Day 29: Elkhorn to Brandon, MB (106km)

Tonight we're camped outside of Brandon Manitoba, the city of my brother's name, although the two aren't related. (Hi Brandon!). We also passed through Alexander today, which delighted Alex enough to include it as the blog photo.

I think we've alluded to some of the rules that we've established while cycling. One of them is to never pass up the chance to use a bathroom in the prairies. Although the landscape is changing as we get further into Manitoba, the settlement is still sparse enough to keep that rule in effect. However, as we are able to hit more towns enroute we've had the opportunity to develop a new policy: never pass up roadside fries and milkshakes. Generally our lunches consist of several wraps: sweet stuffed with peanut butter and granola, with or without banana; savoury stuffed with cheese and eggs (boiled in advance), sometimes livened up with cilantro or sprouts and mustard when we can scavenge up the elusive packets. We also do a 'granola top-up' after every meal and eat it constantly throughout the day. Even so, lately we've been missing that important grease factor so today we doubled up on fries and milkshakes --sometimes it is worth it to stray from groceries.

While we were on our second bout of fries and milkshakes at the end of our ride, we met a lovely couple who offered to take us in for the night. We were incredibly touched by the offer but our fatigue clouded our judgement, as did the straight view of our campground across the street. We made a rash decision to stay by the highway for an early start. Now we're kicking ourselves for not taking the chance to visit with these warm and welcoming Brandonians. Next time we will know better.
ps- We welcome suggestions for pannier packable, cheap and energy-dense vegetarian lunches.