Everyone was up early and excited to be on our way. We had breakfast again at the diner and were rolling around 8 AM.
It was a cloudy chilly morning but nothing the heated gear couldn't handle as we made our way NE across Montana.
About halfway to the Canadian border, we encountered our first serious road construction. We waited a few minutes for the pilot car and could see there was some serious rebuilding going on. Pavement was gone and there was nothing but dirt, rocks, mud, and some sand.
The pilot car pulled out and Jim Puckett on his lightweight BMW flew past the pilot car and was soon out of sight. Nothing like a bike built for dirt to ride in the dirt. The rest of us followed carefully picking our way through the mess of the road. Sand is the only thing I fear with our behemoth touring bike and we got a good taste of that. Luckily we all made it through without incident and Puckett was long gone.
We stopped for a photo opportunity at some neat sculptures. And managed to catch up to Jim Puckett at this point who related he enjoyed his little dirt ride.
Of course, Barbara had to pose!
As we started our climb up toward Glacier National Park, we started getting those awesome snow covered mountain views.
Glacier National Park is a true beauty but unfortunately for us it was still early in the season. The Going to the Sun Highway was still closed due to snowpack but I did manage to get into the Visitor Center for a stamp to add to my collection.
Now it is time to head for the border. We were crossing at the Chief Mountain Crossing which is closed during the winter and they had only recently re-opened for the season. As we approached the crossing we got our first moose sighting. Barbara was screaming in my headset and almost stood up. Sadly neither of us were quick enough with the camera, as the cow wandered up the middle of the road in front of us before darting back into the woods.
Having heard horror stories of the interrogations received at border crossings and the absolute lack of a sense of humor of the officers, we were pleasantly surprised with the ease in which we crossed. Basic questions like "Where are you from?" "Where are you going?" "How long would we be in Canada?" and the usual do you have weapons, drugs, tobacco, etc. He asked if we were with them - pointing to the group that had just crossed ahead of us. We said yes and he just shook his head and then asked if I had any wild women stashed on the bike. "Just one" pointing backwards at Barbara. He laughed and waved us on through.
Immediately we were in one of Canada's many national parks.
The bike in the photo belongs to Jimmy Stevens and had just suffered an unfortunate tip over that broke his windshield OFF. Luckily he would manage to find a replacement the following day in Calgary.
The remainder of the ride into Cochran, AB was uneventful crossing the prairies and fields of southern Alberta. We did have one lengthy detour due to an accident on a ramp ahead of us which added about 30 miles to our trip.
At the Ramada in Cochran, everyone was checking their bikes over after a day of riding.
Robert doing some tire pressure adjustments.
We discovered a prominent chain restaurant that evening - Boston Pizza. Not only do they have pizza but the most delicious selection of pastas you could imagine with huge serving sizes. A couple of Canadian Molson beers made the day complete.
Tomorrow - The Icefields Parkway.
No comments:
Post a Comment