I found what I needed! Day 13

Start of the day, at Glacier.
I love the scenery!
Evidence of a past forest fire.
Can you believe, that I actually had to ride my motorcycle down this road? Poor me!!!
Waterfall on the mountain side.Yes, I hiked myself up 1/2 mile to get you a better picture!
Snow bridge over the railroad at "Glacier"
Just a turnout on the road up north!


Every day brings new enlightenment.

I left Kalispell Mt. this morning on a bit of a bad note, aside from the fact that the WIFI service was poor, a number of tires in the parking lot of the hotel I was staying at had been "Slashed", fortunately I was not a victim. The perpetrator was apprehended in the parking lot, and when I awoke to sirens, and looked out my window, he was face down in the parking lot with handcuffs on. It is unfortunate that he perpetuated the stereotype given to his race. In almost 2 weeks on the road, I have seen very few "Afro Americans", he was not a good example.

I headed out of Kalispell to "Glacier National Park" after a chilly ride, I hit the main entrance of the park, to take the "Road to the sun" ride through the center of the park, but found out that "Logan Pass" was not passable! Too much snow!
In lieu of that, I took the road less traveled, and had a great time! I crossed the Canadian Border at "Piegan" at 12:00.

I did not have any real problems, actually it was an interesting learning experience. I had all of the necessary paper work, but the boarder guards where obviously trained in looking for potential issues. I kind of got a kick out of seeing these 20 something boarder agents trying to find a "chink" in my armour. I admired their tenacity. I actually felt bad, because 12:00 is my normal nap hour, and while I was shuffled to a waiting room with a dozen other people, I took the opportunity to nap for a bit! When it was my turn, the boarder agent actually had to nudge me on the arm to wake me! That may have worked in my favor. My paper work was in complete order and in less than 30 mins, I was on my way.

I hit the road running! I changed the GPS from Miles per hour to Kilometers per hour. I felt like I was in a different country and thousands of miles away from home! Oh yea, I am!

I turned the throttle hard and headed up highway "2" as fast as I could. Quickly it became apparent that Canadians take their speed limits and traffic laws, very literally. Very refreshing, (more about this later).

As I write this blog I am in a town called, "Olds" about 100km, or 60 miles north of "Calgary" south of "Edmonton" about the same distance.

I checked into the "Siesta" motel, I went next door to the local lounge and had a few drinks. There I met the bartender, Christina, as well as Donna, the proprietor of my motel, and a number of other interesting local people.

I finally found just good old "folks", interesting conversationalist, and people whom have commonalities, while our origin of birth may be many thousands of miles away. I knew that I would find that at some point in time!

It is only my first day in Canada, I am not quick to pass judgement on people, places or things, without proper analysis, I will reserve these comments to a later time, after reflection. I will however put forth my feelings, that as people we share many things, and the memories of my new Canadian friends will be everlasting. On the other side of things, In my short time in Canada, I see that there is a lack of Freedom, that we have in the United States, while it may seem subtle, it is very apparent. I will blog about this more at a later date, after I have gained more insight.

In the current time, things are going fine! Dad, a big shout out to you on "Fathers day", or in the ghetto, It would be "My Babies, Daddies day" None the less, you are the best!

As always I am not exactly sure where I will be tomorrow, but I just plan to be closer to where ever it is I want to be, and even that is not known.

Ride with me and we will discover it together.

Tim

PS: A shout out to Christina, Donna and Steve, thanks for a nice evening!

Pss: While the subtle nuances between Capitalism and Socialism my seem minimal, they are truly distinct, be careful what you wish for, or who you vote for, because the grass may not always be greener on the other side of the (border) fence!