Day 1: travel to the start

​Today was our first day of the adventure and by the looks of its hope this is NOT an indication of what’s to come. The day started off just fine, Abby got up really early to get me to the airport with my bag and bike box. The box that I weighed at home as 48 pounds, 2 under max. Of course the United scale said 52. It actually bounced around over and under 50 as I tried to “nudge it a bit.”  The very nice United agent didn’t put up a stink and passed the box along. Yay, a good start. 

The box weighing a questionable 48, or maybe 52 pounds

Then I met up with Jerry in Chicago and we set about the longer flight to Calgary. I had an earlier boarding group, so I took one of his bags with me to snag an overhead spot near our seats. Then waited. And waited. And eventually got a phone call from Jerry saying he brought the wrong passport with him. He brought a card, which is good for driving across the border. Oops. He couldn’t get on and I had his bag. I alerted a flight attendant to get his bag off the flight, and continued on my way. Jerry was able to rebook on a later flight, while his poor wife Barb had to drive from Madison with his real passport. He will arrive late tonight and catch tomorrow’s first bus to Banff. 

arriving into Calgary

Meanwhile I’m currently traveling on the bus to the hostel in Banff and hoping for the best. I’ll put my bike together tonight and perhaps sleep in late tomorrow. Or better, have a nice morning exploring Banff. Not the worst situation, by far. Maybe this will be a GOOD start to our trip. At least for me…

bus ride into the mountains



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