DOUBLE COAST-TO-COAST, THREE COUNTRIES, AND THE TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY

DAY 42 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK MC TOUR-AUGUST 11,2008

2008-08-12T13:08:00.001-04:00

August 11, 2008 - Monday - Day 42
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 318    - Total Miles - 9970
Mont-St-Hilaire, QC, Canada - to Edmundston,NB,Canada
(-staying at the Ritz Motel-)
(Ontario-New Brunswick)
- LAST FULL DAY IN CANADA -

And so it's down the last few days…. I know from past experience not to take anything for granted. And I'm as careful or more so, to make sure things are right.
***
It wasn't exactly sunny this morning, but it was bright. However, I still went out the door in complete raingear and expected the worst. As it turned out it didn't rain until the last ten minutes of the 318-mile day. But then it poured. And it was cool today, anyway, so it was good having the extra gear on me.
***
The last few days have nicely spaced themselves out at about 300 miles each. And that seems like a very comfortable distance for me. Again, it's about an hour and a half per 100 miles. So, what with breaks for lunch and gas, it fits nicely into the day. Knowing that, I just sit back, feet up on highway pegs, and let the day roll by not having to worry about the day's end.
***
Here are some more cute names I've run into lately…Rabbit Blanket Lake, Baldhead Creek, Wolf Camp Lake, Red Horse Creek, Black Duck Lake, Gully Lane (yep, it was a dirt road!)
***
On the way to Quebec I came upon another many mile long traffic back up - but it was going in the other direction and I was happy to breeze along. At times there was no one on the highway ahead or behind me. Couldn't hit triple digits today because of the wind and other factors but came close a couple times. I generally zipped along with all the rest of the traffic at 70 to 80mph.
At one point in a friendly gesture to a huge old tanker truck, and let him in ahead of me as he wanted to pass. It was a BIG mistake. The tank must have been filled of a year's supply worth of sewage and boy! Did it ever stink up the roadway air for the next number of miles. The fertilizer smell, wafting over from the fields just after I re-passed the tanker, seemed like the sweetest of Paris perfumes by comparison.
Stopped in for gas at mid-day. And then I went down the way to my normal comfy-feeling Subway. But it was different. It was all French. No one understood English. It was like being in a dream where no one understands you and you understand no one. Like those folks in a coma where language is a skill lost. It was very uncomfortable and perhaps a little scary for me. Everyone was friendly, but still. And it was like that all day with traffic signs, billboards, and everything written.
***
   Just before Rivere-du-Loup there was a grey haired guy with a bicycle beside him standing on, and looking out from one of the bridges spanning the highway. I gave him a big wave, and he waved back just before I zipped out of view.
***
There were just some spectacular views of the St. Lawrence River.
***
   Made the turn at just about 4pm. Route 20 turned into 185 South on the Transcanada Highway. It was shortly after that I gassed up and celebrated the turn homeward with a Hershey Bar. A Canadian French guy, Danni, was fueling up there, too. And as I shared my map with him his jaw dropped and he smiled broadly. We chatted awkwardly as best we could what with the language barrier. Danni was on a crotch rocket and lived in the area I think. He had a firm handshake.
***
There are a ton of All Terrain Vehicles in the area - and even special roads for them. Speaking of which I heard from our local Canada expert Jacki again, and she had this to say today about the ATV's:

I was looking through your last pictures and saw you had a picture of some pretty dirty quads (4 wheelers - called ATV's - all terrain vehicles). We call them quads up here and are recreation vehicles for going on trails and plowing through mud....not my idea of fun getting muddy but we do enjoy our quad to go fishing into lakes where there are no roads only bush trails. In the winter time we go on these same trails with the skidoo (snowmobiles). We also have a boat that we leave up at the lake.....we call all these items "the men's toys" lol. UP here if you don't have one of these toys at least then they say they are living in the wrong place lol.
Pretty soon we'll have to start calling this journal, The Joel and Jacki Report!
***
I would have loved to stay in the town St. Louis du Ha! Ha! (Really, no kidding! That was the name! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Louis-du-Ha!_Ha!,_Quebec) I did get a picture of the town greeting. A huge road construction project was going on in town. The one motel seen from the highway seemed closed, and I didn't go searching. There was an unclear road sign near here, and I had to ask directions to make sure I was still on the correct highway.
It must be fertilizing time around here or something. The air was ripe today with the odor - and coming through one town it seemed like a paper ill processing plant was emitting plumes of smoke with that awful smell, and THEN came a newly fertilized field! Ugh. But the rest of the day was delectable with fresh air aromas and scents.
Toward the end of the day, every time I would put the camera away, another gorgeous scene would come up - either the view of the valley ahead, or the giant river to the left, or a farm scene. It was just amazing. And my poor little point and shoot wasn't up to the task. If I had my regular equipment, I don't think I would have EVER gotten through this section of the country from all the pictures needing to be taken.
***
Maybe it's just the way it really was - or - maybe I've just been on the road for too long - but there were a LOT of faces in the clouds today!
***
Got a tip awhile back about converting the kilometers to miles. Both readings are on my speedometer lining up with each other. So when I see a road sign, say reading that a town is 150 kilometers away, I just look at the speedometer and see which numbers it matches up with.
***
I rode under haze and grey clouds most all day. But finally, with ten minutes or so to go in the ride, the skies burst forth, the thunder rolled and the rain descended. I was ready for it though.
I came into the Ritz Motel in New Brunswick around 5:30pm or so. It was dark and pouring rain when I stepped into the motel office. The first thing I noticed was the clock. It read an hour later! Believe it or not, according to Ray, the grizzled owner of the place for 35 years, I'm again in a different time zone. New Brunswick is in the next time zone over, and so I'm now an hour later even than Eastern Standard Time. When I cross the border tomorrow morning, I'll be back to regular time. Don't know about you, but I can't keep any of that straight.
Ray was eating dinner and I felt bad about disturbing him. But he said not to worry about it. It's not the first time, and the other day he started dinner at 6pm and didn't finish until after 11pm because of people coming to check in, he said.

    Ray was very excited about me doing the four corners of the US thing. And that meant going to Madawaska, Maine after crossing the border. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madawaska,_Maine) That's the most northern town and point in the USA. He was going to have a friend interested in such things there with a camera. He said there was some kind of marker there. That would put me into the States a little sooner and on a different road than I had expected.
I'm already feeling emotional about returning to the United States. I'm sure it will tug on me heavily tomorrow when I cross the border.

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For those who haven't been to the picture site for awhile: I've culled what are my favorites from the over a thousand images now, and put them into a FAVORITES folder. If you have one that you think should go in there, please let me know. Otherwise, here's the same message: To view photos from today or the whole trip, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
     Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner. Do this by hopping over to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list. I especially recommend days 10, 12 (the sandstorm day!), 14 (the most nostalgic day), 32 (the best day) and day 37 (the most dangerous day).

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 41 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK SOJOURN-AUGUST 10, 2008

2008-08-11T10:19:00.001-04:00

August 10, 2008 - Sunday - Day 41
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 339    - Total Miles - 9652
Mattawa,Ontario,Canada - to Mont-St-Hilaire, QC, Canada
(-staying at Le Transit Motel   -)
(Ontario to Quebec)
- RAIN DAY?????-

    Awoke refreshed as usual at about 6:30am. Opened the motel room curtains, and sure enough it was pouring. Well, I was going this morning no matter what, so after catching up on the nightly emails I worked harder than ever about getting ready for a rain day. I put almost everything in plastic bags, got my rain pants ready, got my mostly waterproof light jacket ready and also the heavy one. I got out my gaiters. And I got all packed up.
Then I went for a run in the drizzle down to the dock area. I got images of the river and of the motel/restaurant up on the hill. I resolved to come back one day as this is a wonderful place.
After the run I went with the computer to the dining room where I caught up on said emails and had a delicious oatmeal breakfast. By then, the texture of the sky had changed, the rain had abated, and the heavy clouds lay threatening, but not dropping any water… I asked folks arriving from the east about the weather there and every one said it was pouring when they went through. So I went with my plan, packed and dressed up ready for rain, gassed up at the station not far away, and took off east.
Until the cities of Ottawa and Montreal much further east, it was a fairly easy and by any standards regular biking day. No great sights, nice roads, a few farms sprinkled along the way.
   Once, I saw a bunch of bikes go by the other direction, and one was a trike with a canopy! It was an unusual sight for sure.
***
I wonder how many more days of purring through nature day after day it would take to get tired of this?? I love my life back in Havertown and what I do there, so though I guess I could continue contentedly at this for quite awhile, I'm happy to be returning home as well.
***
I had my first 100 miles in by noon. I thought that was pretty good considering I hadn't left by ten, and after gassing up it was 10:20!
There were a bunch of routing number changes. The first was Route 17 became Route 417. I miss the "Route 1 - Transcanada Highway" signs that had been my guides for so long. The new ones still say, "Transcanada Highway" however.
Buzzed through Ottawa around 1:30pm. There were a few questions about routing, but the 417 Transcanada sign was generally pretty clear to follow. All the markers were in place.
Stopped for gas and lunch at a place where one had to pay for wi-fi. Ugh. Didn't do it. (And the result was more than 60 emails at the end of the day. Good thing I'm a fast typist!) The lines weren't long, but the poor performing, slow, and/or lazy staff made it an unnecessary wait.
I asked about directions out on the parking lot and was given so much help it was unbelievable. It's always good to have second and third opinions on a ride like this! One guy walked all the way to the other side of the parking lot to help me!
Montreal was a bit tougher and more complex as the routing changed a bit and the highways were swifter moving and less forgiving. A few times I pulled over to check and make sure I was going the right way. Then it was a challenge to maneuver back onto the highway.
Not only that, but the signs stopped being in English and French. They were ONLY in French here. I mean it was like being in a foreign country! YIKES! (The last was tongue-in-cheek if you don't know me well enough by now.)
I was doing pretty well when I came upon a couple riding two up on a big bike and asked some directions to be sure. The cute-as-the-dickens girl in shorts in the passenger seat had a smile that lit the day, and the friendly fellow wanted to help a lot. He gestured for me to follow him to the correct road. At first I thought he took me past the right way, and we went through the city. That may have been the case, and he just wanted to give me a tour - and if so, it was well worth the extra time and miles for me.
   I'll remember that moment - I saw the way to go which seemed well marked, but the French-speaking fellow beckoned me to follow him and NOT go the way the signs directed. What to do? I made the decision to trust the camaraderie of motorcyclists and people who want to help, and to follow these complete strangers to wherever they were taking me - which was through long tunnels and back into the heart of the metropolitan area. There was also the question of the language barrier - because when we had a few moments to chat at traffic lights for instance, the communication between French and English was bumbling and halting at best. And I wasn't so sure he understood where I wanted to go. None-the-less, I followed them.
We went over a big bridge at one point with Montreal proper to the left and huge ferris wheels and an amusement park there. It was a wonderful fleeting sight. Finally he got me back (again!) to Route 20 East, and with friendly waves we parted.
   I rode to the other side of the big city and about 20 miles further northeast to the second motel I came to. It was perfect. On the net I noticed a Cardinal game was to be on ESPN, and I tuned in while munching popcorn and drinking lemonade. (It was the first time I had a motel room TV on the whole trip!) Too bad they lost, because otherwise it would have been a perfect day….
By-the-way, I was suited up and waited for the rain all day. The clouds continued murky and threatening for the entire time on the Nomad. In the distance I could see the wet stuff coming earthward, but the road seemed to turn away from the showers at every bend in the highway. Had fifteen drops for the day! This 41st day of the trip I was fortunate weather-wise that's for sure.

**************
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(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 40 OF THE AROUND THE BLOCK MOTORCYCLE VENTURE - AUGUST 9, 2008

2008-08-10T19:46:00.003-04:00

August 9, 2008 - Saturday - Day 40
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST – SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 0 - Total Miles – 9,313
(NOT over 10,000 as reported yesterday)
RAIN DAY IN MATTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA
(-staying at Velois Motel-)

- RAIN DAY -

When I awoke it was raining. So I made the executive decision to hunker down, and take a rest day. And during this day I could – and did – plan the end-trip days ahead more exactly. I decided routing, etc., reorganized gear for the last time, worked on some writing projects which I had been procrastinating or didn’t have time for, and generally took it easy. Spent much of the day in the dining area where there was internet accessibility and the great view of the river.
When I went to the counter to pay for the extra day, I said slyly and with a grin, “So, the waitress told me last night that if I stayed an another night, it would be half price, right?” Darn. He didn’t buy the line!
I went right to work on the “How to Ride a Motorcycle” piece, and also on the section about the song words. Both were fun and enjoyable to work on. You should have both these items in your mailbox by the end of this day.
It rained pretty steadily until about 3pm. I don’t usually look at the forecasts, but when I did today it said rain in the area for the next three days. Luckily, I’m moving out of the area tomorrow. Unluckily, it’s rain for the area I’m going into as well.
But I’ll go tomorrow no matter what. And I spent part of this day getting ready for a wet ride – making sure rain gear was laid out, and making sure that rain covers were ready. I especially worked on the tank bag which really hasn’t had a decent cover since I began. (Remember the horrifying plastic bag billowing incident during the sandstorm?)

***
You may have noticed that the Transcanada route numbers have changed. I followed Route 1 for almost halfway across it seems. Now I have some other numbers, though with the Transcanada Highway symbols around them.
This is what an on-line source says about the numbering:
Route numbering on the Trans-Canada Highway is also handled by the provinces. The Western provinces have coordinated their highway numbers so that the main Trans-Canada route is designated Highway 1; however, from the Manitoba–Ontario border eastwards, the highway numbers change at each provincial boundary. As the Trans-Canada route was composed of sections from pre-existing provincial highways, it is unlikely that the Trans-Canada Highway will ever have a uniform designation across the whole country.
***
Miscellaneous Items, Asides, and Confessions:
- When home, I’m getting myself a new pair of boots.
- Note to self: Although you USED to be able to get through a day’s exertion with a handful of nuts and a couple pieces of fruit in your 30’s and 40’s, you just cannot do that any more.
- Suggestions to travelers: Before leaving any place make sure belly and tank are full, but bladder and everything else is empty. Also, never trust a toilet that has a plunger beside it, and always check for toilet paper FIRST!
- Perhaps readers have been wondering how does one stay on the bike for 6 or 7 hours? Well, as for me, I do a lot of thinking, shifting leg positions, and enjoying the views. Also, while riding I work on my posture, my poems, trying to figure little math problems of the miles gone so far and to go, and do abwork.
- The first half hour down the road in the mornings is often filled with thoughts of maybe having forgotten something. I mean, I’m already 15 to 20 miles down the road, so what IF I HAD forgotten something? Too late! The chargers? The (gasp!) computer? And then, if a synapse misfires, and I don’t recall putting something in the bag, I have to stop and take a look. A checklist would take too long, there’s so much. Oh, it’s all just a little morning angst.
- I was sorry to note that the comedian Bernie Mac died today. I liked the guy.
***
Received a nice email from my friend Charles. He wrote:
I am deeply impressed by the freely offered kindness of total strangers during all your trip. Maybe there is hope for all of us.
In the US, Mexico , and Canada, people have gone out of their way to help, give better directions, help with food, etc.
What an upper, (contrasted to downers). Your narratives are renewing my faith in the innate goodness of humans.

