Edmonton, Canada

Thursday Sep. 25, 2008

It's normal for the weather to start getting cooler in Canada at this time of year, but I guess I was still adjusting after being in warmer climates for so long. Riding a moto and camping probably didn't help. It took me two days to cross the wide province of Ontario just above the great lakes. I spent hours alone on the highway passing through the Boreal forests where warnings of moose on the road kept most people from driving after dark, including me. Here there were trees being transported on trucks, rather than oranges or sugarcane; the fuel ran efficiently through Buzz II without backfiring; there were hardly any lineups; and once again people were not afraid to visit with me when I was stopped somewhere.

I drop-camped on the shore of lake Superior and enjoyed the quiet, tranquillity of this seemingly remote location. I was still getting used to quiet at night.

While riding across Ontario I remember thinking that Argentina seemed very long at the time (3,000 km (1,864 mi) from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia). But when I saw a sign listing the distance from coast to coast across Canada as 5,977 km (3,714 mi), it didn't seem so big anymore. Actually, Canada seemed allot bigger than I imagined. The difference being that here, the good highway system (except in Ontario and Quebec which seemed to be about 80% under construction), lack of traffic and availability of services allowed me to ride as long and far each day as I could handle.

The 90 kph (56 mph) speed limits here were annoying, but they did prove that fuel economy improves with speeds below 100 kph (62 mph). There were plenty of opportunities in Ontario for the police to give out heavy fines, but I kept a close eye on my speed. The construction zones were the biggest farce though. Not that I mind driving slowly to increase the safety of workers near the roadway, but because there were long areas designated as construction zones before and after the real construction zone where insanely slow speed limits and highly increased fines could be charged. I actually saw a sign threatening a fine of up to $10,000 for 50 kph (31 mph) over the speed limit. This was the type of harassment that drivers here faced.

I was pulled over once by a policeman in Ontario when he couldn't determine where my license plate was after sitting behind me at a red light for a few minutes. I guess the temporary paper plate I had taped to the pannier threw him off.

After leaving Ontario it was time to cross the prairies of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta, where farmers were busy bringing in the autumn harvest from the fields. I was close, really close and I was starting to see and feel things everywhere around me that reminded me of my past life in Alberta. I was anxious to get home now and long days of riding from sunrise to sunset seemed to take me only part of the way I expected to each day.

When I finally arrived at home on September 13th I was weary from having traveled so many kilometers through North America in what felt like a rush since I left Colombia. But it was wonderful to see my family again.

I needed to quickly complete the import process for Buzz II to become a Canadian moto because the temporary documents I used while transporting him here expired on the 15th. Once that was out of the way I spoke to my friend Jack in Alaska about completing my ride to Prudhoe Bay before winter set in.

Here's what he told me. "Still looks favorable up north through the 20th. If we are able to do as we discussed this morning - leave Wiseman and do the 460 mile (740 km) round trip from there to Deadhorse that day - the weather should be all right if there are no changes in the forecasts. There is snow predicted for the night of the 21st, but we should be well south of that by the time it hits. Farther south, rain, sleet, and snow are predicted for the night of Tuesday the 23rd, so you wouldn't want to tarry on your way south. But it still looks doable for the ride to Deadhorse if you can keep to the proposed schedule. It is about 1,780 miles (2,865 km) from Edmonton to Glennallen - a good, long two day ride. Gas stations may be few and far between along the Alaska Highway this time of year, especially as you will need to be putting in some long hours in the saddle to make it in two days. My recommendation is to carry two gallons (at least) of extra fuel north of Fort St. John on the Alcan. Other than that, pack light, but carry plenty of warm clothing, as it will be cold with a strong quartering wind against us as we ride north across the Arctic Coastal Plain. Good rain gear will help immensely."

I'd been trying to get to Alaska since before the trip started. It was originally going to be my starting point, but that changed because I couldn't get away in August like I'd hoped, and when I did leave in September it was too late. Ever since then it has been my goal to reach it at the end of this trip, and especially after I left Ushuaia, Argentina last Christmas and started riding north.

After having been setback more than a month because of the plane crash in Bogota and then rushed through the US and Canada to get there before winter closed the door again, it was hard to accept. I actually considered Jack's offer to ride up there for a few more days. But finally I decided to do it next year and enjoy the adventure and beauty of all that Alaska could offer rather than press my luck and push a good thing too far.

But I wasn't prepared to come racing home and just stop like that. It was like an addiction and I felt like I needed to prepare for it a little better, or that something was left unfinished still. So I decided to ride west a little further and touch the Pacific ocean once more as a celebration of being able to cross Canada and circumnavigate by land nearly the entire Americas. I knew my family and friends didn't understand, but I had to do it. So on September 18th I left home again and headed west towards Vancouver.

I rarely drink pop, and I never carry cans of pop in the moto. But that day I did for some reason and it sprung a leak and wet many of the contents of my left pannier, including my laptop and legal documents I was preparing to send the lawyers of the plane crash. I bet the owners of the A&W restaurant where I stopped had a laugh when they saw my belongings spread out on Buzz II and a few tables so they could dry.

