Slave Lake

I arrived in Slave Lake on Saturday morning and went straight to the Wal-Mart parking lot, where I established my campsite. For the first time in my life, I was thankful for Wal-Mart. They even had plug-ins so I could connect my appliances and charge my computer. It felt great.

I had some food and decided to explore the town on my bike. I saw signs for public beaches and followed one of them, which took me to the lakeshore and various RV campsites. I wasn't quite sure how to access the beach however, so I asked an older man who was tending his lawn for directions, upon which he invited me over for a beer. We ended up spending a few hours drinking beer and chit-chatting about this, that, and the other, after which I biked back, quite satisfied. I even got to see the beach as Jerry's house is right on the lake. Oh yeah, and Jerry has a gorgeous collie named Cinder.

I had offered to help Jerry collect driftwood on the lakeshore on Sunday, so I biked over there in the morning and we spent a couple of hours raking and dragging logs onto piles, after which we were both quite exhausted and hungry. We drove down to the store for some salad ingredients, and Jerry made us both a wonderful lunch. After that I biked back, took a shower at the Slave Lake Recreation Centre, did some laundry and retired for the night.

I must say I quite enjoyed my stay in Slave Lake. Not that it's an amazing city, it certainly doesn't have the charm that Athabasca holds, but my experience there was a wonderfully pleasant one. I spent time outdoors, made a new friend, experienced some unexpected hospitality and generosity, and this left me in positive spirits.

The next day, I drove to Driftpile to begin my volunteer shift at North Country Fair 2014.