On seeking shelter from the storm

I am writing this holed up in the Tillebrook provincial park information office about 5 klicks East of Brooks. I had left Bassano under grey skies with rain visible here and there in elegant plumes. About 20 kms out it began to sprinkle, then rain in earnest. It was pouring when got to Brooks where I found an early lunch as there isn't anything of note 'tween it and Medicine Hat. Also, I hoped the rain would blow through by the time lunch was done.

The sight of some other long-distance cyclists spurred into leaving earlier than I should have as it would have been nice to have company on a wretched day. They were out of sight by the time I was back on my bike and an over proud twit I kept on riding through the heavy rain and lightning.

When it began to hail, I began to seriously question whether I should call it a day. Then I saw the sign for this place where I made a beeline for.

The rain is now lifting, but I had made the resolution that if there was no improvement by 2:00 (it was 12:15 when I arrived, I would go back to Brooks. One advantage of this break is that I consulted a bird book in the office. I can add Marbled godwits and eared grebes to my list of birds.