I am sooo tired when I wake up at 6 - damn this inner clock of mine!!! My first night without earplugs and in a single room. As much as I like and miss James, hsi absence is not the reason for my bad night: The couple in the neighbor room kept arguing til 2am - and pretty.... um.... "intense". Amazing how often one can stick the "f-word" in a single sentence.

As I step out of the room and across the little courtyard to the managers office to grab one of the advertised free coffees, I find the door locked. An hour later I should find the owner, a hippy by heart and appearance, explaining that he got very drunk and stoned last night and didn't feel well and up for the task of making coffee. What's next....?

While I slowly wake up over packing my bike, a small, older lady in her 60s, sporting full white hair and full leather outfit (RIDING outfit, not what YOU think - geez) approaches me asking if I had and tools - their (her husband and her) bike wouldn't start. In fact, it wouldn't even do anything on pushing the starter button. I walk over with the electrical toolkit and 20min later I diagnose the kickstand switch as the culprit. Bridging the switch will bring them back home to Salt Lake City, where they are visiting their Grand Children. Cool! I inquire about HER bike, but it turns out that they travel on one bike only. I ask "Don't you get tired of riding b...." and - realizing that I talk to a old lady - change the sentence mid word to ".... um.... on the back seat?" The old lady replies "Oh I don't mind riding bitch(!), I enjoy watching the scenery go by. There you go. As they drive off, I notice their license plate holder says "Hear Me Roar"....

I take the com-system speakers and the mic out of my helmet - no one to talk to today. To completely wake up and to tighten my new chain a little, I pull into the first diner i come across in the next town (Troy). The room is full of members of a religious group discussing "healing through prayer" and the church festival they are aparently organizing. As I leave, I notice the sign on the shop of the other side of the street: "Sporting Goods: Booze 'n Bait 'n Cheap Ammo". No comment...

The rest of the day turns out to be amazing: I make it to and across the border in no time: Not a single car ahead of me, and soon hit the Crowsnest Highway (#3) which should take me almost all the way to Vancouver.

I love the Crowsnest! It crosses the Monashee Mountains and the Selkirks and features beautiful mountains as well as several lakes of all sizes. The first pass I cross still shows snow and a partially frozen lake. It's by no means cold, though: The sun is intense. I met Josh, Bill, Amy and Shawna who have snowboards strapped to their backpacks and are just setting off to a hike into the mountains to make use of the remaining snow. Aparently there is still lots of it not too far away. Welcome to BC in June :-)

On my - pretty steep - way down the pass, just as I am humming around a corner, I face off with a herd of at least 15 big horn sheep hanging out there right smack in the middle of my lane. I have absolutely no clue how I made it through without colliding or wiping out!!! Next ting I know I am stopped almost behind, but still within the group of animals, thumb still on the horn, panting into my helmet. The sheep are giving me... well... "sheepish" looks as a pickup truck - Alberta plates - with a couple of kids in it pull up beside me and roll down their window. "Boooaaahhhh duuuuuude, that was aaaawwweeeessssome" the guy yells over his radio boosting rap music. Doesn't feel awesome... AT ALL. That was frigging close! And the damn sheep don't even MOVE. In fact, they run towards me and the pickup, one even starts chewing on one of the straps of my tent bag. I end up kicking my way through the animals, more annoyed now than impressed by their pretty nasty horns. That's what you get when you feed animals from cars. What else could it be... As I go on... MUCH more careful and slow now, I pass many more deer and big horn sheep, none of which is the least bit scared of me. Not good... not good at all. I even see some tourists (rental car) getting out of their car in the parking lot and feed some deer. After what just happened, I feel like stopping and given bot the deer and the tourist a good shaking... But I am still a bit shaky myself and need to stop for coffee...

Due to both my early start and the hour I gain crossing into Idaho on my way to the border, I have plenty of time. My first coffee stop in BC features organic coffee. Go Canada! I don't think I even read the word "organic" in the last two weeks.

i pass another representative of BC, riding a bicicle with a huge(!) chainsaw strapped to his backpack! That reminds me of..

It's a perfect riding day! The sun is warm, absolutely zero wind and the road is just fantastic for riding. I stop lots to eat ice cream, have coffee or just look at the scenery. This highway could be a trip in itself - a very nice one, too. I stop in Princeton for the night and will finish the trip in Vancouver tomorrow.

I just talked to James, he got his bike fixed and a complete brake tuneup front/rear in the process. His girlfriend actually drove down from Calgary and met him at his hotel yesterday night, so chances are he wasn't bored - all is well. He will ride the "Highway of The Sun" back to Calgary tomorrow.