And this trip was no different from all the others. I have often said that the country is NOT what we see and read in the daily spewing of bad news in the newspapers and on news radio. That is all skewed to the sensationalistic bad side of people, and not representative of the general population. And it is alarmingly bad for our psyches to constantly be bombarded by all that. It effects our thinking and our views of the world. A great thing about these trips of mine is that I escape all that news dribble for awhile at least. I try to avoid it when home, and do for a few weeks before sinking back into the habit of listening to it all.
***
I also heard again from my Canadian friend, Jacki. Here are a few things of insight and interest that she pointed out to me:
I was waiting for you to comment on Tim Hortons....this is like the delicacy of the country. lol. They are everywhere and are the most popular places anywhere. When we go to the city, they are always busy and line ups inside and at the drive thru......they are worth the wait if you have the time. The coffee is favorite there.....you can order a double-double or a "double-cream" with them.
Yes there are subways everywhere and we even have one up here in our little town of 2000 people in the middle of nowhere lol.
In Canada the governments have cut back on highways crews so much that they don't have enough people to do the work so they always hire out the jobs to the highest bidder through tenders. Most of these companies do not do the job right, they do it as cheap as possible and never done on time ever. Up here we have abridge that had to be replaced (not a real big one either) and the company they hired to do it took 2 years to complete and now they are fixing it again, it is so frustrating to see tax dollars wasted, do it right the first time and you won't have to fix it. But that is sadly not the case up here. We get taxed to death up here and really wonder where all this extra money is actually going, we never see any improvements which is sad.

As for the metric system, the younger generation only know that system, but for us who grew up with the old system it is hard for us to take. We still figure out mileage conversion and use mph or miles away and not kilometers (km). I still use the old system for baking with cups and ounces and quarts etc.
***

I missed not getting to see some vacationing friends in Quebec by a day it seems. But because of this delay day, I DID get to have dinner with some folks from my old neighborhood. I delivered their newspaper, had their children as second graders, and played chess with the dad when I was running a monthly chess club out of the bookstore, Barnes and Noble, some 18 years ago. We go back about 38 years. I’ve taken their family picture, and attended the ceremony when the boys won Eagle Badges. Paul, a handsome mustachioed 40+ year-old-guy, and student at Coopertown Elementary where I taught had been keeping tabs on the trip. And by coincidence, a bunch of the guys in the Wojtowicz family happen to come camping to the area in Canada just nearly where I am. We hooked up initially by email and then by my Skype, and Paul’s cell phone.
The group included father Ed, brothers Chris (with son Neil) and Paul, brother-in-law Jon (and his son Nick). Neil and Nick were a cute seven and eight respectively. This hardy band of guys was going backwoods camping, and I was impressed. They have done so over the last number of years. (John, the brother I had as a second grader, was camping in Maine at this time, and I may get to see him in a couple days.)
The seven met me at the motel where I’m staying, and I had reserved a window table so the river made a good view for us all as we ate and chatted. I learned a lot about portaging and canoes and how all the equipment and food is worked out for such a trip. I got to hear some of their stories about trips past, and narrow escapes, and holes in canoes.
After I heard all these things and tried to picture what they would be doing the next few days I was alternately impressed, envious, and glad not to be going with them!
After hearing about the excursion and the details about being in the wilderness and the elements, I remarked, “I HAD been concerned about the weather for my ride tomorrow, but compared to what YOU guys are doing, I’m not concerned at ALL now!”
It was wonderful seeing folks from home, and the coincidence that they were vacationing right in this area at this time was incredible.
We were together about an hour or more, and then they had to go to get to their starting place. I said I wanted to be sure to hear about how it went.
I finished off the evening with getting all packed and ready for tomorrow’s ride. Rain or not, I’m heading out in the morning. (Well, ummm… If it’s wind-whipping gales of torrential downpour… well, then MAYBE I’d consider staying another day. But don’t tell those Wojtowicz guys – because then I’d REALLY seem like a big wimp to them!)

DAY 39 OF THE AROUND THE BLOCK MOTORCYCLE VENTURE - AUGUST 8, 2008

2008-08-10T19:45:00.001-04:00

August 8, 2008 - Friday - Day 39
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST – SUMMER 2008
Miles Today – 321 / Total Miles – 9,313
Sault Ste Marie,Ontario,Canada - to Mattawa,Ontario,Canada
(-staying at the Valois Motel -)
(Ontario)
- THE WIND AND THE RIVER –

I was probably only ten minutes away from the US border before leaving town. It had a tug on me, but I knew my journey led elsewhere.
After running and packing up, I sat on the little picnic chair outside the room while eating my banana and sliced up orange that I got yesterday. Across the highway a street performer was doing his bit on unicycle and pogo stick, and with juggling balls. It was a clear and crisp morning and the sun was shining brightly. I was late again, and after a gas stop, I was out onto the highway by 10:30am.
***
For pure riding enjoyment – piercing through the nice cool morning air – it couldn’t get much better than the beginning part of this day out of Sault Ste Marie!! The roads, the weather, the sky, the traffic – everything was 100%!
This morning there were straight flat roads with sight-lines to the end of the world.
***
The posted speed of 55mph (after conversion) on these roads is a joke! Nobody goes 55. Unless you’re old, or enfeebled, or way too overly cautious, or a straight arrow who follows rules without thinking, there’s no reason for it. In fact, going 55 would be unsafe, unnecessary, and ridiculous. Aside from getting better gas mileage or sightseeing, there’s no reason to go 55 on these roads.
There was a young teenage girl at a morning gas stop pumping gas. I told her that in 9000 miles she was the first female to be seen with that job. I asked her if she liked her freckles and she said she never noticed them. I said that as a photographer I liked people who had freckles because it helped me focus better. We both smiled at that.
At the same stop a mostly toothless fellow out of a mobile home came up to me and wondered about and worried about whether my yellow mc jacket made me hot. I said what I usually do when people ask me that, “I’ve found one of the secrets of life,” I said…. “YOU DON’T THINK ABOUT IT!” And we both laughed, but he pursued the subject and I mentioned that it was pretty cool to me here today. He looked incredulous and stated clearly in Canadian accent, “Why I think it’s pretty fricken hot today.” I said that it must depend on what we are used to! He agreed to that and headed back to his rig. I kept my second jacket on under my yellow armor and got back to the highway.
I finally stopped at a Tim Horton’s. They are a large chain of restaurants here in Canada and I’d been told I would just HAVE to try one. They seemed like a Subway with specialized coffees. The meal was good. And speaking of Subway, they are just about in every single city, little town, and tiny hamlet. It amazes me to see one wherever I go here. They are like Starbucks back home, like mushrooms in a damp environment – EVERYWHERE!
A woman in Horton restaurant said hi to me. I gave her a quizzical look of non-recognition, and she asked if I wasn’t the one back in Terrace Bay (which was 600+ miles ago). She said she was a woman behind the counter there. I wasn’t sure to which counter she was referring, but she did look a bit familiar.
There were a few road construction spots this day. Most were not bad or too inconvenient, but the one around 1:30pm had cars and trucks lining up for miles and miles on both sides of the road repair job. Even after I skirted down the shoulder about a half-mile, the wait was still over 45 minutes. We were way out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but trees other than a trading post store just down a-ways.
It was a little like a frustrated party atmosphere. Folks got out and sat in folding chairs. One woman just left her husband and started to walk to wherever the front of the line was. I shouted over, “Figure it’s just faster walking, eh?” She grinned and nodded.
I even dozed on the bike for about five minutes. Then I made friends with the Frito-Lay truck driver behind me, and told him he should open his truck for everyone in line. He wouldn’t do that, but he did get out of his seat and go into the back of the truck and bring me a bag for a buck. But it was salsa, which I don’t like. He went back for a different bag. As he was standing in the back of the truck and I asked for plain ones, he said, “There’s not such a thing as ‘plain ones’ in Canada.” We both laughed. Eventually though he did find an original Tostitos. The salty chips were delicious as I gobbled them up out there on the highway.
The fellow in the car in front of me said this mess was all because of the company hired to do the job. It was supposed have been done in June he said.
I figured that everyone SHOULD have made friends with the Humpty-Dumpty truck driver a couple vehicles in front of us – then all would have enjoyed some ice cream in the building heat of the wait under the sun.
Backups like that are little bit like life itself, aren’t they? You go speeding along unknowing of what’s ahead. Yep, there it sometimes is – slowing you down, rocking you off schedule. It was there, but sometimes you just don’t know it until you reach that point. As often as not, it’s NOT there, but sometimes it sure is.
I’m glad I wasn’t on my way to shoot a wedding, that’s for sure. As it was I just relaxed, took pictures, and chatted with folks. I sat there so long though, I could feel my beard growing.
After we got going I counted fifty cars waiting in line on the other side.
Despite the morning calmness the wind picked up in the early afternoon. I fought with it all the rest of the day as it would huff and puff on the Vulcan from various directions as the road turned. It took a bunch of concentration to keep going forward without incident. I couldn’t imagine doing this on a lighter bike. The buffeting was intense at times, especially when the big 18-wheeler rigs went by on the other side of the two-lane road! And most especially when there where two or three at a time that were passing me or that were barreling down the roadway in the other direction.
My familiar “Highway 1” signs have morphed into “Highway 17”. The Transcanada numbers will change a couple more times as I make my way through Ottawa and Montreal in the coming few days.
Bob, the owner of Bob’s Husky Gas Station, stopped me as I was heading into pay. He said right out, “That’s a great color for a jacket. It can be seen! If my buddy had a jacket like that he might still be around.” I asked him what happened, and it was a truck-motorcycle accident that got his 56 year-old friend killed. The fellow had been a safely instructor for eighteen years! It apparently was a situation where a more visible motorcyclist would have made the collision a lot less likely.
A bit later I asked Bob and his friend about those stones that I mentioned in this space yesterday…. the ones on the outcroppings along the roadway. they both were well aware of what I was asking about. They said it was the Inuit Indians that began that, and that they are supposed to be figures of a man. They are so well constructed and placed and balanced, that the stones often stay just that way for more than a year. Bob said that the stones are to signify, “I was here.”
Around lunchtime I was thinking back to Mary’s fakin’-bacon sandwiches that you may remember she made for me. (And that I went fifty miles out of my way for….) That was 14 days ago on Day 25, and a little shy of 5,000 miles down the road on the other side of the continent. But even another country and so far away, I started to drool at the thought of that lunch, and I was surely wishing there was something like that around the next corner here in Canada. But alas, Subway, Taco Bell, and Tim Horton’s don’t carry that menu item.
***
Everything is metric here in Canada, of course. Much smarter than the US system, that’s for sure. Well, I’ve decided that to get more time out of our days, that we should go metric time-wise, too. For starters, that’ll give us 100 minutes in an hour and ten days in a week. I think that’s the answer to our not-having-enough-time problems. I’ve been espousing that for years, but no one pays any attention to me.
***
I’ve been really careful about always keeping the gas tank full. Today, one stretch was 111 miles between stations.
Spied a vanity license plate today, “SHZ HOT.” I wondered if the guy was being really proud of his girl friend’s looks or his snazzy car?
Heading into North Bay, I got two thumbs up and a peace sign from two young ladies in a pickup truck. And right before that, at around 4:45pm, the Nomad celebrated it’s 10,000th mile.
There were some farms this day as I rounded the northern fringe of Lake Huron. I liked the bright red farmhouses as they sat on the dark green grass, against the stark blue sky. And there were lakes, too. Not as many as yesterday, and unlike yesterday, a bunch of these lakes had homes around the shoreline. I noticed that more and more as I traveled east and closer to the population centers
On the way into Mattawa the very first motel advertised ‘Free Wireless Internet’ but I kept on going. I went all through the maybe two miles of town, and stopped in the last motel. They had internet, but only in the dining room. So with a quick pickup at a Subway on the way back, I went to the first motel. I was about signed up when I asked if the wireless was working okay (a question I’ve learned to ask), and sure enough it wasn’t. Not working at all. So….. I headed back to the first place which was located right on the Ottawa River, secured a room, put the sandwich in the fridge for breakfast, and headed over to the dining room to get a signal. I had a window seat just overlooking the beautiful Ottawa River. While having a delicious salad, and a baked potato smothered in mushrooms – and then a piece of blueberry pie – I got all the day’s accumulated emails caught up. One was from a family from my old neighborhood, who coincidentally are headed up right to this very area – but tomorrow. And it looks like I’ll miss them by a day!
On my way out of the restaurant I was stopped by a middle-aged couple who had read the sign on the mc. They wanted to know all about the trip, and I was happy to share details with them. The woman said she had been coming to this restaurant/motel by the river ever since she was a little girl.
I cleaned the Nomad. This despite an email from friend Derick at my mc dealership. He suggested that I should just let the bike get dirty so it looked like it had been on a trip.
There was a gorgeous sunset over the river.
Then, back at the room, without the being on-line time, I got right to work on the journal notes and some other projects.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I’m hoping most of you are also checking out the photos. There are usually quite a number that go along with the day’s text. To view photos from today or the whole trip, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner. Do this by hopping over to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list. I especially recommend days 10, 12 (the sandstorm day!), 14 (the most nostalgic day), 32 (the best day) and day 37 (the most dangerous day).

THE MOOSE IS LOOSE!

2008-08-08T08:21:00.001-04:00

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Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 38 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK TRIP - AUGUST 7, 2008

2008-08-08T08:20:00.001-04:00

August 7, 2008 - Thursday - Day 38
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 311    - Total Miles -   8992
Terrace Bay,Ontario,Canada - to Sault Ste Marie,Ontario,Canada
(-staying at The Satellite Motel-)
(Ontario)

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert Pirsig states that riding an MC across the country is like being IN it, while riding in a car and seeing the world thru a window is like watching it on TV-not really experiencing it. (sent to me by friend, Mark Z.)

When I came out for my run there were some elderly ladies near the covered Nomad. Seems they were with a little group car touring around Lake Superior. They clucked and chuckled about the ride I was taking, and they asked a bunch of questions about the bike. When I came back and uncovered it, they expressed awe at how pretty it was.
After breakfast in the motel dining room I finally got going on the highway by an extraordinarily late 11ish. I told the room cleaning lady with a wink, "OK, OK, everyone else is out and ahead of me, but I'm finally going now."
I navigated the gravel parking lot okay, and got out onto the main road. It was a full day of nature.

   Who would have thought it was so mountainous on the northern rim of Lake Superior? Not me. So I learned something! Today was a nice roller coaster ride along all those mountains on mostly well-built clean roads. And the sun patches reminded me of the first part of the poem Kubla Khan by Coleridge:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
   Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

   "And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery." Yup. In spades!

