Awoke at the CoB but as I only have a few hours left to drive I won't be leaving early. I do some blogging, writing about the rain day. Enough time has passed that it is no longer painful to think about, further passage of time will leave only the good memories which will consist of the Mussels in Cream sauce and the 18 oz New York, I think it is mankinds ability to forget suffering and only remember the good things that allowed us to venture out of our caves in the first place.

I get the whole Monday written and published and then start on Tuesday, which was just yesterday. I have done a good job keeping up this year, mostly due to the new, simplified format I adopted. I get about 75% of it written when my left hand hits some combinations of keys that, inexplicably, closes my browser windows. As this blog site runs in a browser window, that means an hour's work, poof, gonzo.

I try a few things to see if I can get it back, but cannot, check browser history, ctrl-Z, nope, all is gone.

I go back to bed.

Back up at 1000, and on the road by 1030. I am driving the gauntlet of small towns between Lethbridge and Calgary. I say gauntlet because every small town, county and jurisdiction has but one way to fund itself, traffic tickets from hwy 2. My right hand has become hard twisting over the last 3 weeks, I have been travelling at 120 - 140 kmh consistently. Bill and I had zero encounters with 'merican law enforcement, but things are different in Canada.

Years ago, returning from Key West, FL, after spending almost 5 weeks on the road and not a whiff of US po'lice, I was caught in a radar trap outside of Claresholm, to the tune of $273.00, not something I want to repeat. A couple of rabbits pass me (cars moving at high speeds) and I hop (ha!) on their coat tails, putting them about 100 yards ahead and keeping an eye on them.

Wednesday mornings must be a slow traffic time as although I am mindful of my rabbits, and slow to posted limits in towns, I don't see any law enforcement vehicles. Damnit, wasted all of that law abiding behaviour when it wasn't necessary.

Approaching Calgary I really want to take the bypass, but although my fuel is reading only 250 kms on the tank I do not know when the next fuel will be, so I end up going through on Deerfoot and stopping at the 300ish km mark.

Leaving Calgary a hard headwind starts blowing, oh the ironical irony! I hate Hwy 2, I hate the stretch between E-town and C-town, having driven it so many times! I stop for a banana in Bowden to bolster my spirits.

It gets worse passing through Red Deer when the smoke, that was a barely noticeable haze, becomes full on, reducing visibility to maybe 100 yards. My eyes and throat start to burn! I have full on white line fever, all I want to do is get home!

Finally the turn off for the Henday arrives and soon I am on Baseline, then 50th street, then my back alley! I am home, safe and sound. My wife, BuBu meets me on the back pad with a warm embrace and eager kiss! How I have missed her! Kacy is quite excited to see me, Finnygan is aloof, Sherman doesn't know what to make of me, and Harvey doesn't even wake up and come out!

Then BuBu surprises me with DustBusters on the patio, having a six pack of Ice Cold Sapporo waiting for me, and then, a freshly popped bag of popcorn! Oh BuBu, you are so funny and thoughful! Thank you!

Thank you BabyGirl for always encouraging me to go on these trips, and for the sacrifices you make so I can have fun. I hope you know how much I love and appreciate you!

Some quick statistics;

Trip Length 20 days

Riding days 18 (1 day as tourist in St. Louis, 1 day in Tucson)

10 168 kms driven/564 kms per day

Stopped for gas 39 times (low of $2.52 in Gallup, NM/high of $3.39 in Cardston, MT) buying 172 gallons of gas.

172 gal = 1135 litres = 6.6L/100 kms or 43 miles per gallon

Stayed in 18 motels, low of $52.50 in Gallup, NM and $157.60 in St. Louis, MO.

I guess the moral of this story is, go to Gallup, NM!

The Rocket was bullet proof, once it sorted out its check engine light the first 2 or 3 days, never saw it again. Didn't even burn a drop of oil! Great Bike!

So, that is it for 2018, Bill & Lou On The Road Again.

Thank you for coming along, we hope to travel together with you again soon!