Entered Canada Today
Today we entered Canada but not quite as we had planned, more later. We had a great conversation this morning with two 1200GS riders from Seattle. George and Bob were nice guys and wished us well on a great trip. This might have been a curse! No, just kidding.

Doug wanted to visit Glacier National Park in Montana so we plotted a route through the park. When we arrived Doug took the lead and showed the ranger his park pass. Since I didn't have one I was supposed to buy one from the ranger. Doug said that seemed unfair since we only had 4 wheels between us and I should be able to come in on his pass. To my great surprise she winked at Doug and waved me through. Doug can be very charming.

We were going towards a town called St. Mary. From St. Mary we would head north to Calgary. The ride up the hill was spectacular. The road became very narrow and twisty. There was often sand and water in the road so we had to be careful. Furthermore the views were so beautiful we wanted to look at the view rather than the road.

We rode up the road for about 30 miles and enjoyed every mile. Soon we reached an area with lots of cars. Here is what we saw:




Yes the road was closed! So we retraced our entire morning. Well Doug and I are pretty laid back when it comes to things like this so we headed to our first Canadian destination of Cranbrook, BC. We had intended to stay in Calgary tonight but as Doug said, "such is life."

Entering Canada was not what I expected. It was very easy. The lady at the border asked for our driving licence. She asked if we had ever been in court before a judge. While we entered separately I could hear Doug's answers. Doug went into an explanation of how he was once a witness and was in court. The border guard politely interrupted him and moved on to another question. It was funny when she asked him if he brought any protection. Weird question anyway but I am sure it is intended at gun control. Doug said no he had no protection. She asked, are you sure you don't have any protection? At that which time Doug reached into his tank bag and pulled out a can of bear repellent (pepper spray). He almost aimed it at her and I started to worry about him. She said to put it away and waved him through.

When she asked me the same questions I had no problem answering truthfully but I could barely hold back being a smart alec when she asked about protection. There are so many ways that could have gone but none would have gotten me through faster. So I told her I had bear spray and she waved me through.

Here is another photo of the border:


Please notice the BMW 2x4 is still holding up the motorcycle. Hey if it works don't fix it.

Tomorrow we will head to Banf. Both Doug and I are looking forward to exploring this area.

Dell
- posted by Dell @ 9:12 PM