OFFICIAL WORLD WANDERER STATIONERY

May 27, 1966

Geehi Camp Ground Snowy Mountains Australia to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada

Hello World Wanderer followers.

I'm sitting in front of a 66Mhz 486 in a Penthouse apartment complex overlooking Vancouver BC. Beautiful city lights at night, nice view during the day. How did this come about? I was surprised at the arrival at the airport on my flight from Fiji to Vancouver B.C. Bill Owen a big hearted fellow I met on my on my '93 Cross Country bike trip who I'd put on my Email list thought he'd come out to check me out first hand since I was flying into Vancouver, his home town. I met Bill while he was in a pool of sweat climbing White Bird Hill Idaho. It was one of those long steep hills cyclist like

myself just love to fly down. Saw him going the other way as I was enjoying my high speed decent. Feeling social I turned around and followed this laboring cyclist to stop and chat. "Where you headed" he asked. Colorado, Where are you going" I responded "Colorado" he said. Well judging from the sweat he had dripping from his forehead I figured may be he was just a little delirious since Colorado was to the south and he was going North. Seventeen days later I ran into him again just before crossing into Colorado from Wyoming. Met some others along that route who were following the

middle tier of the Bike Centennial trail. Ended up camping with these folks for the next few nights while passing through Colorado.

Bill has the dream employment situation. He runs his own business writing and distributing Canadian Income Tax software. He's busy as can be November through February then normally has the rest of the year off and has done some very interesting tours. I'm sure he's got many more touring miles under his belt than I do. Been staying here for three nights so far.

Happens that Jodi and Michelle had the same flight from Cairns Australia, to Fiji, and then to Vancouver B.C., so they are here too running errands and preparing as I am for the next leg of the trip. Jodi's going to meet friends in Seattle then has a ticket to fly to Anchorage and will ride with a friend on the Alaska , Canada, U.S.A. leg to finish out the trip. Michelle plans to ride the inland ferries to Alaska, and is trying to figure out the best way to get to Anchorage area. The inland ferry system stops about 800 miles short of Anchorage. I'm planning to ferry to Haines Alaska, the end of the line and start the journey south from there. No plans to go all the way to Anchorage. That will give me more time I think to visit folks along the way. Both Jodi, and Michelle will be heading east (their both east coasters) after doing the ice fields highway between Banff and Jasper. I plan to head west through Revelstoke then south to Penticton. I want to finish the trip in San Diego but pass through Portland on the way, therefore I'll probably go through Chalan Wa. Hood River Or. over Mt. Hood, into Portland. Hope to be able to check out the winter storm damage and have time to visit just a bit before I head out to Tillamook then down the Oregon and California coast to San Diego.

Well, lets see. Last article I wrote was from the Geehi campground back in the Snowy Mountains of Victoria Australia. With my realisation of just how big Australia is and how little time I had to get to Cairns I mapped out a straight line route with the exception of dropping into Sydney to pickup mail that I'd missed in Christ Church N.Z. and had forwarded to Sydney. Straightest line went inland to avoid a convex bend in the coast. Went through towns with names like Dubbo, Narrabri, Morre, Goodiwindi, Miles, Wowan, and finally out at the Coast at Rockhampton. Mackay, Townsville, then Cairns. Brought my total mileage up to 15001 miles, about 2500 of that in Australia.

I'll try to point out some of the highlights of my tour from Geehi to Cairns.

The amount of food I'd brought into the Geehi determined how long I could stay and rest there. After two days I looked over my inventory and decided I had no choice but to move on the third day. Figured I had about thirty miles to go with a 2500 foot climb to Tredbo, and alpine ski town. An easy afternoon ride I thought. Well wrong again. Seems like every time I climbed and got some good elevation, the road would drop back down to a creek, a bridge, then start all over again. Wondered how many extra thousands of feet I climbed to get to the final pass. Dead Horse Pass. A short way down the other side to Tredbo. Too late in the day to look around much so just got some food and water quickly and headed out to camp. Found frost and ice on the tent fly in the morning. Up and out of camp early to go back and take a look around Tredbo. Saw a couple out for a morning walk in the early morning fog. Dressed warmly and holding hands, they looked to be enjoying the brisk mountain air. Stopped to look at a sign with the ski area map. Ah pretty well planned area I thought. A quad chair on the outside of the village services the people who drive or ride busses up. Another triple chair comes right down almost to the middle of the village. A bit closer into the village the same couple passed. The woman said something to me, I couldn't understand. I stopped and put my parka hood down. We chatted for a bit Liz and Mark, he's from Sydney, she from Melbourne. They are living in Sydney now and plan to move to Tredbo. They can run their business from anywhere they said. Mark had just come back from business trip to Seattle, Santa Clara, and San Diego. It's been a while since I'd been in the states, I asked him how things were there. They thought that funny. They met on a ski trip in Whistler Blackcomb, now they are cohabiting business partners. They invited me to have breakfast with them in one of the village cafe's. They were most interested in my experiences on this trip. Found that Mark, is a physiologist, did his doctorate study on carpel tunnel, and suffered from it while typing up his thesis. Since getting out of school he's invented a new style key board. All he would tell me about it is that its ergonomically correct in all three dimensions. A split keyboard with height. His trip was to work out production rights with several different "big computer companies." Was told of testing they have done with subjects wired into strain gauges and found significant reductions of strain using his new keyboard. Well an interesting meeting. Thought that's what I need to do is invent something and live off the royalties.

