Riding to the Sun Bucket List Item

After a great sleep in my nephew's new house, we set out from Calgary under somewhat grey skies and threatening winds.  It is amazing how easy it is to navigate around this town when your lead also drives jets for a living.  My spatial recognition and direction finding capabilities in the twin flatland cities of Calgary and Edmonton are left somewhat wanting at the best of times.  I guess that Mr. Garmin could have led me out, but it was so much easier to follow someone else's tailights.  The four mousketeers left the city and headed down south on Alberta 22.

The weather was okay, and traffic was relatively light.  Before we knew if, we had to stop for a jerky break and to begin to layer up.  It seems that the temperature had dropped considerably, after last nights storm.

By Pincher Creek, the three guys made a bee-line to the local department store to buy hoodies to keep the body temperature up.  It had begun to rain,and the temperature continued to drop as we moved south.

We reached the customs and border crossing that I had passed through a couple of years ago.  I had at that time a bit of a discussion with the crossing officical over past transgressions, such as hitchhicking in the states, and I have been worried about my ability to enter the States.  Some might say that i have been obsessing about it, but nevertherless, I was worried that I would be hassled again, and I did not want to be turned back for 40 year old mistakes.  Fortunately, after some questioning, all four of us were permitted entry into the States.
We continued travelling until we met the turn off for the Drive to the Sun, which was our goal for the day.  This would be the third time that I had ridden this fantastic drive, and I was very much looking forward to seeing the road again.  I had fantasized about riding with this group of family members for a few years, and here it was, happening for all of us.

We started our ride on the Road to the Sun, and the terrain unfolded before us.  The geography and the landscape are without parallel, in my opinion, of anywhere that I have travelled in North America.

A wonderful ride and a great day driving to the Sun.  We ended the day at Hungry Horse, a few miles north of Kalispell.  We will be taking some side routes into Missoula on Thursday, so that I can get a new chain and sprockets, and Brian can get a new rear tire.  The sun began to shine at the top of Logan Pass, and it was a beautiful evening in rural Montana.  I am really happy to have been able to share this ride with my brother in law, my sister, and my nephew.  I will remember this adventure with a great deal of pride and satisfaction that this goal was carried out and we all enjoyed our ride together.