Saw many long distance bicyclists with full pack today. Occasionally I'd pull up next to one of them. I'd ask if they needed anything, and then if traffic allowed would engage them in a conversation about their trips, and I'd mention that seeing them touched my heart. I came up to one fellow, looked over to him and smiled, and shouted above my purring engine, "Do you want to race?"   We both laughed. (When on a bicycle, I'll often toss the same joking challenge to motorcyclists!)
Along the way today were forests and lakes only, no farms. There were also a lot of outcroppings of rock. One mysterious thing was that on most all the outcroppings someone had taken the time to make a little pyramid or little building of rocks. It was very apparent that this was a purposeful activity on someone's or on many folks' part. I seem to remember hearing about this awhile ago, but darn if I can remember about it.
There were a LOT of lakes. And lakes in all manner of shape and size: lakes full to the brim lapping up on the roadside and lakes partially filled, lakes skinny and lakes hugely wide, lakes sparkly and lakes with colors muted, lakes with islands and trees, and lakes that stood seemingly empty but for the reflection of the clouds and trees above. Hundreds of the lakes dotted the landscape and roadside like odd-shaped shiny coins tossed at random to the earth.
Time after time, and for practically the whole day, there were sumptuous views of these seemingly pristine lakes. At each turn there were new vistas of wonderment in valleys below and clouds above as I tooled along today. And I began to think that I'm not looking forward to getting back to the puny clouds at home.
"Wawa" is the name of a milk company at home. There's a town I rode through today with that name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wawa,_Ontario). The word means "wild goose" from an Indian word. And sure enough there was a huge statue of a goose at the entryway to the town. I stopped in a little general store that possessed a ton of little-general-store character down to the wooden floors and down-home friendly attitude of the employees there. I browsed happily around the store for a bit and didn't get anything other than a little bag of freshly popped popcorn. (When I came into the busy place, the cashier greeted me with, "How ya' doin' today, sir?" I replied with, "Anywhere I see a popcorn machine I'm happy.")
I was disappointed there was no bench out on the wooden porch on which to sit and munch. So I just stood around for quite awhile watching things go by… tourists come and go, workers pumping gas, the man on the high ladder cleaning the goose statue's neck, and the wind puffing the clouds along.
   There was a stuffed moose barely fitting on the porch there to keep me company. (Man, are those things HUGE!!)
   Shortly after Wawa came the full forests of Lake Superior National Park.

oooooooooooooooooooo
Errata, Asides, and Confessions:
- There are no cabooses on the trains anymore. I miss them. Another casualty of the economy from what I understand. Happened a few years ago.
- Never got to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Days have been too full. Sent the book home awhile ago. Plan to read it when home.
- Seem to be talking to myself a little more than usual. (But at least I'm not answering myself back!)
- On my rest day in Winnipeg I went for a 2-mile ride to the carwash to clean the bike and to dinner without my armor on. Just shorts, shirt, running shoes, and helmet. No need to scold me. I know, I know. Won't do it again.
- It's great when you love to do something and your planning, and your thinking about it, and your savings allow you to do it.
- There have only been one or two motorcyclists I've seen on the road that have had yellow on like I have. Most all the rest are in all black.
- It seems ironic on a 10,000+ mile motorcycle trip, but the time during each day that I am my most careful is when I step into and out of the motel room shower.
oooooooooooooooooooo
I have several friends who are Canadians. I was sure disappointed that the vastness of the country, and where they live in relation to the Transcanada Highway prevented me from seeing them. Jacki, who lives far north from the route, noted some of my Canada questions and observation. She sent me a note about them. I'm sure she won't mind my sharing the information with you.
Interesting catching up on your daily travels. You mentioned seeing a bi-plane landing near you, these are what we call "Crop Dusters". Farmers around here spray their crops and the easiest and quickest way is by plane, they fly really low and sometimes catch a person off guard, especially if they weren't expecting one. One time we didn't see one coming over us from the side until he was almost over us and there was this roar, we thought something was going to blow up. lol.
Canadian money keeps changing. We haven't had $1 bills up here for quite a while now and we are used to the "Loonie" because of the "loon" (bird) pictures on the front of the coin. The Loonie was first introduced in 1987 to replace the $1 bills because it cost more to keep replacing the popular bills, the coin doesn't have to be replaced as the paper bills did.
The Toonie became the official $2 in 2006 and again, it is that they do not have to be replaced anywhere near the # of $ bills that would be unissuable (meaning return to Bank of Canada to be replaced).
The purple vegetation you saw along the prairies was Flax.
Flaxseed has many uses. Its major use has traditionally been in oil-based paints and other protective coatings but it is also used in such things as linoleum, printer's ink, soaps, putty, industrial lubricant and as a salt-resistant coating for concrete highways and sidewalks. Flaxseed contains 35%-40% linseed oil. After oil extracting, the remaining linseed meal is used as a livestock protein supplement, averaging approximately 35% protein content. The addition of flax or flax byproducts in a variety of foods has diversified this market.
. oooooooooooooooooooo

Today I traveled endless hills, some leading right up into the clouds and some heading right down to the rippling edge of Lake Superior.
Every time there was a break in the trees to the right and Lake Superior came into view there'd be a huge gust of wind. I was distracted at one point putting notes in the tape recorder, and one puff of wind practically pushed me to the other side of the road.
At 4:30pm while rolling along the highway I could tell I missed a storm by maybe half an hour because the roadway was wet. Good thing I lingered at that little popcorn break back in Wawa.
The views of deep aquamarine blues of Lake Superior were amazing to behold.
Took a short little break at 4:20pm to take a look at the Transcanada Highway mid-point plaque.
   Just before Sault Ste Marie, a little black squirrel came skittering out in front of me and just made it to safety across to the other side of the road.
   Sault Ste Marie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sault_Ste._Marie,_Ontario) is the biggest city I've come upon in awhile. It looked gigantic and bustling as it stretched out before me. This especially so after I had been through those scores of miles of placid lakes and trees.
   After checking out a few motels I settled on the Satellite Motel because it had a wireless connection. I gathered my clothing together and hoofed it over to the Laundromat. While the laundry was spinning I hoofed it some more over to a Taco Bell about three-quarters of a mile away, and then browsed through a Staples, and a then a food store where I bought a banana and an orange.
I like walking and running through places I don't know, and will often try shortcuts where it looks like there is no way out. It's the best opportunity to find secret paths and back alleys.
Back at the room I got to work cleaning the Nomad which wasn't too tough today since there wasn't any rain. The friendly motel operator even brought me a bucket and a bunch of rags.
There's a series of locks in Sault Ste Marie which is part of the busiest canal in the world in terms of tonnage. One day I hope to come back and take tour of those locks.

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Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 37 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK TOUR - AUGUST 6,2008

2008-08-07T10:39:00.001-04:00

August 6, 2008 - Wednesday - Day 37
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 300 - Total Miles - 8681
- Ignace,Manitoba,Canada to Terrace Bay,Canada
(-staying at Red Dog Inn -)
(Ontario)

- It was SUPPOSED to be a nice easy day… It was to be a cushy ride alongthe northern rim of Lake Superior. But it turned into the most challengingday of the trip - and one that included the most terrifying moment. -

- In terms of excitement, challenges and danger, probably the best day yet. -
***

It was another good restful night's sleep. My run took me through theIgnace post office where I sent a few postcards. It was interesting beingthere. The price of stamps for postcards and letters is the same in Canada- about a buck!
I saw Albert's wife. I had hoped to see him, and was lucky enough to do so a bit later before I left.
Albert warned me about not going fast through Upsala, about fifty milesdown the road, where he recommended a place I stop to eat. He said thatone of the officers there, who watches the roads carefully, would "give hisgrandmother a speeding ticket!" Albert said, "Don't go more than 60!" I said, "'Sixty' to you and me have different meanings. He then verifiedhe meant kilometers, also known as 'clicks.'
Man-o-man, I was so excitedto be talking with Albert, I almost forgot my back bag. I was on the bikewaving good-bye and was just about to drive off. I probably wouldn't havenoticed for a few blocks when I leaned back. But before I left, Albert'swife came running out with it.

The day began in grand style - nicepuffy clouds and warm enough to not have to use two jackets, and cool enoughto be comfortable.
I wouldn't normally have stopped so early - itwas around 11am - as I did in Upsala for a meal. But Albert of Ignace recommendedthat I stop there and visit with his friend, also named Albert. It turnedout the guy wasn't there, but I did enjoy a huge bowl of superb real oatmealand a butterscotch muffin. They had a wireless connection there for me, too,so that was also a bonus.

I passed a number of buildings thathad the mysterious initials, "L.C.B.O." on them. I never got to ask anyoneabout what they meant, but at one point in the day I googled it. "LiquorControl Board of Ontario."

There are some odd public road signshere. One that struck me as peculiar was "LARGE VEHICLES NEED MORE ROOM." Hmmmm… Duh!

It got very cold and grey heading into ThunderBay. I missed a wonderful photograph through a little clearing of trees.It was of train tracks and forest leading off to the far horizon with halfrainfall, half sunshine over a distant mountain.

As I approachedthe town, there was a full apron of darkness over Thunder Bay, so I juststayed on the highway and sailed right by. I did stop at the hillock wherethere is a memorial to that Terry Fox fellow. You'll recall back at MileZero there was a statue honoring him, too. He's the young boy who tried tohoof it across Canada in spite of his cancer on one good leg and on one prosthesisleg. This was as far as he got before the cancer got him. It was a movingtribute there on that high hill overlooking Lake Superior.

At one point this morning, I moved back home into the Eastern Time Zone. And it was good being back!

There wasn't much in between towns. Just trees and lakes, and the occasionalfarm and stream. And the towns were about 50 or 60 miles apart so that'sa LOT of trees.

There were a number of dirt roads that seemed tolead to nowhere which radiated on occasion from the main road. I wouldpeer down them as I zipped past, and they went over crests and around hills. Some disappeared in the tree thickets. And some went into the distancebeyond seeing. Dirt roads. Where do they go?

At one gas stopjust east of Thunder Bay at 2:40pm, I chatted with a nice young guy who wasgassing up a four-wheeled sport vehicle. I asked him about the weather tothe east, and he said he was just down that way and it was pouring. So Isuited up.

There were quite a number of times in the last partof the day that I put on raingear, and then the sun would come out in a fewmiles. And so I'd take it off. Then the dark clouds reappeared and I'd donthe yellow slicker and the gaiters, and put the cover back on the back bag.Then another turn of the road brought bright sunshine and high heat. Itwas frustrating.

Rolling along in one part of the afternoonI'd notice the black sky in front of me. And I'd go, "YEOW! that's black." And there'd be a turn in the road, and I'd look up, and I'd yell louder,"YEOW!! that's even blacker!" And that went on for a few times until I couldn'tlook up any more because of the rain, and having to concentrate on the roadway.

Then I came to a long series of road construction projects. On the two lane road, that meant that flagmen were set up to halt the flow of travelon one side of the road, while the other side progressed. Then, the otherside would be halted.
So there were a number of waiting periods -just sitting and waiting for the whole line of cars to move along throughthe other side of the two-lane highway. Sometimes it was for a half houror more. Even though it was raining, some folks got out of their cars andhad a smoke. I took pictures and just watched what was going on.

The roads went from semi-repaired to all dirt and gravel, to just dirtfor awhile. It was very nervous riding for me picking my way along with thesnaking line of cars at five-to-ten miles per hour over the garbled highwayin the rain. Then it would be fine road, and then the process would beginall over again.
With a broad smile I shouted over to one of the guysstanding with his orange warning flag in the rain in the mud, "Which oneof you guys is going to come and clean my bike tonight?" He must have beenthinking about being in his warm home in front of dinner instead of beingout there in the cold downpour. Because I didn't see much of a smile fromhim. (Maybe he laughed when he thought about it later in the evening.)
I kept thinking, "How much worse can this GET?" And then, you knowwhat? It got worse!!! MUCH worse! There came an uphill on wet gravel/sand/rock/dirtwith the rain coming down, and with a zillion cars in front and in back ofme - at one point I almost lost balance and the Nomad started to go over.I righted it, but not without feeling my left calf crunch against the backcrash bar before the bike was righted. It was a terrifying moment - the scariestof the trip. The big 800-pound cruiser wasn't made for tip-toeing over littlestones. Wet stones. In the rain. And I was pretty nervous as I felt the controlgo, and the instinct step in. But I barely got the bike righted and I'm surethat all those folks around me breathed the same sigh of relief that I did. It was about another score of yards or so before the road became solid again.
The calf felt pretty stiff and sore for about fifteen minutes before feeling better.
The roadway was in some state of repair for about twenty slow miles.

It was raining pretty good and steady at most times as I rounded themountaintops, but there were some pretty darn good views of Lake Superior.I was frustrated that I couldn't take more photos.
Towards the endof the day, a single big patch of blue sky was tantalizingly in front ofme almost all the way. But I just couldn't catch up with it. Meanwhilethe rain kept pelting me in the face. Because of the rain on the windshieldand on my helmet's shield, and on my sunglasses, eventually I had to ripoff the sunglasses without taking my helmet off.
At one point, an18-wheeler was bearing down on me. There was no way to let him pass onthe downhills, and on the uphills and straight-aways, I was way ahead ofhim. But on the downhills I could feel that truck snorting at me like somebull in the ring. Finally there was a passing lane on a slight uphill andI let him go by with a friendly wave. Whew!
And the rain continued.Sometimes heavy, sometimes in just big drops and sometimes in a misty drizzle.And the big trucks coming at me were tracking with the water on the groundand one could see the huge shrouds of water droplets as they made their waydown the highway. And then that splume of spray would sponge over me andpass by… There were never tsunamis of water like on other rides, but itwas always pretty damp.

I was intent on hitting 300 milesand not stopping sooner. So I kept going. And right at the goal mark wasTerrace Bay. The price was right in the first place I stopped (although Idid walk next door and find that place was full up!)… After securing theroom I went on a two-mile jaunt down to the lakeside. I figured Trish wouldlike it if I also touched the shoreline in the north as well as the fourcorners!
I stopped at a Subway on the way back. As I was leaving anolder guy was taking a picture of the cute young blond woman with the tooheavy black-ringed eye make-up behind the counter. As we left the store togetherI asked the man why he was taking the picture. He said it was his granddaughter,and that he was in the area visiting. Seems his son, her father, had dieda few years ago. The man said it should have been himself at 83 who shouldhave died, not the son. I inquired as to if it was natural causes that causedthe death. The man said his son had lost his job, and took to drink, andlost most everything. From the tone I assumed it was a suicide. The man tearedup as he talked from the heart and said it was hard to move on…

I got back to the motel, pulled around to the side, and unloaded. ThenI set about the huge job of cleaning the Nomad. It took about 45 minutesuntil it was gleaming again.
I like trying candy bars that are notavailable in the United States. So when there were a few available down atthe office I said to the lady there, "Well, you talked me into it, I'll haveone of those." She laughed because she hadn't said anything about it, andthen I said as I often do, "Well, just give me YOUR favorite one." Shesmiled and handed me one, and said that I could just have it for free since,"You asked for my favorite one!"
Got a little hungry around 10pm orso, and I took one of my microwave popcorns down to the kitchen. The friendlyyoung woman there who was cleaning up the remains of the salad bar said thatsure, she would put it in the microwave for me. She did so, and the smellwas great. Great, that is, until ----- she opened the door and billows ofdark smoke and burned popcorn smell enveloped the area. She kept apologizingprofusely, but I told her not to worry about it and that I'd get anotherbag. Which I did.
While we were standing there I asked her how muchthat delicious looking wedge of blueberry pie would be? She said with asmile that since she burned the popcorn I could just HAVE the pie. Thatmade both of us happy - she got her act of contrition, and I got the pie.And it was delicious!
Back at the room I worked on getting the rawjournal notes out of the tiny tape recorder, caught up on emails, enjoyedpart of the Cardinal game on the net, and stayed up a little too late Skyping.

