Good start

Birch Bay State Park
Miles today: 57


Today I woke up pretty early, 6AM. However that was 9AM EST so I suppose I was just jet lagged. I headed down to the cafeteria but they were not serving yet. I spent my time journaling and taking care of my email. I was still groggy and when breakfast arrived. I drank three cups of tea and then I felt a little better and gave Dana a call to tell her I had arrived and I am doing well.
I hit the showers and slowly packed up and finally hit the road. I made a bunch of stops along the way. First bike lube and gloves, then stove fuel and small luggage locks to keep someone from grabbing and running with my panniers. Also I picked a water bottle up after I left one in the airport in Calgery. Finally I made one last stop, lunch at a restaurant which also was serving a shouting paranoid delusional schizophrenic.
I started putting miles behind me slowly thanks to numerous hills. At a break a few hours in I ran into a couple aussies who were also doing the tour. However they were going to meet up with a touring group in a few days and then without all their gear they were palnning on finishing at San Diago on the 16th. They were riding on a couple folding bikes and more amzing was the case they had packed their bikes in converted into trailers which they were hualing.
I reached the USA border late afternoon and after waiting in line for about 10 minutes I was through and in Washington State for the first ever. Shortly there after I made it to a supermarket that I picked up some dinner at. The most amazing thing, to myself, was tortillas. Tortillas in Canada I tend to find of sufficient quality, not great, and expensive (30-50 cents per tortilla). I resisted the urge to buy a 30 pack for $3.50 and instead got 20. I also bought some cheese and veggie-turkey slices to put in the tortillas.
I left the route to find Birch Bay where I am camping for the night. It was several miles off route and after my third flat for the day (Arg!) I got there, shortly before dark. Fortunately they had saved a spot for bikers like me and I am settled in for the night. It took a while but I found a spot for my hammock in the back of the site. While I ate turkey cheese wraps I tested the fuel I had bought and found I couldn't light it.
Finally I took a shower and now I am headed for bed.

The secret of my success

Vancouver, BC, Canada
About 7 miles biked today
O Miles Done
About 1800 Miles to go

I will explain the title in a few paragraphs. For now I will describe my long day.

It started at about 5AM with my mind not letting me rest. Only anxieties coursed through my mind when I closed my eyes.
I took advantage of this to take care of last details of all sorts; writing email, printing directions, and working out immigration paperwork.
Dana and I recently celebrated three years together. However during that time we maintained separate households until I met her in Tucson on August 24 last year. This is important because I cannot work in Canada without a special visa called a work permit. Dana already has one and she has the privilege of sponsoring one for me as well as soon as we meet the "common-law partner" requirements. As of August 24th do with a year of co-habitation.
I spent the morning going through the paper work and as soon as Dana was awake we walked down to city hall to have a "Commissioner of Oaths"(think notary) witness our "partner"ship paperwork. With that done we packed up the paperwork and sent it to Canada Immigration. Hopefully in a few weeks we will have a new work permit in the mail.
After that Dana and I had scarcely a moment together before she had to go to a dentist appointment.
I always imagine days like this in some sort distorted reality where people say profound things and moments are enough to sustain someone through a war in a foreign country. Instead I find reality a lot more mundane; me packing and her going to the dentist.
Her appointment went a little long but she still got to the house in plenty of time to get me to the airport.

I am flying out of the small regional airport which has affordable flights to Vancouver. I breezed through check-in and we were left with a long wait until my boarding. Dana and I sat and walked together. I found my emotions building since my early wake up.
This is a trip I have been wanting to do for 5 years. However on the eve of the trip I find my mind filed with fear, no terror. Every part of my being wants to run away. The scret to my sucess on this and many of my other trips is telling everyone what you plan to do because I think sometimes all that holds me together is social pressure.

Finally Dana and I decided that spending the last hour waiting in an airport was too stressful for both of us. We kissed our goodbyes and had a final hug before we tried to move our thoughts to anything but what we most cared about.
It may sound cruel, heartless, or just weird but finally separating helped reduce my dread. Although I we miss each other it is better that fearing we will miss each other.

When I travel I enter an alternate mental reality where I zone out and let the time pass. The flights we mostly unremarkable minus a very good landing and a brief delay while a crew tried to figure why they had an extra person on board.
At the airport the luggage seemed to take forever though I suspect I am grossly exaggerating. In about 45 minutes had my bike together and it seemed to have come through perfectly. After wandering around the airport for a while looking for water and change for a $2 coin I headed out to the buses.
I needed to catch three buses to where I am spending the night. The first two went perfectly. However the third bus was a pain. It cold and drizzling and after some waiting and asking I found out the bus route was re-routed. I got directions to the new stop which were wrong. At the new stop I got directions to near the right stop. I figured that out but then the advice on which bus I should take turned out to be in error. I sat an let the right bus cruise by and only found out when I tried the wrong bus and the driver corrected me. Finally after waiting some more I had spent over 45 minutes waiting a looking my transfer expired. I didn't have enough coins so I couldn't afford fair. However I had a good idea of where I was going from looking at maps in the morning. I put on my lights and helmet and headed out into the wet roads. It was much farther that I had anticipated. I originally had studied the maps to bike from the airport on a fairly direct route. However the bus system had me take a much longer route to get me to the connections I needed. As a result I pedaled for 30-45 minutes before I finally reached the hostel.
It is 1:30 AM local time but in my head it is 4:30 AM.

Practice Trip

This message has sat in the queue for a couple weeks. I originally wrote it on Aug 16th.
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Hello, any readers out there. Things should get much more interesting in a few weeks.

Tonight I type this from my campsite at Elora Gorge Provincial Park. I have decided (for now) to bring my hammock on my big ride so it is hanging up in some nice trees at the edge of the campsite. Camp sites here are expensive! I the states I feel like I am getting ripped off if I pay $20 for a site. Here I paid $27 and it don't have a shower or flush toilets. It is a bit of a change from what I am used to.

I am out here shaking down my gear. I have decided to switch from hauling a trailer to using racks and panniers. My thinking was that it would be easier at the airport (only one over sized box), cheaper or at least close (oversized box fees are pretty high), lighter (the trailer is pretty hefty). Anyhow I bought some racks and after some work got them bolted on. Next I need panniers. Dana has a old set that I was initially planing for the front. However my long feet would kick any bag I could find in the stores when I pedaled so I put hers on the back and I got some new ones for the front.

All in all they have worked out pretty well. I have to say the weight feels heaver in the panniers than in trailer even though there is less of it. Also I am worried about Dana's bags since they appear to wearing on account of their age and I had them get caught up in my spokes because the flex alot. I may end up ordering a set for rear bags after all. The newer bags have much stiffer back plates that I suspect are designed to avoid just this problem.

Anyhow I am finishing off dinner and I think it is time to call it a night. Tomorrow I plan to explore Elora, the gorge, and some of the small town charm that is only a couple hours pedal from my home.