23 August 2016, Tuesday

We are up with the sun. We wrestle the tent into its duffle as it tries to blow away in the wind. We are on the road by 6:40 am.  The wind buffets our car as we drive. We stop in Shaunavon for breakfast at Checkers Cafe. We figure the six local pick up trucks parked outside are a good sign.  Inside, we find six older men sitting around one table chatting over coffee. They are discussing the American election! The proprietor is a Korean immigrant with a thick accent, but even he says, “Eh?” when talking to us. He has friends and relatives all over the US and Canada. He asks one of the older men if he thinks it will rain today. “No,” he replies. “It’s too cold for rain. It’ll probably snow.”  The owner chides him for scaring his visitors from Pennsylvania.

After an excellent breakfast we head towards Medicine Hat, Alberta where we purchase a replacement for our broken coffee press. We know we can’t survive car camping without coffee! Then it’s on to Lethbridge where we again have excellent beer and salads, this time at the Coulee Brewery Tap and Grill.

We finally arrive at Mountain View Inn. Showers are done. Laundry is “cooking.” There is lots of catching up to do, including a slight change of plans involving an oil change for Jazz in Calgary.