Edmonton

Hal and I finally made it yesterday afternoon after three nights on the road. It was a good trip, done at a leisurely pace. We stopped in Winthrop the first night, Nelson, BC, for the second night, and in Cochrane, AB, for the third night. The weather was great until the last leg of the drive to Keith and Carmen's place in Cochrane. Driving through the foothills of the Rockies, it suddenly became cold and then the rains started. It was still raining the next morning when we left, but stopped soon after. We didn't have any major mechanical dysfunctions except that my bike started running poorly at anything less than 3/4 throttle. I could go like hell on the highway, but could barely keep it running in the city. I dropped the bike off at an Edmonton BMW dealer, and they managed to fix it pretty quickly by replacing the throttle position sensor. It shouldn't cost anymore than a couple of MU, but I won't find out for sure until I pick up the bike later this AM.

Over the last few years, Hal and I have taken various routes into BC from northern WA, and no matter which way we go, we notice the same thing. On the WA side of the border, the towns are dying (with or without a Wal-Mart), the countryside seems dry and brown, and the most successful folks live in the biggest double-wides. When you cross the border into Canada, all of a sudden the towns are alive, the streets are filled with tourists, the orchards and vineyards look greener, and even the sky seems bluer. Somebody should do a study to see what's going on. All things being equal, one would think there wouldn't be much of a difference, but there certainly is. I don't know what it is, but those godless, faggot-loving, commie-pinko bastards up north seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. Oh, and what about the exchange rate? Ask Hal about him cashing in $400US for a whopping $412CAN at a Canadian bank.

We went to the Festival last night for opening night. In spite of the threatening clouds, it never did rain, and the evening was actually quite pleasant. For me, the highlight was Nanci Griffith's performance. I've got several of her CD's, but had never seen her live. She put on a good show. It was a good way to start the festivities.

More posts with pictures and and musical commentary to follow. Stay tuned.