Prairie in Canada

I head for the east, going down the mountains in the Canadian Rockies, where it was mostly cloudy with occasional showers and was rather cold except for the beginning two days. I see a thin layer of blue sky over the horizon in the east. I want to ride under that sunshine as soon as possible. However, the sky is vast and extensive. When I arrived at a small town Edson after around 100 km ride, the blue sky had acquired slightly more area.

In the east of the Canadian Rockies, endlessly lasts a vast field that is really flat almost without any undulation. The earth is covered with cereal plants all over. This is a pacific, green ocean. The horizon draws a straight line in both the forward direction the bike is rushing and the backward direction the scenery is fading away in the rear view mirrors. The straight line is only violated by low, green waves of woods slightly swelling over the line itself. The dotted objects with a shape of an oil drum are floating on the green sea. The hay is rounded, being different from that of Japan. From time to time something like a light house is seen. It is a silo. The Canadian transcontinental railway runs parallel to the road. The railway track occasionally approaches and goes along with the road and away again. At times I see a freight train with a length of several km. Maybe the crop in the silo is still transported by train Besides these things, the scenery stays the same however long you may ride.

It is monotonous enough to get you bored. I do not feel like even taking a photograph.I do not feel like speeding on this road in this expansive field. The speed limit is 100 km/h. However, most cars are going at the speed of 110 - 120 km/h. I am not timid any more on an easy road like this. I slightly raise the velocity and go with the cars. The BMW-R1100R I bought in California has a speedometer indicated in miles. 110 km is equivalent to 70 miles. My sense detects only 70 km/h. This partner of mine was born in the country that has the autobahns without any speed limit. He is irritating in a low speed like this. So sometimes I have to speed up to 130 km/h in order to soothe him. The R1100R with the engine of 1100 cc is, however, not satisfied well. His irritation is fully understandable, because in addition the road has few traffic lights. Once leaving a town and traveling as long as 20 - 30 km, one can find the first traffic sign, which shows the name of another town and the symbol marks of its facilities like a campground, hotel, gas station etc. The road often pass through the town without anything, since the road was probably constructed outside the town. As a gas station is usually located 50 - 100 km away, earlier fueling must be done. After traveling 400 - 500 km, an island-like figure can be observed in the distance on a sea of the green. It is a large-scale city. It's an urban area after a long ride. In this long distance there are hardly any traffic lights. There are hardly any people found along the road, except some young men who hitchhike in the outskirts of the large cities. I did not find hitchhikers in the US. Is Canada a safe country in fact? Not only traffic lights and people, but even farm houses can hardly be found in this never-ending open field. I wonder where they have hidden those. The only traffic obstacle is animals, not only in the Rocky Mountains, but also in this prairie. In the Rocky Mountains I saw the mountain goats blocking the cars and causing a traffic jam, or

I happened to see a gray wolf crossing my advancing road and I inattentively looked back and followed it. When a rather big bird that had suddenly flew in the road once hit the windshield and touched my helmet, my sight was blocked and I went blind for a moment. I also saw a deer jumping across the road in this field. However, these kinds of things seldom happen. What matters more are butterflies and tiny bugs. They crack onto the visor of my helmet, so that they blur my vision. Since I left Edson on the second day away from the Rockies, the weather has been good for more than a week. I worried about rain because in Japan I had read several books on motorcycle trips across Canada which refer to the bad weather in the summer. But, this was completely wrong. The temperature is also getting high. Someone says it is 34 - 35 degrees Celsius. I did not imagine it could be so hot in Canada. In addition the air is dry. I gape for cola and juice again. I feel like I were back to the south of the US. I naturally switch the heated grips off and change the gloves with thinner ones. In the hot and dry air the remains of the butterflies and bugs have hardened and stuck firmly to the windshield, oil cooler and helmet. It is hard to wipe them off.I find a lot of campgrounds on the traffic signs, but somehow I don't feel like going there, not to mention those in the town. It is probably because of the hot weather and the unattractive landscape. Besides these, there isn't a food shop nearby in the countryside. As a result, I stay away from a campground and stay at a motel in a small town or village along the road on a day when I decide not to access the Internet. The motels here charge 20 -30 % less than the US. Walking in a town like this, I find the signboards with the word "prairie" in places. Now I remember! This is the Prairie, the great breadbasket in North America that we learned in junior high school.I am riding into Moosomin, a small town in Saskatchewan. There stand three motels, which equally have a signboard saying "Single $37.95, Internet, ..." . I stay at one motel of the three called "Prairie Pride Motel". I enter the room. It evokes my old memory. The flies are there. One of them flies after me and lands on my buttocks in the toilet. This is also what happened many years ago. Besides, there is a fly-flapper hung on the wall. I get exited and send only four of them to Heaven. My skill is still reliable. There is a bar located on the other side of the road and I go there to have dinner. A bar is the best place for dinner. They do not charge tax, although I don't know if it is included in the price or not. Because the money for beer or food is already paid, I miss the time when I would tip. For this reason, I can get out of the place without giving a tip that is said to be 15%, feeling no sense of guilt. The food at a bar is more delicious in the US or Canada than the restaurants where only hamburgers are often served. In addition, smoking is allowed and, of course, beer is available.

Whenever I am asked the brand of beer, I answer "the strongest beer", because I don't know the names. There exists beer with more than 6% alcohol content. I have once had an 8% beer. Fortunately this motel serves free breakfast. I go to the motel office in the morning. I notice one of the guests is emailing. The Internet is becoming one of the important business factors even for such a back-country motel as this. In the mean time, a sparrow-like bird has flown into the room through the open door. The cat has jumped out of somewhere like a shot and caught the bird in a blink of an eye. The cat, which is probably starving, is eating it all from head to tail on the spot, without even spending the time to play with its victim. I see a lion in the cat. The cats in the countryside are still wild and not spoiled yet, while those in cities often run away when facing a rat. I was pushed by the power from the agility and aggression of the cat, and came to have the feeling like frightfulness.In our human society, however, we cannot be as wild and self-subsistent as the cat even in the countryside like this place. The administration collect tax from every corner of the community. They demand tax even from a foreign traveler. The room charge of $37.95 becomes $42.89 at payment. As much as 11.5 % of tax is imposed. According to the news from Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party made a clean sweep in the latest election for the House of Councilors. I am afraid that the Japanese consumption tax will be also raised to this high level in the near future. In that case, it will be more difficult for me to be back in Japan.