Johnny Horton

6 30 07
This was a rough day. I left Dawson Creek after fueling and headed
north to Alaska (apologies to Johnny Horton). It wasn't raining when
I left the motel but it had been all night and it started raining
again as soon as I got on the road. It was a pretty steady rain. I'd
been disappointed that I didn't get the continental breakfast at the
hotel before I left. Since I didn't get a coffee, I decided that I
was going to get one at a Tim Horton's in St. John. When I got there,
I got my coffee and bagel and then decided to get my Milepost to read.
When I got out to the bike, I saw I'd left my rear trunk open. I got
the Milepost and started looking for my keys and couldn't find them.
I checked all my pockets and found nada. With the trunk unlocked, I
figured I'd left my keys in the trunk and they fell out somewhere
between Dawson Creek and the Tim Horton's. This frantic searching
started me talked to a woman next to me. This started a conversation
on our side of the store about the keys. I had a spare set and knew I
didn't need the others but I'd rather have them. I called the motel I
was at in case I left them there but they said I didn't. The lady had
to leave but I was now chatting with the others. I grabbed my helmet
and found my original keys inside of it. Apparently, when I got off
the bike and removed my helmet and tossed the keys in it. The good
news is that I'd started conversations with about 5 folks by now. We
spent the next 45 minutes chatting chatting about Bush, immigration,
the London attacks, airline checkin and a few other things.
I had to get going and one of the guys I was chatting with was also
riding to AK. He joined me for the ride to Fort Nelson.
Ok, now I was riding with a partner. That was different for me. I
had to watch him in back of me and ride at the same time. And it
continued to rain.......
When we stopped for gas, he asked me if I'd seen the deer that crossed
the road behind me. I hadn't. That made me watch more more carefully
the remainder of the trip.
When I got to Fort Nelson, I was wet and cold. I was cold enough that
I was shivering. I decided after the fillup that I needed to quit for
the day. I found an inexpensive motel and stayed there.

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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach