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On The Road with Lou!
It is our last day in 'merica and I am looking forward to getting back to Canader, eh? It was a beautiful blue sky day and we started out with a fill up across the street. I am pretty happy I didn't run out of gas even once on this trip, knock on wood! On my way to DC in 2011 (blog coming soon!) I let a gas jockey fill the tank and he shorted me by about 100 kms worth of range, which resulted in some hitch hiking, I do my own fill ups now.
My time on USGT 93 had come to an end, 93 carries on into British Columbia, then in one form or another goes all the way until it T intersects with Highway 16 in Jasper National Park. It is one helluva a Goat Trail! I briefly get on I-90 eastbound for about 10 miles, then take USGT 200. It is a nice mix of twisties and straight-aways. I should also mention that I am on the verge of being cold this morning, and I did not sweat at all yesterday which was the first time in weeks.
It is about 250 kms until I hit I-15 northbound, now we are making progress! As you know I usually shun the Interstate, or at least talk myself out of it! But once you get within 1000 kms of home the priority becomes getting there so Interstates are efficient forms of travel. Also Montana Interstates are still pretty lightly traffic'ed due to the state's low population.
It is 200 km to Shelby and about midway there is a rest stop where I find an interesting addition to the Titan Missile Museum on a placard. There are still 450 active missile silos in 'merica, spread evenly between Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. As you read this there are about 9000 men and women standing guard on missiles that can be launched in under a minute. Modern missiles have multi independently target-able re-entry vehicles (MIRV's) and accuracy due to GPS in the meter range.
Russia by way of comparison has over 800 operational silo's pointed back at us, well mostly 'merica, but they are built by the lowest Russian bidder so you know a couple are gonna fall short. You might expect The Oil Sands to get a couple and maybe refinery row too.
Adding to the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) are 18 'merican Ohio class ballistic missile submarines (Boomers) 4 are carrying 24 missiles with up to 8 independent warheads, and 14 Boomers are each carrying up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Russia has its own boomers that carry 160 independent warheads and have global reach. SALT II limits each side to 2400 total delivery vehicles of all types with no maximum on yields.
Have a nice day!
I pull into Shelby, MT for gas and I see these pointed lug nuts on a semi, where is this guy going, the Chariot Races? All kidding aside, if a motorcyclist ever got side swiped (or blown into by the wind) he'd get sliced, diced and julienned!
At my gas stop in Shelby I also solve a mystery that has been baffling me for several weeks on this trip. When I would transfer HeroCam footage to my laptop, through a SD card reader, I would frequently get these large files that we very weird, all blurry, dark, full of video noise and a red light. There were often 4 or 5 all partitioned right at the typical file split point, 1.85 GB. Here is an example.
I caught this piece of footage at the Shelby, MT gas stop. It was a HeroCam recording inside of my laptop pelican where I kept my spare camera gear (that hadn't fallen off the bike) as well as my water bottle.
You need to depress the power button for 4 seconds to turn it on, I had them configured to use One Button so they automagically start recording upon power up. They must have been somehow turning themselves on in the case. That is why I would find the batts dead all the time too, I thought they were discharging even when not in use. Multiple mysteries solved in one swell foop!
Last tankful of cheap 'merican gas and I was under 60 kms to the border. When I say cheap, Premium was about $4.30, when I was in the Corpus Christi area I was paying about $2.75 for hi test, and diesel was $2.15. I read a few newspaper articles that were predicting sub $2 dollar gallons by Christmas. Those 'mericans have no motivation at all left to develop alternate forms of energy!
Sweet Grass has a duty free shop so I stop for liquor, scents and chocolate. I have found over the years that coming home empty handed after leaving your wife alone for a month is no good for any one. So now I make it my policy to return with gifts, liquor and bon bons! I take 2 bottles of liquor as I am not bringing back any tobacco (Sept 6th will be my 2 year anniversary smoke free!). I use all my 'merican money plus all the US change in my pocket to pay for my purchases. I hold back 12 bucks for additional duty.
I see they have expanded their sign that points the way out of the Duty Free. They have a guy in a small girlie pickup truck that follows you out of their parking lot to make sure you don't take your booty and go back to the USA. Last year I took a wrong turn due to their small handwritten sign and I ended up on the ramp to the hwy southbound. The guy in the pickup about had a fit, honking his horn and yelling out the window.
