And so the Adventure begins...

Ben and I finally set out from the office around noon. At our first stop, the border, we had a minor setback. We had some contraband good which could either be confiscated or returned to Canada. So we parked out bikes in the US and walked back to Canada, leaving our goods at the little brokerage there. Then we walked back across the line, hopped on the bikes and carried on.

We had decided to cross into the Excited States of America at Aldergrove. Probably waited about 25 minutes. Bob and George were behind us and we met up with them in Lynden at about 1:20 and proceeded from there. Jim left from Calgary at 7:00 this morning heading west.

Everything was pretty smooth until we hit Seattle, catching the Friday afternoon rush hour. Did some stop and go, weaving and bobbing in and out of lanes as we tried to stay together. I'll leave that to your imaginations.

Got down to Tacoma around 5 o'clockish, got gas and had a drink.

I saw a side of Tacoma I didn't expect. As we turned and headed east we went through miles and miles of Mexican shops and restaurants. I thought, "This isn't Texas or Arizona!" But it might as well have been.

We arrived at our stop for the night in Ashford, near Mt. Ranier. The road in was beautiful, holding promise for twisty roads tomorrow.

We had supper at the WildBerry restaurant -- authentic Himalayan food. The featured entree was Yak steak. Authentic Yak from Colorado -- or so our little Sherpa server told us. The other guys tried some Himalayan cuisine-- I stuck to the meatloaf, (and now the meatloaf is sticking to me). My beverage of choice was a hitherto unheard of and untasted libation called Moose Drool. Actually quite nice.

To cap it all off, as we exited the restaurant who should pull up but Jim, thereby ending his 1200km ride from Calgary today.

We're debating just what we should call ourselves -- maybe some of you have some suggestions. One idea is "The Twisted Misters." Make your comments.

Today was a good start. My ribs weren't too sore from the fall three weeks ago -- better than I expected. So now its time to relax, and dream about putting the knees to the breeze tomorrow.