Day 190, Airdrie to Olds, Alberta

How about that, day 190 was a Wednesday, I actually had to look it up. I am more in tune with what relay day it is than actual dates and days of the week. I was back with Kayla again, this time on shuttle 1 (the early shuttle, as it always hosts the first medal bearer group of the day.) We say good-bye to Calgary, and head north. Our first medal bearer meeting point of the day was in Airdrie, at the home of the chargers,....................

a grade 9-12 school with over 900 students!

translated: seek excellence

no doubt in my mind.

a sober reminder for the new drivers 

a message not only for the students at Bert Church.

class is in and once again the difference makers are studying Rick Hansen Relay 101

Who's that lurking in the halls, why none other than our two time endurance athlete Sonny!  He has brought the 25th anniversary medal into the school with him to transfer to the school's medal bearer nominee.

Over 500 students were in the gymnasium today to get inspired with the Rick Hansen and the 25th anniversary story.

The medal bearers get the V.I.P. treatment.

These members of the R.C.M.P. are here today to support the school's nominee, Jessica, and her father, who is one of their own. Jessica was left permanently injured after a recent car accident. They walked with her during her segment of the relay. 

We had 10 medal bearers in our group this morning. Here we are waiting for the signal to drop off the next difference maker of the remaining 5 on the shuttle bus.

The students of Good Shepard school were out waiting in anticipation of the arrival of the relay. The relay team feeds off of the energy and enthusiasm of all of our school stops.

In our segment this morning we went by 4 different school is less than 2 kilometres. This shot is outside of the Meadowbrook middle school in Airdrie.

The kids were lined up for an entire block!

And last but not least,  another school nominee, Claire poses with Kayla as we approach her school, RJ Hawkey elementary school.

After we dropped Claire off it was time to high-tail it to our second medal bearer meeting point of the day in Didsbury, Alberta, population 4,957

I love small town prairies!

We had time for a quick coffee at a small cafe in town, they had a lot of stained glass that reminded me of how I see the world!

This barn has seen better days, as have a lot of small family farms on the prairies.

Our second medal bearer meeting point was at the Didsbury High School

Thanks for having us.

The relay had a busy schedule today, we started in Airdrie, and went throught the towns, of  Crossfield, Carstairs, Didsbury, and Olds. We had a 10 minute stop scheduled at the high school, so all the students and the medal bearers came out to greet the convoy.

Medal bearer 24 on the day, Shelby, poses with a family friend, Gina Mcdougall-Cohoe, a renowned bronze sculpturist adn rancher. Shelby invited Gina along on her medal bearer segment. Shelby is accomplished in her own right, a trick horse rider on the rodeo show circuit.

Home for one night, Olds, Alberta, population 8,235

Cruisin into Olds, the sun has been shining all day on day 190!

For a small town, the room at the Ramada was deluxe!

The view out of the hotel window, not so much!

Like I have talked about before, being on the road for 9 months, you get tired of restaurant food after awhile. So tonight, a few of us went over to the local grocery store and bought a bunch of different deli and fresh foods, and had a little picnic in the breakfast area. Nice way to unwind.