Day 30
   
   5/27/01
   Mile 2985
   Grand Prairie, AB
   
   The forecast was for a tailwind, and I wanted to cash in on it so I
   got up at 6am and hit the road.  The whole day, I saw nary a bit of
   wildlife, save for a fleet of Honda Goldwings headed north.  Come to
   think of it, I doubt a Goldwing counts as "wild".
   
   Natural gas plants are everywhere in this area.  I pass about 5-10 per
   day.  Some are off in the woods, but I can hear the compressors.  A
   huge amount is pulled out of the ground here, and to that end many
   cars run on propane, which is generally available even at the smallest
   stations at a third less cost than gasoline.
   
   The day was a pleasant one.  The hills slowly flattened out.  Every
   revolution of the wheels took me farther into what was (for me) terra
   incognita, since I had never been farther north than the town of
   Jasper.  I ate lunch on a bench near the post office of Valley View, 
   watching the low clouds pass across the sky, absorbed in the moment.  I was
   a long way from home.  Here, the locals would refer to "taking a trip down
   south" if they wanted to go to Jasper.
   
   I arrived in Grand Prairie about 9pm, after a long day of 144 miles.
   Again I see seagulls here in town.  I've been seeing them since
   Lethbridge, hanging out near dumpsters behind fast food restaurants
   and whatnot.  I thought they were shore birds; they're a long way from any
   ocean.
   
   I happened across an Indian restaurant, with the improbable name "Good
   Time Charlie's".  One of the patrons saw me, and asked the usual
   questions I've gotten hundreds of times now, always with the same
   response: You left from WHERE and you're going WHERE?!?  So I went through my
   standard Q and A session with him, and the restaurant owner was
   listening in as well.  Later when I finished eating and went up to the
   counter and paid the bill, I asked for directions to the campground in town.
   Much to my surprise, the owner offered to let me stay there right in
   the back lot.  It was a gracious thing to do.
   
   As far as I can tell, there are many people out there in the world
   genuinely kind and helpful; there are many more that *would* be, but
   they are not particularly "awake".  That is to say, they'd lend a hand if
   they just thought about it, but they're preoccupied or not in the
   practice of doing such things.
   
   Of course I'm hardly destitute, and could stay in a motel if I need
   to.  But that wrecks the experience - I could have stayed home for that.

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