Day 15: London, ON to Maynard, MA via Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany

Today started out as I intended. I got a great night sleep at the hotel and it was a beautiful morning. I got some breakfast and a relatively early start. My first stop was Niagara Falls. It took me a couple hours but a little before noon I get to the falls. The place is packed. Cars everywhere, busses everywhere, people everywhere, jumping out into the road to get a picture, milling about. I drive down the strip, get a good look at the falls and doused with the spray/mist. OK, I see some parking. $18.00. Well that seems a little steep for the 20 minutes I'll need to take a picture. I keep going, $4 an hour, that's more my speed, but it's full. OK, keep going. More parking ahead, but it's closed for the season. Parking is closed? For the season, yes. So I turn around drive back past the falls and all the people and busses. Maybe I can find something in town. More people, more busses, some street parking, but now I'm a couple miles away and will have to leave my stuff here and walk for an hour or so. This is getting to be a hassle. I decide to forget the street parking idea and try the full lot one more time, at least I'll get another view of the falls on the way. A benefit of being on a motorcycle is having the panoramic view. Through the mist/spray, past the people and busses- parking is still full. I decide I've wasted enough time here, I really wanted a picture to show you guys but part of the adventure is that some things don't go as planned. So over the rainbow bridge (which had probably the best view I saw) I go across the border leaving Canada for the last time on this trip. Thank you Canada, I enjoyed all my time there and even though I crashed my bike on your gravel road you were very polite about it and didn't injure me for the mistake.

Back in the US I zoom through the outskirts of Buffalo. I see a Tim Hortons, US version so I decide to give it a try to see if it holds up to the original. About the same. I get back to my bike and see I've come 200 miles. Just for fun, not that I'll do it, let's see what it would take to get home from here. 400 miles, and that would put me at 7:30. That isn't too bad actually. Say 9:00 with traffic and gas/rest stops. That's a 600 mile day and just a bit late getting in but ik could sleep in my own bed. But what about Ithaca? Well, I did visit in June and there has been talk of another visit with some other friends who went to college in the area... what the heck, let's see if we can get this rig home tonight.

And off I go. Into the rain, into the blinding sun, into the darkness of night but after it all I am at home. I travelled 6,334.2 miles, visited Banff and made it home safe.

I started in home of the Bruins, went to the Canadiens, Senators, Jets, Oilers, Flames, near the Red Wings, near the Maple Leafs, and the finally the Sabres to return to the Bruins.

I met a lot of people, saw many things and had adventures. Being back home feels strange. I had sort of become used to the road, the few clothes I had, the limited meals. Being back almost feels like I have too many options I don't know what to do. If I have a regret it might be doing the trip alone, though I suppose it had to be that way for it to turn out how it did, or for me to do it at all- but sometimes it's nice to have someone to share the adventure with, to say "Hey, did you see that? Wasn't it amazing?"  So in that way this blog is my way of taking anyone who might be reading it with me, so thanks for coming along.

Until next time... take care and ride safe.

Day 14: Munising, MI to London, ON via Flint, MI

Day: 485.6
Trip: 5,730.4

Back to making good miles but Mother Nature had it in store for me today. I didn't sleep well so I didn't get an awesomely early start, rolling a little after 9. Before I left the motel I checked the status of the Mackinac bridge because I discover they post it online. Wind Warning, what I had been worried about. But I was still a couple of hours away, maybe things would calm down? That thought had a weaker hold when I was 30 miles away and met up with the lake (Michigan?) for the first time- windy. Then 11 miles away, still windy. What do I do if its closed? Find a ferry, turn north and go around Canada again through Sault Ste. Marie? I guess I would cross that bridge when I came to... the bridge. It was open, but WINDY. I've done windy bridges before so I did what I always do, close my eyes and gun it. But seriously, I hold the bike more with my knees so I can keep my arms loose and lean into the wind. It really wasn't too bad, the worse gusts were on the far side so I was mostly over. Bridge done.

Next I started making good time south on 75. Not as much foliage in color as the UP had but still a pretty scenic ride. Then it got really cloudy and started to rain. I've had good luck with avoiding rain since Saskatchewan but it all caught up with me today. The good thing about rain is it cleans all the accumulated bugs off my windshield and helmet. That took 5 minutes, the other 55 minutes of rain were kind of overkill. Then it got sunny so I stopped when I had a chance and put my sunglasses back on. Then it got cloudy again and rained on me again. Then sunny.

About here I had to make a decision, turn east in Flint and cut strait across Canada or do a 75 mile boondoggle to Grosse Pointe to say I had been there next time I watch the movie Grosse Pointe Blank. I had made enough miles that Grosse Pointe would work but a couple things gave me pause, the weather was iffy and looked worse in that direction and the further south I went the more construction I hit and the more traffic I saw. So I decided I'd seen enough of Michigan this time around and I do want to do a Great Lakes loop sometime, maybe I'll do Grosse Pointe then. So west I go, back into Canada. Another bridge and some rain, but just a little and I make Canada again.

I'm making really good time. I have 400 miles before 4:30 and I seem to have plenty of daylight to make at least 500. I'm feeling good. I start to wonder, if I push the daylight a little I could be in striking distance of making it home tomorrow. I wouldn't mind a little night riding if I was only an hour or so from home. Then things get ugly. It starts getting dark fast. You know how sometimes you can see it getting darker by shades at a time? Woop, it just got a little darker, there, it did it again. And it's raining harder. It's getting harder to see. Is my face sheild fogged up or is it all the mist being thrown up from cars in front of me? For a while I'm only able to see the tail lights of the truck in front of me and the lines on the road. Now it's coming down even harder and it's not easy to see those. I need to get off the highway, this is getting crazy. No shoulder, I'm in a construction zone. Is that a sign for the exit? How far? Is there a hotel, I see something about Best Western. I *need* to get off the highway and this is my chance. Somehow I navigate the exit ramp and avoid the construction barrels, some are blown over. Best Western 5 km to the right. I head in that direction, I can't stay here. I'm driving 25, or 30 mph but I can't really see anything. I put on my hazard blinkers in hopes that anybody else out here can see me. A car passes me, throws up a spray and I'm completely blinded. I just keep going. The rain iks coming down in buckets and every so often a flash of lightning but the rain is so thick there's no direction to it. I finally realize I must have missed the hotel. With the water on my sheild and on my gauges there's no way to see the odometer, the speedometer is just a blurry guess and it doesn't really matter, I'm not approaching the speedlimit like this. It's lightening up and I finally see a place to pull over. I ask my GPS for the hotel, turns out I passed it 2 miles back. Its lightening up enough I can actually see the road but my nerves are fried, my gloves are sopping and water has run down my neck into my shirt. I have 485 miles and I'm done for the day. The hotel looks pretty fancy but I don't care, if they have a room I'm taking it. And they do. They also let me park my bike under the entryway to try to keep it dry for the night and give me a room where ik can see it.

