Day 6 My Lord, what a morning!

We slept so well that we didn’t hear the thief at 4 am who left with Bryan’s bike. Imagine his disbelief when Bryan stepped out at 7:00! This is a quiet place where long-term residents are very casual about leaving their belongings about. Our horrified host, Cid, set about quickly to check the surveillance cameras and to notify the police.  She was so helpful, printing out flyers for us to post in the area using her car and tracking down leads. Although the rookie RCMP officer sympathetically took down all the pertinent information, it was Cid’s great detective work that located the bike at a downtown pawn shop by 10:00 am. She then lent us her truck to retrieve it. What a caring person! We had discovered in conversation with her yesterday that she is originally from Inuvik, has a daughter living there now and knows Ashley Ens, one of my former students who is also from Inuvik. We may have started the day with a shock, but our new friends genuinely took good care of us…. heaven-sent. By the way, we would certainly recommend the Hartway RV Park just north of Prince George!

We did have to replace the resting handlebars (Aerobars) at a nearby bike store but we were beyond relieved to have the Cannondale back. By 1:00 pm we were on the road again with Bryan driving for a little ways out of Prince George to get his mojo back. We had wondered if this would end the cycling part of the trip, since he was not prepared to buy a comparable replacement bike.  But we may have to stuff the bike into the RV each night if there is any question of safety from here on.

At 3 pm, after a refreshing little nap at Crooked River (Bear Lake) Provincial Park, Bryan headed off towards the next stop 38 km down #97.  While he was sleeping, I wandered along the lake, meeting a couple of women enjoying the sun and sand with their families. One was a local but the other was from Duck Lake, Sask. Small world moment!

I had some 4:45 pm lasagna waiting at the rest stop beside Crooked River. Bryan was feeling positive and strong, attacking the road through this relatively easy stretch. Another 34 km would have brought  us to the Tudyah Lake Provincial Park for the night, but this was a great evening for cycling so Bryan continued another 15km. Our ‘campground’ was a gravel turnout at the side of the road. We still slept very well and again appreciated the independence that Mama B gives us. All in all, 87 km is not bad for this day of surprises. 

Wildlife for the day included one live deer and one deceased, as well as a fairly large black bear. The deer are small and reddish colored. Bryan also saw reddish rabbits. As in many cases, it is not possible to stop this rig for a photo op.

Sometimes our focus is so strongly on the road ahead and every mile of it, that we lose touch with the outer world. When I saw the shrubs and trees blooming here, I was reminded of our Saskatoon berries at home and of those friends who are looking after our home and yard….Bob Glaspey, Roger and Tammy Haugen, and David Baier. Thanks!

So, despite a rough start to the day, we have so many reasons to give thanks.