It’s been a long day on our Long Ride to the North. Got started at a descent hour this AM after a nice hearty breakfast at the Griddle Cafe in downtown Shelby, MT. Before I go on with our day I’ve got to tell you about the Griddle Cafe. It’s a classic, small farming community cafe on Main St. in a small classic farming community, Shelby, MT. It’s like many across this fair land of ours. Over in a corner or on one side of the cafe is a table where all the good ol’ boys gather each day for their morning coffee. The banker is there as well as the grain elevator operator, a couple of farmers, the druggist and on occasion maybe the local attorney. Probably a baker and candle stick maker too if you checked into it. It’s always fun to watch them posturing with each other and over hear the gossip. The lady’s sewing circle has got nothing on these good ol’ boys. Anyway, back to the ride today. We crossed into Canada at Sweetgrass straight up I-15. Originally we had planned to get over to St. Mary on the east side of Glacier National Park and cross at Chief Mountain. The rains we have been in and out of for three days seemed to have settled over a widespread area and the St. Mary option was ruled out because of severe flooding, closed roads and lots of SNOW! We saw pictures today on the internet and it looked crazy. Glad we didn’t go that way. We had a trouble free crossing and stopped for our picture. It’s hard to tell this is Kathy and I since we are so bundled up but there was no way I was going to take any off it off for a picture. The rain began shortly after we crossed into Canada and lasted almost the entire 294 miles we rode today. In Ft. McCloud we stopped for a coffee to warm up a bit and dry out. Here we met a couple of guys, David and Dino, making the same ride from Tennessee. We parted company and assured each other we would probably cross paths again between here and Alaska. We checked the weather and decided to head straight up Hwy 2 from Ft. MCloud toward Calgary but we voted unanimously to avoid Calgary and work our way around it to the West. Ultimately we wanted to hook up with Hwy 1 and get to Canmore for the night. What a hassle that turned out to be. Heavy traffic, fast moving traffic, heavy rain. We got lost several times and finally used our judgment instead of the GPS and kept heading in a westerly direction until we finally found Hwy 1. We knew it had to be there…somewhere. After gassing up again we headed West for Canmore. By now the rain had let up and as we crested a hill, there before us was a postcard picture perfect view of the Canadian Rockies. I kept looking for a place to pull over for a picture but alas it didn’t happen. Traffic was too fast. Somebody needs to tell thee Canadians that 110 kilometers per hour is 66 miles an hour and not 80. We were in constant danger of getting run over for crying out loud. SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!! Finally we pulled into Canmore and found a great room with a great view. While it is true that we should’ve been camping the last couple of nights and we probably could have tonight, we were in no mood to be pitching tents. Although the sun was shining through breaks in the cloud cover, it still looked like it could rain. All we really cared about was a warm dry room for the night. Plenty of time to camp. No sense making it hard on ourselves. Needless to say with all of this rain, but I’m not getting any painting done. Hopefully in the next day or two I can get one of this fabulous landscape done and share it with you. Until then, stay tuned and goodnight.