As with every motorcycle trip we have done to date, the weather on our last day of riding was wet and cold.  The “Going to the Sun” highway through Glacier National Park was closed for construction, so we did not have to make the decision on whether we should risk that road today.   Our other two options was to head straight North to Eureka and cross the border at Roosville or head east and take Highway 2, the lower elevation way around the most southern portion of Glacier National Park.  Either of these options would involve a mountain or high elevation pass at some point with the risk of snow, the first option in Canada through Crow’s Nest Pass and the other in Montana through unfamiliar roads.  We decided to try the Highway 2 option through some portions of Glacier National Park.  If we were going to be cold and miserable, we might as well have some new scenery to look at to distract us from our discomfort.

Highway 2 was beautiful despite the weather and the construction and the aches and pains.  We will definitely have to come back and ride this highway again in warmer, dryer weather.  The mountains and glaciers were very impressive and there were a lot of fall colours to admire.  Just no reds.  All yellows and oranges.  I can see why the Ottawa Valley attracts “leafers” in the fall.  The red leaves are definitely noticeably missing in the West.  And, although the weather got very close to being cold enough to snow through the higher elevation passes, the precipitation continued to be rain until we reached East Glacier.  The sun actually came out a little for us here, but it was still too cold to turn off the heated gear until we got to a slightly lower elevation.

Before we knew it, we were at the Port of Peigan border crossing.  With only one lane open, there was a bit of a lineup at the crossing.  Koira was very indignant in her Pet Palace because we did not let her out.  The bike was stopped, so she fully expected to get out and explore.  She was barking when we pulled up to the border agent.  I could tell he was confused about where the dog was on our bike.  He was looking at the front of Jeremy’s jacket and then my jacket, like we might be trying to hide a dog in our bulky rain and motorcycle gear.  When he realized she was in the bag in the back, you could tell he was trying not to laugh.  He did not ask about meat products or pet food, so we did not mention the tiny bit of dog food we were still carrying.  He did ask for Koira’s vaccination paperwork.  So, making sure we had all that paperwork with us was not a waste.  It went very smoothly and they let us and our cranky little white dog back into the country.  I was happy we did not have to go through the bike search again this year.  It is not the search of the bike that is the pain really, as we have nothing to hide, it is having to re-pack everything again before we can head out.

It is nice to go on holidays, but it always nice to come again.  We stopped for a quick lunch in Cardston, but, now that we were in Alberta, we just wanted to get home.  Calgary greeted us with gray skies, wind, and cold.  Ottawa used to greet us with the exact same weather.  We had to turn our heated gear back on again for that last stretch.  It did not matter to us, though.  We were just so happy to be home safe and sound.  Happy Thanksgiving!