Day 11::Calgary, AB - Whitefish, MT

Today we rode 309 miles.

Our day started out a bit rainy today.  We bundled up and headed out.  I'm sure it seems crazy to most people, but by the time you put long underwear, a t-shirt under your regular shirt, heated vest, hoodie and then your leather coat, you're quite toasty.  Add a thermal headband and face mask with your helmet, you're good to go!  It wasn't raining hard enough for our rain suits but the rain was short lived and by the time we got to Whitefish, the weather was gorgeous.

This is a canola field.  Gorgeous yellow and, to be honest, I'd never ever thought where canola oil comes from!

On our way to Whitefish, we rode Crowsnest Pass.  This is one of the lowest elevation mountain passes in Canada and is in southeast British Columbia.  Each mile was beautiful.

Yes, he honked his horn every time we went through a tunnel!

We had to cross the border back into the US today.  Luckily, we weren't given the stinky eye and we weren't asked if we owned guns!  However, after answering the usual questions:  where are you going, how long were you in Canada, what do you do for a living, what did you buy, etc, etc, the officer asked if we had an 88 or 81 bumper sticker.  Say what???  Then he said the look on our faces told him everything.  We could go.  Of course, if Dave had been alone, he would've said okay and gotten the heck out of there!  But I questioned the officer, "What is an 88 or 81 bumper sticker?"  He said 88 means Heil Hitler - H is the 8th letter of the alphabet so 88 = HH.  81 is connected to the Hell's Angels {which I TOTALLY can understand why we might be connected to them!  We ride a Harley, right?}  So 8=H and 1=A.  .  Who knew!?  We sure didn't!

Tonight, The Lodge at Whitefish Lake is a gift from Shelby and Mike for our 40th Anniversary {which is basically what we are celebrating with this trip}.  Pictures looked awesome but the Lodge was even more fantastic.  Shelby also made dinner reservations for us for 7 p.m.  We pulled in about 6 p.m. {or so we thought}.  We only had one hour to look presentable!  So we rushed and showered and got ready only to find that the clock in the room was an hour off...we actually had TWO hours til dinner!   We went down and had a drink on the deck until our table was ready.

Dinner is served - y.u.m.

Just a few pics of our room.  For the first time I had a bathtub!  If you know me at all, you know I love my tub every night.  This was a special treat!

I'm not used to staying in fancy hotels and was mortified that someone had come into our room while we were at dinner and 'tidied up' the bathroom!  We had been in such a hurry...my head was swirling...what did I leave on the bathroom floor???  They also brought us ice and turned down the bed.  Thank you Shelby and Mike!  It was awesome!

After dinner we took a walk then had dessert with Baileys & coffee in the bar.  We headed back to our room and, just like every other night, hit the sack.

Tomorrow:  Helena, MT  {weather reports are saying there is snow and some roads are closed near Yellowstone.  As of now, our plans remain but we'll just have to play it by ear.  We are so hoping Beartooth Pass is open!