Day 20 - Our First Rest Day in Swift Current, SK

Well, after checking the weather and contemplating our last few really tough days, Christopher and I decided that a full day of rest was in order. My knee and ankle have been bothering me the last few days, and I'd been taking Ibuprofin for the pain but we decided that taking it easy for a day was a good idea. So yesterday, we slept in (until 6:45am!!) and Chris went to Tim Hortons for coffee while I stayed in bed for an extra hour. We stayed in the room and watched TV while we drank our coffee and ate our breakfast, and later talked to my parents on Skype! It was really good to hear them and see them at the same time, though it took a while to figure out the microphones. After we talked to them, Chris and I checked out and moved all our stuff next door, to a bigger place with an indoor pool and hot tub, and a continental breakfast! It only cost a couple dollars more, and with the appetites Christopher and I have since this trip started, we definitely get our money's worth in continental breakfasts.

So after we moved all of our stuff next door, we basically watched TV and updated the blog for the early afternoon. It was about 1:30 when I finally convinced Chris to get his bathing suit on and come swimming with me! So we walked over to the building that included the pool and hot tub (it was just across the parking lot from our room), but by the time we got over there we were freezing, and opted for the hot tub. I stayed in the hot tub the whole time we were in there, and Chris tried out the pool for a little while but after about 45 minutes, we were bored and decided to head back to the room. We each had a shower, and the afternoon consisted mainly of us watching Criminal Minds and surfing the web. Totally exciting.

We ate a couple frozen dinners and noodle bowls that we had bought at the grocery store, and after supper Pat and Betty picked us up for the RCMP Musical Ride. That was a really neat show - the RCMP officers all ride black horses, and do all these neat formations. I couldn't believe how smart those horses were. There was at least one horse though who was not having it that day, you could tell he had a little attitude going and he definitely gave his rider a hard time - it was cute. I'd include some pictures, but unfortunately Chris forgot the memory card for the camera in the laptop, so we won't be able to retrieve our pictures until we get home and use a USB cord.

After that, Pat and Betty took us to Tim Hortons. We had coffee and chatted, and it was really nice. The then took us back to our room, where Christopher and I watched a little bit of TV before going to sleep.

Overall not a very exciting day, but it was exactly what we needed. Chris and I needed a day to boost our morale after the rough days we've been having, and yesterday did just that. Hopefully now we're prepared for some full days of riding

- Patricia and Chris