Day 123 September 6, 2011 Ernfold to Swift Current 71km – Guest Blog Jean Grant

Today was Ian and my third day on the road with Riley and Mike. Last night we slept beside the highway right next to train tracks, so I woke up a few times thinking the world was ending.  Despite a few interruptions, we all woke up fairly promptly at 5am, and Riley was running by 7am (even though when Riley went back to sleep at 6 Mike bet that there was no way Riley would be running by 7). 

Saskatchewan has been much more beautiful than I was expecting.  There are rolling hills, fields of wheat, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets. 

We started in Ernfold and 70kms later found ourselves just getting into Swift Current, Saskatchewan.  It was even warmer than yesterday, and the afternoon was much tougher then the morning.  We have noticed that Saskatchewan is very dry, which makes it difficult to stay hydrated (and has been giving Ian a few nosebleeds).  Ian and I have taken to doing "quick fives", which is when we alternate running with Riley each 5kms (some seem quicker than others) - in total Ian ran 35kms and I struggled in at 20. We also saw about 17 dead ducks on the side of the road that must have been hit by cars. In Saskatchewan there are also tons of grasshoppers that dive bomb into your legs when you are running.

After a quick picture by the Swift Current sign for my Dad (who was incidentally born in Swift Current), it was off to the fire hall where we would be spending the night.  A very kind and generous bunch of firemen, Garret, Dean and Chris greeted us as we arrived.  They gave us a tour of the place, let us use their showers, and Garret offered his truck so we could buy groceries. They even let us park in the Chief’s spot! Riley and I were concerned about not meeting his goal of consuming at least one ice cream a day, but thankfully were able to buy Oreo ice-cream sandwiches at the Co-op.

Anita, Wyatt’s wife offered to let us stay at their house for the night and promised to make us a big breakfast in the morning. We thought though that they had been generous enough and didn’t want to make her wake up at 4:30am!

It is currently 9pm, I am writing this blog and Mike has just finished making tacos for us all.  It is a tad later than we would have liked, but looks like there will be no trains tonight!