I got up late today and just barely made it down to breakfast in time. After I ate I talked to the receptionist about my WiFi connection and that it doesn’t seem to work with my laptop. She gave me a network cable to hook into the wall and then into my laptop. I tried out the connection and was able to connect with the internet. I then e-mailed my sister and told her not to expect me before 5:00 p.m. on Friday. I cleaned out my room, loaded my motorcycle and checked out of the hotel. I then set out for Seattle, Washington. Before I get there I will have to cross the border back into the U.S. Let’s hope I don’t have difficulties there. Once out of the city of Vancouver I stopped for gas and then it's back on the road again. I continued on until the highway signs announced the U.S. border is approaching. I follow the signs to U.S. border and they say it is a minimum of a 90 minutes wait time before you cross the border. Oh joy. Sure enough the traffic is backed up big time. I’m sitting in line for about 15 minutes and all of sudden a motorcycle drives by. I look at him and realize this is not the first time he has ridden to near the front of the line. So if he can get away with it I’m going for it to. So I pull out and down the road I go. I go until somebody opens a hole near the front of the line and I pull in. I’m now within a 400 yards/380 meters. Then its slow as you go until you get across the border. I pull up to the inspection station at the border and customs official tells me to pull up a little farther so he can see my license plate. He then asks for my passport. He asks the nature of my visit to Canada. I tell him I’m just picking up my motorcycle and riding it back to U.S. He asked why and I told him I shipped it to Vancouver, B.C. from South Korea and that I had just ridden it around the world. The customs officer then asks me if I have anything to declare. I tell him yes but it’s not more than $400 dollars. He gives me my passport back and waves me on. After I exit the inspection station I pull into a spot where there is no traffic. I put my passport away, zip up my jacket and get back on I-5 to Seattle. I’m rolling along at a pretty good clip when a rest area shows up. It’s been cold all morning so I decided to pull in and roll down my shirt sleeves to keep the wind from blowing up the sleeves of my jacket. That will keep me warmer until the sun comes out. While I was there some VFW was giving away free coffee, donuts and cookies. I gave them a dollar and took a cookie or two to eat. I stood around a bit to warm up and then took off. I was cruising down the highway and I saw a Kawasaki Dealership. I pulled in and asked if they had front and rear sprockets in stock. The part guy said no. I then inquired about oil filters and he said yes. I bought four of them. I went back out by my motorcycle and several guys were standing around it. They wanted to know more about my travels. I told them I was riding around the world and I just left Russia on the 1 August 2009. Somebody said that explains the Cryllic writing I had on my gas tank. We talked a little more about the countries I passed through and then I gave them my blog address if they wanted more information. I then left and got back on I-5 heading south until I reached Seattle. I then took the 171 exit and took an assortment of streets until I found my sister’s house. I made one last right hand turn and there was the house with my sister standing in the front yard. It’s a small front yard but it’s their front yard. She and Ken were both very happy to see me. They told me to take the alley to get behind the house and they would be waiting for me in the back. I had to drive through two small yard gates to get into their backyard. My saddle bags and mirrors barely made it through the gates. I then had to navigate around their vegetable gardens to get to an area covered by paver stones where I parked my bike. It was good to finally get there. I gave Carol a hug and I met Ken for the first time. Ken was busy grilling supper so Carol and I talked. We ate and then I unloaded my bike. I dug out my air mattress and sleeping bag to sleep on their living room floor. We talked more and we eventually got to bed late. For Carol and Ken, real late. Maybe 10:00 p.m. I now was back in the United States for real and tomorrow I had to start refreshing my motorcycle for the next leg of my journey.
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