Couple days later came to Lake Jyndabyne and the town of Jyndabyne, a resort town for the lake in the summer and the mountain ski areas in the winter. I'd passed numerous bill boards claiming "The death toll must come down". Apparently drinking and driving is much more accepted in Australia than in the States, but its having a deathly effect on the population. A campaign is in place to make drinking and driving less acceptable. It was a holiday weekend and the police were out in force. Went through a road block. A police car parked in the middle of the road facing oncoming traffic with all lights flashing. The officer was randomly stopping vehicles and requiring the driver to do a breath test. He'd pulled over a pickup with an empty boat trailer when I went by. The back of the light bar on the police car had an 6 inch high bright one line LED display. It scrolled "....RANDOM ........BREATH ........TESTING" through its ten character window. Later I'd see police cars on the highways just doing their normal cruising ".......CHECK...............SPEED.........," the two words flip flopping back and forth on the display. There was a Hobie regatta going on at the lake. The thought of cycling over to the bay where all the boats were going into shore. With a little luck I could get a crew position. Once again time considerations made me put out that idea. Did spend the afternoon in a lake side park watching the boats, then camped at a nearby city campground. Next morning was a gloriously sunny morning till about 8:30, 9:00 then distant clouds moved in dropping the temperature, and bringing in scattered showers. Kept telling my self "It's not cold out" but the combination of a little breeze and rain slowly sucked the heat out of my body. Went through the little town of Berridale after a long decent. There was an Easter festival celebration going on in the city park. Lots of umbrellas bumping one another as the people moved from booth to booth. A band played on the back of a flat bed truck, a tarp as a roof. Shivering I put on my rain paints, and rain coat hoping to warm up on the ride into Cooma, the next town. A ways out riding in a half aware state heard the screech of tires ahead of me. Brought me to my senses fast as I scanned my surrounding to assess if I was in immediate danger. Saw a kangaroo hopping down the road frantically changing from side to side as if in a survival run to escape an aggressor. Poor animal didn't have the knowledge to get off the road. I thought maybe it was running the easiest path, the clear flat roadway. Tall grasses on the side of the road would have made it's escape much slower, but it finally did just that. Off into the grass it disappeared. Warming up now so stopped by an small side road to take of the rain pants and have a snack. Before I got going again a cycle rider coming the other way came over to chat. Ken is from Australia's capitol Canberra was using the holiday weekend to ride out to Lake Jyndebyne. He's wearing a soaking wet gray T shirt and biking shorts. We talked for a bit and he gave me his card and offered a place for me to stay in Canberra. Unfortunately I would be past the area before he was back. He gave me his business card. I noticed there was an Email address on it so I sent him a post card giving him my sister Margaret's Email address and if he wanted to know more about my trip he should Email her and get on the list. According to my latest mail from home, he followed through and will be getting this article. Still amazes me what can be done with our modern world of electronics, and how its helping the world become a smaller place.

