Home again...again...(sort of)

This morning I had the pleasure of having the first really good cup of coffee I have had in a long time - proof that I am getting closer to home. Thank Dude for Crabtree Coffee in Lewistown!

I left Lewistown headed toward Harlowton and ultimately Bozeman. I was riding along and came upon another collection of wind turbines. I am not sure what it is about these things that attracts me. Maybe it's the fact that they have incredible potential to help the environment, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they are incredible machines.

These were even placed in active farms and create more income for the farmers. The road was open into the farm so I took a little walk to get a closer look, and holy crap are these big!

I was surprised at the noise they make, too. It sounds a bit like an airplane without the engine, and when there is almost no other noise around they are pretty loud.

After my stop at the wind farm I continued south and made my way into the Gallatin National Forest and the Bridger Mountains. This is the Montana that I know and love. I remember living here in college and having this great sense of being very small in all this space, and it still feels that way. I stopped in the middle of nowhere to listen to the wind and the quiet of the openness, and it felt just the same as it did years ago - peaceful.

It was cold in the mountains and that was wonderful. I geared up heavy and got ready to ride again, and then noticed a giant storm right where I was going…again. This time I held out no hope of missing it, and persisted with the wind at my side and the clouds building. As I got closer to Bozeman it started to look a little less like I would get wet, and by some miracle I managed to make it around the edge of the storm and stay dry! Whew, I must have done something right somewhere.

I was in Bozeman early today so I decided to try to make up a meeting that was missed in Plentywood. I went to the Rebellion Dogs at 5:30 and we talked about how we try to get rid of our selfishness and become useful to other people. It was a very pleasurable discussion and I was glad to be in the room. Thanks, Rebellion Dogs!

After the meeting I chatted with a few folks and asked around to see if anyone knew my friend Geoff from years back and people did! So I got his number and met him at the Farmers Market to catch up for a little bit. It was really great to see Geoff happy, and to meet his wife and little baby. I am glad to know that things are going well for Geoff!

After we chatted for a bit there was another big thunderstorm rolling in and I needed to get out of the rain somewhere so went to the Tuesday at 8 meeting. The meeting was about how we learn to have and use faith, and it was a good reminder to me that I have no idea what's good for me. Thanks, Tuesday at 8!

When the meeting ended I got a chance to talk with some folks that I knew a decade ago when I lived here. It was great to catch up a little bit and have a chat with some familiar people. Thanks, Kurt, Melinda, and Ferd! It was great to see you guys and I'm glad things are well for you all.

I also had the pleasure of talking to Nate after the meeting. Nate is pretty new to our fellowship, and struggling with some of the things that I had a hard time with when I was new (and older). It was great, as always, to talk with someone with the same story and be able to share in the solution. Thanks for being there, Nate, and hang in there!

Geoff and his wife Grace were nice enough to leave the front door open for me and have a futon set up in the front room. They had gone to bed a while before, but still opened their home to me. In the morning Geoff and I got some more time to catch up and chat, and I am grateful that the bonds we make in this fellowship can last through years of not communicating. Thanks, so much Grace, Geoff, Josephine, and Henry (for coming in and licking me in the middle of the night), it was a pleasure to be able to see you guys and a real treat to have a place to stay!

Stormin' the West

I left Plentywood headed west and I was pleasantly surprised by the weather. It was warm when I left and I was already thinking that it was going to be so hot that I was uncomfortable - but it was perfect…for a little while.

I had a bit of a headache, and stopped in Scobey (I really wish it had been Scooby) for gas and to take some Advil, and shortly afterward I was feeling like myself again. The hills were getting bigger and more green, and the scenery was getting much better. But it was starting to get hot.

I stopped just south of US 2 at a little fishing access spot and took some photos of the river, and cool off. It was still too flat for the river to be really running, but it was beautiful nonetheless. I found out later that it was the Missouri River, and I was startled that it was here, but then remembered that the headwaters are near Bozeman, so it makes some sense.

I stopped again at the town of Jordan and I ran into three guys headed down to Sturgis from somewhere in Manitoba. They said they had already ridden 500 miles today, and that they were planning on 200 more to get where they were going. It made me grateful that for most of the trip I have managed to make my days short and not have many places to be.

