Before heading out Saturday morning I decided to work on the blog; however, my laptop had decided to take a rest, ca-put, no image on screen at all. That being the case, I decided to try updating the blog with my phone. I soon found out that would not work as it was just way too slow. Best I could do at this point was to keep notes throughout the coming days so that I could finish the blog when I arrived back home in Maine. I made it back in one piece and though a little slow getting back to the blog I am working on it and do plan to complete it. So starting with my notes from Saturday this is how the day went. I broke camp a little after noon and headed for Blaine, WA which will be my fourth corner! I did not go all the way to Blaine because I could not find a campsite or motel available in the area. I ended up in a campground of sorts in Sedro Wolley,WA. The campground itself was nothing to really brag about but I did enjoy the night. A young couple camped
next to me and we had a real enjoyable evening. We shared vino and almonds and a lot of camping experiences. Sunday morning we all left about the same time. They were headed back to Seattle for a softball game and I headed to Blaine.You may recall my border experience when I went to Madawaska, ME. Well I had a near repeat of that same experience in Blaine, WA.
It turns out that the Peace Arch, which is the fourth corner of my journey, is located between the US and Canadian borders. I realized that just as I was driving past the US border patrol. I whipped into a business parking lot and there I sat. I was trapped between the US and Canadian borders again! Lucky for me a business man decided to come to his office about that time. He was able to tell me a back way out of no man's land. Once back on the highway I was still trying to figure out how to get to the Peace Arch. Well my friend Jill, the Garmin spokes lady, finally figured it out. She directed me through multiple residential areas and then to what appeared as a small beautifully maintained county park with many flower gardens and of course a wedding / reception in progress. As I looked on I realized that the Peace Arch was directly on the far side of this park. I parked my bike and strolled through the reception as if I were a long lost friend arriving at the last moment. With no questions asked I continued to the far side of the park where I crossed the highway to the medium strip which is where the Peace Arch was actually located. The medium is also beautifully landscaped with flowers, trees and of course the Arch. This area between the two borders appears to be shared by the US and Canada so it depends on where you are standing as to what country you are in.
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| Note the American flag on near side and Canadian flag on far side of Peace Arch along with cars on right entering Canada and cars on left exiting Canada |
Could I have walked right into Canada? It appeared so but I was not going to chance it. Having reached my destination, I snapped a couple photos and continued my journey. I headed east toward Glacier National Park. I left the navigation up to Jill and guess what, an hour later I was again looking right at the Canadian border. That was the breaking point. I was cold and I was lost so I shut down the Garmin and headed south. After an hour or so of driving I finally decided to call it a day and checked into the Windmill motel about halfway between Blaine and Seattle. After a good nights rest, I decided to skip Glacier National Park and continued southward to Yellowstone National Park. I was tired of being cold and decided the ride to Yellowstone would be a much more comfortable ride. I did not make it all the way to Yellowstone in one day as it was about a 600 mile ride, but I did make it to Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho which is where I set up camp for the night.
