The wheels fell off the wagon!

Things got off to a rocky start just getting through security at the Ottawa airport. First I forgot about my cellphone stuck in a cargo pocket, then the titanium in my neck set off the metal detector, then my shoes set off an alarm resulting in a full body pat down and scan. After it was determined that I was safe their attention shifted to my tank bag jammed with electronics - GPS, 2 cameras, US cellphone, chargers, adapters, etc. At one point the guy emptied the bag onto a table and was repeatedly passing the empty bag through the scanner. I leaned over so I could see the screen, and as they pointed at the screen while poking and prodding the bag I could see a bunch of odd flower shaped things scattered about in the middle of the bag that looked like they were glowing somehow. Just as they were trying to figure out how to disassemble the bag it hit me: "Magnets! They hold the bag onto my steel gas tank!" Ray mentioned that they probably don't see a lot of motorcycle luggage at an airport security checkpoint.

The flight went fine, my sister picked me up as promised, and since we had time to kill we set up on a patio in White Rock overlooking the ocean for beer and nachos. That proved to be an excellent choice, the temperature was 25C and bikini/halter top season had begun. All the scenery was just lovely!

That's when the wheels fell off the wagon. Ray called me that night from his buddies house to tell me the truck hauling our bikes had broken down in Canmore Alberta. The parts were ordered, and he expected to arrive on Friday night. Oh well. Could be a lot worse. Peggy and Dave gave me a vehicle (a turbo charged Subaru, neither of the Miata's has been plated yet for the summer) and since I couldn't play with my own bike I spent the day touring motorcycle shops in the lower mainland.

It was in the late afternoon after I returned to Peg and Dave's that I received an email from Ray telling me the shipper had now been delayed because the highway had been closed for avalanche control! The fact that the bikes were going to be held up until Saturday was only a small part of the problem, the bigger problem was the whole avalanche thing. We had planned on being able to run back and forth through the mountain ranges to escape bad weather on the coast when necessary, and while we realized some of the roads we wanted to use in Wyoming or Montana might still be snowed in we hadn't expected that to happen so early in the trip. Thankfully my sister and brother in law had prepared for just such an eventuality and laid in an extra stock of Vodka in case I wound up staying an extra few days.

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