One step forward…

I'm sitting here in Eureka Montana at 6:30 in the morning. I am in a rental car and just crossed the border. I'm waiting to meet Glen from Hermosa tours so that I can pick up my bike. Chances are that I will need my bike so that I can ride it back to Mexico. 

It has been a great little vacation so far in British Columbia. Alison and I arrived Tuesday in Vancouver and stayed in a funky little place downtown called The Burrard. We met some old friends for dinner and really enjoyed Vancouver. 

We headed out the next day and had lunch in Whistler on our way to Lillooet Lake Lodge just outside of Pemberton. The lodge was real rustic... Outhouse and all. 

The next day we drove to Kelowna to an awesome  bed-and-breakfast called the Gable B&B. We did some wine tours and remted a boat for a couple of hours on Lake Okanagan. 

Our plan was to get up early yesterday morning and head to Revelstoke - a simple 2 hour drive. 

The problems started when I woke up yesterday morning to an email from Matt at Hermosa Tours. It seems that the crew from Durango got stopped at the Canadian border when they tried to cross with two trucks full of camping gear and no permits to allow them to work in Canada. 

Of course the big challenge now is how do I get my bike from the USA? After talking with Matt and Glenn I decided to drive down and meet them in the town of Eureka just south of the US border. I figured that at the same time I could do them a favor and pick up enough camping gear to support the ride from Banff back to the border. 

Did I mention that the drive took 13 hours to get to Fernie? There was a head-on collision on the trans Canada Highway and they closed both lanes for five hours. There are not a lot of alternative routes but after two hours of waiting we decided to try and find one. Long story short after 13 hours of driving and a ferry ride we finally made it to Fernie.  The fun never stops.       

Of course I have no idea whether what I'm doing is legal or not. But at least I am a Canadian citizen as well as carrying a green card for the USA so I have the right to work in both countries. 

Which brings us to why I am sitting here at the crack of dawn waiting for the van so that we can fill up my rental car with my bike and camping gear. Then I will make a run back across the border with my fingers crossed and a great big smile on my face for my friends in Canadian customs.