Coming out of Jordan I was suddenly in a canyonland like place. As I looked around I could have sworn that I was in Utah somewhere. The hills had turned into sharp edged mesas, and the rock was white and red. It was incredible. Then, just as fast as the mesas came - they went, and something wonderful happened… Trees!

It wasn't much, but it did make it feel like I was getting into the Montana that I know.

It was also about this time that I saw a storm moving in from the south. I was hopeful that I could beat it, but I wasn't convinced. I was mostly headed west at this point, and if the storm was as big as it looked it stretched at least to Lewistown, if not farther. After a little more riding I decided that it was time to don the rain gear because I was looking at riding into this:

Right as I was putting my jacket back on the wind was suddenly blowing about 50mph and I was chasing gloves around and struggling to get myself together. I got back on the bike and rode about 10 miles with the wind in my side and the bike at a 45 degree angle just to go straight, and then found the Kozy Korner Cafe in Winnett.

Lo and behold the Canadians from earlier had held up there as well, and we got a chance to swap stories and talk bikes while we let the storm pass. As things started to clear we all went outside and met Buck, the owner of the Kozy Korner. Buck was a true Montanan if I've ever met one. He was friendly and jovial, and also a wealth of knowledge about the weather and the roads. He had been watching the weather move through this area for at least 60 years, and that makes him more valuable than any meteorologist in my book. He warned the Canadians that they were gonna get wet, and warned me about the chipseal work on my way to Lewistown. He was right on my account, and I hope he wasn't for the other guys, but experience tells me they had a wet afternoon.

I made it to Lewistown and a meeting with the Lewistown Group. We read out of our monthly magazine, and the discussion that followed was about learning form the old-timers, and the grace we receive if we are open to it. It reminded me about how excited I am to get back to the Old-Guy meeting, and how grateful I am to be open to that grace today. Thanks, Lewistown!

After the meeting I went for a bite to eat with Hal and Dennis. We had a great little chat about all kinds of things pertaining to our program, and I was thrilled again to hear little parts of my story in theirs. I had a wonderful time, and Dennis even offered me a spare bed in his house! Dennis and I chatted later into the evening and it was a pleasure to spent time with him. Thanks, Dennis and Hal, I appreciate your time!

The Wide Open West

I stopped for gas before leaving Devil's Lake and got to chat with a few other bikers while I was there. Sturgis was this weekend and that meant that there were a lot of people traveling back home from there; the first two guys were headed back to New York. We talked a bit about the places we'd been and the I caught myself doing something that I hate; I was telling them that they ought to go around Lake Superior. Shit, I'm that guy now! Then I did it with the next guy who came in. What's happened to me?!

I hung my head in shame and got back on US 2 headed west. My experience with North Dakota today can be pretty well summed up with one photo:

This is not to say that I didn't see anything interesting, but it was close. I was seeing brown fields for a long time and then I began to see occasional fields of North Dakota's most beautiful crop:

They were definitely a welcome sight amidst the brown barley stubble.

As I was riding along I began to think about the things that the Canadians had told me they enjoy about crossing the plains in the States. Number one was the higher speed limits, and I agree, that is helpful. Number two were the rest areas. I have mostly always taken rest areas for granted, and while I was in Canada they had these great little waysides that had wonderful views and usually had a bathroom of some kind. So I didn't really understand, then I got to thinking that most of our rest areas usually only have views of the parking lot and the restroom building, and just as I started to think that I stopped at a rest area with this view:

Figures that I would start thinking that we never have views at our rest areas and then stumble on that. That's what I get for thinking…

I stopped for lunch in Minot and when I got back on the road I soon turned north onto US 52 and was pleasantly surprised by the change of scenery. I found myself looking at rolling hills on either side of me and I was riding in a nice little valley. The stream winding through the valley made the crop fields fascinating to look at because it cut through the middle of the fields and left crooked edges on them. Here is a satellite photo to illustrate:


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A little farther up the road I went through an area where most graduating classes had used white rocks on the hillside to display their year. I saw years from 1959 all the way up to 2005 and a few of them said 'State Champs' underneath the year. I take this is an indication of how little there is to do in the area, especially because some of the older years have obviously been repainted recently.

