Les Canards Sauvages 2009.08

A wise man once said, "I chose the road less traveled...now where the heck am I?" Which is why I rarely lead on our motorcycle road trips. I tell others that during my 30-year career as a consultant, I led much of the time and now I’m content to follow. But the truth is, when I lead a pack of bikers, I make wrong turns. It’s more efficient when I follow.

My daughter, son-in-law and I just got back from a 9-day road trip on our motorcycles from Seattle to Banff, Alberta, Canada. We chose the roads less traveled, but didn’t get lost. We reprised Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso when it came to weather. We encountered plenty of interesting people including an 80-year-old town historian, a lesbian couple, a Luxembourger innkeeper, a helicopter pilot for a smoke jumper team, and lots of bikers ranging from daring to demure.

In the end it was a great trip; everything a road trip ought to be. Recommended if you’ve got a powerful bike between your legs and the time to enjoy it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself … check out the photos, for the meaning of “Les Canards Sauvages,” and the rest of the story.

Most of the "color commentary is stored in the caption of the map.