Day 4,Thursday September 17

Up before crack of dawn...heard Ralf stumbling around in the dark.It's 0400! Ralf what are your doing? As we are in bed by 2000yrs (8pm) Ralf has had his quota of sleep. Ralf wants to put on the tv...ugh...

Robyn you wondered why I prefer to stay in room with 2 queen beds...that's why. Put pilllows over my head so I could sleep (??) til 0530..

Because my days are spent in the driver's seat of my car I make jokes about being a homeless person (although my car looks like a homeless person lives in it). But after hours in the car I get to stay in a 4 star (minimum) hotel; 2 queen beds ( if I'm lucky) or a kingsize bed; hot shower; coffee maker; tv;continental breakfast; and WiFi (yippee). So I thank God for my blessings as a homeless person does not have this luxury.

Ralf went down to lobby at 0530 to fill my thermos (like what else is there to do ). I started making coffee in the coffee maker. Will keep coffee warm in thermos til later.Ralf returned to lobby to have breakfast while I made use of the internet. Wanted to download pictures only. Picked out a good 50 and thought I would shower and wash my hair while it downloaded. I know it takes some time to process so wanted to manage my time well. Well no pics so I dried my hair; still no pics so I got dressed;no pics so I packed my suitcase.Ralf is ready to start his cycling and he tells me to stay back and finish the picture blogging while I have an internet connection. Thanks hon,see you in a bit.

Here I thought 2 weeks being trained by my in house I.T.people ( Megan and Christian) would make me tech savvy. As long as there are no bumps along the way but I've had pot hole after pot hole. So I called Megan but she didn't have time to sort out my problems as she had been called in to work. Called Robyn who told me to call Christian... afterall this is his old computer.Called Christian and woke him up...he mumbled something, unable to figure out problem and said call him back when I figure it out. Thanks son,did I tell you how I carried you in my womb for 9 months, C, breast fed you for 9 months....I guess not. Oh Mexico may be in your future – keep that in mind- pulling out all my stops

Call Andy Harvey, my go to man. Andy is the best ( and Lydia his awesome wife-hi Lydia). Andy going into meeting so passed me onto Justin.Justin was great in helping me to figure just blogging pictures. It is almost time to check out of hotel so thanked Justin and said I will try to do what he said.Went for my continental breakfast-grabbed a muffin to give to Ralf when I catch up to him. Driving on highway for over an hour at 80-100k/hr and no sign of Ralf. Did I pass him or are we on the same path. Started to get a little anxious so ate the muffin.Emotional eating! I'm also stressed out about my face which I have neglected to tell you about. Murphy's Law started last Thursday when I woke with a swollen face. Not sure what is happening to my face but it's not a pretty site...feels like a reptile's skin,inflamed and very red. Okay enough about me- this is a blog about Ralf . So in a couple of lines I will tell you how the cycle was. We are now in the Prestige Hotel. It's a fancy name for the Best Western. Forgot to mention how great the Best Western is. China plates,ss cutlery whereas the Holiday Inn had paper plates and plastic forks,knives,spoons. Very nice continental breakfast.

Met up with Ralf in Sicamous- 70k from Revelstoke. I can't believe how fast Ralf travelled as there were challenging areas. Ralf said he started to get worried because he hadn't seen me in a couple of hours.

This has been the best day of riding- sun out,no rain or snow, gentle breeze at the back.The horrible weather he had made him appreciate this day even more.Destination Salmon Arm. It was basically downhill from Sicamous – 35k downhill. This is a town tucked in the middle of the wilderness. The town people are so nice,so helpful,so accommodating. Cindy, the owner of Bodywaves, gave me samples of dermatological lotions to apply to my face. She also gave me her cell # if I need to call her.Running in to locales on the street were so friendly .... a diamond in the rough.Wouldn't want to live here but love hunkering down here for the nite.

Not sure if I can post those pics I picked out this am so now I will just post this post and try pics later. May have to wait til home to do the pictures. If you see a blog “ Why the West” -those are the pics.