I knew my brother Gary from Edmonton was going to be in Vancouver that weekend, so when I arrived we went for lunch in the nice little central marketplace named Granville Island. Unfortunately, because it's near the center of the city that's also where allot of crime happens. And even though I had locked my 6 week old helmet onto Buzz II right in front of a busy upscale hotel with doormen, it appeared to be no problem for some no-good thief. Ironically, with the exception of the plane crash, nothing was stolen from me throughout my trip until now.

I quickly bought a cheap replacement helmet from the nearby Honda dealership so that I could continue. I passed through the beautiful Stanley Park before heading south to cross the border back into the US once more so that I could exchange my tent with a bad zipper at the US based REI camping store, and then ride the beautiful Cascade Parkway.

I should have known better than to try to cross into the US at the Peace Arch border on the main highway between Vancouver and Seattle where the inscription on the huge white arch reads "Brethren dwelling together in unity". I hoped that because I was passing through on a Sunday it would be better, but it seems that US border officials like to have long lineups no matter when you go through here. I learned that it didn't matter whether you were leaving the US on the east coast through a small border crossing or entering the US on the west coast through a major border crossing, at least they were consistently unfriendly.

These parts of the west coast are extremely lush and beautiful and it's always great to spend time in the country out here. As usual the service at REI was great and after spending more time and money in their store than I needed to, I headed east just south of the US/Canada border.

The scenery was awesome, the air was fresh, the colors vivid, but as I rode east and started to climb higher into the mountains the nights started getting colder. Temperatures dropped to around 0 C (32 F) degrees at night and it became necessary to use my electric heated jacket liner and gloves while riding and long underwear for camping.

I rode through a nice old-west style town named Winthrop that reminded me how different our building traditions are from those in Latin America where concrete and adobe block have ruled for hundreds of years.

Good drop-camping locations were easy to find around here and really helped keep the travel costs down. Sure glad I got the sleeping bag with the colder temperature rating though as it was pretty cool up here.

The highway was actually closed the day before I rode through because of snow. All that remained was a little in the ditches when I passed through.

Crossing back into Canada at the tiny border crossing south of Salmo was a breeze and I looked forward to riding the beautiful roads of south-eastern British Columbia on my way back home. As I was leaving Nakusp I asked how far away the ferry at Shelter Bay was and locals said it should take 35-40 minutes. This was a common mistake people made when looking at Buzz II's physique, his agility was often underestimated. He proved to me that he was every bit as good as my old flame by getting me there in 20 minutes flat - just in time to roll onto the ferry as the last cars were loading. But he is a bit cocky: Once on board I could have sworn I heard him say we could have done better if it hadn't been raining lightly and only 10 C (50 F) degrees.

Even though we did good at the ferry, more than half of the 761 km (472 mi) was in rain with temperatures between 4 - 12 C (39-54 F) degrees for the nearly 12 hour ride that day and it seemed to take much longer than it should to ride from Metaline Falls to Calgary.

Once again through the grace of God I returned safely home on September 25th to enjoy a beautiful birthday meal with my close family. I was blessed to have had the support and love of my entire family with me throughout the entire journey and it was so incredibly good to see and be near them again.

Then on September 27th my mom threw a small homecoming party where I had the chance to visit with more family and friends, including some great guys from my moto club. This was something I'd looked forward to for a long time, full of stories and laughter, but it passed by too quickly leaving me with a feeling that I didn't adequately share my time with everyone there. Being the center of attention is something I'll never get used to.

Things I've noticed in Canada:

- It seems like such a young country

- Certain disappointing characteristics have been absorbed from the US (i.e.: In Colombia one of the brackets on my teeth came unglued and I simply walked into an unknown orthodontist's office and he gladly glued it back on for a small fee; a second fell off in Edmonton and when I visited Dr. Burke, the orthodontist who was paid thousands of dollars for the braces on both my daughters teeth, she told me "she couldn't glue the bracket back on because of legal issues". I eventually found an orthodontist here with enough decency to perform the simple task). This lack of trust/fear of the unknown is one of the most unnatural and disheartening characteristics in our world these days and seems prevalent in North American thinking. Its absence is the main reason I enjoyed Latin America so much. What keeps us from opening out hearts to someone we don't know (or even someone we do know)?

- It has a vast amount of unoccupied land and extremely low population

- Like the US, we appear to have an older population with far less children than in Latin America

- An obvious lack of laughter and lightheartedness compared to Latin America

- It has a higher cost of living than the US

- It's a beautiful, clean and organized country

And so, after two years of life on a motorcycle throughout the Americas, I've experienced things I long dreamed of seeing and doing, and many that I'd never imagined. I've learned things about people, cultures and our world that no book, computer or TV program could ever teach. And most importantly, I've dug deep inward and learned that the most beautiful and perfect place on earth is where your heart is.

I still hope to visit Alaska next year, and this journey may continue again someday. But for now, I want to extend my deepest thanks to each and every person that I've known or met who's played a part in this wonderful journey, one which I feel blessed to have been able to complete.

Pura vida (pure life).