2010
Alaska Sunk
Part
7 of 15
Hanlon
AB Hospitality
Alaska
Sunk!
Bow
River
Hanlon
AB Hospitality
Even
though a good night's sleep at the Comfort Inn was delightful, its
refreshing effects were, unfortunately, short-term. The Alberta skies
were still black; it was still only 7 degrees C; the rain had not let
up and I was still damp all over. I got an early start after having a
good breakfast and I headed towards Calgary hoping to reach the BC
border before nightfall. In no time at all the weather, again, began
to mimic the horrendous conditions of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I
began to see peep-hole patches of blue sky here and there but but not
enough to make any difference to my level of comfort, or sanity, at
that point. Then, the out-of-gas nightmare of Pense started to repeat
itself. The Harley started “jerking” ...gasping for fuel and I
had to switch to the reserve tank once again. “How could this
possibly happen a second time?” I cursed to myself. I saw a
sign-post pointing to the left saying “Hanlon”. This is just like
“Deja Vu” I thought to myself as I made the turn down a long dirt
road that just about consumed most of the gas remaining in my reserve
tank.
There wasn't much in Hanlon except for a garage, a
tavern and a few homes scattered here and there. I walked into the
garage and explained that I was just about out of gas. I asked the
mechanic could I purchase a few litres. He said harshly without even
turning his head “Do you see any gas pumps here?” I said, “No”.
He said, “That's right – there's no gas here.” Feeling somewhat
helpless and just a little desperate I persisted by saying that
surely you must have a little gas some place in a portable gas can or
something, after all, you are a garage aren't you? At that point he
laid down his wrench, turned and looked me straight in the eye and
said, “Don't you understand English? We have no gas here!” Then
he ignored me and resumed working on a pick-up truck. Two things were
crystal clear. Firstly, that I was wasting my time here, and
secondly, that this man was rude and offensive. I left.
I
walked across the muddy street and into the tavern where I saw four
guys sharing a pitcher of beer in the corner of the room. I put on my
best face and tried to look cheerie while I explained my predicament
to them including the fact that I was well and truly stuck here
unless I could get a few liters of gas. When I finally asked the
question, “Can any of you guys sell me a little gas, just enough to
get me to the next gas station?” there was a deafeningly cold
silence. A couple of the guys cast their eyes down and shuffled their
feet around under the table while the other two just ignored me
completely. I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. Finally, I
lowered my self-esteem to the point where I was near begging. “Listen
guys. I'm on my own. I'm heading across country to Vancouver and I'm
really screwed unless somebody can give me a few liters of gas.”
There was no response, not even one single word. I turned around and
walked across the room back to the exit. As I was pushing the door
open, the tallest of the four sitting with his back to the wall
stood-up and asked “What bike do you ride?” I said, “Harley
Super Glide”. He said, “That's what I ride – I'll give you some
gas”. Thank God I wasn't riding a Honda.
Apart
from that one man that helped me out of a very sticky situation, I
thought that if Hanlon AB represents the hospitality of Albertans –
I want nothing further to do with that Province.
Alaska
Sunk!
It
was the extreme weather conditions that killed me. I was down; I was
drained; I was defeated and the past week of unrelenting wet and cold
along with the stressful out-of-gas experiences of Pense, Sask, and
especially Hanlon, AB, did me in. I made the decision at that point
to abort my trip. I was in no shape to continue on to Alaska. Neither
did I have the strength to to manage the extreme distances I would
face once I got there.
This is
where Alaska Sunk!
Bow
River
By
the time I had woven my way through downtown Calgary and was
approaching the foothills of the Rockies it would soon be time to
find a campground for the night. I set-up my tent at the Bow River
Provincial Park. I didn't notice right away that the rain that had
accompanied me for the past eight days had now stopped. Apart from
the delightful evening I'd spent at the Holiday Inn in Medicine Hat
this was the first rain-free evening I had experienced since leaving
Ottawa. Those peep-hole patches of blue sky I'd seen earlier during
the day had broken the heavy cloud cover and were now predominant. It
was a welcome sight. The highlight of my evening consisted of
watching a grizzly bear strolling across a large clearing some
distance away from my tent but he didn't show any interest at all in
me, my tent nor the other campers nearby. After making my decision
to abort the trip to Alaska things began to change for the better. I
began to feel that a load had been lifted off my shoulders and that I
could finally relax. I woke-up to bright sunshine the next morning.
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