US 52 turned into North Dakota 5 and ran a straight line into Montana. the hills got bigger and greener, and I could tell that I was getting closer to the west that I know.

Just a little way into Montana I came into the town of Plentywood where I was planning to go to a meeting. I found the meeting place and also found a sign on the door saying that meetings happen on Wednesday and Saturday - not Sunday. Damn. I was a little bummed out, and looked for another meeting nearby, but the closest one was still 2 hours away, and I would have gotten there in the middle of the meeting if I was lucky. I chalked up another missed meeting and went to find a place to stay. A meeting would have been nice, but a quiet night at the hotel will be nice, too.

To end the day I was walking back from the restaurant and I saw this:

Welcome back to the Big Sky Country.

A Storm A-Brewin'

When I got up this morning I looked at the license plate on the truck next to me and it was from Washington! That's the first one I have seen in weeks. I started up a little conversation and asked them if Washington still existed.

"It did a week ago," they said.

Whew, what a relief. It's been so long since I saw someone from my home state that I was starting to get a little worried. The talk didn't last long, but it was nice to have a conversation with someone with the same accent.

While leaving International Falls the landscape started to get boring pretty quickly. I knew this was going to happen, but it is always a bit of a surprise when the hills disappear and the only thing to look at is the weather:

And it got worse from there. What trees there were started to disappear, and soon the only thing around was farmland. I am sorry to say that those clouds were the only thing I saw today that was really interesting. Even the farmland was extra bare because they had just harvested the barley, and the only activity in the fields was cleaning up the stubble from the harvest. The roads were string straight, and I could see for at least ten miles in all directions at all times. It was a long day.

I pulled into Devil's Lake, ND just in time for the 8 o'clock meeting. It was the first candlelight meeting of the trip, and we talked about our 'design for living' and how it works. There were also some newer folks there, and I always like to hear how it feels to be new. I never want to actually feel that again, so remembering is good. Thanks, Saturday Night Group!

After the meeting I went out for a bite to eat with a few people from the meeting. It was really great to spend some time with family outside of the rooms just talking about life stuff. Thanks, Bill, Pete, Mark, and Pete's wife. (Sorry I forgot your name…) I had a wonderful time!

Homeland Security?

I woke up this morning in my tent and I was freezing, so I bundled up and went back to sleep to let the day warm up a bit. When I woke up again it was 10 o'clock and still quite chilly. It turns out that it got down to about 40 degrees here last night! That's quite the improvement over the 80's and 90's I have been battling at night. It's so much easier to get warmer than it is to get colder.

As I woke up with some coffee I started looking for a meeting for the day. The closest one to the west was about 6 hours away in Dryden, so I started to look at other options. Part of me wanted to get back into the States where things would be more familiar, and a little faster for getting across the plains. That part of the ride was going to be boring either way, and the States are a little more populated through there, so that makes me feel a little better about it. So I started looking for meetings in the States, but there wasn't anything in the area I was headed into. Then I remembered that there was a noon meeting at the Welcome Group here in Thunder Bay. It would be a bit of a scramble to get there, but I could do it.

I walked in a little late but I made it. The discussion centered around humility, and there are few things more entertaining than all of us sitting around talking about how humble we are… In any case, it was a wonderful meeting and there were even some familiar faces from the night before!

After the meeting I got to talking with Sean and we decided to go get some lunch together before I left town. It was a real treat to hang out with Sean. There is something really magical that happens when two of us sit down and start talking, and I really enjoy being able to tell some sort of deep secrets to a near stranger and be able to laugh about it. Thanks, Sean. You are a great spirit. Keep up the good work.

After lunch I headed west and just into the ride I found another one of those tranquil little spots on some water.

The water was lapping up on the shore, the wind was whispering through the aspens, and I could hear almost nothing else. I felt like no one was around for miles, and it was just me and the Universe. Fantastic!

When I got back on the road again I was keenly aware for the first time that I was headed home. For much of the trip I have been chasing my shadow into the east in the afternoons, but today I was headed straight into the western sun, and I began to feel anxious to get back home to my friends, and especially to Mandy. It's good to be pointed toward home.

