RT day 20.

Greetings from the Nelway border crossing from the great state of Washington to British Columbia, Canada! Yes, I have my passport with me. I'm headed over the border for a brewery tour (of course it involves beer!) at the Kokanee brewery in Creston, BC.
Last night was a success. I found a campsite, and it was just down the road from the Grand Coulee Dam, which in dramatic fashion, opened the floodgates for about half an hour for the laser show. It was pretty neat to see it on the dam face with water rushing down. Quite a sight.
I headed westerly, and didn't have a lick of traffic. But I did see the waves of grain as the orange just covered the ground all the way to the horizon. Rolling hills just made the peacefulness of the fields mesmerizing.
I then turned north and drove alongside part of Lake Roosevelt, the body of water created by the Grand Coulee dam. It extends 130 miles to the north, and is a pleasure to drive beside it.
Heeeeyyyyy Oooooolllll Aaaaaarrrmmmyy!!!!! Aaaarrrmy! WHAT? Got a little story for ya Ags! Fast forward to the border crossing. Ok, so I opened my mouth too much. Too friendly. Got car searched after I mentioned I had been camping. Dude was convinced that I had a weapon. Asked me twice. I told him I did not. He even asked me if I had brass knuckles. Anyway, he pulled me to the side before he searched the car and told me if he found any weapons he would arrest me. Evidently, I'm from Texas and we have to have some kind of weapon or spray or something to fight off bears when we camp. Or maybe just all Texans carry weapons everywhere we go. So, after he went through everything in the back seat, he went to the trunk, but didn't spend a whole lot of time back there. I think he found my dirty clothes bag and called the search off for my brass knuckles. Yeah. That's gonna ward off a bear. That's what I would have brought with me for bear defense. Brass knuckles. Yeah. Whatever.
After I reloaded the back seat (yep, everything but my bike) I headed off to Creston. I didn't realize that the road from the Nelway border crossing to Creston is the highest maintained road in Canada. 6000+ feet (everything was in meters, of course) in elevation at the peak. Pretty neat.
And then it happened. Finally, day 22 and it happened. Rain. And its because I was gonna wash the car when I got back to the states.
And it poured. It was pouring when I discovered that my gps didn't have Canada maps. It didn't know where the road was. And. It didn't have the streets in Creston. I drove on. And, I was able to see the sign for the Columbia Brewery.
Its funny; I had planned to make the 2pm tour according to the printout I had with me. Customs dude had done the tour, and tried to tell me they weren't open on Sundays. Was that really why I was coming to Canada? Did you call them? No. I didn't call them. My bad.
So, before customs, I was there at 2:10, according to gps that didn't know where I was going, and before the pouring rain. Half hour at customs. Nice. Upon arriving at the brewery, the last tour started at 2:30. Tin minutes ago. I sprinted to the gift shop, and asked nicely about joining the tour late. They accommodated me. Kudos to blonde chick. Thanks bookoos.
The tour was a beer tour. Huge tanks. Stainless steel. Piping. Beer smell. Very nice. And the sample was good...I had the Kolkanee Gold. Tasty and smooth. Notables: Kolkanee is the #1 selling beer in British Columbia; They bottle 1100 bottles and can 1400 cans per minute 24 hours a day five days a week; they have a bunch of settling tanks, the largest five (and the newest five) holding 120,000 liters each, which tour lady said, "if you tried to drink a tank by yourself, you would have to drink a '12 case' every day for 89 years." (add your own Canadian accent here).
I inquired as to the availability of non-chilled beer for purchase at the gift shop...none available. And then she told me to wait because its half price in the states. I'll look tomorrow. Taxes in Canada must suck.
Then, I headed back to the states straight south from Creston, and when they asked how long I'd been in Canada, my reply of a couple hours didn't win them over. What had I purchased? Some souvenirs from the Columbia Brewery tour I came to Canada to attend. That won me another search, but two guys came out this time to search. It didn't take long. Guess they just wanted the Texan again. After all, how did you afford to take time off? I SAVED. Ugh.
I digress.
The drive across Idaho and into Montana was quite scenic. It continued to rain from Canada on all the way past Kalispell, and ceased in time for me to set up camp a few miles from the entrance to Glacier National Park. I'll be here tomorrow night as well; I decided to take a full day enjoying the area without worrying about getting somewhere new tomorrow night. I'm tenting. And no brass knuckles. I'm in danger, I know. Sorry.
And for those of you in Houston enjoying this blog, its damn cold. Was 55 degrees around dusk. Forecast is mid 40s tonite. About the same as Copper three weeks ago. Nice.