The first stop of the adventure is now complete. The truck is stuffed but surprisingly it all fit! Wow! Anyway, I left Penticton this morning and had to stop briefly at my grandma and grandpa's house to pick up an axe. What a great guy my grandpa is! He sharpened it and everything.

    Every time I drive the roads between Penticton and Calgary I'm always surprised how beautiful BC is. The rushing rivers glowing green, the huge pine trees and dense vegetation, the towering peaks rising into the sunny skies, incredible! As long as that is preserved I feel blessed for being who I am.

    After 8 hours of driving I finally reached Calgary. The first sight that got me excited was Canada Olympic Park (COP). I've been anxious to ride what they have and tomorrow will be the day! I'm excited just writing about it.

    I soon made it to my destination. Some friends are kind enough to house me for the next few nights. It's sure to be some good times. In fact, as I write I'm enjoying the first beer of the trip and waiting for some BBQ burgers. Oh yeah!! Hats off to Eric Formo (the man, the myth, the legend), Bob Amsler and his lovely girlfriend Sylvia March, and Jaime Lekivetz ( how the @#$! do you say that one?). Haha. Anyway, dinner's ready!

    Peace!

    After note: A couple more people came over last night; Sean Nolan and Cory Gordon. 2 more great people that I'm buddy's with.

    Alright, today was a pretty crazy day. I woke up later in the morning to a beautiful, warm and sunny day. Perfect day to ride at COP! The cost of admission was only $18 so after a quick bit of bike maintenance I was off on the first run. There is a slow chairlift to bring you to the top and from there is a large open area. You can drop in anywhere. I couldn't resist starting with the down hill course! It was pretty harry but fun as hell. After a few more runs I checked out a nice dirt jump area. Good times there! Basically it's set up in rows of 4 or 5 doubles. 4 rows in all going from beginner to advanced.

    My luck turned a bit and somehow I snapped my derailer cable but it was only a $10 fix at the COP bike shop. The bike was out of commission for 30 min, just enough time to go and chat with on of the cute lifties, Michelle. We hit it off well and I'm going to call her tomorrow evening to hang out.

    So with the bike fixed I hit up a few more runs, a comfortable 10 foot drop, and a nice wall ride. It's kinda funny because I doubt I saw more than 5 people around my age riding, all the rest were younger kids and they didn't hesitate to ask me all kinds of questions. Mountain bike kids are great. I was more than happy to be a role model.

    Soon after my last run I was headed back to Eric's but to my surprise there was a pretty good accident right beside me in the on coming lane. I quickly parked and ran over to see if everyone was OK. They were. The man driving the BMW was going about 50 km/hr when he jumped a curb and smashed into the front of the Ford F350 and actually moved it a good distance. The man in the Ford was out of his truck right away making sure the other guy was OK. The guy in the BMW just stayed in his car till paramedics arrived and was treated for shock, luckily nothing else.

    Through this event I met a couple people that were drinking on a patio, Regan and Steph. They were really nice and funny and invited me for a few drinks with them. Regan was stoked about my trip and gave me some presents for the road: After Bite, to get rid of itch bug bites, and a Tragically Hip CD, a true Canadian band. Thanks!

    The 3 of us said our goodbye after a few hours and I made it back to Eric's. Later we met up with Sean and Bob again, as well as some others: Scott Seelhof, Terry Delfari, Darren Fong, and Danny ??. All of us stuffed ourselves with beer and 25 cent boneless ribs at the Regal Beagle pub. Then we finished the night at another pub called Moose McGuire's.

    All I can really say at this point is that if every day is this eventful, it's going to be a crazy trip.

    The last day in Calgary was yet another great day. The sun still shining and all was well. Not a lot happened but just hung out with friends all day. Sean, Scott, and I went to see "Land of the Dead" in theatres. As far as zombie movies go, the gore and zombie killing was great. I recommend it to any zombie movie fan.

    Some how my phone didn't save Michelle's phone number so I never got to meet up with her. :(

    In the morning I left Calgary to go to a campsite Jamie told me about Regina Beach Campground. It's a cozy little place with camp spots cut into a dense little forrest. Just a kilometer away was the beach, and right beside it is this little mini golf/driving range/go kart/cheap home made food place. There was still some light out so I decided to bike down to the lake and have a look around. It's defiantly a nice, friendly place. As I rode up the hill to head back to camp a bunch of junior high school kids called me over to chat. Haha. They reminded me of those first young years of under age drinking on the weekends. Good times. They were friendly and one of the kids, who also rode, gave me directions and people's phone numbers to find some secret Regina dirt jumps. Hmm... I may have to check that out tomorrow!