Riding along Highway 11 I started to get a sense for what it would be like to ride through the prairies in Canada; I went stretches of almost 100 miles without going through a town, and I was accompanied by more ravens than people. I was grateful, however, to have them as my guardians for the day.

Once I got into Fort Frances I was getting a little tired, so I stopped at a grocery store for some snacks. When I got back out to the bike I got to chat with Eric, the first person I had actually talked to since lunch with Sean. Eric is a local guy who has been involved in the paper mill industry in one way or another for white some time. Trouble is, that in recent years about 70% of Ontario's paper mills have been shut down, leaving Eric "waiting for his next calling." It was nice to talk to someone who did not have agitation in his voice because he was out of work. Instead he seemed to be perfectly happy and of the belief that it was the way it was supposed to be, and that's OK. Thanks for the reminder, Eric!

Crossing back into the states involved far more questioning and concern than going the other way. Somehow this seems a litle backward to me. The customs agent was quite disturbed by the fact that I didn't know where I was going for the night, and also took some time to thoroughly inspect the apples in my cooler, for what, I still don't know. It's strange to me that a U.S. citizen has more trouble getting into their country than out of it. I guess homeland security is about protecting us from ourselves…or something like that…

Canadian Beauty

I had a fun little experience at the motel this morning in Marathon. It was like camping, only without the tent. There as no coffee available in the room or at the desk, so I broke out the camp stove and made my own on the back porch. Part of me wondered if they were going to yell at me for it, but I needed coffee, and they would understand that…maybe. It was pretty nice really, and I was glad I had the option.

After the usual wakeup routine I went for breakfast, and afterward met Dwayne. Dwayne was probably 5, and enchanted by my bike. He kept asking me how I was gong to ride it. This was a question I had never really considered an answer to, and every time I started to answer he would look away uninterested, so I finally settled on, "I just get on and ride it the same way you do with your bike."

He seemed satisfied with that answer, or at least distracted, and started pointing to things and asking, "What's that?"

I continued to answer, and then when he asked about the feather I told him it was to help protect me while on the road, and he looked at me with wide eyes and said, "I need one of those!"

I told him that it only really works if you find it on the ground near your bike, and that way you know it's meant for you. His face fell a little, and then he said, "I better start looking," and looked around on the ground.

Just then his mother called for him and he turned away and started walking toward his mom, but he kept talking about something, and looking at the ground. I told him goodbye, but he didn't hear me and just kept walking. Dwayne reminded me that there is wonder in the simple things, and reminded me of the best highway warning sign I've seen on the trip. Somewhere in Kentucky, I think, I saw a yellow diamond warning sign that said, "Watch Children". I am sure that they want us to make sure we don't hit them, but I take it to mean that they can teach us a lot if we just watch them, Thanks, Dwayne!

Shortly after Dwayne left I was getting ready to leave and a cop pulled up behind my bike. For a moment I got a little nervous, but it turns out he was admiring the bike and that was really all. We chatted a little about riding, and he told me about some spots to stop on my way to Thunder Bay. I have to say that it is pretty great to talk to cops and just have a conversation!

I left Marathon headed west and started ticking off the places the officer had told me to stop. First on the list was Aguasabon Gorge.

The falls are actually a spillway from a hydroelectric dam. Too bad none of our spillways are that neat in the States:

The next stop I made was at a little wayside, (although not a direct recommendation by the officer). I stopped because coming down the hill I had seen a tremendous view, and I thought I might be able to get a shot. I had to stand up on the picnic table to get it, but I got it:

I was told that I should stop at Canada's longest suspension bridge, but I was short on time, so I had to pass it up. I did, however, make it to the Terry Fox memorial just outside Thunder Bay, and I am glad I did. I had no idea that there was a one legged cancer survivor who tried to run across the country to raise money for cancer research! That's awesome! And the view was great to boot:

Once in Thunder Bay I went straight to the meeting because I was running a little late. The meeting was the Welcome Group, and that's exactly how I felt. The discussion centered around how we have come to believe in something. I love meetings like that because, of all things, we are all pretty honest and open about that. Thanks, Welcome Group!

