Woke up to a wonderful tailwind and thought it would be a breeze riding into Gull lake with that blustering wind behind us. Just our luck though that as soon as we hit the highway that tailwind abruptly switched directions turning into a horrible head/cross wind from the Northeast, bringing with it some very dark looking storm clouds. Within a few kilometres it had started to rain and let me tell you when it rains it pours! There we were battling the wind and rain with the closest "town" still 25km away. Slowly but steadily we pedalled on, our so called rain jackets quickly soaked through and water dripping off our helmets and streaming down our faces. Two hours later, weather conditions still the same we reached the turn off for Piapot where we decided the best idea was to take refuge and try and wait out the storm.
We turned off of the highway and followed the grid road towards Piapot. Turning into town we quickly the discovered the only place open in town, the Piapot Saloon & Guesthouse. It looked like we had gone back in time to somewhere in the wild west, a real country saloon sat in disrepair in front of us and we were skeptical of what we would find inside. We walked into the bar and were greeted by the two friendly owners who quickly put on a pot of coffee when th
ey saw our shivering bodies. It was when Malkolm asked for a hot chocolate instead that they took a second look at us and asked for our ID's. Thus they discovered that we were not all of age a
nd we could not stay in the bar. They instead offered to set us up a table in the "dog's room". We gladly accepted happy to remain anywhere indoors. The dogs were friendly and the room was warm, we couldn't really ask for more.
Stayed there for lunch even though there were no vegetarian options on the menu. Grilled cheese and fries satisfied our hungry tummys and wasn't too difficult for the kitchen. We had a good chat with the owners and found out they had recently bought the place and moved out from Calgary. They told us the bar was quite popular and doing very well, they admitted the primary reason for this was that there are no police in Piapot. The rancher's can easily drink and drive back home with any worries of getting caught. Apparently drinking and driving is still common occurrence in these parts. Shocking as it was to us, the owners had to come to terms with it or they wouldn't have any business. Another difference between rural and urban lifestyles.
A few hours later we were back on the road under somewhat clearer skies. Full and warm with some Piapot souvenirs we were in good humour and ready to take on the remaining few sprinkles and the nasty wind pushing back at us. Slow progress but eventually we made it into Gull lake, a little damp but not really any worse for the wear. Rather grudgingly we were given a site for the night. The caretaker was quite reluctant to let us stay when she saw us pull up, presumably she thought that with us being young people we were probably hooligans out to party. I bet she was surprised when we were the first ones to bed!
We turned off of the highway and followed the grid road towards Piapot. Turning into town we quickly the discovered the only place open in town, the Piapot Saloon & Guesthouse. It looked like we had gone back in time to somewhere in the wild west, a real country saloon sat in disrepair in front of us and we were skeptical of what we would find inside. We walked into the bar and were greeted by the two friendly owners who quickly put on a pot of coffee when th
ey saw our shivering bodies. It was when Malkolm asked for a hot chocolate instead that they took a second look at us and asked for our ID's. Thus they discovered that we were not all of age a
nd we could not stay in the bar. They instead offered to set us up a table in the "dog's room". We gladly accepted happy to remain anywhere indoors. The dogs were friendly and the room was warm, we couldn't really ask for more.Stayed there for lunch even though there were no vegetarian options on the menu. Grilled cheese and fries satisfied our hungry tummys and wasn't too difficult for the kitchen. We had a good chat with the owners and found out they had recently bought the place and moved out from Calgary. They told us the bar was quite popular and doing very well, they admitted the primary reason for this was that there are no police in Piapot. The rancher's can easily drink and drive back home with any worries of getting caught. Apparently drinking and driving is still common occurrence in these parts. Shocking as it was to us, the owners had to come to terms with it or they wouldn't have any business. Another difference between rural and urban lifestyles.
A few hours later we were back on the road under somewhat clearer skies. Full and warm with some Piapot souvenirs we were in good humour and ready to take on the remaining few sprinkles and the nasty wind pushing back at us. Slow progress but eventually we made it into Gull lake, a little damp but not really any worse for the wear. Rather grudgingly we were given a site for the night. The caretaker was quite reluctant to let us stay when she saw us pull up, presumably she thought that with us being young people we were probably hooligans out to party. I bet she was surprised when we were the first ones to bed!
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