8th July: Raymore to Melville
Odometer: 146 km, Start: 8.30am, Finish: 4.45pm, Avg: 23.3 km/h,
Weather: Sunny, hazy PM, west wind, Temp: 16-24°C
Mosquito Bites: 51, Hills walked: 0
Road Conditions: #15, some gravel/tar patching first 30km, then reasonably OK. 1.5m shoulder mostly. Traffic very light. Small gas station (55km), services Ituna (85km). Ascent: 160m up/220m down.
I had pretty much a repeat performance of yesterday with small drumlin hills and ponds and plenty more evidence of the recent floods and farming problems. A bit of deja vu. Perhaps the landscape is beginning to get to me!
In a tiny gas station at 55km, I sat and ate my first lunch while reading a local Sask. farming paper. The paper only talked about the excessive spring rainfall / flooding problems and how it was adversely affecting the region. (It’s pretty serious).
After Ituna and another lunch, I had fun with trains. Despite having tracks running along a lot of the roads I’ve travelled on so far, I’ve not actually seen that many trains. I saw more trains today than on the rest of my trip so far. Big freight trains with 100-150 wagons and several kilometres long.
I didn’t quite understand the single line they were running along, though. Trains were running in both directions and several times had to stop to let one from the other direction pass. Hence, I had a train pass me three times! The driver was amused, I think. He blasted his horn and waved each time he passed me. This was not “fast” freight, obviously.
I’ve reached Melville tonight. At 5,000 population, I think it’s the largest town I’ve encountered in Saskatchewan! I leave the province tomorrow and enter Manitoba and start making my way down towards Winnipeg.
1 comment:
You were probably the train drivers best friend that day
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