Got some excellent tail winds coming into Sydney, helped in accomplishing some seventy five and eighty mile days. Coming into the city had fifty miles done by noon. Sixty miles to the campground I'd picked out to stay at in the northern suburbs of Sydney. Do a hundred and ten mile day and I'd be there I thought. Excellent riding on the express way towards town, a beautiful clear day. Watched some parasailers descend from their airplane launch to a landing area adjacent to the road. Their coloured sails proclaimed a feeling of freedom they must feel on their journey back to earth. Noticed many sails had two tiny bodies dangling beneath them. Tandem sky diving is definitely the rage around here down under. Thirty miles from my destination ran over a piece of broken steel belted tire. Shortly after that the bike started feeling sluggish. Looked down at the back tire. Looked okay. Can't see the contact point of the front tire on the road 'cause of all the stuff I have piled on the front of the bike. Bounced on the handle bars, ... and they bounced. Bummer, front tire is going low. It was 4:00PM. It will take an hour to fix this flat. No way to make it the rest of the way to the city campground. I looked around a spotted a good low profile spot at the top of a road cut. Pushed the bike up a steep hill to get to the top of the cut, fixed the flat put up the tent, and had dinner. Next morning was glad I didn't continue in to town the previous night. Would have been very difficult in the dark. Rode on the express way. It turned into a toll road, bicycles allowed, and no fee. Bike trail signs on the road shoulder. Saw a couple locals on road bikes out training. Finally close to city centre, a sign says bikes not allowed. Forced onto the city streets into a run down area of town. Worked my way to the campground in a northern suburb, was 3:30 by the time I got there. Loved the city once I had a home base. Took a bus to the train station, then a train to down town. Travelled over the famous bridge who's impressive stone pillars are purely for looks, totally nonfunctional. Saw the city's icon, the Opera House. Apparently during the construction, the building was way over budget when the original Non Australian architect quit. The building was completed by Australian architects with funds generated by Australia's favourite game, a lottery.

Shopped around a bit in Sydney and picked up mail. Great finds were a length of zipper material to have in case the well worn zippers on my Cannondale panniers give out totally, and a new Katadyne water filter. Wished I'd had one in New Zealand, and probably won't absolutely need one, but it makes me feel better just having one.

Only stayed one night in Sydney but end up liking the town cause seemed like so much was going on there, and it was so easy for me to get around using the public transportation.

Rode out of Sydney through the Blue Mountains. The blue haze is due to the oils given off in the air by the Eucalyptus trees. Was drizzly as I went through and didn't get to see the blue haze.

Through the town of Kurrajong Heights a little cafe advertised "GRASS SKIING, FREE ADMISSION" another sign "SKIING EVERY WEEKEND" The cafe has a large grass field sloping below the building. Looks like the free skiing is a gimmick to get people to stop at the cafe. Looks like it works pretty good.

Back on the west side of the Great Dividing Range towns started getting pretty spread out. Lead to lots of days of a routine of up in the morning, ride, ride, ride, find a camp spot, have dinner than do it again the next day. Rode up the Newell Highway to the Leichardt Highway. Not quite in the outback but definitely getting close. Lots of cattle and sheep ranches. Spent some nights in loose bushy shrubs on a sandy surface. To my surprise saw tracks in the sand about as wide a Mt. Bike tires. It had rained quite a bit so the tracks were broken and not well defined. Took a long time before I realized that they were the trails left by Kangaroos as the drag their tails.

In the land of Road Train trucks. Picture a semi truck with a 40 foot long trailer, a dolly following connected to the front end of another 40 foot trailer. Two steering tires, eight drive tires. The trailer has triple axles with twelve tires, dolly has two axles, eight tires, the last trailer like the first has another twelve tires. A total of 42 tires !!! The guys in America with their 18 wheelers have got nothing on the Australians. Wonder what kind of country western songs Waling Jennings could write about these rolling monsters. I understand that further west in the real desolate areas the Road Trains are three trailers long. Never saw any more than two trailers. Even though they are going significantly faster than me, they take a long time to pass.

The time became a blur of riding day after day. Getting the miles in each day knocking down the total to go to get to Rockhampton the first town back on the coast. Promised myself I'd take a day off when I get to Rockhampton, otherwise, its ride, ride, ride. There's a date I need to be at the airport in Cairns, if I don't make it I'll have to hop on a bus at the last minute. Don't really want to do that. Got in my mind that I'd rather not see some things along the way than take a bus. So I'm riding a bicycle at 10 to 12 MPH racing an airplane that move at 600 to 700 MPH but feeling confident I can win, just keep moving. Ride, ride, ride.

Cattle lands gave way to irrigated cotton fields. Road conditions constantly changing the shoulders change from excellent smooth and wide to nerve-wracking bumpy, potholed, nothing. Riding in the traffic lane interrupts the normal flow of cars and truck as the north bounders try to swerve around me. Every couple days recalculate the required miles per day to get to Cairns. Makes me smile as I see the trend. 47 miles per day, 45 miles per day, 43 miles per day. Slowly catching up and if things go well I'll have a few days to play in Cairns.