Unless that little pickup had a blower under the hood, or was some kind of special Interceptor model he wasn't gonna catch me if that was my intent. I drove through a shallow ditch and got back on track though. This year I see they have a large sign, maybe 6' across so no error is made.
Approaching the actual border crossing I pull up behind a mini van that has the first Alberta license plate that I have seen in over 3 weeks. I am amazed at the effect it has on me, I almost tear up. It is so great to be coming home 1 step at a time.
I am up front with the border guy and tell him I have 2 bottles of liquor but no tobacco and maybe $250 bucks worth total of merchandise, 95% of which is duty free. The guy could not be more disinterested, mid way through our chat he gets a phone call. He askes me to hold on for a minute and slides his window closed, but leaves it open a couple of inches by accident. I overhear his phone call, it is his wife reminding him to pickup liver and hair curlers on his way home. OK, OK, I actually can't hear her side but he tells her he loves her at the end of the call! Could have been his Mother too I suppose.
We resume our discussion, he doesn't flinch at my duty free overage, and then he unceremoniously dismisses me. I am back in Canada! I am Canadian! I surreptitiously recorded the conversation with my handlebar mounted camera, but sadly you can't hear his phone conversation with the window closed.
From the border it is just 215 kms to Claresholm, my new favorite southern Alberta small town, despite the massive speeding ticket I got there last year. I cut through Lethbridge and don't get lost, for a change! I am in Claresholm by Happy Hour. I stay at the Lazy J mo'tel (can't stop saying it that way despite not being in 'merica anymore!). The front desk guy remembers me and gives me a walkout room, except this time it is to the front parking lot, not the alley. I've been upgraded, hafta work on my comps next!
Sadly the bar next door that I dreamed of their pizza all day is being renovated, I guess Ted Nugent called and wanted his rumpus room decor back, but I cross the street for an excellent homemade grease wheel and a large quantity of Smirnoff Ices. I am back in my room by 2200h, do a little blogging and watch some TV, the Weather Channel is forecasting a 'cooling trend' that's what they call it.
Gonna try to go to sleep early for my easy 400 km day tomorrow.
We'll file that last statement under Ominous Foreshadowing.
Day 22
Missoula, MT to Claresholm, AB
577 km
My time on USGT 93 had come to an end, 93 carries on into British Columbia, then in one form or another goes all the way until it T intersects with Highway 16 in Jasper National Park. It is one helluva a Goat Trail! I briefly get on I-90 eastbound for about 10 miles, then take USGT 200. It is a nice mix of twisties and straight-aways. I should also mention that I am on the verge of being cold this morning, and I did not sweat at all yesterday which was the first time in weeks.
It is about 250 kms until I hit I-15 northbound, now we are making progress! As you know I usually shun the Interstate, or at least talk myself out of it! But once you get within 1000 kms of home the priority becomes getting there so Interstates are efficient forms of travel. Also Montana Interstates are still pretty lightly traffic'ed due to the state's low population.
It is 200 km to Shelby and about midway there is a rest stop where I find an interesting addition to the Titan Missile Museum on a placard. There are still 450 active missile silos in 'merica, spread evenly between Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. As you read this there are about 9000 men and women standing guard on missiles that can be launched in under a minute. Modern missiles have multi independently target-able re-entry vehicles (MIRV's) and accuracy due to GPS in the meter range.
Russia by way of comparison has over 800 operational silo's pointed back at us, well mostly 'merica, but they are built by the lowest Russian bidder so you know a couple are gonna fall short. You might expect The Oil Sands to get a couple and maybe refinery row too.
Adding to the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) are 18 'merican Ohio class ballistic missile submarines (Boomers) 4 are carrying 24 missiles with up to 8 independent warheads, and 14 Boomers are each carrying up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. Russia has its own boomers that carry 160 independent warheads and have global reach. SALT II limits each side to 2400 total delivery vehicles of all types with no maximum on yields.
Have a nice day!
I pull into Shelby, MT for gas and I see these pointed lug nuts on a semi, where is this guy going, the Chariot Races? All kidding aside, if a motorcyclist ever got side swiped (or blown into by the wind) he'd get sliced, diced and julienned!