I get to wear my fancy orange button up shirt to dinner because my other shirts are all pretty dirty or wet now and the hotel restaurant seems pretty classy. A couple that checked in right after I did was sitting a table over and asked about where I had been and where I was going. So I told them. They both seemed intrigued. A few minutes later they left and I started my dinner but theman came back, walked over to me and gave me $20 dollars and thanked me for the story. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want the man's money but I didn't want to be rude towards the kind gesture so I just said "Thank you." I think if the roles were reversed that's what I would have wanted too. Someday they will be, it might even be that same $20 bill I give some traveller I meet.

So I survived the day. I have less than 300 miles to Ithaca tomorrow but I think too many miles to try to make it home. Well too many miles if I want to have any fun and there's still Niagra Falls too see and I'd like to get some Viva Tacoria in Ithaca.

So I'm back in Canada but only a short visit, hopefully the weather tomorrow is less of a factor.

Day 13: Milaca, MN to Munising, MI (UP)

Day: 419.1 miles
Trip: 5244.7 miles

Today was the toughest day of the trip in terms of making miles, and that by far. This is the first day I missed the miles I expected to make. I set a goal for 440 miles to make it to a camping area I marked on the map. Somehow through detours or whatnot it was looking closer to 460 and I didn't have the daylight or energy in me to make that. Even getting to 300 today was rough, I would have stopped at 275 if I was just riding for the fun of it. Not that the riding was bad, beautiful foliage through Wisconsin and Michigan Upper Peninsula. Good temps for riding, mid 60s mainly. Pretty good roads, but lots of two lane highway with speed limits of 55 and going through towns every 20 or 30 miles so the speed limit goes down to 35, or 25 or there's a stop. It didn't help that I was pressing myself to get *somewhere* and I started seeing long shadows at ~4:00 so I started skipping breaks too. Traveling north and east meant a shortened day plus I lost a clock-hour moving back into the Eastern Time Zone.

But it wasn't all bad. I felt I needed to make 400 to keep on track and I did that, through effort and determination. I have a full tank of gas and got a hearty dinner at Sydney's down the street so assuming I get a good nights rest I should be able to tackle tomorrow bright and early. I'm just over 1,000 miles from home if I took the most direct route (skipping Grosse Pointe and Ithaca) so even if I do only 350 miles a day from here on I can still be home Wednesday. Actually it looks like Grosse Pointe would be my destination tomorrow- 415 miles from here. If I make it tomorrow I go, if not I stop where I stop and head across Canada again on Tuesday.

I think that's it for now, I'd love to provide some more updates about what I think about when I'm riding but today wasn't very interesting, mostly about how sore and tired and behind miles for the day I was! I did stop at a rest stop in Wisconsin, just before the Michigan border and do some reading about the history of ore miners in the area. I love that kind of thing. I got a pic in front of a little monument, art piece they had there. My only pic for the day.

Day 12: Kennebec, SD to Milaca, MN via the Corn Palace and St. Cloud, MN

Day 12 already? Honestly some of the days are blending together so it hardly feels like 12 but on the other hand it seems like ages since I've seen my dog or slept in my own bed.

Lots of forward thinking this evening but let's recap the day first. The gravel road out of the campground was a piece of cake. I'm not over the phobia of gravel I developed sliding across it beside my toppled motorcycle in Alberta but I'm getting back to normal. It used to be I was cautious but unconcerned on gravel. The day or two after I eyed every gravel road I spied with contempt. Today I had the chance to do the same type of thing, take a gravel road rather than backtrack, and the gravel seemed in much better condition than the stuff I spilled on- but alas I did the backtrack. Someday I'll go back to my carefree ways but for the rest of this trip I'm avoiding prior mistakes. Not that its completely avoidable. There were a few long detours today that added to my milage. One such detour took me through another construction zone with signs, "slow - loose gravel road, Kevin". The last part is an exageration but seriously, loose gravel again! Of course this stuff wasn't really loose. I've become quite a gravel connoisseur and this was hardly loose at all!

After the gravel I put on some highway miles and realized I was getting close to Mitchel, SD, home of the Corn Palace. My previous trip to the area was a work trip to Sioux Falls. Mitchel is about 50 miles away. My coworker Lori and I briefly entetained the idea of a road trip but it would have been at night, after work so we decided to skip it. Well today there would be no skipping and I'm glad I made the stop. I saw the Corn Palace, kinda impressive but, there was also a car show going on! All kinds of classic and muscle cars lining the road and rolling down the strip. And best of all, right out front was a Ford F100 truck, my favorite classic car and the one I've been doing an electic conversion on for a while. This one was lowered and a flat grey. Not my favorite finish for that model but not bad, probably my second or third choice and I'm not a fan of lowered trucks but just to see such a beautiful car made me drool. So of course I went across the street and got a muffin and smoothie. The sign out front said bear claw but I discovered that's an ice cream flavor they have... slight disappointment but I got over it and probably better off. And thanks to Lori, if I had gone to the Corn Palace the first day I probably would have skipped it today and missed the cars.

St. Cloud seemed nice and I crossed the Mississippi there today. Lots of places to eat but I wanted to see what Milaca had to offer.

Slight mechanical issue to report. Remember that mirror I fixed so quickly? Well to fix it right I need two wrenches, I have one so I kinda just finger tightened it. Not enough, went over a bridge seam on the highway and my mirror swings in on me. Oops. I rode with it that way for a while then got tired of it and pulled my bike apart to get at the tool kit under the seat. Now it should be good until I get home and do it right. It really is a cool mechanism but the requirement for two wrenches is a little cumbersome for a solo rider. Ignoring that I could stop at any mechanic who works on anything, cars, bikes, bicycles and borrow a wrench for 2 minutes...

And now I'm in Milaca at a Super 8 motel. I did camp last night after I told everybody camping was done... but I realized I hadn't camped in the US on this trip, my friend Anna has recomended KOAs and it was *right* there. Why Milaca? It was kinda on the way to where I wanted to get to and I have a friend in Boston who grew up here so I decided to check it out.

