Chilly Canada

Stan welcomed me in with a lovely cold beer - a real sight for sore eyes after that day! We had to leave the next morning, so I had a bite to eat and hit the hay, we were up bright and early and sorted out the bike, ready to put in the back of Stans F350 truck. We didnt have a ramp, so we borrowed a 2x4 from some workmen down the street, rested that on a ladder and used a small berm to get Sammy up higher and into the truck bed.

The place where Stan was staying was rather nice with a lovely pool and hot tub! Stan and his partner Karen had been there for a couple of weeks, doing day trips out on Stans Honda Goldwing motorcycle which he towed down from icy Canada, enjoying the warm weather in the USA, Karen had flown home to go back to work. Shame I only got to spend one night there!



Nice Pad!

 With the bike loaded and everything packed we hit the road at 1030am, it was fairly steady heading out of Phoenix, lots of traffic and the highway North was busy too, but we made good time only stopping for diesel and a bite to eat, we went past the spectacular Glen Canyon Dam in Page, Arizona, just before we crossed into Utah  and spent the night at Nephi, South of Salt Lake City.


Loaded and ready to go!

  The next morning the weather had turned and we headed into snow just North of Salt Lake City, with the thermomenter around freezing and the roads slushy I was glad I didnt have to ride all the way home!!! The mountains were all covered with snow and as we got closer to Canada the temperature was below freezing with some icy stretches on the roads. That night we spent at Great Falls, Montana, not far from the Canadian border, we left early and the roads were even icier, so we took it steady, lots of ploughs out cleaning and sanding the roads, we fell in behind some Canadian RV's heading home and made it through the border without getting searched which saved some time.

The run up to Lethbridge was quick, the weather and the roads improved, we stopped for some lunch and realised that neither of us had any Canadian money on us!!! so the quick use of a credit card helped out......Calgary was as busy as I remembered it, especially on a Saturday, it took a while to fight through the traffic, we headed West on the Trans Canada for the quick run home to Banff, where Lisa was waiting for us. After unloading Sammy and putting him back in the garage, we had a nice home cooked supper washed down with beer, wine and Champagne!!!

Snowy Home

Stan left the next morning for Edmonton, (thanks a million for the ride home Stan - Id be stuck in the USA without you!!!) and we set about making a start on sorting out gear and all the fairly mundane things you have to do after a trip......Still you have to get things ready for the next trip......whenever  and wherever that will be....