Coronation chicken

I zoomed west, staying at little campgrounds in Biggar, Wilkie, Macklin before jumping the border into Alberta (ker-pow province #7!) and arriving here, in the small but perfectly formed town of Coronation.

All was not looking good in the skies above however and I pitched the tent rapidly as fat droplets started to fall and threatening grey clouds layered themselves above my camp.

My puny little one man tent wasn't really built for storms and was going to need some reinforcements. Scavenged guy ropes, liberated from the discarded tent I passed thousands of miles away, were attached to some free corners and anchored to re-purposed bricks from the firepit.

The wind and rain was crazy. I took refuge in the toilet block several times, half expecting to emerge and see cows, caravans and my little tent circling in the sky.

Sleep was impossible; my beleaguered tent was ceaselessly shaken from side to side with the noise of the gusting wind adding a worrying ferocity to the scene.

The morning wasn't any brighter, dryer or calmer, and the lack of sleep put me in a crap mood. If I'd set off my trainers would have been drenched within 10 minutes and the bike would be blown at the wind's mercy across the highway. But the alternative was... nothing... I'd just be stuck in the tent for the whole day, since the walk or cycle into town would just end in a soggy mess.

I deliberated what to do for ages, not wanting to lose a day's progress, but also not wanting to spend the next day and night soaked. In the end I chickened out.

...

Luckily the 'all day in the tent'. fear was dodged since by 3pm the rain has abated and I managed to make it out to The New Frontier for a pint... and....as luck would have it.... Sexy Bingo Night!

Which was sadly cancelled due to not enough interest.

Meh.... what a waste of a dayRead more