Back to the forward thinking of the evening. With the trip winding down I'm trying to plan what days are left to spread the miles out and put me where I want to be to finish the trip. I figure I want to be in Ithaca the last night so that leaves two nights in Michigan to think about. I think I have it worked out to 3 ~400 mile days (which is what I've been averaging) then the final day home.

Hope the weather holds out, it's been beautiful. Happy Saturday night everybody!

Day 11: Broadus, MT to Kennebec, SD via Sturgis, Wall and Badlands NP

Well my original post for the day got trapped and lost when I had to reinstall but here are the highlights in list form:
Stopped in Sturgis.
Went to Wall Drug for lunch, met a couple older ladies.
Drove around Badlands NP - go see it.
Saw a camel.
Deciding whether to do MI or head south.
Pics...

Day 10: East Glacier, MT to Broadus, MT via Billings, MT and Custer National Forest

Today was a long day, 530.5 miles for the day, my furthest day so far on this trip bringing the trip total to 4,025.8 miles. That puts me around 2/3 of the way through, milage wise, I think.

I was thinking of all the things I've seen along this trip- a buffalo (because I saw one today), deer, mountains goats, rabbits, a herron, birds of all kinds, many, many bugs, some living, most smooshed on me, my bike or my helmet, a black squirel, perhaps a pokupine?, he ran up the other side of a tree just as I saw him, horses, sheep, cows, bulls. I've been through all kinds of weather, hot sun (like today and my first day through New Hampshire, wind (again today), heavy rain, cloudy skies that go on forever, a million stars on a cold Canadian night, frost and freezing temps that I thought meant winter was here, only to be hit by high 80s a day later. I've seen wonderful, beautiful things and sad things. I've been excited, afraid, feerless. I've pushed on when I didn't think I could, I've been stubborn and not given up when I should have, I've sensed danger and turned back (only to have danger find me anyway!). I've been hot, cold, hungry, tired, stuffed, rejuvinated, awestruck, humbled, lonely and befriended... it has certainly been an adventure. And I'm not done.

What to say of today specifically? Its mostly a blur, partly for the miles and partly for the terrain- it just goes on forever out here. Not many people, I can tell you that. Towns are small and far between. A lot of reservation land, I started the day on a Blackfoot reservation and passed through Crow reservation not long before I ended here. I'm in another motel, I think this puts me 50% camping, 50% motel and probably mainly motel here out. I got my camping in and now I'm more interested in making miles so unless I see something good in northern Michigan its probably motels for me.

On not going into Glacier NP. First was that they are doing construction on the Going To The Sun road so its mostly closed for the season. I could have ridden maybe 30 miles to do the 16 miles up to the pass but I figure I'll save it for next time when I can do the whole thing. The other thing, the weather was looking iffy so not a great day to be hanging around. I also decided I don't enjoy hiking alone nearly as much. I'd rather get home a day early and do a hike with my friend Katie, or any of my friends, or even just my dog. I just haven't mastered hiking alone, I push myself too hard and think way too much. So Glacier lost out on this trip but I'll still go through Badlands NP tomorrow. That was part of the reason to make so many miles today, to leave time tomorrow to take my time through the park.

And last thing before I drift off to sleep, found a great little pizza place for dinner. It was also a theater and movie theater in the back. Really a cool, odd place. The kind of place I would probably like to hang out at if I were in high school here. And they were playing all 90s music while I was there- Goo Goo Dolls, TLC, Aqua (Barbie Girl), Tom Cochrine, Counting Crows. All in all a cool experience so I bought a t-shirt.

That's it for tonight, hopefully a few more states under my belt tomorrow, and the decision, do I head north or south to get home?

(Sorry no pics today, just realized I didn't take any today!)

Day 9: Banff National Park to East Glacier, Montana via town of Banff and Calgary

This morning was cold, again. When I poked my nose out of my sleeping bag at around 6:30 local it was still pretty dark and by my estimate around 20 degrees. I decided to wait it out in the sleeping bag, nothing productive to do at that time and temp. Around 8 it was lighter and seemed warmer but still no sun. I realized I was in a valley between 2 tall mountains so this time of year it's probaby missing out on 90 minutes each side of the day of direct sun. At least at this hour I could start packing up and be ready when the temp got high enough for riding. When I looked at around 8:30 it was 26 so too cold for me and makes me nervous about frost on the road. I made some hot chocolate with my rice milk. I bring rice milk because it doesn't have to be refrigerated and comes in single serving boxes. Anyway, around 9:30 the sun is above the peaks and I'm ready to roll. On to Banff!

Banff was beautiful. It reminded me of other ski resort towns I've been to but in the best ways. I stopped to get a pic with the town sign on the way in then into town to pick up a couple t-shirts to commemorate the trip. I drove around town for a few minutes too see the place quickly then back to the highway to continue the journey.

Calgary was huge and sprawling! It sort of reminded my of Raleigh and what I've heard Austin is like. Just neighborhood upon neighborhood and miles and miles, it seemed to go on forever. I got a good view of downtown going by and actually this time I'm glad I didn't try to go right through, it looks like it would have taken me hours.

South of Calgary and I'm headed for the US border. Things are flat again and I can see for miles. The rockies are to my left. The wind is blowing pretty hard, generally an afternoon phenomenon on the praries I've found, in my limited experience. I come over a slight rise and windmills as far as I can see, all turning away, its beautiful! There's some confusion with the directions and I think I'm supposed to get off at this exit because the highway I'm on is coming to an end. There's also an RV with a boat blocking most of the exit so I commit to taking the exit and pay attention to avoiding the RV.

I'll briefly interject here about how I do my routing and general finding my way around on these long trips. I have a Garmin Zumo 550 made specifically for motorcycling- control buttons on the left, waterproof, etc. In the past I've mapped out the exact roads I want and loaded all the directions in. On a trip of this length I do things a little looser. I know the cities/towns I want to hit and approximately how far I'll go in a day. So I put in the city beyond my next destination. So say I know I'm headed for Saskatoon today, I put in Edmonton in the GPS. If Saskatoon isn't automatically on the route I add it as a via. That way if I get to Saskatoon and decide, for whatever reason to keep going I have a city exit mapped and ready, no need to stop and fiddle with the GPS in the middle of the city. Another couple thing I like about using the GPS (I resisted at first but after my first long trip I'm hooked) is it does voice directions- stuff like "in one mile turn left on route 2" and it automatically reroutes so if I mistakenly get off at exit 5 instead of 6 it finds a way for me from wherever I am. So in general I can let the technology worry about navigating and I focus on driving. And that is how I ended up on a gravel road in southern Alberta.

