I had run out of travel food the night before and ate a vending machine dinner of Doritos and fruit snacks, so by the time I hit the road in the morning, I was starving. I stopped in at a little diner for a massive stack of pancakes and sausage.

The other diners were very friendly and were asking about my trip. I had my map spread out and told them I planned to take the Crow’s Nest West to Vancouver.

“No, no” a man in overalls interrupted “That road winds through the mountains and a bunch of little towns, what you want to do is take the interstate. It’s straight and flat and much faster.”

I laughed to myself, smiled and thanked him for telling me what I needed to know.

The Crow’s Nest did indeed wind through the mountains and the weather was very erratic. I would be getting drenched for miles and then dip into a valley where I would be overheating in just my mesh armor. I didn’t get as many pictures as I would like due to the rain.

Some kind of concrete monument with flags of the world Continue reading →

I reached the Canadian border and the guard looked skeptically at my plates.

“Let me get this straight, you rode this dirt bike from Arizona to visit your friend up here?”

I guess that does sound silly, but the truth that I was just doing it for the hell of it seemed even stranger.

He shrugged, stamped my passport and I went on going North. My headlight was useless, the night had turned completely pitch black and I was squinting to make out the lines on the sides of the road. I was wearing every bit of gear, plus waterproofs to stay warm and still I was beginning to shiver violently. My hands were frozen around my hand grips and my fingertips were numb. Riding all night wasn’t going to be an option after all, so I turned off the highway at town called Warner.

The town consisted of one main street with a hotel above a bar. I pulled up outside, shut off the bike and wandered in, decked out in my oversized bright yellow rain gear and looking very much like the Stay Puft marshmallow man.

There were about eight men seated along the bar and they all turned as I entered and stared at me blatantly. I’m assuming not many women pass through the town of Warner (I doubt many -people- do for that matter, it took the bartender a while to remember where they kept the room keys) and I felt a bit comforted knowing I looked like hell.

The room reeked of cigarettes and stale beer, but I was too tired to care and fell alsleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Renewed by sleep and a morning shower, I headed off again towards Edmonton.

Lethbridge is the first major city heading North and just when I hit the city limits, a man in a truck passed me flailing his arms and pointing at the back of my bike. Continue reading →