Bow Valley PP to Calgary

Thursday - July 18 - A day filled with Angels

Donna discovered that hot chocolate mix makes a very tasty substitute for milk in her cereal.

A little added protein. Doug's coffee was so strong that the mosquito didn't stand a chance.

We all put our faces to the sun on this cool July morning.

The Bow River, which has been our companion for several days.

Bow Valley Provencial Park is in the transition between the mountains and the prairie.

Five miles later we are back where we were yesterday afternoon.

When we looked behind us, we were surprised at how far away the mountains seemed to be.

The carpet of wildflowers is one plus side to all the rain this area has had this past month. 

Ghost Lake was a swarm of activity.

A World War II memorial dedicated the partnership between Canada and the United States.

That is a big sky!

This was our route decision point. Before the flood, we thought we would turn south on Highway 22 at Cochrane. After talking to locals the last few days, we have decided to go all the way into Calgary so made reservations at a motel. The stampede ended a couple of days ago and we have seen a lot of T-shirts. We neglected to get a picture but the logo was catchy......."Calgary Stampede, Come Hell or High Water".

Don and Pam took a break from their ride to give us detailed turn by turn instructions for a bike-friendly route through Calgary to our motel. They even offered their home to us but it was too late to cancel without monetary penalty. Thank you so much for your Calgary help and hospitality.

They also told us how to avoid part of this major climb out of town. That big grin is because we are at the top and it is all downhill to Calgary. Thanks again, Don and Pam!!

Now those mountains really look far away. The rapeseed is blooming too.

Coming up, Calgary, city of 1.1 million souls. Did you know it was that big?? We knew it was big but not that big.

Looks like the houses are spreading like a prairie fire.

We were standing at the light at our first turn off 1A when Peter rode up.  We told him our route and he offered to draw a map for a more direct, also bike-friendly route to our motel. After several minutes of chatting and trying to start the map, he finally said, "I'll just lead you there....it's too complicated to draw the map and I commute that way every day." He had gotten off work early and was only a couple miles from his home. After 45 minutes of following him down roads, paths, through cul de sacs, and a college campus, we could see our motel. He saved us HOURS and gave us a bit of a narrated tour of his city. Thank you so much for your time, offer of a camp spot for tomorrow night and your follow-up email. Another Angel of the Road just when we needed one.

Our 61 mile day made us so hungry, after checking in, we went to DQ for a Blizzard so we would have energy for a shower. Luck was also with us as the restaurant that was within sight of our motel was showing the Tour de France! Logistics took the rest of the evening as the flood seems to have affected most of the campgrounds we were considering on Highway 22. We finally decided that things were just too iffy on that route and will take Highway 2A and 2 south.