I surmise I took the wrong exit, it was confusing- so my GPS rerouted me along a gravel county road to get back on track. It seemed reasonable. I've done gravel and dirt roads before. Well this gravel was loose. Remember the Jolly Lodger? Marble size and nothing to bind it. But I'm not one to back down from a challenge, right? I mean, Ben from one week was on some gravel roads right? Or was that just the shoulder? I couldn't remember but to heck with it, I was going to give it a go. I was going pretty well, got up to maybe 30 (all speeds are approximate, I spent no time looking at my gauges at the time) and thing started feeling squirelly. I slowed down, better. But still, it wasn't right and at this speed it'd take forever to do the 3.5 to the next turn, then what? The front end wobbled. I gave it a little nudge to get back on track but was being careful not to manhandle the steering. All OK. But it wasn't, I was getting by but it was nerve wracking and it was still further to go than I had come. Time to turn back. I stop, try to manuever the bike around. The stones under my boots are rolling all around and I'm not making any progress backing the bike into a 3 point turn. OK, need to keep going further to at least find a place to turn. Find a small intersection where the side roads are dirt instead of gravel, perfect. I wait for a local horse hauler to drive past, she must have thought me a fool, and she'd have been right. But I'm headed back to sanity. Hey, I know when to fold 'em! The wind blows, the bike wobbles, I get it under control, slow down. I get into a little rut from a previous traveller. The bike wobbles, it wobbles further. Now I'm desperately trying to get it under control. "Mayday, Mayday!" But all I really say is "woah", like its a horse. And I'm down. I never gave up on the bike, I tried to power through, I didn't lay her down- but down she went. Now a couple thing are happening. One, I'm sliding along the ground. Two, my bike is coming around to face me and also sliding on the ground. I had the good thought to extracate myself from the sliding bike. I don't want it to end up on top of me and I don't want any spinny bits grabbing me. And in an instant there we both are, stopped. I hop up, run over and kill the bike. With the wind and my earplugs I couldn't tell for sure it was running but I think it was though I don't recall the wheel spinning at all at that point either. Next thing I do is grab my phone to take a picture. So the picture is looking in the direction I was travelling, in roughly the oncoming lane. First order of business, get the bike up. With the engine guard and the way it's sitting I've got a pretty good chance at getting her up. I throw out the kickstand (need a place to lean her once she's up right? And fortunately she's laying on the good side) and give it a tug with my back to the bike and one hand on the handlebar and another on the frame. Feels heavy. So I unlatch the duffle bag I have on the seat and set it aside. Much better! One big lift and she's up. No sweat. Take a look around. Some scrapes to the engine guard (what it's for) a couple minor to the head cover and some rash on the plastic side bag. Oh, and the mirror is popped sideways, just twist that back and pretty much none the worse. I'll do a little cleanup of the guard and case over the winter and she'll always have a few scars to show but could have been a lot worse. Now onto me. I seem OK actually. A scuffed boot toe and some road dusty riding gear but I feel ok. Adrenaline does that but seriously, I was fine. I get everything back together on the bike, my pulse is almost back to normal and I'm breathing. I try the starter. Nothing. Oh wait, the kickstand is still down. Once more and she fires right up.

Now I still have a couple more problems. I'm not facing in the direction I want to go and I still have almost a mile back on the stuff that just dumped me. I am not in a thrilled mood. I decide to turn where I am. What's the worst that could happen? If i'd thought about it at the time, people have been known to turn a boxer BMW by rotating it on the cylinder head while it's on its side like that. But I woudn't have wanted to scuff it any worse anyway. So I say, what the heck, I'll try the turn and maybe end in the ditch. I did start slipping into the ditch and some might know the way they mow sometimed makes ditches look shallow even when they aren't! So I almost lost it again in the ditch, and she's going deeper but I power through and we're out! Now to continue the mile out withou dumping again. I took it really slow, used a lot more clutch to keep it slow and somehow made it out. A couple miles later I look down to see some weeds from the ditch still clinging to my footpeg.

So that was kinda the highlight from the day, not the best of events but it really turned out as well as it could have. I consider myself lucky again. It can be hard go get back on and put on the miles after an off but I guess I didn't see any other way to deal with it. I did decide I really needed a bed for the night after a day like that. It didn't help that Montana seems so desolate. I thought some places in Canada seemed remote but the part of MT I saw today (reservation land I think) was just eerie. Nothing at all as far as I came up on this little town of ramshackle places. Some trailers but some places just stuck together plywood in the rough shape of a house. I felt like I came back to another planet.

And the journey continues tomorrow. I decide whether to try to do the part of Going To The Sun road that is open, it sounds like large parts are closed for the season and construction, or start making miles towards home. For now I need to sleep and see how things look tomorrow. Hopefully less eventful that today.

Day 8: Jasper to Lake Louise, Banff National Park (Mosquito campground)

Well I made it to Banff National Park. The good stuff first, the landscapes have been stunning. I'll have a lot of great pictures to share when I get back. The mountains, the glaciers, the glacial lakes and rivers- all beautiful. I met a couple from Switzerland and another from Idaho, all impressed with my journey. Did a hike up to Little Beehive at Lake Louise from the suggestion of a friend I met in Alaska last year.

Now the bad. I made some poor decisions today and I was lucky not to have to pay for them. I got started hiking at Lake Louise too late. When I was just setting off the sun was behind the mountains. The days tend to be shorter around here because of that. Instead of turn back at any convenient point I powered through all the way to the top of Little Beehive. I still had light from the reflections off other mountains. But the temp was falling fast too. I made it back down, by far the last one off that trail today for sure. So a few demerits for hiking late, alone, in bear country without the necessities to spend a few hours in the cold if something should happen. I was fine but things can go wrong and no need to make them worse by being unprepared. I did have fire starter kit at least, but when I got back to the parking lot the temp was 33, not good if I had twisted an ankle or something worse. Anyway, I made it back to the parking lot without incident but I still had 20 miles to drive back to the campsite. As a rule I don't like to take the motorcycle if I'll be out after dark. Short trip around town or something, fine but I know the risks, motorcycles are dangerous and being out at night, or even dusk, puts adds to the risk and exceeds my threshold. I've added extra, blinking break lights for rearward visibility but I put off extra road illuminating forward light and promised myself, for this trip I wouldn't be out after dark unless it was a few miles back from dinner or something- not 20 miles after full dark in deer, bear, elk, couger, rabbit country. And no joke, any of those could have ended my night ride badly. Fortunately a rabbit was all I saw and he was in the other lane, jumping off the road. Did I mention it was cold? It was a long 20 miles back to camp and I was not happy with myself. And as much as I wanted to rip the throttle and get it over with I took it slow and cautious. At least when I'm doing stupid stuff I try not to dig the hole any deeper.