At my gas stop in Shelby I also solve a mystery that has been baffling me for several weeks on this trip. When I would transfer HeroCam footage to my laptop, through a SD card reader, I would frequently get these large files that we very weird, all blurry, dark, full of video noise and a red light. There were often 4 or 5 all partitioned right at the typical file split point, 1.85 GB. Here is an example.
I caught this piece of footage at the Shelby, MT gas stop. It was a HeroCam recording inside of my laptop pelican where I kept my spare camera gear (that hadn't fallen off the bike) as well as my water bottle.
You need to depress the power button for 4 seconds to turn it on, I had them configured to use One Button so they automagically start recording upon power up. They must have been somehow turning themselves on in the case. That is why I would find the batts dead all the time too, I thought they were discharging even when not in use. Multiple mysteries solved in one swell foop!
Last tankful of cheap 'merican gas and I was under 60 kms to the border. When I say cheap, Premium was about $4.30, when I was in the Corpus Christi area I was paying about $2.75 for hi test, and diesel was $2.15. I read a few newspaper articles that were predicting sub $2 dollar gallons by Christmas. Those 'mericans have no motivation at all left to develop alternate forms of energy!
Sweet Grass has a duty free shop so I stop for liquor, scents and chocolate. I have found over the years that coming home empty handed after leaving your wife alone for a month is no good for any one. So now I make it my policy to return with gifts, liquor and bon bons! I take 2 bottles of liquor as I am not bringing back any tobacco (Sept 6th will be my 2 year anniversary smoke free!). I use all my 'merican money plus all the US change in my pocket to pay for my purchases. I hold back 12 bucks for additional duty.
I see they have expanded their sign that points the way out of the Duty Free. They have a guy in a small girlie pickup truck that follows you out of their parking lot to make sure you don't take your booty and go back to the USA. Last year I took a wrong turn due to their small handwritten sign and I ended up on the ramp to the hwy southbound. The guy in the pickup about had a fit, honking his horn and yelling out the window.
Unless that little pickup had a blower under the hood, or was some kind of special Interceptor model he wasn't gonna catch me if that was my intent. I drove through a shallow ditch and got back on track though. This year I see they have a large sign, maybe 6' across so no error is made.
Approaching the actual border crossing I pull up behind a mini van that has the first Alberta license plate that I have seen in over 3 weeks. I am amazed at the effect it has on me, I almost tear up. It is so great to be coming home 1 step at a time.
I am up front with the border guy and tell him I have 2 bottles of liquor but no tobacco and maybe $250 bucks worth total of merchandise, 95% of which is duty free. The guy could not be more disinterested, mid way through our chat he gets a phone call. He askes me to hold on for a minute and slides his window closed, but leaves it open a couple of inches by accident. I overhear his phone call, it is his wife reminding him to pickup liver and hair curlers on his way home. OK, OK, I actually can't hear her side but he tells her he loves her at the end of the call! Could have been his Mother too I suppose.
We resume our discussion, he doesn't flinch at my duty free overage, and then he unceremoniously dismisses me. I am back in Canada! I am Canadian! I surreptitiously recorded the conversation with my handlebar mounted camera, but sadly you can't hear his phone conversation with the window closed.
From the border it is just 215 kms to Claresholm, my new favorite southern Alberta small town, despite the massive speeding ticket I got there last year. I cut through Lethbridge and don't get lost, for a change! I am in Claresholm by Happy Hour. I stay at the Lazy J mo'tel (can't stop saying it that way despite not being in 'merica anymore!). The front desk guy remembers me and gives me a walkout room, except this time it is to the front parking lot, not the alley. I've been upgraded, hafta work on my comps next!
Sadly the bar next door that I dreamed of their pizza all day is being renovated, I guess Ted Nugent called and wanted his rumpus room decor back, but I cross the street for an excellent homemade grease wheel and a large quantity of Smirnoff Ices. I am back in my room by 2200h, do a little blogging and watch some TV, the Weather Channel is forecasting a 'cooling trend' that's what they call it.
Gonna try to go to sleep early for my easy 400 km day tomorrow.
We'll file that last statement under Ominous Foreshadowing.
Day 22
Missoula, MT to Claresholm, AB
577 km
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