After the meeting I rode out to Chippewa Park. After crossing one of the scariest bridge I have ever been on I rode for a long way through the dark, but when it came time to turn into the park a fox ran across the road in front of me, and then led me down the road to the entrance to the park. Thanks, Fox Guy!

Pooh Goes Home

This morning I was feeling much better about being in Canada, thanks to the wonderful meeting, and the tremendous hospitality at the Ambassador Motel. Before leaving the motel I asked Robin, one of the owners, about a good breakfast spot, and was told to try a place called the Mountain Ashe Inn about fifteen minutes north of town. So I headed that way, and just when I was starting to wonder if I'd missed it, there it was on the left. Only problem was, it was closed - permanently.

"I'm in trouble," I thought. I had left town already, and I was starving. I looked around a bit and saw a little fish and chips stand across the highway and thought, "Well, I didn't know I wanted fish for breakfast, but I guess I do."

When I got in line there were four people in front of me and I figured it was going to stay busy, but by the time I ordered everyone else had left, and no one else was coming, so I started talking to the owner, Percy, and I quickly understood why I was at a fish stand for breakfast. This guy was awesome. A native man (half native I found out later) with a tremendous amount of life experience, and was certainly on a spiritual path that I cannot even begin to understand.

Percy served my food and I stood in the window of the stand and we had a wonderful conversation while I ate. He told me about growing up in the area (there is even a bay named after his family) and working jobs like mining, sandblasting, and now cooking. He said, "I never made burgers before this, eh, but I like it. My wife told me, 'you can't do that work.' And I said, 'If I die making burgers I'll die happy, but if I die on the couch at home I will die the most miserable death any man could ask for."

This is a man who knows what he wants and how to get it and then just does it. He says, "If I could have anything in the world at my age (65) it would be an education, eh. I'm good at most things I do, but an education would make me unstoppable." And I believe him.

Growing up Percy was around the elder natives in the area, and they called him Shaganash his whole life. "My mother was white, and that made me less dark than the rest of my family, so they called me Shaganash. It means 'white man'. It stuck, and even all through school people called me Shaganash, or Shag."

He also told me that the remembers one of the elders telling him, "One man is given the gift of the mind, and another is given the gift of the mouth. The creator does this so that we have to work together. No one man can do it alone." That sounds familiar!

Having a fish breakfast with Percy was a tremendous gift this morning, and a good reminder that I cannot possibly begin to plan the great parts of this trip. Thanks, Shaganash!

Shortly after leaving Percy's fish stand I was riding with Lake Superior on my left. It was beautiful, and the weather was so nice that I even had a few moments where I felt cold! I was amazed at the variety in the landscape here along Canada 17. There are more types of rocks than I think I have ever seen in one place, and there is an incredible amount of water around. There are rivers, creeks, and lakes around every corner. My favorites were Mom Lake on the right, Dad Lake on the left, and the Baby Lake on the right. But this was the most beautiful spot I stopped:

I stopped later for a little break overlooking Lake Superior:

And while I was there I noticed a new kind of graffiti. It seems that the thing to do when traveling across Canada is to take a Sharpie and write who you are and what trip you are taking for others to come see:

I wish I'd brought a Sharpie…

Later in the day I came to White River, Ontario, and the most exciting moment of the trip for my passengers. I've mentioned before that I have teddy bears on my bike, but I didn't tell you that they are Paddington and Pooh, and they rode in my mom's car for many years. For the most part they have sat quietly for 9000+ miles, but today they jumped off and ran up to have a look at this:

It turns out that a black bear was born in White River and taken back to the London Zoo and named Winnie. It was this bear that helped inspire A.A. Milne to write the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Now Pooh has a better knowledge of his lineage, even if I did have to read the plaque to him. I knew there was a reason I brought them along…

The day ended in Marathon, Ontario, a town that exists today because of the gold mines nearby. The meeting was the Nor Wester group, and it was another book study. It was a pleasure to be a part of a small tight-knit group and discuss the process of making amends, and the freedom that comes from it. Thanks, Nor Wester Group!