Day 21 - heading south to cross the border

The smell of fresh clean rain in the summer is something I like but on a motorcycle it can get on the nerves a bit.  I woke up at 7:30 AM thinking I would give Red Velvet a wash, but when I looked out of the window of my room, yep it was raining.  So I went back to bed.  The hotel I stayed in is called "Sandman" and it lived up to its name, I was out cold until 9:30 AM.  The hotel is a Canadian chain and if you see one, stay there...it was really nice and connected to a Denny's restaurant which is what I had for dinner last night.  So here is Red Velvet after I packed her up. I parked her last night in the bicycle area, she liked that.

So I have made an important decision...it has been weighing heavily on my mind.  I had originally planned to go south to San Francisco to see my cousin Scott and a motorcycle rider friend, Ron.  Then from there go and see my friend Leann Haskins Katchuk who lives in the mountains in Carbondale, Colorado and then the Householder clan in Denver.  So I have decided to end that dream and point homeward to Grove City, Ohio.  Cathy and the boys are headed to the beach today and I want to get home to take care of Indy.  From my room in Calgary this morning, it will be 2,000 miles to get home.  I am shooting for late Sunday or Monday.   I am sorry Scott, Ron and Leann, plus the Householder clan. I am going to get out your way sometime soon!

 I stopped and filled up with Canadian petrol for the last time, ding.  $43.66 to fill her up.  I will be glad to get back to gallons and mph, and cheaper gas and taxes.  

Not long after...the first delay...still in Canada.  

I saw a few planes hanging around....

I passed this retro pulling a retro.  It was an older couple getting out for an adventure.  Good people...Check out those curtains, do they match the sheets?

I busted down to the Sweet Grass border crossing after riding in rain off/on for over an hour. This what  I saw 1 kilometer from the crossing.  A line, a long line.  

I was in line about 1 hour...no rush...I wanted to see US soil again.

I was curious about the guy with his honey on a Kawasaki KLR 650...dude is on a budget.  The passenger lady looked out of place and butt was mostly on the heavy duty luggage rack (for a reason) and had a death grip on her significant other...no backrest for her.  They were on their way to Sturgis and I bet she takes the Greyhound bus back home.  They guy on the ape hanger Harley actually pushed his bike the 1 kilometer to the crossing.  I asked him if he needed me to tow him up there.  Haha! I think he was not too confident riding slow with his armpits higher than his headband.  Oh how I love to tease my Harley brethren.  Ha!

This is what it looks like just before approaching with my visa and a drug sniffing dog, I kid you not. I was sniffed and other than the whiff of my buttpad the dog gave me an okay to proceed.  

My buttpad has it own twitter account now.  Red Velvet is jealous.  The road into the US...felt great...today's music selection was Allman Brothers(Eat a Peach), Joe Walsh, Mudcrutch and Chickenfoot (which my riding buddy Larry Macioce turned me on to).  USA, USA, USA!

I stopped to get some petro, in good old gallons...for cheaper and this pulled up next to me.

That's right, it's a Hondabago!  They were headed to Sturgis for the first time and I told them to stop and put some HD stickers on it and they would be okay.  Nice folks from Calgary.

So I rode down Rt. 15 as fast as I could, away from Canada.  Now I like Canada and Canadians, but my fake "eh" accent was wearing me thin.  You have to say "eh" three times for every sentence you make with the locals...I like it but I'm ready for some central Ohio accents.  Before I knew it I was through Great Falls and the riding and landscape tuned from plains to sweet canyons, like you see in the cowboy movies.  Rt. 15 from Helena to Butte was one of the best two hours of riding I have ever done.  Oh, and I LOVE the 75 mph speed limit in Montana!

It rained off/on all day, but I did not let it bother me...I was happy, happy, happy....(for you Carol) to be back in Montana...Then I saw the coolest rainbow, it was huge.  A great sign of being in the US again.

I pulled into Butte and ran up to the first hotel...big demand for rooms because of everyone heading to Sturgis.  I got the last room and its a sweet suite!  It has a jacuzzi! 

I cleaned up and went to the front desk to ask where I could go to be close to where Evel Kneivel used to hang. I am a big Evel fan, I got a blank stair so I just rode around and stopped at Fred's Mesquite Grill.  Great choice..I had Dead Guy Rogue (in honor of Evel) beer and mesquite cooked chicken sandwich...oh...it was good to be out of Canada.  If you are in Butte, MT...stop here for sure.

Tomorrow I hope it does not rain. I bet the hotel never imagined a floor lamp being used to dry out boots.  Have a great weekend!