Day 1: flight to Canada

Day one was exhausting. Are honeymoons suppose to be this much work?  I got an hour and a half of sleep last night, but Mike ended up pulling an all nighter (apparently he is trying hard to be 10 years younger by returning to his grad school ways). We we're busy packing and getting ready for a three-week adventure. The cases were packed up, and panniers were loaded (special thanks to Aunt BeAnn and Uncle Dave, Tracy and Yusuke for that gift). 

Then off to the airport we went at 4am.  Nothing says fun honeymoon like carrying this load around the airport and through customs. 

But thankfully we didn't have to carry the bike boxes with us too much. Most of the time it was just our panniers. 

We were both exhausted but Mike got a burst of energy when he discovered a Canadian tea company, David's Tea, in Toronto's airport. And don't worry he already has a loyalty card and has figured out where on our bike trip we will pass by this local chain. 

We finally arrived in Edmonton and met two other people on our flight who are biking the same route only they are continuing on to Jackson Hole rather than stopping in Missoula. Both of them were older men, one already had a knee brace on, so I figure if they can do it, I can too. 

The rest of the day we spent running errands, fedexing the bike cases, buying sleeping bags, and exploring downtown Edmonton. I found a new favorite Canadian beer, Dieu du Ciel Aphrodesiaque (a bourbon porter). We looked into going to a World Cup match, but had to settle for riding the elevator with a Sweedish women's team player. The Sweedish team was staying in our hotel. 

The sun stays up forever here.  We returned to the hotel around 10:30 pm and it wasn't even dusk.