As I moved north the days warmed up. On a quiet country road, ahead in the dark mirage of the distant roadway saw what looked like a bead of a tire laying across the oncoming lane. As I moved closer noticed the tire bead was moving. What is this, it's not a tire bead. The warm weather is bringing the snakes out for one last sunny stretch before winter. This one was about six feet long and was heading across right to where I'd be if I kept my speed up. In the near horizon saw a Road Train approaching. The timing such that the Road Train would pass right behind the snake as it encroached on my space. I slowed to let the snake go by so it wouldn't be forced into me as the truck passed. The snake was clear out of the oncoming lane, just as I was coming close I watched the Road Train slowly move out of his lane and line his wheels with the path of the snake. Slowed till I could barely balance I watched in disbelief, heard the thumpity, thump, thump. The snake raised and rolled his head in pain as its long body was pulverized by the train of 42 wheels. Was glad didn't get guts splashed on me. Wondered if the truck driver was steering his train over the snake to save a poor helpless cyclist, or if he just like running over snakes. I'll never know.

Several days later riding through rolling green hills. This area had endured a six year drought, but they were coming out of it with record rain falls. I'd been going through an occasional shower. Was passed by an older british made camper van. They slowed way down to let an oncoming car pass. I waved in thanks. Saw the passenger energetically stick half his body out the window and wave back. A short time later they stopped to invite me to have a beer with them. Turned them down explaining I that I don't drink. The fellow said I figured so. He asked about my travels and marvelled as I charted the route. "All that on a push bike, you must be fit" he says. Then goes on to say "you're not like us, no you don't look like you're like us, undercover cops." At least that's what it sounded like to me. He and his friend sipped beers as they travelled down the road. They were a little older than myself. Off to go fishing they claimed. They talked about how desolate the Northern Territories were and how far it was between places. They spoke in miles, they had never converted with the rest of the country to Kilometres. After they left I tried to picture undercover cops wearing dime store sunglasses, and drinking and driving. After a while it dawned on me I'd probably misunderstood him saying "running from the cops." There are many times I wish my hearing was a bit more acute.

Arrived in Rockhampton just in time to grocery shop then head out of town to find a camp. Had rained quite hard recently, the ground was still pretty saturated. Passed the Aboriginal Dreamland museum, a place I'd wanted stop. Couple miles past that was a rest area with covered picnic areas. Set camp up under the cover of one the tables, apparently an acceptable thing to do. There were several other caravan campers set-up to camp over night. Rained all night sometimes very hard was glad to be under cover. Got up and went to the Aboriginal Dreamtime museum. Was a good tour of some Aboriginal lifestyles and a brief walk through a garden of native plants and discussion of how different leaves and plants are good for different ailments. Part way through the garden tour a lady tapped me on the back of the shoulder and asked me if I'd gotten bitten last night. I noted she had lots of small welts on her shoulders, neck, and legs. Took me a while to figure why she was asking the question. "No" I said. Then I recognized her and her husband as a couple that was camped out at the rest area it made sense to me. As soon as the sun went down the biting bugs came out. I'd gone into the tent to escape. Their van had the windows open with no screens. They got bites all over. Later in Cairns I met the same couple on the streets. They were so impressed I'd ridden all the way. Just barely beat them, they had lots of trouble with their van.

On into Townsville now in rain forest country. Spent night after night in the rain. Any hint of sunshine I'd stop immediately and get wet tent and sleeping pad out to dry. Was getting warm enough I'd not even get the sleeping bag out at night. Keep it dry inside its plastic sack in the stuff sack. Went to see the big aquarium with a reef and walk through tunnel. Saw three omni max movies too. First time I'd been in such a theatre. Saw "Space" a film by Lockheed. Lots of footage of the space shuttle, another film "The Sea" impressed upon the audience the many oceans of the world are just one ocean. The last movie was "Titania" about the underwater exploration of the sunken Titanic. Ran into Liz in Townsville. She's been touring all over Australia, but not all by bike. She had done a fast catamaran ride out to the great barrier reef and gone snorkeling. Said it was a much more colourful encompassing experience that walking through the tunnel of the aquarium. She said she's been "cheating" a lot in Australia. Her trip mileage so far is 10000 miles. She claims she's been reading more on this trip than ever before in her life. Really enjoying it too which she didn't used to.

