Best Canada Day … Ever.

Rest Days are important. Yes, technically I’m on vacation but try telling that to my knees. That said, these days of rest rarely seem to live up to the name. Rather than “Rest Day”, I could call it a “non-cycling” day but that generally doesn’t work out either as I frequently end up on my bike at some point. So, for simplicity sake I’ll keep calling them “Rest Days” until I come up with something better. And so today was a “Rest Day”.

The morning began with Glenda cooking a great breakfast of eggs, sausage, fruit, and juice. If breakfast is the most important meal of the day then I was in for a great day.

After breakfast it was time for a history lesson. In the Warm Showers community, there are many that have come through Moose Jaw and stayed with Glenda. And everyone that does experiences two things. Overwhelming generosity and a history lesson. Yes, a history lesson. A history lesson of Moose Jaw (and Saskatchewan and a few tangents along the way). And it’s not just your average lesson – it comes complete with maps and diagrams. And no, there’s no test at the end. It was interesting though as it was all new material to me.

With my history lesson complete, my focus shifted to work. Yes, work. Real work. It’s not all fun and games on the road, sometimes the real world comes calling. And today I had to answer that call – for a few hours anyway. And I figured addressing it early in the day was for the best.

By about noon I had somewhat finished what needed to get done and was free to engage in more leisurely activities. Glenda had recommended two options. There is a vast collection of murals around Moose Jaw and Glenda gave me a map of a couple of the walking tours around these murals. Side note: Glenda was actually partially responsible for bringing murals to Moose Jaw. The other option was the Tunnels of Moose Jaw tours. Of which, there are two. Passage to Fortune and The Chicago Connection. Both are entertaining but the latter is apparently much more fictional than the former. I opted for the former.

My plan was to take a 1:00 tour so I figured leaving the house by 12:15 would give me lots of time to get there. It did. Sort of. I arrived at the Tunnels of Moose Jaw at 12:25 at which point I realized I didn’t bring my camera. Sigh. I seem to be good at taking the “rest” out of “rest day”. And so, back I rode to Glenda’s. Twenty minutes later I was once again back at the Tunnels of Moose Jaw.

The next available tour was at 1:15 so my wait was minimal. At least I had my camera. Of course, having my camera became significantly less important once the tour began and we were told photos weren’t allowed. As for the tour, it was interesting and fun as we were led through the tunnels and told the story of the common life experience for Chinese immigrants to the area. Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t a pleasant life. But the tour itself was enjoyable.

After my extra cycling trips into town, and a 30 minute experience of life as a Chinese immigrant, I had built up a bit of an appetite and decided to return to Smoke’s Poutinerie for lunch. Hardly a surprise! Although, I did manage to limit myself to the small size poutine. No, I don’t really know why either.

After lunch I explored the city a bit. My “walking” tour of some of the murals was actually a cycling tour because, well … I prefer cycling. I also cycled over to Crescent Park which had quite a bit of activity going on – it was Canada Day after all.

By 4:00 I returned to Glenda’s to finish off some of the work that I had “somewhat” finished earlier and also did some much needed laundry. As has happened frequently on the trip, I was only back at the house briefly when I met up with Moritz again. He too would be spending the night at Glenda’s. And as it turned out, he wouldn’t be the only new arrival. It wasn’t long after Moritz arrived that two other cyclists arrived. Connor and Marie. Not travelling together originally but they had met up along the road and had just made the ride in from Swift Current together.

From there a feast ensued. Bison burgers were cooking on the grill while Marie and Moritz went out to try to buy beer (and they were surprisingly successful considering it was late in the day on Canada Day)

It really was a great feast. Bison burgers, pasta salad, greek salad, beer, Roughrider trail mix (complete with white and green M&Ms), watermelon, strawberries, ice cream, and even freshly made chocolate sauce. The dinner was highly entertaining. Stories were told, laughs were had, beer was consumed. And, for the second time today, there was a history lesson. Sure I had been through it before, but it was equally entertaining the second time – especially watching the new students reaction to the lesson.

After dinner we decided to pile into Glenda’s van and drive to see the Canada Day fireworks. The drive was fun and entertaining but turned out to be entirely unnecessary. The fireworks weren’t where we thought they were. In fact, they could be viewed comfortably from a park area near Glenda’s place. So, the van was turned around and we returned to Glenda’s. About 20 minutes later we were sitting in a field, battling mosquitos, and watching fireworks. Not a bad way to end the day.

Last year, I spent Canada Day on Parliament Hill with thousands of other people. There were concerts, fireworks, and of course, my first ever poutine. A truly great day. This year, I spent Canada Day in Moose Jaw with four new friends. There was food, history, beer, fireworks, and highly entertaining banter. Last year’s Canada Day was great. This year’s Canada Day was my best … ever.