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Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DARK SKIES FROM DAY 37

2008-08-07T10:34:00.000-04:00

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 36 OF THE AROUND THE BLOCK MC RIDE - AUG5,08

2008-08-05T23:14:00.001-04:00

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August 5, 2008 - Tuesday - Day 36
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 300    - Total Miles -   8381
Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada to Ignace,Manitoba,Canada
(-staying at The White Otter Inn   -)
(Manitoba)
- SYNOPSIS -

After I finished breakfast in the little dining area in the motel, I engaged three Harley guys who were eating. Nice fellows and we traded stories about our rides. The handsomest of the three said he had gotten a ticket the other day. The other two were ahead and he was catching up and got nabbed. It was the first mc guy that I heard of getting a ticket, and I felt bad for him. He was sort of down in the dumps about it, but I took ten bucks out of my wallet and paid for his breakfast, and despite protestations from him, I could tell that picked him up.
And then it was out on the highway through town. That didn't take long, and soon I was out on the bigger three-lane highway. I noticed that the further I move east, the more signs are in English and French.
   ***
   The last time I had been in Winnipeg was when I flew in and bicycled out of the airport on my Winnipeg-to-Lincoln,Nebraska bicycle trip.(The reason for that trek was to get the states, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska!) That trip had many many interesting aspects to it including touring a palace made entirely of corn, a visit with and couple day ride with a former student, and the very very toughest day of any day in all my bicycling career. It was only 65 miles south into Oakes, North Dakota, but it was entirely against a strong cold wind and storm. And no place to stop and even lean a bike the whole way. Now, THAT was tough pedaling!
***
    An odd-looking building on the way out of Winnipeg was the Royal Canadian Mint.
    I had been wondering whether I was halfway through Canada when I saw a sign by the road announcing: THIS IS THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER OF CANADA! I was so sorry that I wasn't able to get a picture.
    Didn't go by many farms today - but there were acres and acres of trees in probably thousands of square miles of forests.
   140 miles out of Winnipeg I passed through Kenora. It was a gorgeous little town with a large lake beside it. In fact, there are hundreds, probably thousands of lakes, gigantic and tiny, in the area I rode through today. And I might have passed right next to half of them.
   Each little town seems to have a museum of some sort. What a clever little way of advertising Dryden's history museum! They had a billboard exclaiming, "Life In The Past Lane."
   Just as I passed a sheep farm in the early afternoon, two police cruisers came up on my left and passed me with siren blaring. I've mentioned before about hating to be surprised on the road. But that was quite a surprise there!
   I chatted with a whole bunch of folks at the gas stop in Dryden. After hearing about the extent of the trip and then admiring the bike, one guy commented with a smile, "You got the toy to do it!" Another wasn't so excited about doing such a trip on two wheels - he noted with a laugh, "I'd rather do that in a JET!"
   There were a lot more long distance bicyclists on the roads today than other days.
   By around 4pm, I was way short of goal, and felt badly about that, but I knew I just couldn't go on with any good margin of safety. My concentration was shot, my eyes were drooping, and my head just wasn't clear. I was "seeing" things on the side of the road that weren't there, and my reaction time was suffering. So at the next town, Ignace, I decided to have a meal and see how I felt. Well, I learned that there was really no place to stay between Ignace and Thunder Bay, which was my original target stop. That would be another 100+ miles down the road. So I would have had to go all the way tonight, and with the time change in a few miles I wouldn't have gotten in until about 8:30pm. It wouldn't have been a problem with getting a room since it wasn't the weekend, and the national holiday was over. But who knows if I would have made it. So I decided to stay in Ignace. Ignace had about 20 businesses on each side of the highway, and as far as I could tell, that was it.
The young couple who had been following me much of the way on a sport bike came in to the gas stop right after me. He was a tall guy and she was short. They were riding two up. I said that was quite a patch of road we had just enjoyed, and they agreed.
After a Subway sandwich, and learning that the water was undrinkable in this town because of too much iron in it, I popped across the street to the White Otter Inn. It advertised newly renovated cozy rooms, good rates, and internet service. Well, everything was mostly right except that the internet service was down for the community, and they were working on getting it back. I nudged them along. By mid-evening, it still wasn't working.
I met one of the owners, Albert. After turning down coffee, and nixing a beer, he asked me, "Are you a friend of Bill's?" With a quizzical look, I told him I didn't know what he meant. And then he explained that when someone is a member of AA they don't ask if someone is an alcoholic, they ask if the person is a friend of one of the founders, Bill. Albert said he'd been dry for 9 years, and I congratulated him with a firm handshake. I asked what prompted him to quit and he said he was about to lose everything in his life…
Albert asked me if I had seen any moose. He said that around here a lot of accidents were caused by animals. In fact, 79% of the last 65 motor vehicle accidents involved deer or moose.
After getting most of my gear up to the room, which had motel-provided bottles of water, I went down and spent about an hour of quality time with the Vulcan. It was looking good before, but I got it about back to showroom total shine! A number of people walked by and commented about how good it looked - and I told them about one of my goals being to roll in on the last day, and have someone say, "It just looks too clean to have gone those many miles." It always makes me smile when I think of that.
I also gave my helmet and shield a good cleaning.
Without emails to catch up on I was able to concentrate on finishing up yesterday's and today's journal entries, downloading picture files, bringing the trip map up to date, and studying the route for the days ahead.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
To view photos from past days, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner, by going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list. (I especially recommend days 10,12 (the sandstorm day!), 14, and 32.)

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 35 OF THE CONTINUING AROUND-THE-BLOCK SAGA - AUGUST 4, 2008

2008-08-05T23:10:00.001-04:00

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August 4, 2008 - Monday - Day 35
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 2    - Total Miles - 8081
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
(-staying at a Howard Johnson Motel-)
- A GOOD DAY OF REST AND PLANNING -

   Today was a rest day/gearing-up-day. Among other things I:

- bought some food snacks so I wouldn't have to purchase them at the more expensive gas stop places.
- bought some new motorcycle cleaner/polish because the bottle I had originally brought with me is used up.
- completely cleaned up the MacBook desktop
- completely caught up on emails
- took the Nomad over to the carwash again and gave it another wash to get the rest of the coating of bugs off it.
- organized and reorganized the bags again - even better.
- backed up all my files, picture and word files, to another drive.
- shaved.
- went through, organized, and filed all the various receipts for the trip - food, lodging, tolls, misc.
- studied my maps and figured I could be home within ten days. The goal of riding the Transcanada Highway from one end of the continent to the other would be accomplished - although there would still be that part in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to do…. someday. I dunno, we'll see how fast the next days go.

   Enjoyed a bunch of emails today especially the one from Richard in Havertown who said I didn't have to really worry about going too fast here in Canada. His note read, "By the way, you weren't really going that fast - speedometers automatically recalibrate to kilometers up there. Richard"
   I thanked him for putting me at ease about that. And I went on to tell him that if a Mountie stops me I'll just tell him about that recalibration thing….

To view photos from past days, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner, by going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list. (I especially recommend days 10,12 (the sandstorm day!), 14, and 32.)

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 34 OF THE AROUND THE BLOCK MOTORCYCLE VENTURE - AUGUST 3, 2008

2008-08-05T00:36:00.002-04:00

August 3, 2008 - Sunday - Day 34
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 405    - Total Miles - 8079
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada - to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
(-staying at a Howard Johnson Motel-)
(Saskatchewan,Canada to Alberta,Canada)
- CROSSED THE 8,000 MILE MARK - SECOND 400+ MILE DAY IN A ROW -

   Really moving along now - this makes 1173 miles in the last three days.

   For almost all day the crops and farm land were stretching in all directions into infinity. Once, several fields full of some purple vegetation were a delight to the eye.
This morning, as most mornings, I hopped on the bike, and before I could blink twice - it was twenty miles on the odometer!
***
I'm mostly amazed that there is no trash - or hardly any trash - on the sides of the highway.
***
   I try to structure each day's riding in blocks of miles and time. I know it will take me about an hour and a half to go 100 miles. It's generally less than that, but I figure an hour and half. Then I gas up at that 100-mile mark, and perhaps have a little snack, and stretch my legs. And I just do that all day until I've reached where I wanted to go or judge that I'm too tired to go on.
***
ESSO gasoline is here. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esso) It sure brings back memories of childhood. Not only did I see the signs as a youngster, but my dad, one of the original announcers on WPVI (then WFIL) used to hawk ESSO gas in TV commercials.
***
I actually feel sorry for the people in cars. They miss the breezes, and they miss more than half the fabulous scenes that roll by.
***
As I was trying to deal with the different money system in one of the stores, I said with a smile to the young woman cashier, "Hey, I'm doing the best I can. I'm still trying to deal with the fact that your main piece of currency is called a "Loonie!" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie) There is no paper one dollar bill here. The dollar is a gold-colored, bronze-plated coin with a loon on it. The two dollar coin is like a Loonie but the Toonie is a bi-metallic coin which bears an image of a polar bear.
***
For part of the day I was fortunate enough to ride newly paved highway. Talk about glorious!
   I entered Manitoba (another of Canada's provinces) at precisely 2pm. Talk about "BIG SKY"! Man, all the way to the right was a storm. Right in front of me was a collection of cute little puffy clouds. And to the left it was clear blue sky. It was like I was in an I-Max theater for most of the day! Big Sky to the max!
For much of the day I was alone on the highway. Or else I had just left everyone else behind!
Right after Bandon, I looked over to my right and there was something I would have NEVER expected seeing - a huge bi-plane just over the field near the road, curving in for a landing. It sure took me by surprise.
   And I thought the bugs were bad yesterday! Today they were dive-bombing me on suicide missions for most of the day. The windshield was littered with 100's of insect body parts between each gas stop. In the evening, after checking into the motel, I took the bike over to the local carwash and sprayed the bike clean. A fresh-faced kid at one of the gas stops said they liked the dry weather. I even had to stop at one point and clean off my helmet visor because of the bugs that had splattered on it. I could see them swirling at me before they splashed on the windshield. There were flocks of them, and occasionally I'd duck as if by instinct. They'd also pummel against my hands and legs.
Went through a few miles of grasshoppers and dragonflies. Gizzards all over the windshield!
(The grasshoppers reminded me of a worse time with the jumping creatures. On my Gulf of Mexico-to-Canada bicycle ride along the whole length of the Mississippi, I was riding an empty highway in Louisiana. Empty, that is, except for fields of grasshoppers on the road. Thickly together they were like a blanket for several miles as they'd jump up onto my spinning legs. The unlucky among them were crushed under my tires as the crunching and crackling sound echoed up from the pavement in a gruesome staccato.)
   It was windy for parts of the day - and this was evidenced by the long trucks that were wobbling and wiggling along in their lane. I was sure to stay clear of them.
   Heading into Winnipeg for about thirty miles it was pretty choppy road. Had to pay special attention to the holes and gutters there.
   I took the first motel that on the right hand side. And that's mainly because the cute young woman behind the counter gave me the government worker discount which was about $40 off the regular pricing.
It was a great room, right down from a Taco Bell, and down near a carwash for the bike bugs, and near many other stores. It had a good internet connection. Because of all this and the fact that I had rung up so many miles recently, and because the next ride HAS to be over 425 miles to Thunder Bay, I decided to take another day here.
Felt kinda wimpy though when I was talking to a couple other bike guys who blew in around 8:30pm or 9ish. They were use to 700 mile days. I was absolutely incredulous!

(Note to readers: Is there an aspect of the trip you would like to know about that I haven't mentioned? And what questions might you have about what's been written? I enjoy hearing from folks while on the road. So please let me know what you might want to hear about. Or, if you have the inclination, just drop me a line. Joel)
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Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

GREETINGS FROM MOOSE JAW, Saskatchewan,Canada -AUGUST 2, 2008

2008-08-04T01:37:00.001-04:00

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

A RAINBOW IN MOOSE JAW-AUGUST 2, 2008

2008-08-04T01:35:00.000-04:00

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 33 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK TREK-AUGUST 2, 2008

2008-08-04T01:34:00.001-04:00

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August 2, 2008 - Saturday - Day 33
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 442    - Total Miles - 7674
Calgary,Alberta,Canada- to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan,Canada
(-staying at Park Motel -)
(Alberta-Satchkatchewan)
- MOVING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT - DANCING WITH CLOUD SHADOWS ON THE HIGHWAY - AT RAINBOW'S END -

   By 9am I was ready to meet Myron and Marilyn Weber. They live here in Alberta. Last I had seen them was three years ago when their wedding was photographed on the same day as leaving on the All-48-State ride. Myron looked dapper in a black cowboy shirt that I liked a lot.
   I finished packing the bike and moved it over to the Denny's parking lot that was right next door to the motel.
   Myron, who is a professor at Calgary University, said he was just back from China and he's worried about the Olympic athletes going there. It seems that the air pollution has even turned the skies in many areas a golden yellow. He fears all the athletes will need medical attention for their lungs when they return to the USA.
Myron related a number of good tales. He and Marilyn, real world travelers, were in South Africa a bit ago, and planning to stay in one particular town. The desk clerk in the hotel said to the couple, "There's going to be trouble tonight, and I'd get my lily-white asses out of town!" They did, and a good thing, too.
   But it was even more dangerous when Myron was speaking in Egypt one time recently. He was accosted by soldiers with AK-47's pointing at him and Marilyn. He bluffed his way out of that one saying he was in constant contact with folks, and if he didn't call in, they would swarm all over that place right away…. I said that that made my rain stories from the other day seem like puny child's play in comparison.
   Clearly a guy after my own heart, Myron said in the end, "I'd rather have the headline read, 'Old prof hit by rhino,' instead of 'Hit by truck.'"
   The Calgary Stampede is a big draw around here. Myron said it's the largest rodeo in the world and has million dollar prizes - but he was concerned that organized crime was gradually moving in.
Myron noted that much of Calgary is high altitude desert at 3500 feet, and that my ride today was very flat and heading downhill a bit. So flat and so long he kidded, that I just might be able to see William Penn's hat. (A statue of Penn sits above City Hall in Philadelphia.)
   As we were parting, Myron said it was good seeing me, and that I was "looking as immortal as ever! Kanahorah." (A Yiddish expression meaning "to ward off the evil eye, especially in light of good fortune".) I let out a belly laugh at that one!
   After the nice breakfast on this cool morning, and our chatting for about an hour, I was out on the highway and moving by 10:20am!
   And it was another most favorite day as the roads were sparkling, clear of debris, and straight as an arrow.