So I made it, like I said, I didn't have to pay the price this time but I acknowledge I took risks I know I shouldn't have. So why belabor the point and expose my mistakes here to everybody? Because it really happens. Maybe its not as blatant as my poor decisions tonight but we all have decisions that lead us down a path and sometimes we choose poorly but hopefully we can realize when we make a mistake and learn from it and hopefully not make the same ones again.

For me, I always question what it is that lead me up to the point where a poor decision seemed reasonable. This time, I think it's that I'm ready to head home. My thought was that if I got in a hike this afternoon/evening I could make it through the town of Banff, through Calgary and back into the US and be at East Glacier all tomorrow. If not I'd spend tomorrow morning doing the hike and probably not make the border until Thursday. So what's an extra day? To me it seemed important. I'm getting tired of the road and spontaniety, not knowing where I'll sleep or where I'll be tomorrow. Sometimes it's nice but like anything there is a limit and right now I'm feeling like I'm approaching it. But it could be I'm just tired from a full day and tomorrow my capacity will be replenished. In either case, I do feel I've accomplished what I set out to do and if I go strait home or spend some time in Glacier it'll all be alright with me.

Day 7: Vermilion to Jasper, Alberta via Edmonton

I'm in Jasper National Park! I made it. I'm staying at Whistler campground because, turns out, it's the only one open this time of year. It's nice but not as secluded as other campgrounds I've stayed at or as I was expecting. In fact Jasper wasn't as I expected either, much more a resort town than I would have imagined up here. When I rolled into town there were people everywhere. Some people bundled up like eskimos, others like they were headed out to the Jersey shore in the middle of summer. Tons of restaurants, as many gas stations as I've seen all though Canada, hotel after hotel. So I got gas and headed out the other end of town to find camping. On another day I would have embraced the moment and jumped in one of the corner restaurants but after such beautiful views, and for me the moment of finally getting here, I wanted to do my own thing in the woods. So I cooked up some beef stew, a little hot cocoa to celebrate and took some pictures. Oh, and there was a ton of cut wood at my site so I started a fire too, even though I hadn't paid for a permit but because it was cold. I had even offered to pay when I checked in but the guy said I'd have no way to get it to my site on the bike, it wasn't bundled. I could have argued I came prepared for such circumstances but... anyway it worked out as I am currently beside a toasty fire, at least until they throw me in jail for my lawlessness.

I think I just heard some wolves. Cool.

Edmonton worked out well. I got my tire, a change of oil and they bled my clutch. I was feeling much more confident in the bike after a once over and it always seems to run better after an oil change. They didn't wash it but I told them not to worry, I had intentions on getting it dirty again anyway. I have to say, Canadians love Tim Hortons. Place was mobbed at 12:15, lucky I got there at 12:05. Lines around the block to get into the drive through. It is good, I'll give them that but I had to get out, my idea to linger and kill some time thwarted by throngs of high schoolers.

Part of me can't believe I'm here, that I actually made it, and part says it's no big deal. I did become a little introspective on the last leg getting here today. I'm as curious as anyone as to what drives me on trips of thousands of miles, alone. I don't personally know anybody anybody else who does such things or even would want to really. Sometimes I think I'm looking for answers, and on past trips I've found them. Sometimes I think I want to prove something to myself, that I can conquer my fears or that I can rely on myself to survive. But those don't ring true for me this time. I haven't even come up with the questions yet and right before I came I finished a triathlon I thought I couldn't do.

Feel free to skip this if you're tired of my self indulgent rambling, there probably won't be any more actual trip details unless one of the wolves I heard comes wandering into camp. There have been many hours on the road to explore my thoughts so I'm going to write about one of those.

What stuck in my mind today is something somebody said to me a while ago and I thought I understood but haven't been able to resolve. They said, "If you don't find a way to open up to people you'll be alone and lonely your whole life." And that is probably true but today I was alone and lonely but not miserable. See, I'm really terrible at opening up to people, I do it all wrong, it comes across as awkward and strange. I tried to tell someone a few days ago that I missed them. I mean, I haven't seen a familiar face in a week and I'm a long way from home, any home I've ever had- but the way I said it came across awkward and desperate when it shouldn't have. Of course there was more to it than that but that's the broad stroke. I can't help but feel it would have been better left unsaid. And I guess that's my point, if I can get along just as well without subjecting people to the weirdness, what's the harm? So to my friends and family out there, know that I miss you and be glad I don't try to tell you about it :-)

Goodnight for now, feels like a cold one so I'm going to snuggle in early and try to stay as warm as I can.

Day 6: Russell, Manitoba to Vermilion Provincial Park, Alberta

The morning started out pretty misty and sunless again but while I was loading up the sun made an appearance. It wasn't out long though and Manitoba bit farewell the same way Saskatchewan said hello, with a shower. So far I've been rained on in every province I've visited. But the rain didn't last long either, I'm writing this part at a nice little rest stop with the sun warming me up. I did see a huge rainbow as I was entering Saskatchewan. I should have stopped for a picture but it was facing into a huge, dark cloud and I've been reluctent to just pull over on the highway for pics.

I almost toppled the bike pulling away from the Jolly Lodger. The parking lot was marble sized loose gravel with nothing to hold it. I was a little wary of it last night and this morning was no better. I had to do a little turn to get back on the road and my front tire just started plowing the loose stones. I got a foot down but I was losing it and the advice I've always heard is gas it through, so I did and the ship righted herself as a blasted out of the lot. Close one. Speaking of the bike, I've been having some trouble with the clutch today. I had to pull it all the way to the grip to get the clutch to disengauge at all. I adjusted it all the way in so now I've got enough room to play but I'm worried if I lose any more I'll be stuck. There is a BMW place in Edmonton I was planning to visit tomorrow anyway to ask about a tire and maybe oil change so I'll add the clutch to the list. I'm wondering if elevation affected my clutch fluid? I wouldn't think so but I'll ask tomorrow and hopefully they have an idea.

I saw a mile long train next to the road this morning, I know because I measured, it was stopped with no engine attached. I saw another that looked even longer but it was further away and moving so I didn't get to measure it. Also saw a big front end loader zipping along the tracks on train wheels, interesting. Not a ton out here to see besides fields and rial tracks, and huge train loading facilities.

