step to advocate for patients in her province.  Thanks to the Bartlette's, you guys are great!   We also had to change the clocks again as we crossed the Manitoba border.  We are now one hour closer to home.