Day 1-Saskatoon to Calgary-620km-9 Sept. 2014,

Finally the day is here, 3 years of research, planning, and dreaming are all coming together today. On this great day I woke at 0800 to message from Jason, it was the Calgary forecast. It called for a high of 3°C with a 60% chance of snow, the forecast for Saskatoon wasn’t much better. The weather was supposed to improve in two to three days but in the previous week we had already changed our departure date twice (we initially wanted to leave on Sunday the 7^th).  After collecting my thoughts I called Jason to discuss the situation, I was of the opinion that we were as ready as we were going to be and putting off our departure again wouldn’t really make us more prepared and we might even be snowbound in Saskatoon if we waited. Besides, riding into the first snow storm of the year would be a great way to test all our gear and it would sound pretty cool when we told the story later. With that decided, I jumped out of bed to do some last minute packing, strap it all to my bike, and enjoy one last shower before forsaking all but the most basic personal hygiene practices for the next five months (kidding!!.... kind of).

On the phone, Jason said he would be at my place by nine to do some last minute adjustments. I wasn’t surprised at all when he finally rolled in at ten; I have come to accept that Jason will find a way to be late for everything! We both took this last opportunity check our bikes over, tighten loose bolts, and bless them with one last ceremonial wack with the hammer (which is of course the preferred tool for fixing any and all problems on the KLR). Had there been a goat handy we probably would have sacrificed it for good measure, but since none were available we prepared and sacrificed sandwiches for lunch.

Finally we were ready to go! The bikes were purring in unison, itching to go. As we climbed aboard our beasts, ready to ride off into the distance, Jason noticed that he hadn’t tightened the nuts holding his GPS…. After a moment’s hesitation it was decided that the best course of action was to deal with it later. We were off!

On our way out of the city we stopped off to visit Ms. Jen Busby and her class of grade 6-8 students who will be following our progress throughout our trip, which is why I have to strive to keep this Blog PG (Also, Hi Mom and Dad!). They interviewed us for a news article that they will be writing in class and took turns sitting on the bikes and honking the horns; my fluorescent orange helmet was a big hit with this crowd.

Ms. J's Students sending us off by JKD Photography

Finally by 1:30 we were on the open road heading west to Argentina! (via Calgary!). The air was bitterly cold but, with all my clothes and the hand warmers at full blast, it was bearable. We cruised straight from Saskatoon to Alsask where we turned onto secondary highways to take the scenic route to Drumheller.

The scenic route from Dorothy to Drumheller by JKD Photography

Before we reached the city of dinosaurs, we decided to take an even more scenic route when we crossed a bridge in Dorothy, AB and climbed a sand road out of a river valley onto a wide gravel road… that had been turned slippery mess by the rain and snow that had fallen recently. The GPS insisted that I was completely lost and refused to give us any useful directions, so we spent the next hour carefully working our way towards the trans Canada as snow began to fall. Eventually we made it to the highway with only ~60km left we cruised towards Calary shivering as the sun set. We finally made it to the warmth of Josh’s apartment where we gratefully accepted cold beers and delicious spaghetti.

Having all the gear on the bikes took some getting used to. They cruised well on the highway but getting on and off took some getting used to. Jason was the first to go down, with a very public tumble in a gas station parking lot in Kindersley, yes people saw. I soon followed with a topple of my own on a road side pullout when I tried to step off to stretch my legs, Jason was the only witness. To break the tie, Jason dropped his baby in front of Josh’s apartment with plenty of witnesses. For those of you keeping track at home, Jason is currently up 2 to 1.

Day 2-Calgary-Snow Day! -10 Sept. 2014,

Overnight much of southern Alberta was blanketed with snow, we had set out to avoid winter entirely but somehow it had found us. I carefully considered our options for the day while watching a tree fall outside of the apartment window and take out a power line, a snow day was clearly in order. With that decided, I crawled back into my sleeping bag and tried to watch a movie but was rudely interrupted by a power outage, so I went back to sleep.

The bikes wish they were inside the warm apartment too!

Eventually I woke up again and had a hot shower… in the dark (no power or windows in the bathroom). James Wong, a friend of ours, had messaged me to see if we had lunch plans. Since I hadn’t even got around planning breakfast yet, I promptly accepted this invitation. Two hours later, James pulls up next to a fallen tree in his Mercedes to give us our official tour of Calgary.  James took us to the finest lunch spot in town where I enjoyed some excellent Pho soup with beef and tendon ( I wasn’t brave enough to try the tripe, next time I promise!).

After some sightseeing and shopping adventures we made the obligatory stop at Mountain Equipment Coop to stock up on the last of camping supplies and met up with Josh who had foolishly not chosen to take a snow day and had spent the day being a productive member of society. We found our way back to the apartment to make homemade pizza (AKA delissio). After a few rounds of cards we prepared ourselves to do the most Canadian of things…. Wander out into the snowy night with a back pack full of camera gear and beer, to climb a hill for a spectacular view of the Calgary sky line.

Just when we thought we wouldn't see any snow this year... by JKD Photography

I have to thank Josh and James for their hospitality, it was really appreciated. Sorry to all our other friends in Calgary, I would have had time to see you all but I guess now you will just have to fly somewhere warm if you want to see us this year!