Canada 2016 - Medicine Hat Meanderings

Thursday - June 30
Last full day in Alberta on the last day of June seems right somehow.  It is a province that is facing some uncertainty about its economy because of its oil industry. They seem to be working hard to support each other through it. The Brexit vote certainly has added to the uncertainty for all of Canada.
We missed a turn but it took us by this jolly fellow, we stopped for a picture then checked the map and turned around.

Largest Teepee in the World was first erected at the Calgary Olympics in 1988. We are going to have to come back later for a closer look as our mission is to get Doug's front wheel replaced.

This looks like just the place to find what we need.

Justin, Service Manager at Cyclepath bike shop, had a new wheel on Doug's bike in no time.  Doug almost cried when Justin salvaged the hub out of the ruined wheel.  We mailed the hub home to be used in a new wheel build when we return.  Thanks Justin!

Justin also had some nice advice of some places to visit. The motel where we planned to stay tonight was only 1/2 mile away from the bike shop. It was only 11:00 but we stopped in to ask if we could leave our panniers there for the day since we couldn't check in until 4 pm. They readily agreed to help us out.

After talking about it over a milkshake, we chose to explore the downtown area close to the river.

Doug thinks that a JJ cup might work as emergency shelter.

The city has numerous little parks. This sculpture represents the river and irrigation circles.

This is the oldest car bridge connecting the 2 parts of town. It was opened in 1908. The interpretive panel said it also really connected the town with the rest of Alberta.

City Hall

Medicine Hat used to be a center of pottery and brick making. This is reflected in the architecture and much of the public art, including this one commemorating the community's teamwork in response to the 1995 100 year flood. This area also flooded in 2013.

Riverside Veteran's Park stage.

There is a garden-sized chess board beside the public library.

These guys were playing on a much smaller board.

We had a real lunch at Station Coffee Co. when the milkshake wore off. The young woman that we asked about the context for this quote said "We don't have "Employee of the Month" because we are all fantastic!"

It was a very relaxed and relaxing place to hang out for a bit.

Donna thought of  all her sewing relatives when she saw this piece of art.

We are back where we started this morning having made a big circle during our urban tour but can take some time to look at the sights a little more this time.

Each of the circles has a story to tell.

The many colors of hands represent the many cultures that have come together in Alberta.

Each circle has is own interpretive panel.

It was totally unplanned but having a stop day in Medicine Hat was a pleasure. Big thunderstorm at dinner time again tonight.

Week 2 on the road.
560 cumulative miles and lots of smiles
Tomorrow we head into Saskatchewan.

It certainly did not feel like it was all downhill!

Canada 2016 - Brooks to Medicine Hat

Wednesday - June 29
Our route out of town took us downtown where we discovered these murals. We also found the post office so we could mail some postcards to our kids and Donna's mom.

That long straight line on the horizon is the historic Brooks Aqueduct. It is 2 miles long  about 60 feet high, and was used for irrigation from 1912 to the  1940's. It is now a National/Provincial Historic Site.

This is where we had planned to camp. It looks like a nice park but we were very happy with our decision to stay in town last night.

We have a lonnnnnng day ahead of us.

This facility was a lot closer to the highway for a picture. We are wondering how they even knew there was all this natural gas below.

Not the wildlife the signs said to watch for (elk) but definitely a wild coyote.

We are sort of glad these huge things are sitting still. A trucker told us they have been sitting here since yesterday. One of them will pass us later today, just before we reach Medicine Hat. It took the whole road but left us the shoulder.

We have seen quite a few prairie dogs but usually they are too fast about hiding to get a picture. This time Doug didn't do his hawk whistle. Maybe that helped?

Not wild but Alberta is proud of its beef.

Ah Ha...the answer to our question. Canadian Pacific Railroad found the gas when they were drilling for water!

They mowed down our wind vanes!

It gives the locals some free hay.

Suffield lost their only restaurant in January. The building is even gone. We were sitting on a bench by the Community Hall eating the sandwiches we had packed from Brooks when Ernest drove up and asked if we needed water.

What we really wanted was a bathroom so he pulled out his keys and opened the building to our use. We whipped out the Angel of the Road card!

Then he showed us their small museum and we talked cameras. He has 200 cameras in his personal collection. The oldest is an Eastman Kodak Screen Focus from the late 19th Century. It was such an unexpected and delightful encounter.

These guys did their best to entertain us too.

Farewell Suffield. It is 13:00 and we've pedaled 40 miles already but have about 25 more to go.

The light tailwind is holding and the clouds are giving us some welcome shade periodically as it is quite warm now,

We stopped for ice cream in Red Cliff, just about 5 miles shy of our destination.

It might be the city limits but we can still have miles to go when it is the prairie.

Now Medicine Hat is in sight. We just have to cross the river.

South Saskatchewan River

We are only about a mile from the motel and Doug has a flat tire.

Our longest day so far just got a little longer. The rim was actually bent by whatever caused the pinch flat.  We can almost see the motel from here so we could walk if we had to but the wheel still worked well enough to get us there. There is a bike shop in town that is open at 9 tomorrow morning so we decided that we would spend the rest of tomorrow exploring Medicine Hat. Doug is bummed but this was the best place this side of Calgary to need a bike shop so we are still lucky.