Corn Tour Day 2

I woke up well ahead of the alarm, more like when I'd rise in my regular timezone. Got ready, re-packed my backpack. I guess I forgot to mention that I was doing this voyage out of a backpack, a regular one, not those across Europe things. Each day I had to rotate my clothing in order to fit it all in. I was all ready and looked out the window as I returned the window treatments to their original state (habit at hotels), it was pouring rain. I'd find out as the day went on that they hadn't received rain since the end of June and that it was the second driest summer on record. I show up, without a raincoat, and it pours, typical. I was more happy for them than anything. I'd figure it out. Meanwhile, part of my motivation for choosing one of the three Holiday Inn Express hotels was the breakfast. I don't know what it is but I love those little omelette things they make. Toss one of those between some bread with some of their paper thin bacon and I'm good to go. I usually wash two of those down with apple juice. I was trying to be aware of what I ate early in the trip, and since I'd eaten less than amazingly the first day, I got two of the egg components and combined them into one sandwich, less carbs you see. Every little bit helps, or so I thought, more on that later. I got picked up by Dewy, a transplant from the East whom I attended school with. After a quick stop as his place to try on a raincoat I assured him wouldn't fit (I'm huge!) we made our way to the Regina research farm to meet the Duke. I was able to figure out my raincoat issue in a very efficient and cost effective manner.

We toured the corn there, explored the facilities somewhat and carried on to Weyburn, SK. I rode with the Duke and we used the time to discuss issues and improvements in our role. We shared a lot of good tips and tricks that we'd picked up over time. It was a pretty awesome drive. They kept threatening to bring me somewhere to buy a proper rain jacket but I wasn't into it and the rain was stopping. Before we went to the field we stopped off at a miracle restaurant. The rare and fabled KFC, all you can eat buffet. You probably think I'm making it up, I'm not. There are only two of them in Saskatchewan, the one in Weyburn and one in Humboldt. They tried to stop the one in Weyburn and the townspeople revolted. I love that they did that.

I made sure to get that evidence before we left. It wasn't overwhelming, mostly consisting of the sides with a perpetually empty spot for the actual chicken. We were there in the heart of the rush so it was quick turnover for the meat. I'm very happy that I got to experience that. We walked the Weyburn site, showing the effects of the drought. We moved on to a couple of grower's fields. These took a bit longer as we spent time chatting with the growers and answering their questions. I think both sides got a lot out of those discussions. We parted ways with the Duke and Dewy and I struck off for Brandon. An aggressive move but it afforded us lots of time for discussion and for me to see some country. I also took the opportunity to make a couple of birthday calls. It happened to be the birthday of the GRP, the GRP's sister and also Admiral Bonesaw. Calls is overstating, some were just my traditional birthday snaps.

For some reason I had selected the Comfort Inn in Brandon, MB. I think in large part due to it's proximity to the Boston Pizza. We both checked in to our rooms (which were reasonably priced for once) and made the walk down the road for dinner. We had a couple of pints and some Pasta Tuesday pasta and then went to bed, which made for an uneasy sleep.