    Before I go to sleep I have to say that Saskatchewan is a beautiful province. So far I'm noticing that it isn't as flat as the stereotype says. There are lots of rolling grassy hills. The sky is nice and big, and a Saskatchewan sun set is a wonderful sight.

    Shout out to Ross, the kid that told be about the dirt jumps!

    Today was both good and bad. The morning was hot and the first sleep in the tent was good. I went across the road from the campground to get some cheap breakfast: Ham & cheese omlet, with hashbrowns and toast for $4.75. Not bad!

    I then left for Regina. Another great city with a really nice waterfront walkway and lots of parks near down town. I figured it was a good time to do some urban riding and exploring. All was well till about half an hour in when I clipped my rear tire bunny hopping a bench to 4 foot drop and dirt tranny. The hit sent me over the handle bars and face first into the ground. My side and elbow got shredded pretty good and the constant heat is making it all sting. It would have been a sick line though.

    After finding a walk in clinic to clean myself up I put the bike away, probably for a few days. So instead of riding I finished the tour of Regina on foot. The dirt jumps unfortunately will have to wait but I bet there will be more to come.

    Now I've checked into the Dire Straits Campground. It's small and close together but pretty dead, so I have some space. There is soooo much sky here!

    After very little sleep because of the wounds, I got up and packed just as the rain was starting to come. Luckily for me though I was able to outrun it on my way to Winnipeg.

    It was strange entering Manitoba because right after crossing thre border, the land suddenly filled with trees. Still flat but lots of trees. The landscape defiantly defines the border.

    Arriving in Winnipeg I soon found a huge park and decided that it was the place to stop. I walked for a bit but found it was too slow, so with injuries and all, the bike came out. This time though I took it easy and just pedalled. The road rash is slowly starting to scab but my elbow is sore to move, and swollen. I might go get it checked out but for now I'll just keep changing puss filled gauze. The park was nice with people everywhere; sun tanning, playing frisbee, soccer, cricket, flying kites... you name it.

    Strangely I couldn't find any obvious downtown, so after about 4 hours of exploring I headed to the Travellers Campsite to try and get out of the humid heat. It's a large, mainly RV, campground right next to a small water slide park. I set up camp, had a cold shower, and just all out relaxed.

    Later I went to the office to get a pop. The 3 ladies working asked me what had happened to my arm. After telling them the story, the motherly love in their hearts came through and they insisted that I take a bag of ice for the swelling. What sweet ladies! Thanks Liz and the other 2! (I didn't get their names.)

    After note: The floodings effects of this year are still visible. I've seen so many sports fields, crops, and park trails that are still under water. Some local bikers were telling me that most of their trails and dirt jumps are still under. Bummer.

    Finally I had a good cool sleep in Winnipeg and so bright and early I was off to somewhere between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay.

    As I left Manitoba the scenery changed again, but this time to beautiful rocky forests and many lakes. Ontario is amazing so far. I passed an area called Kenora that was one of the nicest places I've seen in my life. It reminded me of the coast of Vancouver, how there are lots of forested islands in the dark blue water.

I then came to Rushing River Provincial Park out of no where and decided to check it out. All I can say is wow! As far as parks and campsites go, this place is very near the top of the list. The mosquitos aren't bad and the dense forest surrounding each campsite keeps it fairly cool. I had to camp for thee night. The water here is also warm and clean, perfect for swimming!

    I set up camp and headed to the water. As I was wading in, this cute girl comes over to me and asks if I went over the rapids cause of my scratched up body. That started a great day. Her name is Kara, originally from a small farming family in Manitoba and now going to school in Winnipeg, learning economics and french. She also has citizenship in the US and soon to be Switzerland. Crazy!

    Kara's here with a friend Jasmine (Jazzy), and her friends family, Roxanne (sister), Dennis and Linda (dad and mom), and 3 adopted kids but I'm unsure of their names. They are all great people and stay true to the "friendly Manitoba" licence plates. :) They even had me over for dinner! Spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken, and cauliflower. Mmm mmm!

    So after dinner we all just relaxed for a bit, went for a night time hike and swim, and hung around the campfire. Life is good!