Went to a campground and saw this woman waiving at me an calling out my name. Was dark and I couldn't really tell who it was. Turns out it was Jodi. Hadn't seen her since Hetuada in Nepal. She was travelling with a guy she met at a backpackers. Neil a really nice guy who was a committed cycle tourist. Had been all over Australia, the States, Canada and Europe. He was really funny too. While having dinner I remember hearing and telling cycling stories. Had some really good laughs, felt great, hadn't had any good laughs for a while. Jodi's still full of energy and beaming in beauty, and still a fast rider. I left Townsville a half a day before Neil and Jodi. They caught up with me at lunch time the next day. Looked like rain so we hung out under the cover a picnic table waiting for the threat to pass. Finally couldn't wait any longer .... good timing five minutes after we left the skies opened up and down came the rain. I was able to keep up for the short 18 km to the next rest area. Neil had been up and down this stretch three or four times, had all the rest area locations memorized. I set up under the table shelter. They put their tents out on the softer grass, and got rained on very hard.

Just one more days ride to Cairns now in green green rain forest. The flat lands had been cultivated in sugar cane. Deep ditches to drain the ample rain fall separated the fields of cane. Neil turned off to go to Mission Beach. Jodi pushed ahead and arrived in Cairns half a day ahead of me. In Cairns I was able to replace my rear wheel. Had developed the same problem as Ole's, cracks in the braking surface. The mavic 121's were $165.00 in Australia so I got a different rim. Bought a Sun Rhino wheel. Laced that in to the front hub, then the old front rim into the rear hub. This way I'd use up the Mavic ceramic wheels which don't brake too well when wet. Don't think this wheel will break before the end of the trip but if it does I've still got a quality wheel I can move to the back and put a cheap department store bike wheel on the front. Those who read my article about New Zealand and shook their head when they read about how delighted I was when I got my headset replaced for only $25.00. Bet you were saying ah, its just a cheap headset. It won't last. Well you were right. Had another new one put in at the shop I got the wheel from. This is a little bit better quality, but not as good as I wanted, had to go with what they had that fit. This was $18.00 plus $20.00 to put it in. Really nice to have a smooth steering bike again.

All the way up the northern coast I'd seen opportunities to go scuba diving on the reef. Took me a long time to realize that I was scared of scuba, that's why I'd never tried it. Had a healthy distrust for all the equipment one has to use.

Really treated myself. Went for a fast catamaran ride out to the Great Barrier Reef and snorkelled on the reef. When I showed up for the trip found out that for $80.00 Australian they were offering an introductory dive lesson which included swimming around on the reef. I'd brought fifty five dollars with me in a zip lock bag. Told the guy taking sign-ups that I didn't have eighty dollars but I really wanted to do this. Here's what I have but I can send you the rest. The guy reached out an took my zip lock said "you're in, glad to keep my divers working." There's a diving platform where the boat docks at on the reef. We got a brief training session then assigned a dive time. Went out snorkeling. Wow. this reef stuff is really neat. All kinds of shapes and colours ... even for colour blind me. Tiny fish swimming in and out of the cracks and voids in the coral, other fish out and around. A host from the boat pointing out with the forefinger of a hot pink glove the different species. Back on the boat got suited up with all the diving gear. Quickly reviewed what we'd learned before, then went through some exercises on a sunken platform under the main diving platform in four feet of water. After successfully clearing the mask of water, and retrieving a lost mouth piece we went down. An instructor, three students and myself. We swam arm in arm through coral valleys. Skimmed the bottom, fish all around. Saw and fed a giant sea turtle a piece of broken off branch coral. In another area stopped by a giant one and a half foot wide live clam. Soft velvety flesh on the inside of its shell. Fascinating the underwater world, it's so different. Was surprised how easy it was to breath with the diving tanks. Felt very comfortable under water. Started wondering how much all this equipment cost, but then thought, no don't need another expensive hobby. Back on the boat I missed the buffet lunch. On the 45 minute ride back to shore I mentioned to one of the staff if they had any left-overs from the buffet I'd love to get a snack, as I missed lunch. They brought out two large plates of pasta, chicken, and seafood, and a third plate of fruit. I was so impressed. Was one of the most expensive days in Australia. Was fun to live how the others live just for one day.

