Today was a busy morning as I looked for a Suzuki motorcycle dealer and according to the Garmin GPS, there is a dealer at1395 Main St. in Vancouver, but it took me to a non existent place, so I then looked for a Laundromat by typing that word into the GPS. I found one close by but it had gone out of business, so off to the next one. And it was a real clean place. The grime that accumulates on a shirt collar from riding on highways is not a pleasant sight.
I then tried to find a Suzuki Car dealer thinking they would know where a Suzuki motorcycle dealer was located . It turned out that they thought there were none on the side of Vancouver where I was so they told me about a street where they said there were several motorcycle shops. So off I went and unbelievably I find a Suzuki motorcycle shop!! The reason I wanted to find the shop is I wanted the rear sprocket checked as I noticed a slight movement of it as it rotated. The service manager took a quick look at it and explained that the sprocket is rubber mounted and it is OK if it moves slightly as it rotates. So that put my mind at ease.
Then I was off to visit a cousin of mine who lives in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. I last saw her over fifty years ago. Yes, you read this correctly, fifty years. It was so comfortable to meet her, and her husband and we talked continuously for hours explaining stories of our families, laughing about the good things and mystified by family chemistry. We have decided we will continue to contact each other and learn more about our family history.
I was determined to get into the USA today so I continued south out of Vancouver and as I rode along there was a large sign indicating there were two choices for crossing the border, one had a line up time of ninety minutes and the other was fifty minutes . So I chose the fifty minute crossing and it did take fifty five minutes. In all the travelling I have done, this is without question the longest I have ever waited for a border crossing. The customs officer was very friendly and was interested in motorcycle touring, then welcomed me to the USA.
There is an organization in the USA that monitors and awards persons doing the Four Corners Tour where people need to prove they have visited four specific geographic corners of the USA within a certain time period. A few years ago Bob B and I went to the Madawaska, Maine Post Office which is the North East corner, so today I visited the Blaine, Washington Post Office which is the North West corner. Only two corners left!
Just to keep up with the daily tradition, the sky turned very black within an hour of crossing the border so I started looking for an inexpensive motel and found a beauty. It's the Skagit Motel for $50.00 including wireless internet.
Distance travelled: 122 Miles 195 Km