Oh, Canada

So, I made it to my stop in Vancouver. ...I was actually a little unsure I would for a moment there. I had an easy time biking into and through Bellingham, making use of the nice bike lanes my previous host installed and informed me to use, and taking I5 up to the border. Then things got fun. Apparently customs seemed to think I was one suspicious guy, and really gave me a hard time getting in. They interrogated me for twenty minutes and rifled through all my meager possessions. They acted as if it was unreasonable for me to bike the mere thirty miles from there to my stay in Vancouver. They questioned the use of Couchsurfing. They were uncomfortable with me being presently unemployed. The matter of possibly calling up my landlady to prove I lived there and planned to come back was brought up. Things as innocuous as spare inner tubes raised eyebrows. My assets were questioned time and again. ...Apparently they seemed to think that I didn't have enough ties to the US and might simply try to stay in Canada and not come back. I guess I really do appear the vagabond...

I think when they implied 5k wasn't nearly enough money to be able to experience Vancouver for two days though, I feel the third degree did get just a bit ridiculous. They let me in finally, but made sure I knew that I ought to be more prepared should I enter Canada again and that a customs officer would not be unreasonable to deny me entry. I was unnerved as all hell by the time I got done.

Then of course I had the next 30 miles to do through an unfamiliar country while being without cell service or data to help me out. GPS and cached google map data got me through in the end though. There's some very nice bike lanes and well marked bike routes here. There was one section I was on an unpleasant gravel trail running next to the highway, and the bridges were not the nicest to cross with their narrow pedestrian/bike shoulders. But generally, it wasn't terrible getting here. ...It was even generous enough not to start really raining until I was almost here. Still, getting here, being invited in, and knowing for sure I wasn't going to be stranded in Canada tonight, was a real relief.

Well, my host just got home. Dinner will be soon. And whatever it's going to be, I'm looking forward to it. ...Ah, bike touring, everything becomes about food and bed, and hopefully seeing stuff on the way to them.