For now, back to the road...

Later that evening...

As I was making good time today and the weather was nice I started thinking today might be the day I get in 500 miles. Not that I need to but I've done it before (and more on longer summer days) and I've been pushing that direction so I thought today I might. But it was not to be, I'm at 492.5. Somewhere around 490 I saw signs for gas, food and a provincial park so rather than risk missing any of those I decided I was close enough. But today was probably my best chance. I'm less than 350 miles from Jasper and I'm planning to stop in Edmonton for a couple hours. Then I'll be messing around Banff and Glacier NP so if I'm making big miles those days I'll have done swomething wrong! Then I'll be headed back east and my days will be getting shorter, not longer. I've been figuring, just rough gut feel that I've been gaining about 1/2 hour of sunlight a day by making miles west. I'll be giving that back when I head east. Now that I mention it, I see I've crossed another time zone, I'm now 2 hours behind Eastern, I must have missed a sign.

My dad asked me what the draw is for Jasper. Basically it's as far west and north as I'll be on this trip (actually Edmonton is a little further north but in general you get the picture, Jasper is as far from home as this trip goes), everything else is on the way home. The reason to go to Jasper at all is to do the road between Jasper and Banff. It is supposed to be worth this whole ride out here.

What else to say? The people of Canada are awesome, everybody has been friendly and wanting to know where I'm from, where I've been, welcome to the country. I did see some Albery Hell's Angels today on the highway, I didn't make any effort to keep up. Who knows what they're like but I was content not to find out.

Oh, the earplug issue I mentioned yesterday. Two parts, they are harder to use in the cold. Cold fingers, cold ears, they just don't get as soft and sticky so they tend to fall out more. Also after a number of uses they lose their stick as well. I'm sure the cold temps made it worse but yesterday I was having trouble keeping them in if I wasn't really careful. Switched to a new set today and much better. So they first set lasted me about a week of daily use counting times I used them at the office. Hopefully I can make it through the trip with what I've got. They are also harder to place if your ears are wet so if you use them swimming put them in first.

That's all for tonight. Hopefully tomorrow I can tell you about Jasper!

Day 4: White River to Dryden, ON (Aaron Prov. Parc) via Thunder Bay

Around 3 I crossed into the Central Time Zone. I've never done that on the ground before. I also entered the Arctic tributary region. Rain that falls here flows to the Arctic Ocean. Or any that I spill from my lunch. Well not really, there evaporation and weather patterns so mine probably won't make it... but I'll spill a little before I go, just in case.

The road got a lot longer after Thunder Bay. GPS said something like, next turn 430 miles when I turned west rather than continue south. I made sure I got gas. There will be towns and such along the way but nothing major until Winnipeg. I'm feeling a little daunted at the moment. I'm just about 1500 miles into the trip so I think I'm about half way to Banff, plus anything I get before calling it quits today- it's just 3:45 as I write this, or rather 2:45 central. Just seems like a long ways left to go before I can turn around to work my way home. I do the same thing with running sometimes, start feeling that every stride is another I'll have to make on the way back. At least it's not raining, looks like today might be the first day I avoid getting rained on.

I'm staying at a provincial parc tonight. Seems really nice. Rode around to find a campsite then went back to the gate to self check in. Just when I was done a ranger pulled up and asked if I needed anything, like firewood. I had looked around earlier for any but it was all locked up so, yay, I get to have a fire after all. Its going to be cold tonight so that's nice.

I'm missing some people from home but I got to talk to my mom for her birthday for a few minutes. Finally figured out I need to dial 1 before the number up here, even from a cell phone. Not sure if incoming works.

Freeze dried chili mac with beef was really good for dinner.

The journey continues!

Day 5: Dryden, ON to Russell, MB vie Winnipeg

Ontario had signs for moose every hundred yards. Manitoba has wide open spaces. About 20 miles before Winnipeg things got flat. And windy. But more on that in a minute. I decided rather than take the loop around Winnipeg I'd go right through the city. I figured since I had come all this way it'd be a shame to pass it by. And it was nice, I'm glad I took the extra time. One part of the road was liked with elm trees on both sides, really beautiful and very nice for in a city. There were also traffic lights every block so it was slow going. And the sun was out for the first time all day. For the first time in days I actually felt hot. As soon as I got out of the city though it was cloudy again and I was blasted with a cross wind. It was rough going for a while. The best I could do was hunch over, point my helmet 45 to keep it from getting wrenched sideways and lean on the left handlebar to keep the bike going strait. With all that my neck was wearing out, me right leg was cramping up from constant pushing and my hands were burning keeping a hold on the grips. So I got in 460 miles todayb but they weren't easy ones and felt like a lot more.

I did get a nice dinner at Mr. Rib in Neepawa. Of course then I was full, feeling good and set my sights about 100 miles up the road- at which point the cluouds I'd been eyeing all day decided it was time to have some fun with me. So it started raining. Not the most pleasant way to end a long day so I decided to go ahead and do a motel again. After all the wind my body wanted a bed but the rain sealed the deal.

I want to write more, tell you how long I found the earplugs to last and how they fail but the yawns are telling me its bedtime and I've earned it today. More later.

Day 3: Sudbury to White River, ON via Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, ON

Wawa has gas! I'd been seeing signs for Wawa for many hundreds of kilometers. The last few I paid special attention to because the gas I had left in the tank just might get me there. In the end it did though the engine sputtered on a few of the hills. Was I nervous? Extremely. I wasn't too far and I could have hitch-hiked (fairly common up here) but I was really trying to avoid that. Lesson: any time the tank is below half and you see gas, get some!

More on that later, time for dinner.

OK, now that I've eaten and found a place to stay (motel tonight) I can recount the day. This morning was beautiful but chilly. In fact the whole day was chilly, I saw my thermometer go above 50 twice and trust me, I was watching it. I put my thermal liners in this morning and that wasn't a mistake. I still got a little cold a couple times and had to stop to warm up. The handlebar grip heaters were running all day. I do have a couple extra layers I can use but if it gets much colder I'm going to have to start taking warming breaks every hour. So aside from the cold, I mentioned its beautiful here. The foliage was in full color outside of Sudbury. I stopped at the Spanish river to eat a scone I grabbed at breakfast and switch gloves and I finally broke out the big camera. The best stuff I saw was just off the highway so I didn't get pics but I have them in my mind, around every turn was a beautiful scene.