Had an hour lunch at Pizza Hut - was very happy to get on-line and clean up all my emails. Also had a nice IM session with Jim, a video buddy from home. I enjoyed a big salad and a small tomato sauce and mushroom pizza while typing away.
It was so flat today that there was nothing but the mirage of the water on the highway to the end of the road.
Saw a few freight trains on the prairie today - one was seemingly stretched form horizon to horizon there were so many cars.
I mentioned Soarin' earlier in these notes. It's that Epcot exhibit where one sits in a chair and the countryside on the huge screen flies by on film giving you the wonderful illusion that one is flying over the landscape. That is what it was like today - the road was perfect - flat, clean, and smooth. It felt like I was flying over that fabulous scenery of farms, sparkling low-lying lakes, and deep green pastures.
    At 1:30pm I rolled through Medicine Hat. Their sign at the front of the town proclaims them the dubious honor of being, "Gas City."
The breeze was fresh as it rolled across the plains today, but there would be occasionally pungent fertilizer smells and more occasionally, the ripe awful smell of a putrefying dead animal.
It was a perfectly clear afternoon ride, although I'd like to offer apologies to hundreds of little black bugs that sacrificed themselves by splatting against the Vulcan windshield. (I was culling the herd I suppose.) I had to work hard to remove what was remaining of them when I'd stop for gas.
The sky began cloudless, and then a few hours later, little puffs appeared. Then the puffs grew bigger, and by the afternoon, with the bigger clouds occasionally blocking the sunbeams, I was dancing with cloud shadows down the highway. And a good dance it was!
   As I ride along, you'll remember, one of the things I do is memorize or recite poems that I know. Well today the countryside, or at least the inside of my helmet got one hell of a performance of Poe's The Raven. I aced it perfectly while picking up some new meanings in the words, and new and better inflexions in the presentation.
I looked down at the speedometer at one point and it read 93, and it was like I was going in slow motion. And the same with 97. And the same with 103.
Even when I really TRIED to slow up I would look down and notice I was STILL going a hundred. The winds must have been really something today blowing me along! At one point I hit a record 110 while crossing those plains!
   And I think the Nomad was sorry that I backed it down then because it wanted to see how much faster it could go! We were just galloping along across the Satchcatewan countryside.
   Smiling all the way, I was a blurred streak of pure joy hurtling down the highway.
    I had a situation at one point where I had to back it down to 80mph. It was like everything around me was in slow motion, and I was taking baby steps down the highway.
At one gas station I asked how far it was to Moose Jaw. The lady translated it into miles and then said, "About an hour and a half." I replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll be there in twenty minutes!" Everyone standing around laughed.
Roared into Saskatchewan about 3:30pm.
No two days could have been so different as yesterday from today, and no two days could have been as wonderful.
At one point today it occurred to me that I had no clue as to what day it was!
Rolled into Moose Jaw (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_Jaw,_Saskatchewan)
(Don't you just love that name?) and passed the turn off for the motel, and so I had to double back.
I found a man who looked very much bored with his job there, but he promised a web connection, and a somewhat reasonable rate. I checked in and shot down the highway to a little restaurant for dinner. The salad and baked potato were superb and I gobbled them down. After taking my gear up to the room, I discovered a problem with the web connection, and so had to walk out of the room every time I wanted to get on-line.
Got my laundry done in a washer provided by the motel.
   There was a rainbow in the sky amidst all the wonderful clouds over Moose Jaw this evening.
   It was one of the first night's I didn't take a shower or even get ready for bed. I was laying on the bed typing away, and just fell sound asleep, deliciously exhausted.

To view photos from today, which include some amazing sunset shots, or the whole trip, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner, by going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list. (I especially recommend days 10,12 (the sandstorm day!), 14, and 32.)

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**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

FROM DAY 32 IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

2008-08-03T10:51:00.001-04:00

**************
Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.
(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 32 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK MOTORCYLING TRIP-AUGUST 1,08

2008-08-03T10:50:00.001-04:00

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August 1, 2008 - Friday - Day 32
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 326   - Total Miles - 7232
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada - to - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
(-staying at The Point Motel -)
(BC-Alberta)
- CHALLENGES, DECISIONS, AND ULTIMATLY, THE BEST MOTORCYCLING DAY EVER - - A NEW FAVORITE PLACE -

I'm not a jaded guy. But since I've been so many places, and seen so much of the American continent, it takes a lot to take my breath away. For much of today though, my jaw was constantly dropping, and my eyes were wide with all the wonderment to behold.

***
To unfold this amazing day the way it should be told, would take a writer with far more skills than I possess…. I reread all that's below, and look at the pictures, and I'm frustrated that it just doesn't convey a tenth of the day.
***

I awoke at 4:30am and thought I'd have another problem with not being able to get back to sleep, but I rolled into some really sweet dreaming, and got a couple more hours of restful shuteye.
It was the first night that the tarp was put to good use - it rained overnight. I hung it dry on the nearby fence. (I do put the cover on the bike every night. It protects from rain as last night, and also a covered bike is less of a temptation for someone to come messing around it.)
My run took me out onto the highway and then through part of the little town. The ring of mountains, with dramatic clouds nuzzling the peaks was breathtaking.
   Back in the room, and before departing, I gave my contact lenses a really good cleaning this morning. It made a difference throughout the day.

***
   The secret to almost everything is getting a good morning jump on the day.
***
    About mid-morning, I passed a bicyclist, and his pump was hanging off the back of his bike precariously. It flashed me back to one of my southwestern desert rides where part of the pump had actually fallen off, and I was left with no way to pump up my tires should I have needed air (which I did!) in the total middle of nowhere. He didn't quite get what I pointed out as I went by, so I rode about a hundred yards ahead, pulled over, leaned back in the crisp morning air, and waited for him. David was riding this part of Canada, and had a long haul ahead into the mountains. First thing I always say to bicyclists is, "You need anything?"
   He didn't need a thing. I told him how often as I was motorcycling along and I wished I was on a bicycle instead. He said when it came to the mountains, HE wished he had a motorcycle! We both laughed.
   The lean guy was from Quebec. I said I'd give him a shout when I went through Quebec further down the road. As I mention to all travelers, I told him if he ever got through Philadelphia he'd have a place to stay. Then I took a couple pictures, gave him contact information so he could get the picture, and then we parted. At the expense of a wave, I got an action shot of him as I passed him down the road.
Soon it was all mountains as I crossed into Glacier National Park. Also rode through a bunch of rain showers. And it was cold. I kept debating whether to stop, and for the first time since the southern states, put on my rain slicker and the rain paints and gaiters recently purchased. I delayed all this as the sun seemed ahead and the showers were brief in duration. The mostly constant drizzle had me concerned.
But the morning was glorious in views near and distant. Great greens and brilliant blues - and everything in between with air rushing at me that was clean and energizing.
   Shortly, around mid-day, just when I was getting a bit concerned about the gas situation, I came to an area where there was a store, some gas pumps, and a lovely looking lodge. It was set in just a magnificent little flat area near the top of the range with giant dramatic peaks all 'round.
   Just as I finished gassing up, and was paying, the rains came. Rather the rains REALLY came. Torrents and buckets worth.
   So I stood there thinking. And thinking. I had the choice - go out into the rain or go to that cushy-looking Glacier Park Lodge. I asked the fellow behind the counter what he thought. In his experience, would this storm continue or abate? He said that as far as he knew it would continue the rest of the day, and that's what the forecast predicted. Then, to my pleasant surprise, he gave me a paper that would give me $50 off the room price. Should I go or stay? (Hey reader, what would you do?) It was a dilemma. It was freezing cold out there, and pouring. Yet, I know how fickle the weather is in the mountains. Also, I had only put in 100 miles today, far short of goal for a second day in a row.
   On the other hand, the rain made the roads and riding more dangerous, eliminated the views, and was a pain in the neck. Perhaps tomorrow morning would be dryer - OR - perhaps the rain would last for a couple of days… Also, I had just geared up for the rain, spending about 15 minutes leaning against the ice cream freezer, putting on my gaiters and long rain pants. And further, I had just asked someone coming from the direction I was going how the weather was - and they told me it was raining all the way for many miles. What to do? Frost's "The Road Not Taken" popped into my head…
***
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as long as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passage there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
***
Clearly whatever I decided would have profound implications on the rest of the ride. (Just as when I took the extra day to spend with Mike back on Day 2. IF I hadn't taken that day, would I still be facing this problem now? Or would I have a whole new set of problems? So, I had a decision to make. And I made it - I decided to stay. I could catch up on lots of things and head for Calgary the next day.
Well, ummm… so the guy handed me the slip of paper that said $50 off the room rate of $150. And I headed out the door armed with the paper and a sense of disappointment but also resignation that I wasn't moving on.
   At that point, a couple came in from the east on a motorcycle. It was a younger couple on a little bike. And they looked like drowned rats. They smiled over at me and I at them. I asked about the weather to the east and they said just beyond the coming tunnels it was clear. The guy suggested I wait fifteen minutes. So I had more conflicting info…
    But then, an amazing thing happened. I stood there for about three minutes, again absorbed in thought about whether to go on or stay, and then received more new information of sorts: the sun came out dazzling brightly! The snow at the top of the peaks were spotlighted in a halo of shine.
Was it just a momentary lull in the storm? Well, the sky seemed blue.
   Hmmmm…. With this new information in mind, I shoved the paper in my pocket, stuffed a candy bar in my mouth, and headed over to the Nomad which was still by the pump. I kicked it in gear and went out to the highway to have a closer look. Then I pulled off to the side looking at the mountains and the road ahead, and over at the Lodge. Again, what to do? I leaned back on the bike, turned off the engine, and enjoyed the moment. I took a ton of pictures of the mountains - and one over at the lodge. And one at the curious shop with the grass growing on the roof. And I enjoyed the moment for maybe ten to fifteen minutes out in the freshest of air possible - the after-rain wind blowing off the mountains and the trees. (Only the breeze coming in from the vast Pacific off the Oregon Coast can compare!) It was wondrous. Moments sublime. The nature before me was extraordinary. They were truly moments incomparable.
And no one else but me could make the decision whether to go or stay.

ooooooooooooooo
Should I have gone? Should I have stayed? I might have missed more beauty down the road. It might have rained for the next three days.   The easy way out is to say it's all already written, or that some force directs us to right or to wrong. I don't believe that. That takes away our own responsibility. That takes away our essence as human beings to think. It takes away life itself. It kills initiative, and it's too easy an excuse when things go wrong. I believe we make, through our decisions foolish or wise or simple, our own futures.
ooooooooooooooo

   Well, at that point, I did the only thing that my accumulated experience and my character COULD do. I turned the key, and continued down the road to plunge into whatever was ahead, and find whatever adventures were there.

   And it was an afternoon through the mountains with scenes not to be forgotten. The roads were full of turns and challenges to me on my big cruiser bike.
My motorcycling friend from home, David, was just back from his ride in Canada. I'm sure he would have taken those hills with ease like a billy goat, and with confidence and enjoyment. I was nervous and sometimes scared, and not very confident at all. But the scenes before me make everything worthwhile.
   At every turn there was a new panorama of amazing sights in every direction - especially toward the mountain tops. There were great swirling mountains to the right, bubbling creeks to the right and left. At one point a train, powerful and dramatic, even went by. It was just a sumptuous ride     .
   I took a short break in Golden. It was at an overview of the town, with the tracks and the river and the town below. And the ever-present majesty of the ever-changing be-clouded mountains all around. I reached into my rain slicker for the first time and I'll be darned if I didn't find my original set of molded earplugs!!! The last I wore the yellow jacket was in the deep south during a rain storm, and I must have put them in there and forgotten that's where they were. I was delighted that I hadn't lost them after all.
   The traffic was stopped ahead as I rode beyond just beyond Golden. I thought it was an accident, but it was a herd of big horn sheep along the roadway. I pulled over and got a bunch of pretty nice and close-up shots. A couple of the animals skittered across the highway in front of quick-stopping cars. It's just amazing at how the sheep continued to dine on the grass on the almost vertical cliffs!

I came into the province of Alberta, Kicking Horse Country, in the rain - big splots of drops smacking me on the helmet and face.

I crossed the Continental Divide again today. And that's always a thrill. It was the second time this trip.
I stopped for gas in Banff. It was a little off the road, but the tank was about half full. And around these parts, it's just smart to keep filling up at about every station. Sometimes the distance between stations makes me pretty nervous. In this case, since I had to travel a bit off the highway, though it was a pain in the neck. But it was a smart thing to do.
Banff must be the tourist town where rich Canadians go. It's a busy little town with a bunch of Japanese tourists, too. Out in the middle of nowhere with scenic wonders beyond compare, it's no wonder that it was so crowded. There was the first traffic jam I'd seen in days! Tourist shops and visitor amenities abounded.
   Right after Banff, and Dead Man's Flats, the dark clouds - and all clouds, in fact, disappeared and the sky turned total blue.
    I never did actually turn around to look as I rode the 80 more miles toward Calgary, but the mountains and the menacing clouds receded slowly as I peered into my rearview mirror. Since both were so huge, it took awhile, but eventually, they were gone.
   I got a good chuckle at a number of the names today. For instance, I passed "Jumping Pound Road" followed by "Jumping Pound Creek." Who can make sense of that?
   Into Calgary there are warning signs by the road that read, "WIND GUSTS"… And how! It's the first time that I felt myself and my 800-pound Nomad blown over a couple of feet at a time.
I rode by dazzling lakes beyond compare today - lakes that were deep blue, and ones that were deep aqua-marine, a greenish blue that I've never seen before... lakes that were distant patches of sparkle, and lakes that were lapping up on the roadside. They were as oddly compelling to the eye, as they were satisfying to the senses. It was wondrous to behold them all.
I rode into Calgary with the sense that I had just experienced one of the best days of my life. And right when I was thinking it had been all of Canada since I'd seen a Taco Belle one appeared, and I pulled right over.
I asked the pleasant but unfortunate looking lady behind the counter about availability of motels. And she said there was a motel section in the middle of town, but not to take any in the Taco Belle part of town, because there were "so many dopers here."
I'm not sure that was so accurate but I made my way to the area she said, and sure enough there was a long row of places - all way too expensive. Except for the last one in the row. But the sad looking woman with the globs of too red rouge said they only had smoking rooms left. (It was Friday night, and I expected a problem.) So I continued on through town and finally came to a large place, a little run down, that met my needs and budget. By now it was about 7:30pm. I parked, checked in with the quiet-spoken neatly mustachioed man behind the counter and hauled my stuff up to the third floor.
I wanted to write about the day. The thoughts and images from the ride were swirling in my head, but I couldn't do much because my energy was spent.
People often ask me, "What's the favorite place you've been?" And I knew that after today the Oregon Coast answer had been replaced by "Highway One through Glacier National Park."

