And as it ends, so it begins….

I am home. The trip completed. The adventure realized. The experience lived.

The journey continues.

I have to say, this adventure upon which I embarked 30 days ago will never be more than one sharp curve away from me. I will forever be comparing a great set of Ontario or Quebec twisties with those that I danced in Alberta and British Columbia.

I will always be transported back to Golden, BC, as I watch a sunrise sparkle on the calm waters of a forested lake.

The sound of a rushing creek will bring me right back to the serenity of the Cottonwood Recreation site on the Duffey Lake Road outside of Lillooet, BC.

And riding through the Laurentians will always cause me to yearn for the majesty of the Canadian Rockies.
I consider each of these to be a blessing. For the memories that will be evoked are something that I am privileged to have, and to relive, over and over again.

The trip home was accomplished relatively quickly. I left Jasper, Alberta on Friday morning and was home in Ottawa very early (0300) on Wednesday morning. I did take some time to stop and smell the roses, as it were, however.

I have tried to give detail to some of those spots – sites – vistas that caused me pause to enjoy and absorb. One of those that I am fortunate to have taken the time to explore was the Alberta Badlands in Drumheller, AB. Drumheller was my first stop on my way home after leaving Jasper – my older brother strongly suggested that I take the time to check it out, and like most little brothers, I trust my older bro’s advice.
He has yet to steer me wrong. The Badlands are an almost surreal, straight-out-of-the-movies landscape of truly hard, dusty, desolate and breathtakingly beautiful landscape. I can certainly understand the draw – the lure that Drumheller retains to this day on that specific kind of lone, vagabond, cowboy-type of traveler. A testament to this observation was the sheer number of other riders in the area, traveling the old ‘Dinosaur Trail’, retracing the paths and roads ridden by their cowboy brethren of a time long past, yet still so near. I swear you can still hear the sound of galloping hooves coming from that rising dust trail just off to your right….

Drumheller is a place full of ghosts. Full of history. Full of a childlike sense of wonder and awe. Hell, there are dinosaurs here! And cattle rustlers. Horse Thief canyon tells that tale.

I did not take the time to check out the Royal Tyrell Museum which houses one of the worlds largest displays of dinosaurs – just one more stop for my next trip out west – but I encourage you to check out the link found HERE to learn more about Canada’s dinosaur past and the incredible displays housed within.
I have linked to my Drumheller pics in the post just prior to this one – no need to link again. I just thought that Drumheller deserved to be shared a little more in depth with you.

From Drumheller I rode on through to Regina and spent Saturday night there. In the morning I decided that I wanted to try to get to Ontario by Sunday evening, so I rode pretty hard through to Kenora. I stopped near the Manitoba / Ontario border and took a couple of pictures of the canola fields – bright yellow flowers for as far as the eye can see – and then again just inside the Ontario border to get a snap of a yet another beautiful sunset. I should mention that during the last 20 kms of the TransCanada in Manitoba, before entering Ontario, I must have seen at least 11 deer. It was unbelievable how many of them were standing in the ditches, or up on the rises on either side of the highway. You can bet I adjusted my speed and notched my ‘alert’ level up.

This heightened level of alertness served me well. I saw yet another black bear and two moose before deciding that it was just plain foolish to continue riding in this part on Northern Ontario at this time of the evening / night. I pulled into Kenora, got a room and called it a day.

The next morning I hopped back in the saddle, knowing it was going to be another long one, and set out to ride.

I finally called it a day in Marathon after seeing another abundance of wildlife that is not only beautiful, but far too menacing for a man on a motorcycle. Another black bear, 2 more moose and more deer than Gary Larson ever drew in his incredibly intelligent commentary on the human condition, the Far Side.

I guess the name of the town inspired me for the last leg of my journey. I left Marathon on Tuesday morning, and after 17 hours in the saddle I crawled into my own bed here in Ottawa at 0300 on Wednesday morning.
And it felt good to be home. To sleep in my own bed. To awake with no destination to travel towards. To remember.

There are more stories to come from this adventure of mine – I have not yet covered it all, and I will attend to that as time, and mood, permit. I think I will spend the next little while just letting it all settle, and sharing stories with family, friends and co-workers. I am certain that each time I speak of this trip, and the 13,000+ kms that I covered, I will remember new things to add to future blog posts. One thing that I already know that I will eventually get around to will be a sort of ‘best of’, offering tips, advice and shared experiences to future vagabond adventure riders. I learned quite a lot about long-distance traveling recently – as one of my trip advisors told me that I would.

For now, I would like to thank a few specific individuals for their assistance – advice – input and friendship:

Dusty Boots – while I could have done this trip without you, it would not have been nearly the same, nor nearly as incredible. The time that you took to put together maps, recommend gear, point me to campgrounds, advise on routes to avoid, and more importantly on routes that were ‘must ride’ – was time well spent my friend. The success and enjoyment – even fulfillment – that I have come away with are largely gifts given freely by you, to me. So thank you, good sir. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all that you did.

DrMucker, Scotty-004, Pathfinder and the rest of the gang from the Vancouver 056 – thank you for a wonderful meal, great conversation, and making an outta-towner feel like he was right at home.

Loki, Dirtymech and the crew from the Calgary 022 – the ride that you took me on to Braggs Creek was a fantastic introduction to what I was to come to experience throughout my adventure – great roads, incredible scenery, and truly wonderful people. Thank you all once again.

Sophia – I know I have already said it, but I have to say it again - thank you so much for putting me up – and putting up with me for my week in Vancouver. You were an amazing host and a great tour-guide – as well as wonderful company. I am grateful.

To the crew from the Ottawa 011 who offered travel suggestions, advice, encouragement, and who faithfully followed my blog – including RoadDawg and brian2tall – thanks guys. It meant a lot to know that you guys were enjoying the trip as well.

Stickman – thanks for joining me from Sault Ste. Marie to Calgary, as well as for your hospitality. I hope that you enjoy the boots brother.

I am certain to have missed a few names, and I apologize for that. Please just know that I truly did, and do, appreciate all that everyone has done to help make this dream a reality for me.

Before I sign off, I did take the time to put together a couple of slide-shows that I uploaded to YouTube. I have given the links to these, as well as the remaining pictures from the journey home, below.

Regina to Ottawa pictures HERE.
Slideshow #1 – If God Made You HERE.
Slideshow #2 – The Meeting HERE.

There is more to come, for as I indicated in the title – the journey continues. So take a break. Stretch your legs. Shake some of the highway out of your bones, and the road-dust from your hair.

Just be ready to ride again at a moments notice.

Ride safe, brothers and sisters. But RIDE!