Sault Ste. Marie was a nice looking town but nothing grabbed my attention lunch-wise so I continued on and found a little beach spot on the side of Lake Superior and ate a Cliff Bar and some peanut M&Ms while I warmed myself in the sun and took more pictures. The ride around Superior was also beautiful, just the bluest water today. Whenever a view of the lake opened up it also brought a blast of wind but I had to take a peek over anyway in spite of my bike getting pushed around.

All kinds of gas stations and motels so I pushed on, even past my half a tank of gas. Then I realized I hadn't seen gas in a good long time and I had about 80 miles left in the tank. That should get me the 50 miles to Wawa. Then I started gaining elevation and my 30 mile buffer dropped to 18, and at the same time I realized I ran out of gas last time at 16... 30 km to Wawa, 20, 10 then I hit a hill and the power drops. I shake the tank a little and it keeps going. Then again. I see a couple more hills but no gas station. Somehow I keep going and there on the left, some gas pumps, but the building has boarded up windows (something I've see ona lot of building up here, and whole towns too). I'm doomed. But somehow the BMW keeps pulling and I see an Esso, and it's open! But it's not only on the other side of the road, it's off a sevice road so I have to drive 1/4 mile up and loop back. I don't know how she made it but I limped into that service station on fumes. But after all that I had a full tank again.

Gas is generally first priority on the road. Second is water and food. I found a trucker restaurant next to the gas station and ordered something to get me through the cold night, a bacon cheeseburger and fries with cheese and gravy. After I somehow destroyed that plate and a Pepsi (out of root beer) I felt rejuvinated and decided to put on a few more miles before dark.

I felt a little guilty at spending over 100 for a hotel last night so I was thinking I'd try for camping. I wasn't seeing much for official camping so I was starting to consider "distributed" camping, ie find a dirt road, hide the bike and pitch my tent. I'm just really leary of police or the angry land owner waking me early and rushing me off. I even explored a picknic area to see if it explicitly said "no camping", it did, after "caution". Caution for what? I guess I didn't want to find out. So the sun was rapidly decending and about every 100 feet they have beware of moose, night danger signs so when I found a cheap looking motel I grabbed it. So here I am, internet and all.

Tomorrow I should definitely reach Thunder Bay and beyond towards Winnipeg. The weather report for Glacier has me worried. Banff will be cold but with night temps in the low 20s Glacier might not be doable formy rig. We'll see. It seems every night I feel worn out and beat but every morning I'm renewed in my quest so start taking bets on who wins over!

Day 2: NP d'Oka to Sudbury, ON via Ottowa

Well I made it through the night! To/ clarify, the big thunderstorm was last night, Tuesday night. One thing the mobile blog app I'm using doesn't do is allow me to set the date. I wrote the post last night but didn't get internet until tonight.

Anyway, tonight I'm in Sudbury, Ontario. It was mentioned in the movie "One Week", with Joshua Jackson. Great movie and though not an inspiration for my trip, it was a catalyst.

Today started pretty poorly. I woke up and all my stuff was wet. Or wet and muddy. So I went back to sleep. In my dreams I hoped the sun would come out and make everything dry and warm but the sun only peeked out so I finally roused myself and got to the task of packing wet and muddy gear. One big mistake, I didn't take enough care keeping my gloves and helmet off the tent floor so they were really wet. Fun. My other critical gear I had better about protecting so all in all I wasn't bad off after a drenching night.

So a late start but I got to the ferry between Oka and Hudson a few minutes before departure. That was a fun ride and beautiful conditions. It was recommended and I'll second it. The ride through Ottowa was beautiful too. Did I mention all the wind I was fighting yesterday? I wasn't sure if it was abnormal so I didn't want to complain but it was abnormal, I found a bunch of limbs and leaves down in Oka. Anyway, today was much less wind so easier miles.

It was a cooler day, in the 60s mostly and threatening freezing overnight. That plus I pushed myself to get all the way to Sudbury rather than stop early to find camping has me at a Comfort hotel tonight and I will say, it is a comfort.

Tomorrow I head toward Sault Saint Marie and Lake Superior. I won't make it all the way to Thunder Bay tomorrow but I'll be headed in that direction. Thunder Bay holds an interesting decision- continue west towards Banff or cut south and call it a Great Lakes loop? Winnipeg will be the next and last such decision point. After doing 400 miles today I'm glad to have made the miles but my back is achy and started twinging while I was riding. So that, the cold temps this evening, and some personal things have me doubting my commitment to making it all the way this time. I just want to voice these doubts because they do pop up for me in trips like this- it happens and I like to be truthful in these accounts. Hey, half of Charlie and Ewan's discussions are about giving up :-) (Long Way Round is another excelent view for people interested in adventure travel).

For now, good night. I'll pick up again when I find more internet.

Oh, something I forgot to mention... I drove over the Mississippi River today! First time ever. Turns out, in Canada they keep it much further east so it's easier.

Day 1: Maynard, MA to Oka, QC via Montreal, QC

Well, I'm in Canada! Montreal was... well it's a big city with lots ofx traffic, what can I say? If I had a couple days to appreciate it I'd probably find some things to love but to spend an hour wasn't worth the trouble. I will say, like any big city with miles of standstill traffic I really had to fight for my space in traffic but was it my imagination, given the circumstances people seemed more polite? There was no honking, no revving of engines.  It was 3:30 gridlock in the city but nobody really seemed angry. Did I mention it was pouring? So I gave up on finding a late lunch and instead pressed on to National Parc d'Oka. Beautiful place. I had to find the beach to register for camping which I eventually did, my french is horrible, and saw some people kite-boarding- something I'll have to try one of these days.

For now I'm enjoying souvlaki in a pita at the one place I found open in Oka. Might try for a campfire tonight, it's getting pretty dark out.

Later...
Well, no campfire tonight. Before I could leave the restaurant it started coming down, hard. This is not the night to be camping. Thunder, lightning, heavy rain. Everything is pretty soaked. At least I had the tent up and it's stopping 90% of the rain. Wow, it must be right over me now, instant lightning/thunder in every direction. I'm going to try to stay as dry as I can and hope it passes soon, have a good night everybody.

Day 0: Maynard, MA to Maynard, MA via St. Johnsbury, VT

Um, so this is awkward. I did travel 360 miles today as I had intended but unfortunately I netted exactly 0 miles progress on my trip. I'm right where I started this morning. Bugger.

When I leave on a trip I almost always get the nagging feeling that I forgot something. Usually I pacify my nagging subconscious by responding that anything I forgot I can buy along the way. This does not hold true for important legal documents like vehicle registrations that will undoubtedly be asked for at any border crossings.