To view the many photos from today (AND FOR TODAY THIS IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED) and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html)

**************
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(http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

DAY 31 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK MC TRIP - JULY 31,2008

2008-08-01T11:18:00.001-04:00

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July 31, 2008 - Thursday - Day 31
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 251   - Total Miles - 6906
Hope,BC,Canada - to Salmon Arm,BC,Canada
(-staying at Traveler's Rest Motel-)
(BC)
- RIDING HIGHS, RIDING LOWS -

It was enjoyable morning run. Out here pretty much in the middle of no where I wound with the walkway around the slight curve of the mountain and the ridge. I ran to the bridge that straddled the Fraser River. Coming back I could see part of the little town of Hope nestled under the shadow of the mountains. A man and woman with three dogs were out early walking. I shouted over to them as I passed, "It looks like a parade!"
I certainly had hoped to get an earlier start. Was finally out the door by 9:30am, but then had to stop for breakfast about ten miles down the road. They had just run out of oatmeal, so I had a veggie burger, and it was the best one of the trip!
From that point on the day was split into two parts. The first part, north from Hope to Cache Creek was all trees and mountains and a very occasional store as I threaded my way over this part of the Rockies. A river flowed like a wet ribbon far down below for much of the way. It was Grand Canyon-ish in scale. The views were amazing, but I couldn't enjoy them much because I was watching the road so carefully. There were a lot of "Watch For Fallen Rock" signs, and "Avalanche Area" markers that caused concern. And what with all the high altitude turns, and that not being my favorite kind of riding anyway, it was slow going. And that slow going went on for about 80 miles! Still, the freshness of the air was glorious, and I stopped once or twice for pictures. I just couldn't take but a few while riding during that portion of the ride.
There were also a number of tunnels to go through this morning. The most dangerous part of tunnels is that one can't generally see if there is debris on the roadway.
From the high road I was riding, one viewed green valleys in size beyond imagining. Hay bales littered those green valley floors as if thrown down at random. There were also great swaths of rock canyons gouged out of the earth as far as one could see.
The highest peak of all was on top of Jackass Mountain. (Really! That was its name. Not kidding!) I stopped and took photos of the river below which looked like a little line. The railroad tracks beside the river were barely visible. And house-sized boulders looked like puny playthings.
Imagine a canyon and then imagine along the canyon there are sliced out ridges along the walls. That's where the cars moved along, sometimes the roads had shoulders and barriers, and sometimes there were none. I took a good image showing a road along the rock face.
Cars would often line up behind me because I was moving so slowly - partly because of caution, partly to get a better look around. Whenever I could, I would move over to a rest area so they could get by my slowpoking.
The second part of the day was mostly flat, but with similarly fabulous views of valleys and mountains. However, I couldn't enjoy the afternoon that much because I got so tired. Started to (you'll pardon the expression) crash around 3am. I'm not sure if it was the morning exertion or needing more sleep, or what. But I kept getting more tired and more tired. And with this being some kind of holiday weekend here in Canada, and the motels filling faster, I knew that I should begin looking early for a reasonable place to stay. (Many of the chain motels are over $135 with tax. But the smaller places are generally $50 to $70 less than that! The exchange rate with Canadian money is about even at this time.
   So I bagged it at only about 5pm and with only 251 miles under my belt. This was about 150 miles short of my goal. I was sorry about that, but knew it was the right thing to do.   It also set me up better for the next two days with regard to distances between stopping for the day. The towns are much further apart now, and that has to be taken into consideration.
   One thing that perked me up is when, east of Kamloops, I was running side-by-side with a long freight train.   I was smiling to beat the band. Then, as I so often did when bicycling in a similar situation, I put my hand up in the air and pulled it down imitating the engineer yanking on the train whistle. Most engineers understand, and when this guy saw me he tooted that whistle for all it was worth. And that blast of energy - and the traveling camaraderie - carried me for at least five miles.
(Back on my cross-country bicycle trip as I was going into Santa Barbara the sun was going down. I rode neck and neck with a train then, too. But that was after a grueling full day of biking. I had probably ridden 75 miles or more on that hot day. That engineer's train whistle still echoes through me every time I hear one - and that day it energized me up through the ever darkening California hills with an energetic spirit and joy that I've rarely felt since.)
I had a delicious A&W root beer during the day. There are a lot of A&W restaurants here. One patron there was wearing a "Roadkill Café" shirt. He let me take a picture of it. I said to him, "You ever been there?" And he replied that he had been to one in Louisiana. I said, "Yeah, I think I passed by that one on one of my trips. But I have mixed feelings about it…. I'm a vegetarian!" He laughed and laughed at that one!
After checking out several motels, I settled into a mom and pop one just east of Salmon Arm.
I was able to park the bike right outside the door. There was a little internet connection problem, that was soon solved. Had a close call with one of my contact lenses. As I was cleaning it (stopper firmly in the sink) it plinked off my fingers onto the floor. Not much problem there, but it landed within inches of the open heating grate - now THAT would have been a problem! (I do have an extra set with me, however.)
I began working on fixing the pictures section on-line, and was up just a little later than I wanted to be.

Note 1: I just don't know how dependable email contact will be now that I'm in Canada. So if you don't get a journal note edition for a day or so, don't worry.

Note 2: To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html)

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**************
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DAY 30 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK SUMMER JOURNEY - JULY 30,08

2008-07-31T02:29:00.001-04:00

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July 30, 2008 - Wednesday - Day 30
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 180    - Total Miles - 6655
Victoria,BC,Canada- to Hope,BC,Canada
(-staying at a Red Roof Motel-)
(BC,Canada)
- ANOTHER FERRY - HEADING EAST -

   I awoke at 5:30am. I had some thoughts about rolling over and sleeping more, but I got right on the MacBook and happily caught up on emailings and some journal entry writing. The sun was pouring in on me from the window right beside the bed.
Around 9am I went downstairs. I was sorry Mackenzie had to leave for Acting Camp.
Linda prepared for me some oatmeal and I had some peanut butter toast. It was fun to watch Boo slice soooooo very carefully around her bread to take off the crust. I asked her if I could have those crusts, and then I eagerly gobbled them down.
It was another hilly run, but my legs felt strong. And in the superbly refreshing mountain air I breezed along the tree-lined little roads.
   It was genuinely hard to leave here. It was another home in which there was a real warmth for the family, and not just a house that happened to have some people in it.
   On the way to Naimano and the Vancouver Ferry over to the mainland, there were lots of fields with cows or horses. The little towns had shops were advertising a lot of handicrafts including wicker and totem poles. At one point there was a big ad for chicken manure.
    There were billboards for the All-Canada Indigenous Games to be played next week. (Which could impact my motel stay availability.)
I enjoyed watching the different billboards and sale signs as they flew by on the highway. It was interesting dealing for the first time with the metric system re miles on the road and gasoline at the pumps.
The view from Malahat Peak was just outstanding. A giant-wide vista that seemed miles down - dots of white boats bobbing amid a miles-round blanket of azure blue!
   The ferry ride was smooth as silk. At one point the captain came on the squawker and announced that one of the roads on the other side was closed due to a rockslide. (Not a road I was due to take though.)
I spent most of the hour and a half ride in the comfy passenger seat typing. It was a huge ship - more like an ocean liner, I thought. The cavernous inside carried hundreds of cars, trucks, campers, and people. In fact, the ship measures 560 feet long (picture two football fields back-to-back), and these vessels can accommodate up to 2,100 people and 470 vehicles.
Don Gilmore, a fellow mc'er on the ferry, heading out for his own little adventure, and I traded pictures and enjoyed chatting with each other… He's a record produce who recorded Ravi Shankar about fifteen years ago.
Soon it was out of the ship's belly and rolling onto the highway. Then through the big city of Vancouver - and a magnificent swooping bridge over a wide waterway.
In Abbotsford I stopped for gas. And man, I thought my luck was high, because there was a Honda dealer right across the street. (It's been about time to have the bike checked and the oil changed.) But they didn't have the filter I needed, nor would they fit me into their schedule to change my oil anyway.
   Outside the Honda place a fellow approached me and asked about my license plate which reads, "JOEL1". He looked at it, looked at me, and asked, "Is that your name or a scriptural reference?" I got a good chuckle out of that one!
Then…. the luck continued as there was a Kawasaki dealer right in the middle of town. I tooled over there and found a wonderful family-owned business. It was Gateway Powersports and they were most helpful. Jim, the dad, Ryan the son is the mechanic, and Nicole and her sister behind the counter were all friendly. I had the oil changed, the tires checked, and other parts looked over. Jim gave me other ideas of places to ride, but I told him I was only interested in fulfilling my goal of riding the length of the Trans-Canada Highway.
   Leaving around 5pm, I couldn't resist stopping at "J's Pure Vegetarian Pizza". The slice I had was superb.
For much of the rest of the day I rode into the dark-clouded mountains. It never did rain on me though, and I finally alighted in Hope. It was a little early to stop, but I with the ferry ride taking a chunk out of the day, and the bike store taking another chunk I was pleased. I decided to end the day sooner, and then head out early tomorrow for the ride through the next range of mountains.
***

Note 1: I just don't know how dependable email contact will be now that I'm in Canada. So if you don't get a journal note edition for a day or so, don't worry.

Note 2: To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html)

**************
Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.
(http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)

DAY 29 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK FORAY /JULY 29, 08 - INTO CANADA

2008-07-31T01:43:00.001-04:00

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July 29, 2008 - Tuesday - Day 29
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 104    - Total Miles - 6475
Bainbridge Island,WA - to Victoria,British Columbia, Canada
(-staying at Linda & Fred Jenner's Place   -)
(WA-British Columbia,Canada
)
       **** It's NOW folks! It's now the adventure REALLY begins! ****
--- THREE THRILLS: THE SHORE! THE SONG! AND CANADA'S MILE 0! ---

   It is to be a 4,800+ mile pretty much straight line tour across the whole of the Trans-Canada Highway ocean-to-ocean… and when I look at the map it seems pretty daunting. (This is a ride I had always wanted to do on a bicycle! But time got by me, and for one reason or another, I just don't think that's in the cards now. But trading the two wheels of the bicycle for the motorcycle it IS doable! And…. about to happen.)

   It was not a particularly good night's sleep my second night on Bainbridge Island. The bed was comfy and all, but I was missing Ellie, and I was excited about the new phase of the trip. After about four-and-a-half hours sleep, I awoke and gathered stuff together and went downstairs. Doug and Barb were at the table, and I gave them a good morning greeting.
I took the long walk down the stairs outside the home to the shoreline with Doug. Doug took a shot of me touching the water - now three-quarters through Trish's idea of touching the oceans at the four corners of the continent. We stopped at the boat house on the way back up.
It was drizzly and cold this morning, as it was throughout the whole day.
Back in the cozy dining area, Doug grabbed his guitar and played for me the song about my travels that he had been working on. Remember the "Lonesome Roads and Empty Highways" song surmised about here on Day 6 into Vero Beach? Well, Doug had actually written it, and then he and Barb sung it to me… (I shot it on video, too. If you have the inclination, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQV3vUXkrLY.) I understand it's already in the Top 20, and so I'm guessing it will be up for a Grammy next year. It's really cool in that he weaves a lot of what has been written in these journal notes and some things people I've met have said, into the lyrics.
   By 9:30am it was time to leave. I was thankful that Barb and Doug escorted me out of the little community to the gas station and to the main road.
I was so excited about getting back on the road that I left my gloves on the back fender and rode off. About three miles down the road, I thought, "Damn, my hands are cold!" After realizing why, I headed back to the station, but the gloves were nowhere to be seen. I thought Doug might have picked them up, but that turned out not to be the case. I got a cheap pair at the gas station and then got my butt down the road to Port Angeles - and to the date Nomad and I had with the COHO ferry to Victoria, Canada.
After a natural high, it's always a humbling experience to make a foolish mistake like losing those gloves. But that's what often keeps me sharp!
It was a 53-mile ride through temperatures mostly in the 50's. I passed a number of signs that read "Elk Crossing"… Spent most of the day's very overcast ride scanning the horizon at the end of the road and chasing the Dutchman's pants. (Don't get the reference? See day three!)
I passed a few rain-slickered bicyclists struggling with the hills. I gave them all a thumbs up as I passed, and honk-honked in a friendly manner. I've been there, and I know how that helps!
There were mostly low hanging clouds over the peaks as I negotiated the mountains north on this Kitsap Peninsula.

In Port Angeles, the Bainbridge Ferry area was very well marked with signs a few miles in advance announcing where the departure point was located. At the entry point and on the boat, I chatted quite a bit with Suzy and Bob out of Portland. They were riding two-up on a big bike taking a Canadian trip to the west. The couple said that I looked like the actor Alan Arkin… At least that was a little more complimentary than Doug saying this morning that he thought I looked like former Philadelphia mayor, Ed Rendell. Man, I laughed at that one.
With nervous excitement I disembarked from the ferry. I was very last in line and the last one off the boat. (Hey! They had TOLD me there was enough time for a trip to the men's room!)
I had no problem getting through customs with the answer to a few questions. ("Do you have any weapons?" "Are you planning on buying or selling anything in Canada?" "How long do you expect to be here?" "What is your job?")   One of my motorcycle pals who had made the crossing with me was not so lucky. He had been pulled over for further questioning.
So, I was off the ferry and into the third country of this around-the-block journey. And I had absolutely no idea of where the two places I needed to go were! I needed to find the "Mile 0" sign which marks the very beginning of the highway, and I needed to find the Jenners, friends from home. (I had shot their wedding eight years ago.)

After a number of mile in the wrong direction, I backtracked and found that just past the beautiful Beacon Hill Park was the Mile 0 signage for which I had been searching. I did a lot of asking to finally find it. I hopped off the bike, strolled over to the sign, and took a few photos. I enlisted the help of Leonard, a dapper older gentleman who happened to be strolling by, to get my picture in front of the sign. It was a high point of my trip just being there to begin the journey.
Okay, the first goal of the day was done, but I still had to figure out where the heck Linda and Fred's place was - my GPS did not show their home in Victoria at the designated street. And a number of folks I asked about it, had never heard of the street.
At that point a couple busloads of Japanese tourists came spilling out of big tour busses. They were chattering and excited about seeing the start of the longest highway in the world. They took pictures of the "Mile One" marker and also of the Terry Fox statue near-by. Terry was a young courageous fellow with cancer who began a cross-Canada running on one leg and a prosthetic leg… Regrettably, he died of his cancer before finishing.
I went to one of the bus drivers and sure enough, he found on his map that the street needed was not in Victoria proper, but in Langford, a suburb. He gave me quick directions, but I plugged the address in the GPS, and bingo! It located the home.
I set out through Victoria proper, and after some pain in the neck back-ups, was soon tooling along through the cold drizzle in search of   Lakewood Place. I was coming right up on the left hand turn according to the GPS, but all that was there was a cliff wall rising about 100 feet. I had to go about 5 miles before getting u-turn accessibility on the mountainous wet roadway. I finally turned around and found that the needed road was closed! I hit 'detour' on the GPS and finally found the place.
Linda and the three kids were home - Hudson, an exuberant three year old, Sylviann (or Boo), a smiley 5 year old, and Mackenzie, a wide-eyed and friendly 7 year old.
The kids were abuzz with excitement about my arrival. After greetings and unpacking, I had the girls supervise my bike cleaning. And they were very good at finding each spot I missed.
   Labs Philly and Jack, eager-faced and energetic to the max, ran after and returned each dog-saliva-laden ball that I tossed for them.
Soon dad Fred came home from work. So much for interest in me, as the kids swarmed him.
   Before dinner, I had a nice 20 minute or so run through the woods and roads with Mackenzie and Philly.
    Linda had some soy chicken for me, and a special salad. And I enjoyed both immensely. It was fun being at the family table, abuzz with kid energy and happiness. Hudson, Mr. GQ, had quite a time with the dips that were generously applied to the foods and to his shirt.
   It was around 9:30pm or so that everyone retired for the night. I went up to the back guest room, and it wasn't long before again, I was wrapped in good thoughts of the day, and in a tiredness I could not ignore.
****
Note 1: I just don't know how contact will be once I'm in Canada. So if you don't get a journal note edition for a day or so, don't worry.

