R O A D   T R I P   T O   V A N C O U V E R ,   B C

Thursday, July 15, 2004

By coincidence I run into Paula & Rosemary again, the sisters I met the day before at the whale watching site. I chat with them during the ferry ride and show Paula my adventure website from my laptop. When the ferry finally arrives at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal I bid the sisters farewell and I jump into the van, destination Canada.

From the start of my trip (July 8th) leading up to this point, I haven't had time to fit a workout in at the gym. My normal routine when not traveling is to workout 2 to 3 times a week at 24 HR Fitness in Portland, OR, mostly weightlifting. On my trip I've been getting plenty of cardio from all my bike riding but I've been seriously lacking strength training.

When I go without strength training for any extended period of time, my muscles start to mock me like Hans and Franz from Saturday Night Live. They say, "Listen to me now and hear me later and think about it tomorrow! You little, flabby baby, biker boy, you must get into the gym NOW!"

To quell my muscle's poorly accented Austrian tauntings, I manage to find a club in Mount Vernon that is right on my route to Canada. So to the great relief of my muscles, I sneek in a workout before crossing the border. I find out later that 24 HR Fitness doesn't have any clubs in Canada so it was a good thing I got the workout in when I did.

The morning fog lifts, making the day quite sunny and bright. While driving through the sunshine to the border, a little black rain cloud starts to form in my mind. I start to wonder if Canadian Customs will search my van. And if so, will they tear it apart in the process? I've heard horror stories about customs really making a mess of things and just leaving it for the owner to clean up (assuming they haven't handcuffed him/her).

Taking apart my homemade camper would be a really bad thing. Sure, they would absolutely marvel at the superior quality and craftsmanship that went into its construction. But when the dust settles and the search is over, I'd be just hauling around a van full of disheveled junk.