Into the Night

I’m starting to develop a pattern.

Wake up, hike/explore, drive. Take off as the sun sets and settle into a new place in the pitch black. Then wake up again to a new and exciting view and location.

I like this pattern. I don’t mind driving at night and I’ve come to enjoy the mystery of not necessarily knowing what view I’m waking up to.

It’s a little surprise almost every morning and I relish it.

At this point I’m in Boston. I’ve driven well over 5000 kms, starting in Edmonton Alberta, to British Columbia, down through Washington into the USA and through Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois. I skirted beneath the great lakes, up through Niagara Falls and back to Canada. I spent some time in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and now I’m back in the States. I’ve traveled down along the east coast and am currently in Boston. It’s been 7 weeks, 7 weeks of places and adventures and people and driving. Lots of driving.

In the country and parks, I drive through herds of deer and glimpse fox and coyotes watching from the sides of the roads as I pass. I am guided by the stars and can catch hints of the changing landscape by the shadows and outlines the mountains (or lack thereof) cast during clear nights. I usually wake with the sunrise…although the constantly changing time zones and the recent adjustment to daylight savings time have skewed my sleeping patterns a little. Breakfast and coffee are made on my propane stove most mornings as I take in the scenery around me. From towering mountains, herds of elk and lakes or rivers I’m always awarded an astounding and surreal view.

In the cities, I take advantage of late nights to find a safe/free parking space in a park somewhere on the outskirts of the downtown core and then I get on my bike. At night, on the bike, I have so much freedom. Most of the places I’ve been have great bike routes and the lack of pedestrians and traffic during those late hours lets me ride up and down the streets of normally congested downtown areas easily. I get to witness the nightlife and almost all of the typical tourist destinations alone, unhindered and free of many of the usual tourists. I love this perspective.

I love this trip.