I am waiting to board the train at Union Station, downtown Portland. My original ticket had me departing from Vancouver, but about a week ago I stopped by the station in Vancouver to make sure they had a bike box for me. The counter person told me that because of construction on the platform the Empire Builder uses, a baggage embargo was in place. Hmmm...She told me I could: a). Show up early (4 hours early) and put my bike on a Portland bound train where the bike would be transferred to the northbound Empire Builder later in the day (yeah...not going to happen...) or b). Change my ticket to depart from Union Station in Portland. Sold. It meant I had to bike an extra 12 miles or so, and pay another 85 cents for the ticket exchange. I'm just one person, but this was filed in my Lousy Customer Service folder. You don't make changes without informing a customer who has reservations and then charge them for the inconvenience you created. That said, I am grateful I checked...it is a reminder to me that somehow...things have a way of working out. When I got to Union Station, the friendly baggage staff sold me a bike box for $25 and I set about to removing the pedals and panniers, and turning the handlebars to the bike would simply slide into the box. Easy peasy. Please...be careful with that box...
I have been watching a Glacier National Park website for months, monitoring the snow plowing along the Going to the Sun Highway. Last year, the road between Apgar campground and St. Mary's was not completely open until July 3rd. This year...they opened the entire road last Friday. You see what I mean about things working out?
Our scheduled departure was 4:45 and we left at...4:45. Impressive...wait a minute...am I in Europe?
The weather forecast for the next week or so is stellar with daytime highs in the 70's and 80's and only a slight chance of rain. I am probably going to regret writing this, but I did not put fenders on. My tires are pretty wide (1.75) and I think I would be frustrated trying to keep the fenders from rubbing on the tires. This way, I can be frustrated when all my gear is wet and dirty from the spraying road grit. Ha!
Today is day 17 for the Iron Cowboy and he is in Kentucky. If you do not know who I am talking about, Google James Lawrence, or look up Iron Cowboy on Facebook. He is swimming, cycling, and running 50 Iron Mans...in 50 states...in 50 days. Sorta makes what I did look like child's play in comparison. He is amazing and I am having wonderful flashbacks as I follow him and compare logistics.
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