Note 2: To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141
    Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html)

**************
Get fantasy football with free live scoring. Sign up for FanHouse Fantasy Football today.
(http://www.fanhouse.com/fantasyaffair?ncid=aolspr00050000000020)

DAY 28 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK JAUNT - JULY 28, 08

2008-07-29T02:29:00.000-04:00

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July 28, 2008 - Monday - Day 28
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 0   - Total Miles -   - 6371
Rest Day at Bainbridge Island, WA
(-staying at the home where Doug & Barb are house sitting
(WA)
- ANOTHER DAY IN ANOTHER PARADISE -

   I awoke around 6:30am with light streaming in the window. Beside it was a forest of trees and below was a wide bay, and beyond was a mountain range rimming the horizon with clouds hugging the peaks. It was wondrous!
I lolled around awhile, typed a bit, dozed for a few minutes at a time, and then got in some serious typing.
I mentioned to Barb that I think this area has the cleanest and sweetest smelling air of any place I've been. Might just be the time I've arrived, but the breathing is sure great. I guess it's because the island seems nestled amongst millions of trees and near the water.
I began searching through my things readying for entry into Canada, and was horrified that I couldn't find an insurance paper and one other paper that may be needed. I learned that the insurance paper wasn't necessary to gain entry into the country, but if in an accident, and I didn't have it, I'd be hauled off to jail. Hmmmm….. I called the company and would have the document faxed to the nearby little city.
   Doug and Barb and I drove to the town of Bainbridge and I headed for the FedEx office there, and eventually had the needed official insurance paper faxed over. My heart was in my stomach for a bit because there was some little bureaucratic confusion over whether it could be sent right away.
Doug picked up some stuff at the local hardware store and I bought another lightweight shirt at the nearby sport store. We then went to a wrap place and had delicious and large portioned wraps for lunch. Then to the supermarket where we got spaghetti, veggie meatballs, and some other fixings for dinner. Including some tofutti dessert pops called 'Marry Me' bars which are delectable ice cream type bars. I was delighted to see them in the store. They are my favorite dessert confection.
This whole area seems fit conscious and nutrition wise. In fact, there are very few overweight people to be seen here. The stores seem to reflect this by offering many items not found in smaller stores around home.
We returned to the house and I took about a 2 hour nap. When awake I went out onto the spacious deck overlooking the water, and with the blue sky above, and the mountains in the background, began in earnest finishing yesterday's journal notes. I ran out of time only somewhat satisfied with my writing or the coverage.
   After a bike ride and run with Doug (the run which he took me along was over hill and down dale in a time frame three times as long as I usually go of late!) He noted at the end that, "Hills should count in dog years, each one counting more than one!"
It was one of the first days that I didn't shave in the morning. It was good taking the day off.
At one point today, it was sure a scene from 2008 - the three of us were sitting comfortably at the kitchen table, all at our laptops, but also chatting with each other. Barb and I were on Macs, Doug, because of frustration with his non-Mac, said, "Sometimes I just want to take this Dell laptop and toss it out into the bay."
   Dinner was around 8ish and was a superb spaghetti and soy meatball meal. Even Doug agreed the meatballs were good! We sat on the deck with the sunset as a grand finale to a wonderful day. We Skyped with Ellie for a bit and showed her, via the computer in real time, the scene that was before us.
   I got all my laundry done, and everything organized ready for launching into Canada tomorrow.

Note 1: I just don't know how contact will be once I'm in Canada. So if you don't get a journal note edition for a day or so, don't worry.

Note 2: To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141. Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html.)

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**************
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DAY 27... THROUGH SEATTLE

2008-07-29T00:57:00.001-04:00

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DAY 27 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK MOTORCYCLE JAUNT - JULY 27, 2008

2008-07-29T00:55:00.001-04:00

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July 27, 2008 Sunday - Day 27
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 283    - Total Miles - 6371
Albany,OR (south of Salem) - to Bainbridge Island, WA
(-staying at the home where Doug & Barb are house sitting    -)
(OR-WA)
- -

   I had to get my butt (and the rest of me) out the door relatively early this morning, for I was meeting my college friend Ken, and his wife, Maria for breakfast at 8:30am at Elmers, a breakfast place in town.
It was sure great seeing them again. Ken and I graduated Kutztown State College and went out and set the world afire with our teaching. We helped each other a lot in those college days and ate a ton of beer pretzels together!
   Now I don't think one could find folks further apart in political or religious philosophies than me from Ken and Maria. Yet there were agreements in lots of areas, and at least we could have a dialogue! We sat and caught up on families and work and lives.
But mainly like a bunch of old codgers we sat talking about the new generation - the perceived downfalls and problems with younger folks. The only thing that gives me comfort after such conversations is a quote from Socrates from over 2,000 years ago:
         "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers". Attributed to Socrates by Plato, 469-399BC.

It was too soon we had to part. They were heading to a family baptism, and I had miles to go and more folks to visit.

    Then it was 20 miles to visit with Petra and Mike in Salem. Petra is my apprentice Tom's mom. (I had seen and stayed with Tom's dad, you may recall, about a month ago in Charlottesville,VA.)
    Mike is a motorcycling guy, and was wearing an "I RIDE" shirt as I drove up. That looked awfully good to me. I liked, and got a picture of Petra's bumper sticker which bespoke a Gandhi quote, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
There were splendid gardens around the home, partially due to the work Tom had done putting in a great sprinkler system. When Petra met me at a supermarket on the road, we decided to pick up some things at the local Wal-Mart - I got a jacket for what seemed like a cool day ahead, a cover for my tank bag, and some more earplugs. Then we went the four blocks to the comfy home. I met Makaila and an exchange student at Petra and Mike's. Two young women with great smiles. Petra plied me with popcorn and I sure enjoyed the kettle corn variety. When I left, sent me off with some more and some cookies, too. We all had a nice chat on the back patio before leaving about issues in the world big and small.

Then it was another 60 miles to visit with Greg and Julie, friends the early days in my recent motorcycling career. We had a little trouble connecting off the Vancouver ramp. I got to a location near some apartments, and a young boy of about 5 came rushing out to see the motorcycle. He asked all kinds of questions. I saw his mom look on approvingly from the doorway.
Finally, Greg, Julie, and their friend came into view. It was good seeing them there. When the three new bikes came roaring up, little bubbly Christian was in, you'll pardon the expression, hog heaven. I asked Christian to take few photos of us - he did - a few with his finger in front of the lens.
Brad, Greg and Julie's friend who came along, was riding a vintage Kawasaki. It was an old bike that looked like new. Even had a kick start. It took me back to thinking of my first bikes and their kick starts from the '70's. I made a fun big deal about it, going over and asking mock inquisitively, "What IS that??"
We stopped for lunch in Vancouver at a Subway. There was a happy fair going on across the main street. It was a wonderfully friendly community gathering with lots of bicycles, smiling folks, and happy times for families.
When we had too leave - after too short a time - the three rode with me to the next exit before heading home.

At one gas station, I walked inside to stretch my legs and also give Ellie a call. A frustrated looking man with a huge waistline and a furrowed brow came in the store. He gave me an impatient look saying that I shouldn't have left my bike by the pump while in talking on the phone. A younger couple who overheard looked incredulously that he would say this to me. I replied that there were many other pumps available, and that if it was crowded I wouldn't have left it there. When outside, I noted to him in a friendly way that it was ironic he would say something to me when HIS big trailer was taking up TWO pump spaces. I wished him a good day as he harrumphed and I rode off. His wife, in the passenger seat, perhaps unaware of her husband's feelings, gave me a nice smile.
North of Vancouver,WA there were numerous signs proclaiming with their bright orange scream, "MOTORCYCLES USE EXTREME CAUTION". I rode carefully and kept scanning in double time, but there was no reason I could ascertain for the signs. It was a puzzlement.
Had a wonderful 15-20 minute break at 4:45pm at a rest area. Air was fresh and cool and superbly delicious. I sat munching the chocolate chip cookies from Petra, and enjoying the passing scene while also cleaning up emails.
     I was about to zip up the shoulder on clogged I-5 south of Olympia, when luckily I spied a patrol car handing out a ticket ahead.
   Via email last night I had asked Mary, whose husband you may recall drives gasoline tankers, what the giant alien-looking things are that I notice over the highways in front of the truck scales. Here's her answer:   Frank said those huge white things are a "free pass" system. They are readers. If the truck has a free pass box inside it, will read the weight at they go by, there are steel plates in the road that along with the box do this. As you go by the scale, if the weight is ok you will get a green light and not have to stop. If it is questionable, you get a red light and have to stop to be weighed and inspected. Not all trucks have this system in them. AND the Highway Patrol has the option to turn the system off so that ALL trucks have to stop to be weighed.
It was 66-degrees entering Seattle. It was cold as I motored along with the traffic on I-5. I wore my gloves for the first time on the trip. I was super glad I had bought that jacket earlier with Petra. THAT turned out to be a smart move.
It was an exciting time trying to find Pier 52 where the ferry was that went to Bainbridge Island. I scooted down I-5 and when it finally seemed that I was passed anything that resembled a wharf area, I pulled off and up by a couple homes there. A tired looking guy came up right at that point on a bicycle. I asked him how to get to the wharf area. He gave me simple directions but said he was too tired to think after working all weekend. I was left standing there with a very full bladder and really not knowing much more where to go than before. But I went up to the house and Seth was in there working away on Google maps for me. I asked to use the bathroom and he said I should. Then he took the time to write out the directions. I was most appreciative. Got a shot of him in the doorway and said I'd send it to him.
After Seth's great kindness in Google-mapping me the way to the piers, I would have been there sooner but for some of the unmarked streets. As it was I had to double back quite a bit, and ask directions to streets a number of times. Some of the roads were broken up in disrepair, or in the process of repair, and so it was tough riding. At one point I was waiting with a line of cars down by wharf at a train crossing. Must have been 200 cars in that train. After about ten minutes, yet ANOTHER train, to the warning clangs of the downed gate, on the track next to the first one, went the OTHER way. I turned to one of the men in a car where I had just asked some directions, and we silently laughed at the situation.
Finally through, I came down to a wonderful little row of shops and eateries along the pier way.
I've taken these giant ferries that carry motor vehicles in their bellies across wide bodies of water before on my bicycle. I can't recall doing so on a motorcycle before. I had a little trouble finding the correct drive for Pier 52. But finally I found the tollbooth that led to the Bainbridge Ferry. I chatted with a woman there who had one of the highest and squeakiest voice I've ever heard. For $6 (which was less than I expected) she directed me to lane 38. I was about 45 minutes early for the 9:10pm ferry. I used my time taking pictures, going over to the hot dog stand - and elated getting a vegan hot dog even!!! I would have bought it even if I wasn't hungry! Took some nice shots of some ships around, and finally of the rim of pink as the sun was setting over the harbor.
I Skyped Ellie and turned the computer around so she could get views of the Seattle skyline and the harbor area. An official came over to me at that point and, looking a bit uncomfortable, said to me that the captain was a little 'nervous' about me with laptop there and showing it around, and asked me to close it up and put it away. I did so, of course, without delay. I then sat on the bike making a few phone calls, one to my apprentice Tom back home, telling him about my great visit earlier with his mom, Petra.
The guy on the scooter and I were the first ones on. I turned to him and allowed as to how excited I was about this, and asked if he was, too. He said in a nonplussed way, but with a smile, that he's taken this ferry twice a day for the last 15 years.
   I sat on the bike for about 10 minutes of the 40 minute ride. Looking straight ahead there was no change, but when I looked off to the side and saw the water moving by, I realized with a jolt that we had been underway for at least ten minutes. I enjoyed gobbling the popcorn that I had gotten so many miles, a number of hours, (and what seemed like half a world away) down the road from kindly Petra in Salem.
After a bit, I roamed around the cavernous innards of the huge ferry - the immense seating area, the cafeteria, the viewing areas. Soon, in the dark, we were approaching the lights of the buildings at the edge of the island. Then we were mooring onto land, and the scooter guy and I zipped off. There was Doug Humes, brother of one of my first students and friend from the neighborhood were I was raised, waving from the side.
After a little tricky maneuvering, and driving the roads of the little island, we reached the place where he and wife Barb were house/dog sitting for a week or two. There were hills, then steep hills along the way, and I was nervous about what was ahead.
   Doug had contacted me by email while I was on the trip and invited me to stay if it was on my way. He's the one who plays guitar and was considering writing a ballad or some tune weaving in email threads or events from this trip.
As I mentioned before, it was dark, so I couldn't see much outside the home. But what I did see eventually inside the modernish place built on a hillside above a bay was a little kid's room on the second floor that had hooks for clothing on one wall, and a big bed taking up most of the floor under a low dormer slanted ceiling. There was a big window out to a multitude of trees and what must be the bay down below. The bed seemed especially attractive to my exhausted body and mind, and after washing up a bit, I fell into it and dozed soundly.

Note 1: I just don't know how contact will be once I'm in Canada. So if you don't get a journal note edition for a day or so, don't worry.

Note 2: To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141. Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html.)

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DAY 26 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK MOTORCYCLE SOJOURN-JULY 26, 08

2008-07-27T11:09:00.001-04:00

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July 26, 2008 - Saturday - Day 26
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 414(!)    - Total Miles - 6834
- to Albany,OR (just south of Salem)
(-staying at a Travelodge Motel-)
(CA-WA)
- ONE LAST LOOK…. HOLY SMOKES! -

I was all set to leave. Didn't need to look around the motel room a THIRD time, for pete's sakes… but for some reason (good habits? an inner thought? luck?) I did decide to flip the switch of the bathroom light to check there once more. And there on the sink was my contact lens case and solutions. Whew! (I have extras, of course, but still….)
The air this morning was much smokier than last evening. All this because of the forest fires of late. Across the big highway and against the far mountains everything seemed in a haze
I had a nice run down the big main street around 9am or so, and then came back, uncovered the bike, and had a bowl of oatmeal in the motel office. I was glad I spent so much time polishing up the Nomad last evening. It looked shiny and great in the morning sun as I pulled off the cover.
The office person, a cute short Asian woman was standing smoking under the overhang by the front door. Among other things I joked with her by saying, "Are YOU the one responsible for all this smoke. This isn't all coming from YOUR cigarette is it?" We laughed.
Left the motel and motored out of the parking lot at 10:10am.
As I made my way north on I-5, the smoke smell saturated everything for a good part of the morning and early afternoon. Mary said yesterday that it was so bad at her house in Santa Rosa one time recently that she could barely see to the end of her block.
It was straight north on I-5 today all the way. There were curvy mountainous parts to negotiate for sure, but basically it was due north.
***
   I knew I wanted to make this my longest mileage day and so I broke it into four 100-mile gas station stop segments. And I knew to pace myself. (I've found that's one of the real secrets of life - you have a big something to do, you just break it into smaller segments. Get one of those more easily manageable smaller segments accomplished, you feel good about it, you realize there is less to do, and before you know it, the big "insurmountable" job is done!)
***
Most folks like my bright-as-blazes yellow jacket. A construction worker at a gas pump this morning made mention of it. I said what I say to everyone who comments about it, "You know, if I get hit by a car, I want to lay there, look up at them, and say, 'You didn't see THIS?????'" It always gets a laugh.
For one of my gas stops I inadvertently pulled into a truck diesel bay. I quickly found out that I was in the wrong place!
***
There was a big commotion at the summit of the highest mountain. Just over the other side had been an accident. There were a lot of cars, and motorcycles, and an ambulance. It wasn't clear what had happened. I wanted to stop and help, but it appeared there were enough folks there. I kept going.
***
The 1000's of feet in elevation were ticked off in little signs by the side of the road. 3000 feet. 2000 feet. At times, uphill and downhill, they seemed to whiz by.
***
   At one gas stop the attendant queried, "Where ya going?" To that I invariably respond, "Everywhere!" That gets a smile. This guy said, "That's the best place."
I met Dave (on a Kawasaki 1400 and Tammy (on a Yamaha FV6) at a gas station stop. They were on two crotch rocket sport type muscle motorcycles. I got a picture of the handsome couple, and one of Tammy in her great looking pink jacket. I told them about the accident on the mountain, and Dave seemed to know the spot.
We talked speed. When I told him how I made it a point to hit 100 most everyday, he came out with, "A day without triple digits, is a day without sunshine." He admitted it was a stolen quote from a guy in his 60's who was a racer, and with whom 40-year-old Dave could not keep up.
He then said that on their ride today, he hit 140! I was astounded, and looked at his speedometer, and sure enough it went up to 180!
Dave gave me a heads up to be careful with the speed limit in a little town near Eugene where the officers were very sneaky and careful with speeders.
***
   For a lunch break at a Taco Bell's I sure enjoyed a couple tacos along with catching up on email.
In the morning I was cheated of some views. Only the tallest peaks could be seem poking their giant heads dimly against the heavens. And when I escaped the smoke, it was like being able to see in Technicolor again.
All the magnificent natural beauty around me was intensified by the speed at which I was traveling.
At one point, forty-mile apart towns just blipped by. I viewed a giant body of water that was Shasta Lake. Says Wikipedia: Shasta Lake is a reservoir created by the building of Shasta Dam in California, USA. Shasta Lake is the 3rd largest lake in California. For more info, poke on over to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shasta_Lake.
There was a really interesting looking step-like mountain bathed in sunlight in Roseberg, OR. I managed to get a picture.
   Off to the left at one point were little clouds nestled right on the mountain top.
It's great to look ahead and see a road wind around a hillside or mountain and slowly embrace it.
   I rode through valleys today so big and so wide and so expansive that one's eyeballs just can't take it all in.
There were quite a number of mountain crossings. And quite a number of signs reading, "Caution 6% Grade". One was for more than five miles. Typically I'd pass cars on the way up, and they'd pass me on the way down. I have to be much more careful heading down!
   The air blasted on my face as the blur of farmland, pastures, and trees moved by. Sometimes it seemed that the surroundings were moving and I was standing still. A wonderful feeling. Much of the day my feet were planted firmly on the floorboards with concentration acute, intense, focused. At least once during the day, the excitement brought out one of my spontaneous WHOOPS - at sheer enjoyment. And the vibrations from that WHOOP were like being at one with nature.
The bike and I swept over wide swaths of valley floor and to the very tops of mountains.
I had hoped to reach college friend, Ken, and his wife, Maria. But I fell short of the goal by about 25 miles. It was the most mileage day at over 400, and I just didn't want to push it.
   I again typed myself into even a wearier oblivion as my eyes shut in restful sleep.

