Back from the Road

Hi All,

What a lenghty time lapse without a posting here - all due to the Road Trip of all road trips. We've just landed back home after a mere 6500km have rolled around on the trusty old Ford Focus (which performed admirably - only needing to have 2 new tires put on the back in Utah as the wire had come right through the old ones making for some very wobbly driving, akin to racing down a cobble street at 70mph). I'm not sure how to get all of the trip's news on one post, so this might have to be a multi posted affair. First things first though;

My fascination with the big wild animals of Canada remains, and we saw this critter just as it was going dark by the road up near Lake Louise, feasting on the abundance of Buffalo Berries. Thinking how cuddly he looks, we had to recall that such a beast killed a biker a few days ago at Panorama!!!!!!

The trip into the states opened our eyes about how they deal with bears. In a town called Leadville in Colorado, the local newspaper pointed out that the biggest problem with bears was that locals were going out and wrestling them (honestly, I kid you not), and then in Crested Butte we saw a bear wandering down a back street at night - but thinking that there would be signs up or some kind of "alerting news" we dismissed the bear sighting as a big dog or a shadow - until the chef in the bar we ended up in told us that the bear had been in the alley every night for the past two months scavenging in the garbage bins (not bear proof) - the Yankie Doodles really are laid back when it comes to the ol' Ursus (maybe it's because they're all allowed to be holstered up with guns - the folks not the bears).

Anyway, back to the road trip. The focus was fully laden (with a touch of space saved for loading up at the Patagonia shop on the way home) and we headed out at 6pm making a bee line for Waterton. The plan was to ride the "Going to the Sun" road in Montana the following morning.

We spent most of the day of leaving, wandering around MEC trawling for all the things we needed (and didn't need).

So we made it to Waterton for sunset and had a nice wander around the Prince of Wales hotel and the Lake (which is the piccy at the top of this post).

It was a treat to be on the road and in the tent. We were all beaming about the adventure that lay ahead (although I was a tad apprehensive about getting into the States, for no other reason than I think that the customs folk don't like me and am developing a complex about it - but all was fine - and friendly!!!!).

The first ride of the trip came in Glacier NP - from St Mary on the East side of the park, to the Western entrance of Glacier - via the wonderful Going to the Sun road, which we hit early and missed the heavy traffic, saw glaciers, mt goats and incredibly speeds on the descent over the other side - the pass was a mere 6500 feet, which was great, but ones double that in altitude awaited in Coloroado - and I was already gasping for air....

I'll leave you with the bro's of R&R summiting Logan Pass.

My minds still a bit muddled with the enormity of what we've done, so the next post will be tomorrow and shall continue regaling the trip (Flaming Gorge, Yellowstone, Jackson, Crested Butte, Aspen, Vail, Telluride, Mesa Verde, Moab, Black Rock Gorge of the Gunnison are still to come - although not in that order... and I think I've still missed a few there!).

Hope all your summers are trippin'

Missing packing up the tent each morning,

Si, Bri, Mark and Luce.