Anyway, I can take this time to comment on a couple pieces of gear I've found useful. First, I've been very impressed with some earplugs I recently bought. They are marketed as "Worlds Finest Ear Plugs" and can be found here: http://www.earplugsonline.com/. They are made from beeswax, cotton and lanolin. The sample pack is a great price so I figured I'd give them a try. They have roughly the consistency of playdough but smoother and doesn't dry out and crumble. They are kind of heat-activated, they get softer by rubbing between your fingers and a little firmer when they cool. What really impresses me is that I can leave them in all day long. For me, normal foam earplugs they feel fine at first and block out the sound well (if I can get my helmet on without dislodging one) but after an hour or so the pressure of the foam in my ear really irritates me. These guys kind of just mash in and stay without putting pressure on the ear canal. And when I yawn or adjust my jaw they don't dislodge. The way I'm using them is a half a plug in each ear, I roll them into a sphere and kind of mush it into my ear canal, not really deep in like a foam plug would, just enough that I get some material in the hole to hold it. Done. They block out the wind noise in my helmet really well but I can still mostly hear my GPS directions from speakers in my helmet. I've started using them at work too, it's amazing all the background noise I mentally block out during the day. Throw the plugs in and things seem much more peaceful. Anyway, so if you have any interest in ear plugs it's worth giving these a try. I did probably 300 out of 360 miles today with them in and no ear ringing now.

What else. Lets talk about my BMW Streetguard3 suit. I take protection on the bike very seriously. It's something I think about and try to improve whenever I get the chance. When I took the basic riders course I had a decent helmet but just wore jeans, a sturdy jacket, some leather gloves and leather work boots. At 15 miles an hour those are OK but even then you're still exposed to injury if something goes wrong. When I started driving in traffic I moved up to Draggin jeans with a Kevlar lining around the knees and butt and a somewhat cheap armored mesh jacket. Kevlar is great for abrasion resistance but you're still exposed to impact injuries. The mesh jacket was probably good for impact, the armor feels decent anyway (elbows, shoulders, back), but I didn't have much expectation it would hold together sliding across pavement- especially with it's age and use. I've also found I do more riding and my longer trips in the Fall and usually to cooler climates. So for ultimate protection and better cool weather performance I decided BMW Streetguard was the way to go. Overall I'm pretty happy, the stuff seems to do what it's supposed to and I'm confident in the safety aspects. A few things I don't like. The cut is very generous. I'm 5'10"-5'11" and I knew I wanted to be able to fit some extra layers underneath so I went with size 54. The lengths are spot on for what I need for coverage, especially in riding position but I feel like I could fit two of me in the pants and jacket. Great on the bike and I'm not worried about fitting a fleece jacket underneath but walking around I look like I'm ready for sledding and my pants swoosh when I walk. Oh well, I can deal with it, easy enough to take them off and room for normal clothes under, which I do like. Oh, except for the time the zipper started binding and I couldn't take the jacket off anymore! The zipper wasn't like any I'd seen before, even accepting the zipper pull is on the "wrong" side. It had a sort of gasket in between to seal out any water. Seemed like a good idea until things went bad and I wouldn't get out of my jacket. And that was a little over a week ago so I really need to give props to Max BMW for facilitating an exchange in time for my trip. I notice the zipper on the exchange jacket is different, more standard like I'm used to, though still with the pull on the "wrong" side. Overall, still a great piece of gear, just not quite everything I had hoped considering the cost.

Well that's all for now. Wish I had more to share on the actual journey but so goes the nature of adventure, hopefully tomorrow I'll be making better forward progress!

False Start

New Hampshire was beautiful today. Franconia Notch was breathtaking and I didn't even mind the construction for the chance to take in the views. I had a late start but was making good time and expecting to make it to my intended campsite with plenty of daylight. I was seeing milage markers to Canada so I was getting close. My milage said I was about half way for the day. Then I realized one of the thing I need for the border cross is back home, my registration. They like to know you own the vehicle you're driving across the border. I've also had the opportunity to find out that police like to see it if you ever have a traffic infringement as well...
I have a whole story about how I always keep it in my jacket but I had to exchange my jacket due to a faulty zipper so it went into my work bag but I kinda doubt that'll help my case so for now I'm eating a loaded pepper steak sandwich in Vermont, appreciating the great ride I've had so far (following a pretty great weekend I might add) and remembering it's all part of the adventure. I guess the next step is to head home for one more night in my own bed and try not to find out how important a registration is if you are pulled over.

Equipment

I'll try to talk about the equipment I use on the trip and how well it works (or doesn't) as I go along. Most of the gear I'm bringing I'm pretty familiar with and have used many times before. One item that is new and I hope not to have to use is bear spray. When I first described it to some friends they assumed it was like bug spray, spray it on yourself and the bears stay away :-) While you may use it like that once I doubt you'd buy it ever again. Think of it more like bear strength pepper spray.

The product I have has a range of 30 feet and emties in 5 seconds. 30 feet with a charging bear isn't far so it really is for close contact situations. From my time in Alaska last year I learned a bit about what to expect when a bear attacks. In most cases the charge is a bluff so its best to stay calm but I know I'll feel better having a backup plan too, specially since most of my hiking will be alone this time.

(I also wanted to see how well pictures work from my phone to the blog)

The Route (Roughly Drafted)

View Larger Map

Inception

I've been thinking about Glacier National Park for a few years. I saw a program about the park probably 5 years ago and as is standard I got excited and wanted to go. Between changes of geography and changes of job the idea was put on the back burner but I never lost the desire, what I really needed was the time.
This year things changed. After 10 years with IBM I earned myself an extra week of vacation. That extra week made it possible to make it out to Glacier. So I took out my trusty (google) map and started playing around with routes. After some initial playing with possible routes I noticed a string of parks up above Glacier. Banff. Now my imagination was taking off. I've been to the travelling Banff Mountain Film Festival a few times, once in Colorado while I was visiting a while ago and two years ago in Sommerville. Could I fit a loop up through Canada on my journey? I decided I could.
So far this is the general route: Boston, Montreal, Ottowa, Sault Ste Marie (Ron Francis birthplace!), Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper, Banff, Calgary?, Glacier NP, Grand Teton NP, Billings, Badlands NP, Sioux Falls, Cheboygan, Flint, London ON, Ithaca, Boston!
I'll post the prospective route soon. Expected departure Sept. 12th!
Also note this is my first time posting to the blog from Android. It seems OK but I expect I'll still keep a written journal- post quick updates here and FB when I can and go back to update with details later.
More soon...