Calamity in Kootenay

To my delight the road was not snow covered or even wet after the snow and rain of the day before. I know you will be surprised to hear that it was cold but honestly the ride between Banff and Radium Hot Springs gave a new name to cold on a motorcycle for me at least. I literally danced around in pain with my fingers thawing.

That may have been the time, while I zipped the suit down and shoved my numb hands under my arms that my passport fell out of my pocket. Yep. Gone. Of course I didn't notice this until I stopped after Radium Hot Springs.

It this point I could chose to ride back, potentially eighty miles, to try to find my passport, or I could take my chances at the boarder. I went back to the gas station where I fueled up to see if by some miracle someone had found it and turned it in. No dice.

At this point a guy overheard me asking the cashier if someone had turned in a wallet (my passport was in a leather case) and offered to give me money to help me get back. Canadians are so pleasant. Fortunately money was not an issue but still it was a great offer from a stranger.

A word about Radium Hot Springs. It's a nice place, but what is with that name? I'm guessing that they named the place before the dangers of radium was common knowledge. I mean it would be like naming a town Climate Change, Connecticut today.

The rest of the ride was great. Crossing to boarder was really a non-issue. They let me in on my license.

I didn't take any pictures but once again I am impressed with the beauty of Idaho. I have not spent as much time in Idaho as I have in Washington or Oregon but every time I go there I am impressed with beauty and landscape diversity of the state.

I also got the chance to drive through Spirit Lake, ID thus check off another place from "I've Been Everywhere" by Johnny Cash that I too have been. I think he is still winning but I'm working on it.