Waterton Park Canada August 19 And 20

I arrived with enough time to ride the trail that runs along the lake and to check out the little village. It’s really a lovely place.  The village is just enough, some tourist junk but mostly a couple of restaurants and breweries, a bookstore and bike rental places.  The campground is very family friendly which is nice for me to hear all of the kids playing together and riding their bicycles in large groups while they explore.  I talked to some people about biking the Mountain View Road tomorrow and they were encouraging.

I got up early on Tuesday and headed out to the Mountain View Road.  It was a slow ride...maybe 4-5 miles an hour.  I got to the first overlook but decided not to go further so I wouldn’t have to deal with the customs at the border again.  Beautiful scenery.  It was about 2 hours up the mountain, maybe 8-10 minutes down.  With the ride out and back to the park I did around 40 miles.  So that allowed me time in the afternoon to hike to a water falls and go to a brewery for a beer plus getting chatted up by two single gentlemen.  Interesting day overall.  

Actually both of these guys were Canadian and one was very open about checking me out.  When he found out that I lived in Tennessee, he said ah, no luck.  Obviously he wasn’t interested in a long distance relationship.  He did tell me about his hikes and his winters in Arizona now that he’s older.  We continued to be friendly throughout my stay, just checking in on the days activities in case Either of us saw something the other needed to see.  The second guy came and asked me about traveling alone.  He said he would like to try doing some of it.  Currently he travels with his daughter and her sons but then is limited by school.  He also always has to do the cooking he says which he would like to give up.  He was admiring my small grill. And thought that would work for him too.  He very openly pointed out that he wasn’t trying to meet me for a relationship since he wasn’t moving away from his daughter and grandkids and didn’t imagine I would either.  Much more up front conversations than in the US.  

Anyway, my neighbors in the campground who happened to be a couple invited me over to sit by their fire in the evening.  The wife thought she could help decrease the attention I was getting for being alone and I spent all three evenings by their fire just chatting.