Note:
To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141. Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html.)

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DAY 25 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK TREK - JULY 25, 2008

2008-07-26T11:57:00.001-04:00

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July 25, 2008 - Friday - Day 25
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today -     - Total Miles - (totals tomorrow)
San Francisco - to - Corning,CA
(-staying at    -)
(XX-XX)
- THE GOLDEN GATE - FIFTY MILES OUT OF MY WAY FOR A SPECIAL SANDWICH… AND A SPECIAL FRIEND - INTO THE SMOKE

    It was a wonderful breakfast to power my day - a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and a vegan muffin. Then June, Sam, and I went on the mile-plus walk to Sam's summer camp where he would spend the day. We had a good time walking through the bright morning. Sam's natural curiosity sparkled and bubbled along the way with his broad grins.
I learned a lot during that walk. It seems that Foster City was a planned community, and so has a number of little waterways and parks. The area was originally marshland. June declared that she would rather live in a city because of the convenience, among other things, but she was very happy here.
And I could see why. The 'burb, at least for my short time here, was diverse in make up, clean, good looking, and engendered a wondrous spirit of friendliness.
I was proud seeing June's by-line in a national magazine for a story she wrote.
June was leaving the house right at 11am and we both left at the same time. It was hard leaving the warmth of that home in the San Francisco suburb…
   From June and Neil's it was exactly 20 miles to San Fran's city limits, and exactly 30 miles to the lip of the Golden Gate Bridge.
   It was typical city riding - but with the enormous hills, of course. The challenge was watching the ragged roadway and staying on course by following the 101 signs, of course. I made a couple lucky guesses and stayed on the right path amid chaos of the cars, trucks, scooters, and pedestrians. As I moved along in traffic, I enjoyed the quick glimpses of the town that I could squeeze in, and especially that of the San Francisco Opera House.

The approach to the Golden Gate is always dramatic. And the crossing no less so. I was limited in the photos I could take, of course. But it was a wonderful fresh air feeling in the crossing.
My most thrilling ride across the bridge was a number of years ago from the north - by bicycle! At night! In great gales of wind. And then came the dark entry into the city with unending hills to climb and an uncertain place to find. That was on the Canada to Mexico ride along the whole coast.
This crossing was much less dramatic, but none the less exciting.

After the bridge I passed quite a number of horse farms and cows today along route 101 today. The smoke from the recent more than 1000 forest fires all up and down California was evident throughout the day. Most of those forest fires were ignited by lightning storms.
I ran into some traffic back ups. Mostly the miles-long tie-ups were in the other direction. But when I was caught in one I would generally just zip up the highway's right shoulder. I was fearful of "splitting the lanes" as the other motorcyclists did because my cruiser was too big. The shoulder is always dirtier with flotsam, too, so I had to be wary.
My friend Mary, in Santa Rosa, CA, who I met in an on-line discussion group for our common affliction, Meniere's Syndrome, invited me for lunch of a fakin-bacon sandwich. Again.
I met her three summers ago in person during the 48-state ride with my friend Karen. Mary is a wonderfully smiley person and she makes (if you'll pardon the expression) a whale of a fakin-bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. I went fifty miles out of my way this year just to see her again, and I was drooling the last 45 miles.
We spent about an hour together, I gobbled up three(!) sandwiches, and had interesting conversation for which time and energy will not permit me to do any justice in this writing. I spent a lot of time "MMMMing" while savoring the tastes of those sandwiches.
It was good sitting across from her sparkling eyes at the dining room table. Her husband is a trucker and drives the gasoline tankers. He told her to tell me that the tire pieces I've mentioned and been encountering on the highway are called "alligators" by the truckers. And that's because if one doesn't watch out and runs over one, it will jump up and bite you!
I also learned that it was apparently legal to "split the lanes" for a motorcyclist as long as the traffic wasn't going more than 35 mph. This tidbit was also from Mary's husband.
For most of the afternoon after leaving Mary's I was moving along swiftly, the tires gobbling up the miles. I wanted to take a shorter day, to regroup and then get an early start, and make a big push north on Saturday. But the ride was enjoyable and the towns and highway exits just kept floating by.
There was an extreme in temperatures all day. From the actual cold as I rolled through the big city and toward the Golden Gate this morning, to the warm breathing on me from mountain valley breezes.
   By 6:30pm waves of the forest fire smoke, which earlier were just observed in the distance on the valley walls, now partially obscured the roadway. The somewhat acrid smells began to burn, and make my nose uncomfortable and my contact lenses were clogged up a bit.

   The Days Inn had a little black Pomeranian on the counter at check in. I got good shot of the cute black dog. The friendly check in lady gave me the discounted rate even though I wasn't able to provide her with a coupon.
Much to my surprise when studying the maps this evening, I saw that I'm very much in striking distance to Canada - it's probably only two or three days away now.
I spent too much time tonight working on the organization in the photo program that I use to upload all the pictures. I fear I messed up the images and especially the order of them. Oh well, I didn't/couldn't take the time to fully fix or understand how to fix them. As it was, I was up too late, and tomorrow was planned to be a big day…
   The genuine kindnesses met along the way have been so uplifting, and the spirit of friendliness so warming - this country is sure not what the daily headlines scream at us!

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To view photos from the trip, you can check out
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141. Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner, by going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html... and/or you can just email me back and I'll put you on the daily send list.

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DAY 24 OF THE AROUND-THE-BLOCK MOTORCYCLE TRIP - JULY 24, 08

2008-07-25T13:40:00.000-04:00

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July 24, 2008 - Thursday - Day 24
USA/MEXICO/CANADA
DOUBLE CROSS COUNTRY
& THE TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY
-- OR BUST - SUMMER 2008
Miles Today - 183   - Total Miles - 5404
Fresno, CA - to San Francisco 'burb of Foster City
(-staying at former 1972 second grader, June Bell's -)
(CA)

   The day began pretty early when the phone rang at 4am!!! It was my friend, fellow photographer, and fellow motorcycle enthusiast, Dave Ickes. He was on his own tour this summer. He had his BMW motorcycle trucked out to the Midwest, flew out, and then began a long tour around Colorado and into Canada. There had been some hope that we'd somehow get to meet up. He thought I might be closer to him than I was - certainly not time zones away. He was apologetic for awakening me so early but it was great chatting with him. He had camped in a farmer's field that night, and still had to get his tent out and away. I managed to still get back to sleep after a good conversation with him.
I woke for good at 6am, and saw Ed, the security guard guy with whom I had a conversation last night, take off from work on his black bike.
   I had arranged to meet Trish and Bob at the nearby Denny's at 7:30am and take them out for breakfast. When I arrived they were waiting for me at a table.
   Trish, my friend from the Savage motorcycling discussion group, met Bob on her mail carrier route nine years ago. He had moved away for awhile from the place he was renting, and then she looked him up again. He's a lucky guy he said because love really DID come knocking on his door, not just once, but twice!! When I called him a 'lucky guy' I didn't realize how much truth there was in that phrase for him!    The next paragraph helps explain why he's a lucky 'guy' in more than one way….
He was hesitant to marry Trish though, he said with a twinkle in his eye, because his last name is "GUY", and he just didn't want to turn her into a 'guy'…. I enjoyed the little play on words, but smilingly winced none-the-less.
Bob is a strong fellow who grew up on a farm and in the mountains for most of his life. He's been battling prostate cancer, and doing a good job with that battle, putting up with the chemo treatments and all.
   Trish made some interesting observations at breakfast about travelers and traveling, and having people as guests. Back in the Indian days people traveled a lot, but not that great a distance. So when people did come from long distances they were encouraged to stay a longer time so that the hosts could hear about the lands from far away.
Trish and Bob have matching Honda Silverwing scooters. I learned that the difference between a scooter and a motorcycle is the way one steps through the scooter to get on it. Their Silverwings get 50mpg and is certainly a great way to get around. It has an automatic transmission.
    We walked over to the Best Western and they got to see the Nomad. Trish took a little package of stuff to the post office for me.
    I went back to the room and typed and typed about yesterday, and finally got all my gear packed. It wasn't until 12:30pm that I finally left. It was much later in the day than I wanted to leave, but my stop in San Francisco wasn't that far. As it turned out, it was farther than I expected!
   After a short ride through Fresno I regained Route 99, the highway north.
    At 1:45pm I stopped for gas, and since the Subway at the gas stop had a veggie patty I broke for lunch. It was a good choice. The meal was delicious and I filled the camelbak bladder with ice water to keep me charged up for the rest of the day's ride.
      Rode through a big section of farms this day…. They were reeking of fertilizer smells, the air pungent with the aromas of it.
    The San Luis Reservoir (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Reservoir) was to my left for part of the afternoon ride in the mountains. It is a massive body of water that would appear on my left a couple of times as I passed a couple of mountain tops. Blue and dramatic, irregular in shape and enormous, it was shimmering and inviting to the eyes on this hot day.
   I crossed the state from east to west on Route 152. On both sides of me as I rode through the valley was a ridge of mountains still shrouded in the recent massive California forest fire smoke.
    It was windy in sections of the mountains today. I was buffeted constantly by the crosswinds. And I KNEW it was a pretty strong wind when I looked above me and saw a big bird, a crow perhaps, flapping his wings trying to get to the tree on the left side of the road… and he just wasn't going anywhere. He seemed suspended in mid-air as he tried to move forward.
    More mountains. More valleys… As my consciousness went streaming down the highway today, and the scenery blurred past, it was with a certain satisfaction that I had reached this far into the trip.
   There were a number of mile-long backups today - but ALL of them were on the other side of the road going the other way. Felt fortunate about that!
   There was a carpool lane on most of the highways I rode today. And beneath the sign that noted only cars with two or more passengers can ride in that lane, there is a little note that read, "Motorcycles OK". I took advantage of that lane a lot.
   It got much cooler as I approached San Francisco.
   It was somewhat before five that I arrived at June Bell's home. She and husband Neil and their son, Sam, have lived in San Francisco for about six years. I've known June and her folks since 1972 when June was in my second grade class. I 'see' her every day at home, in fact, because in my living room is a photo I took of her saucer-like wonderful second grade eyes. I took the negative of those eyes, sandwiched it with a great cloud picture I had taken, and came up with a composition of eyes looking out of clouds. It won a couple prizes in photo competitions.
I arrived to the home in Foster City, a 'burb of San Francisco, a little before 5pm. I stood in the drive for a few moments making some phone calls home, and then called June. We had chatted earlier in the day, and I thought she might not be home. But she was, and shortly she and Sam, a precocious 5 year old soon appeared at the door. The eager boy, with a curiosity to match the simmering intelligence behind his dark eyes, swarmed over the motorcycle with questions and smiles.
I was welcomed into the home and I remembered it well from when I was here three years ago midst the all-48 states motorcycle trip. Sam was quite different now, of course, and he fairly bubbled with observations and questions. He is a kid of this computer generation, and the son of a techie, too, and so he loved all my gadgets and things.
   He was attracted to the Mac laptop, and when I opened it he knew his way around it with ease. He was able even to maneuver to different websites on line. (Yep, that's right. Five years old!)
   I got my gear into the upstairs loft area. Then June had some errands to do and Sam had a choice of going with his mom or going on a little run with me. He decided to hop on his training wheeled little bicycle, and we went around the neighborhood and to a little park nearby. It was a cool and wonderful experience as I loped beside the inquisitive son of a former second grader of mine.
At one point in the park I spied a box of plastic bag doggie scoop bags supplied by the community association I surmised. I went over to it, grabbed one and told Sam I got it for him in case he needed it… After a bit of thought under a thoughtful expression, he got the joke and broke out into a big laugh. We continued, and shortly saw a fellow in his garage seated around three motorcycles, mechanical guts hanging out of one of them. He was clearly a wrenchie and effecting some kind of repair. A youngish guy, Chris, seemed bemused at our presence. We chatted, and Sam took a picture of us together.
We continued back to the house where Neil, Sam's dad had just arrived home and was sitting in the driveway chatting on his cell phone. I joked with Sam, "So does your dad have to stay in the driveway all night?" By now Sam was getting the drift of my sense of humor. He laughed.
It was wonderful being in the Ponderosa type home. The family reminded me of the one I grew up with, and irrepressible Sam brought back joys, long submerged, of the wonderfulness of being with a bright-eyed kid.
   We had a perfectly scrumptious dinner of some concoction of soy cheese, fake meat, combined with veggies and noodles.
    Sam went to bed around 7:30pm, and June and I reminisced about kids from our old class, and things back in the old neighborhood.
   Back in that '72 second grade I would do a bunch of things with kids, and one was to meet with a group of interested parents and children down by the Schuylkill River and we'd bicycle ride the 8-mile path around part of the river, stopping to picnic along the way. This was eight whole years or so before I even got into a fitness lifestyle. I never knew whether I would make it the whole way around that bicycle path. Well, the Bell family would join in this little venture, and I recall one famous picture of June, cute pigtail framing a wide-eyed face, sitting by her dad who was laying on the ground. He was okay, and just napping, but the image looks all the world to me like a little girl grieving for her passed away dad.
   So we chatted until about 10:30pm or so, and then Neil and June went to bed and I went up and lay in my little cocoon cotton sleeping pouch on the comfy bed, and typed happily away about the day's events. (I never feel I do the day justice!) Shortly, a drowsiness overcame me, and I just could not keep my eyes open any longer - no matter with what strong effort I tried. I drifted. Drifted away into a deep happy sleep with a smile on my face.

Note:
To view the many photos from today and the whole trip, you can visit
http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=45&user_id=42473&event=196141. Some folks have reported trouble with this link, but most find that it works. Sometimes it takes two tries… Also, you can check out the past day journal entries by going to joelperlish.com, and clicking on the appropriate trip down at the bottom on the left hand corner or just going to http://www.joelperlish.com/blog/blog.html.)

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