I was lucky enough to arrange a same day Bunk-a-Biker stay in Calgary for a couple nights. It was a straight shot up AB-2 from Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump to Calgary for 115 miles. It was rainy all day in Calgary and if I was lucky I would just miss the last rainstorm of the day when I arrive in the city. And Calgary is a real city with real city traffic.

My host was Terry. I didn't know much about this person except they had an empty room for me. We texted back and forth a bit regarding arrival logistics but I didn't even know if Terry was a man or a woman. I got the address and made my way to the northern part of Calgary. When I arrived at the house, I looked around and saw a figure at the window wave to me. I waved back and saw a tiny older woman open the door to greet me. Terry was about 60 and maybe 5 foot 2.

I got off the bike and shook her hand and introduced myself. This I was not expecting. I had a mental picture of some older Harley guy. Don't ask me why but that's what I was picturing in my head. Terry was very nice in greeting me but had to run back into the kitchen since she was fixing a spaghetti and meatball supper. It took me a bit to unloading my stuff off the bike. She had an entire basement room with an actual fold down Murphy bed, which I've always seen in movies but never actually seen one in person.

Over our spaghetti dinner, we chatted about her recent ten day trip. So recent that she actually came home a few hours before I arrived and she still agreed to host me. Of course we chatted about her bike (a Honda Shadow 750), her riding background (she started when she was 16), and where she's been (a lot of places in Canada and US). She is a pretty hardcore rider with a lot of KM and places under her belt. She also rides with the local Alberta chapter of Women in the Wind. So she's essentially in a biker gang too.

The next morning, Terry makes me her famous french toast for breakfast. So in 12 hours and I've had two home cooked meals. I'm totally getting the better end of the stick here. After french toasts, Terry offers to drive me around town to see the sights. I gladly accept. We went down to the Peace Bridge:

Wonderland sculpture:

And then Heritage Park:

Heritage Park is this historical town that consists of knowledgeable staffs dressed in period clothes who can tell you all about the history of Alberta and some can even show you the actual skills of people that lived here over a hundred years ago. Whether it's blacksmithing or wood working, there is a historical staff member that can tell you all about the history of the era or even the history of a particular building or object. This is basically a paradise for history nerds. They even have working early century trucks and an actual steam powered train that you can ride around the park.

Later that evening, Terry invited me to a drag show that her son performs in. It wasn't my first drag show but it's definitely been a long time. But it was a first for a Bunk-a-Biker drag combo stay.

The following day was a maintenance day. I suspect that because I'm carry so much luggage, my rear Shinko 705 is already down to the wear bars at under 4,000 miles. I normally get between 6-7k miles back home. Thankfully, Calgary being a big city, they have Blackfoot Motors, a huge BMW and numerous other brand dealership here. Another Bunk-a-Biker host, who couldn't host me, helped me secure a spot here for a tire change. I dropped the bike off that Monday morning and they had it done, along with checking a few other things, by the end of the day. So I lost a travel day but I was thankful for another rest day so I could catch up on the computer dealing with other logistics. And Terry was gracious enough to host me for another night.

With a new rear tire, I head off for Banff the next morning. And then further north into northern British Columbia and the Yukon and it starts to get remote until eventually Alaska. Thankfully Ken is a few days ahead of me and we communicate daily so I'm able to get scouting reports from him about the roads, weather and lodging situation up north. That part of the journey is getting closer but I'm still focusing on one day at a time.