We decided to make our goodbyes Saturday night so we would not be too teary-eyed, but Shawn still came out early to help pack up and send us on our way. We probably blasted Kim and Jana with our revving.

For Laura, this was the best road day, with not only fun highways, but also most excellent views and beautiful ponies all along the way.

Our only real hurdle, other than my parking in Creston, B.C. (another story for another day) was our border crossing. Here are some words for the wise, or wizened. At the border:

• Just proceed to the stop sign, even if there is no  vehicle in front of you and the sign says stop here until the vehicle in front moves ahead.

• Do not, under any circumstances have your Nexus card ready on a motorcycle if it means holding it in your teeth . If you are on a motorcycle, you can’t hold them in your hands and shift, so at some point, Carl put our cards in his mouth. DO NOT DO THIS.

• Canadian border patrol do NOT approve of things with possible spit on them. Not even a little bit. He even impugned our Oregon traffic laws as we deigned to move forward since there was no car in front of us.  In any case, we were in the wrong, and although he was ticked at us, he was Canadian nice (in a passive-aggressive way) asking if we had stop signs in Oregon, etc.

• So, even though we had prepared for the crossing, we wound up digging for driver’s licenses and answering a bunch of questions. So much for smooth.

Now we are on the poutine trail. Head’s up, U.S. restaurants: You need to offer this Canadian delicacy, but make sure it has bacon attached.

We did have a dandy poutine in Creston, B.C., trying as Kim suggested, pulled-pork poutine. Other spots along the poutine trail failed a little as there was no bacon. We really thought this was one of the four basic ingredients: French fries, gravy, cheese curds and BACON.

In any case, we rolled on, eschewing the ferry trip for a pleasant roll through the mountains to Castlegar. Our Super 8 had a great room with our view was the super slide to the pool. Very entertaining.

Good day.