Over the past month of riding together I think we have all determined that traveling by motorcycle is a study of extremes; extremes in endurance, extremes in conditions and extremes in weather. Let's go through the extremes in weather checklist to confirm we have experienced every one of them:

• Extreme dry..............check
• Extreme rain.............check
• Extreme humidity......check
  
• Extreme headwind....check
• Extreme tailwind.......check
• Extreme heat............check
• Extreme cold............che, hey wait a minute, I think we missed that, until this morning!!

As I was pulling into Billings after my hard day I did notice a line of clouds moving in from the North. While I was checking in at the front desk the clerk noticed on my drivers license that I was from Canada, and he mentioned a cold front was moving in from Canada as well and a 45 degree temperature drop was predicted. The high in Billings that day was mid 90's so it wasn't going to be very nice, although I am sure the locals appreciated a break from the heat.

So I woke up this morning at about 0830, stuck my head out of the door and was shocked at how cold it was. As many things in life can be solved by going back to bed, that is what I did. When I awoke again around 1000 I turned on the weather channel to find it was 45 degrees outside (7C), I elected to wait a little while longer.

Departing at 1045 had only helped by 3F, but at first it didn't seem so bad. I continued on the secondary Hwy #3 as it wound its way through cattle country, alternating north and west, the 2 currently desired directions. As we got into more deserted area about 15 minutes outside of Billings my speed gradually increased back up to 140 kph, and it started to get pretty dang cold.

We have a headwind again today, about 12 MPH, so after my experience yesterday it is nothing, but it does blow the cold right through me. I am considering putting on my rain suit just for the wind proofing aspect of it. That should be an indication of how desperate I am!!

As I approached a small town called Harlowton, MT is was advertising a Sports and Western wear store, I planned a stop there and kept up my speed to reach it before hypothermia set in. It is kind of a toss up, driving faster makes you colder for a shorter period of time while driving slower increases your exposure time. I went for driving faster!

Pulling into Harlowton there was Ray's Sporting & Western Wear shop right next to a gas station, and a small Cafe, the new day time trifecta! A nice lady in Ray's understood my dilemma and tried to sell me a brand name hoodie, Tommy Hifiger I think, for $120.00, I told her I was on a budget so we moved to the cheapo shelf. I am not really on a budget, but I don't care for hoodies so it was not something I was going to wear on a regular basis.

On the cheapo shelf was a long sleeve sweatshirt that fit the bill, sadly as far as fitting me they had a medium, and a 3X extra large. The medium was out for sure, so I went for the size ginormous which meant the sleeves were too long-but they went right into my gloves, and the shirt part went down almost to my kneecaps! Somewhat of a Mu Mu, not a good look for me, but my already somewhat generous appearance standards fall even further when faced with 8 hours in the cold. I had put in on over my riding t-shirt.

I topped up my tank and then had a bowl of chili, all stalling tactics to let it warm up some more. Finally I left the town around 1300h, and rode for about 15 minutes only to find it wasn't quite enough, I stopped at an abandoned garage to put on another shirt, that finally did the trick!



Highway 3 winds its way into Great Falls then it is I-15 northbound, there is no shortage of Alberta license plates north of GF's, they pretty much outnumber all other plates. I crossed the border at Sweet Grass/Coutts and stopped in duty free for some liquor and bon bons. I think it is generally a good idea not to come home empty handed when you leave your wife at home alone for a month!!

Leaving the DF shop I had a little navigation problem as the sign that points to Canada is hand written and about 4 inches square. I guy follows you in a small pickup truck to ensure you don't take your duty free and return to America. I could see him having a fit in the cab of his truck as I took the turn off back to Great Falls, but I pulled a U-turn where he couldn't follow, and left him behind.

This will be the first time that I have come home from 'merica that I didn't bring a carton of Winston 100's and that is because this Saturday September 6th will be my 1 year anniversary of quitting. I didn't really smoke that much, maybe half a dozenish smokes a day, but I still feel great after a year without!

I passed through customs in about 30 seconds with maybe 3 questions, I always kinda giggle when they ask about weapons, I think it is just so far outside of my psyche to own, or to be carrying a firearm, but not to those 'mericans.

It was my plan to drive to Fort MacLeod at the least and after leaving the border I was pleased to find that Canada had conveniently arranged a tail wind for my Welcome Home. I pulled into Ft. MacLeod about 1700h and stopped at a gas station to clean my visor and mull over stopping for the day or continuing on. I have often stayed in either Ft. MacLeod or Nanton, but never at the points in between, there are about 5 or 6 small towns between Calgary and the border on hwy 2.

I still had daylight, it was warm now and I had a tailwind so I decided to push on. It was less than 100 km to my favorite town of Nanton, AB and that was where I would rest my head for the last night of the trip. As I passed through Claresholm I saw a motel/bar next to a gas station (Trifecta!) that I had not noticed before. I briefly toyed with the idea of stopping there, but decided, ill-fatedly, to push on.

I had already found I was struggling to re-calibrate my brain to metric speeds and distances, plus my eagerness to get to my stop for the day led to an overly aggressive right hand when I left town. I was still in a 50 km/h zone when I cracked her open, only to be caught by a Mountie with a laser gun a little way down the road, whilst doing 85 kph. How incredibly ironical to have driven 13 000 km without a single law enforcement incident, only to be caught less than 200 kms into my home province.



At first I was a little choked, but then I thought of it this way $219.00 ÷ 30 days = about $7.00/day speeding tax, a more than reasonable vigourish to pay The Man to look the other way. Sadly it is also 4 demerits, but my license is clean, it is my first speeding ticket in about 10 years so I'll be OK.

In the 40 km to Nanton, driven with a modest right hand, I saw the po po 3 more times, 2 in radio cars and 1 slick top, scoping the highway. That must be a really great way for small towns to generate revenue to build their giant perogies, easter eggs or other attractions. I made it to Nanton without further incident, had a steak sammich and few wobbly pops and was in bed by 2300h.