Romantic Dinner for Five

 One down, seventeen to go.

Total distance Avalon Acreage to Pyramid Lake Resort: 362 km
Average speed 84 km (that's mostly my fault)
Maximum speed: 134 km 
Travel tiime: 4 hours, 30 minutes

It was a hard morning. I had to work before departing and technological issues kept if from going smoothly but thanks to my hard working associate Yi, we got it done.  I finished up at 10:53 a.m., precisely seven minutes before the remainder of the gang arrived at my house, patiently telling me that I was on vacation and it would be better to relax than forget something.

We dodged other bullets today, too. A few days ago, the weather forecast was on the grim side as it suggested we would be riding in rain and cold temperatures. As it turned out, last night the forecast was for clear sailing and today, not quite so optimistic but we got started in beautiful, if cool weather. It was sunny and a whopping 12 degrees at the house when we left at 11:45 am, which ended up being the high for the day. Later, the thermometre cratered at 7 and we were all thankful to be loaded with electric, heated vests, hand grips and for Nan, boot liners. At Edson, there were nasty, wintery storm clouds on the horizon and at Hinton, tiny droplets of rain started but again, WE DODGED A BULLET.  I made an observation to the gang last night that somebody in the group must be living right because the forecast had improved so dramatically and even though it threatened for the better part of the afternoon, it only looked dramatic, no real rain to speak of fell on us save for a few, tiny droplets. WE ARE PURE!

We arrived at Pyramid Lake Resort just before five, and I had to make a quick trip to the kitchen to visit with the chef and restaurant manager. This, afterall, is not just any day on any bike trip, this is our anniversay: 27 years in total, not counting all that time shacked up (sorry mom). Nan and I talked at length on the way up about that day, how SMOKIN' hot it was - record setting hot, in fact - but how much fun we had. Sweating.

So, since I have a "connection", I had called up to the place months ago and asked if it was possible to do something special for dinner our night here for our anniversary. The first thing was that we had a bottle of sparkling wine on ice and a really nice cheese plate and fresh figs left in our room. Total surprise, quite welcome and a welcome treat to take the edge off of five hours of riding. But then I was in the kitchen discussing the menu with Chef Alex and he presented an amazing array. He was prepping our meal when I came in, so I got to witness him trimming the venison tenderloin, which was the main of five courses.

Dinner was at 6:30 and notwithstanding that none of us had thought to bring our tuxes (or ggowns, as it were), we were still admitted. You know, you just can't beat the view, looking over Pyramid Lake to Pyramid Mountain. Even though it was largely cloudy, the lake is pristine with the occasional canoe, surrounded by forest and enclosed by mountains all around.  Anyway, we had a five course dinner with wine pairing. This wasn't just tonight's special dressed up like a nine, we were blown away by the meal and the service. Every course was served by Alex and restaurant manager Jerome, who had chosen the wine pairings. We received a description with each course on the inspiration for the food and then a description of the wine and its relevance to the pairing, which included a discussion of where it came from and some history of the vineyard or region. But wait, there's more! To Nan and me, food begins with the eyes. We love to see food presented as art and tomorrow, you will see because we photographed every course. We also saw a couple at a neighbouring table photographing their meal, so maybe they ordered the "Spragins Anniversary Meal", too.

Tomorrow, I'll post picture of what we ate and hopefully, some fun stories from Day 2.

Here are some pictures from the first day.

Here is the gang, all ready for departure, around 11:30 a.m. on the third. Everybody is fresh  and excited and has clean clothes.

We were dodging stormy weather all day. And as threatening as it looks here, we saw only a few tiny drops of rain.

OK, so we know EVERYBODY sees sheep on the way to Jasper but there are people reading (or invited to read) this blog from parts of the world where a wild sheep on the side of the road would be a novelty.

Here is Chef Alex at the Pines Restaurant at Pyramid Lake Resort. I happened by the kitchen to discuss final details of the meal and he was just preparing the venison for our dinner.

We had the most incredible meal, far more than I expected. Thanks to Chef Alex and restaurant manager Jerome, who selected the wines, for a memorable meal. We saved the menu.


This is the scallop dish.