Met Ole and Regena at the Cairns airport. They seemed to be having a good time. They are apparently taking lots of time to take in all the sights. They had got as far as Brisbane before they ran out of time. They rented a car and buzzed up to Cairns for the flight. Jodi showed up, then Michelle. They just rolled up to the check-in counter with their bikes loaded just as they ride. The airlines made them remove the pedals and turn the handle bars. They said that's all they ever do. I was in the habit of removing the handle bars and taping them to the cross bar. Lower the seat, remove the pedals, and rear derailleur. Tape and tie the pieces to the bike strap the tent and sleeping bag on either side of the seat as padding, then put the whole thing in my blue bag. Tape and tie the bag closed. Put the rear panniers and other odds and ends in a bundle. I put allot of heavy stuff in the front panniers tie them together and use that as my carryon. The whole process takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. Looks like Jodi and Michelle's system is a lot quicker and just as acceptable to the air lines, but my system makes me feel more comfortable about checking the bike.

Ole and Regena Flew to Honolulu from Auckland, then on to Vancouver with intentions of going down to Seattle for a few days. Ole had his hair cut and beard neatly trimmed he said Regena did it, she's good. Ole seems to be going though a lot of changes. He'd always claimed he only trimmed his beard in years that end in nine. The trim was an improvement in his looks but not enough to keep the airport security folks from searching his bags very carefully when going into the departure gate area. "Poor man" Regena said as she breezed through with similar kinds of articles in her carry on as

Ole. Regena wanted to visit Louise at her Seattle hostel. Ole was looking forward to a PhD. entrance interview at the University of Seattle. Wants a PhD. in bicycling .... what else ?? Jodi, Michelle and I flew from Auckland to Fiji, stayed there for six days then flew on to Honolulu, and Vancouver B.C. The girls wanted to go out to some of the outer islands. The guide book mentions one where all the singles go. I just wanted to get a room and relax for a week. Met the most charming Scottish lass on the flight to Fiji. Thoroughly enjoyed talking with her, between her clever responses and Scottish accent felt enchanted in her presence. Got off the plane in Fiji and was hit by the touts begging you to come to the resort or backpackers they represent. I'd already picked out the place I wanted to go from my guide book so kinda ignored them as I put the bike together. Barbara the Scottish lass took off in a taxi to the White House Backpackers. The girls went off in another taxi, stored their bike at the airport. I finally got every thing together and cycled over to my chosen spot only 10km from the airport. The Travellers Beach Resort. Right on the beach, and they had a nice pool. Rode by the tall sharp peaks so common in the south pacific islands. Felt a little like being on a set for a south pacific movie.

Spent the entire week just resting and relaxing. Read a book that had been recommended to me by the couple I met in Tredbo. A love story "The bridge across forever" by Richard Bach. I'd found it in a second hand bookstore and thought it would be my pass the time reading book. Was easy reading and I found it captivating finished it in one day. Thought Okay, now what can I read. Did some repairs to the panniers. Patching holes and replacing worn zipper pulls. Finally by the fifth day there I felt rested enough to go out for a morning run on the beach and swim in the pool. Seemed like the week flew by and I'd done next to nothing. It was wonderful, but just a little too hot for my likes.

Back at the airport again, heard about Jodi, and Michelle's adventures on the other islands. My these young women have endless energy I thought. They just keep going. Jodi's fallen in love with a fellow she met named Wayne. Said they are going to meet in Japan in a year and a half, get married and have kids. The thing with Jodi I've learned is you can never tell when she is serious, or just how serious she is. Michelle had a back pounding ride on one to the island transport ferries. She's wondering if her back will ever be the same.

Surprise surprise. Bill Owen met us at the airport. While I went to stay with Bill, Jodi and Michelle went to a nearby campground. Next night we were all at Bill's. We thought we'd head off in our own directions the next day but kept thinking of errands that need to be run and things that need to be done so were still here. Wonder how long Bill can put up with us. I've been out shopping and got a new pair of shoes, and some water proofing stuff for the tent. Soaked the tent in a light bleach solution then scrubbed the tent floor and fly with a strong ammonia solution. Applied two coats of the water proofing stuff to the floor and fly. Hope that will help keep me drier in future rainstorms. As each day goes by we prepare fancier and fancier dinner. We'll have to leave soon before we try to prepare something beyond our ability.

Bill has been such a generous host opening up his home, providing transportation, an absolute wealth of information about cycling here in Canada, and the States. I'm so happy to get a chance to nerd out a little and use a computer enter this article.

Think we're ready to head on now, ready for more wonderful experiences.

So that's it for now. I'm planning to stop through Portland on my way south, hopefully I'll have the time to stay a few days before heading south down the west coast to San Diego.

Think my next mail stop will be in Banff in a couple of month. If there's anything you feel you just have to tell me remember you can send any time to:

John Purdy

C/O

Gil Purdy

Box 648

Shady Cove, OR. 97539

Happy Spring !

John Purdy