Hit the road Jack, and don't turn back......or is it "Ferry".....
"Does it have a sticker on it?" The customs officer pierced me with her eagle eyes. "I don't know" A little louder, "Does it have a sticker on it?" Nervously, "I'm not sure if it does." "I SAID, 'Does it HAVE a STICKER on it'?" I had the feeling she was trying to tell me something but I have never been good at reading people's minds. Finally I said, "Ma'am, if you say there is a sticker on it, there must be a sticker on it." "Then I'll let you keep it. You can go." And so began my road trip across the US on my Yamaha. I was not alone, I still had my Spartan locally grown apple and I was grinning from ear to ear.
I'll admit that I had some reservations about riding my V-Star alone through the States and then down to the southern tip of the Baja. During the four days it took me to get ready to leave, several times I found myself running backward from my plans like a puppy from a tom cat. But once I had committed myself by cancelling my phone, cable and buying 2 months of health and accident insurance, I was forced to move forward. Besides, I had told people I was going and I had to save face by actually pulling it off. So on Tuesday, the sixth of December, I packed my bags, mounted my sturdy steed and idled my way through Victoria and onto the Black Ball Express which took me across the border into the United States. Where was the sun?
"I'm alone!" she gasped as the ferry left the dock.
"I'm alone!" she gasped as the ferry left the dock.
Suddenly reality hit her as she saw the beloved parliament buildings grow smaller....but wait...those aren't the parliament buildings, it's the Empress hotel! Suddenly reality hit her as she saw the Empress hotel (which she had never been inside) slowly grow smaller. She realized that not only did she know very little about her own home town, but she knew even less about the road she was about to travel on in her quest for adventure. Oh she was not a stranger to adventure, but adventure alone? Choosing when, how, and where she would go with absolutely no outside interference but the elements? This was new to her. Yes, there was an element of danger. Yes, it was too cold to ride a motorcycle. Yes, this was not an all inclusive, and yes, she had no Irish Wolfhound in a side car. In spite of her mental health issues a friend had convinced her that yes, she is strong, she is woman. And so, delirious with euphoric and delusional misconceptions about her capabilities she left the frozen tundra of Vancouver Island to search out a cactus covered peninsula. Let us bow our heads in prayer.