The tour has been over for about 48 hours now and I've had enough time to reflect on it to be able to declare it a success in every way.  The most important way is that it provided plenty of FUN.  The second most important factor is that I got home safely.  Also, I'm proud to say I fulfilled my prematurely boastful title.  I DID ride my bike to Canada and I DID NOT complain while doing it--though it could be argued that I came close a couple of times.  I must thank those of you who read this journal and resisted the temptation to rub something like this in my face: "Nice journal, clown, but your 'Itasca State Park' page sure looked to me like it contained a complaint."

I must say that even my route was a success.  I was worried before the start of this trip about the lack of exotic locations and the fact that I would never be more than 600 miles from my home.  I wondered if there would be anything that might surprise me.  I should not have been concerned about any of that.  I was frequently surprised by what I experienced, and I learned so much about my home state and my neighboring states and provinces.

The map pretty accurately depicts the route I took except for the meandering I did in various towns and cities.  The first half of the route went pretty much according to the plan I set forth on the map on Page 1 of this journal.  The second half is completely different and I kind of enjoyed improvising from day to day.

I mostly used pages from my 2015 Edition of the Rand McNally Atlas to plot my route and for my daily navigation.  Of course, Mr. Rand and Mr. McNally developed their maps with the automobile in mind, therefore I was not always riding the most bicycle-friendly roads.  In fact, once in a while I ended up riding on some seriously UN-friendly roads.  I consider that one of the acceptable hazards of bike touring--especially touring with minimal electronic technology, i.e. no bike computer or GPS.

Related to my lo-tech touring style, I should disclose that I do carry a smart phone and I did have to consult Google Maps a couple of times in Winnipeg to get un-lost.  In addition, I should state that any mileages seen in this journal will have a margin of error of about 2%.  (Disclosure within a disclosure:  I have absolutely no basis for that 2% figure.  I only took one freshman-level statistics class in college so, really, I just made it up.)  The mileage I entered each day was based on adding up the miles indicated on my Rand-McNally maps and/or the miles shown on road signs. If I went significantly off-route to find a campground or a bike shop or a grocery store, I would add an additional mile or two.  Similarly, if I stated I was going 20 miles per hour, or going up an 8% grade, you can take that with a grain of salt because I really don't know for sure.

Thanks again for reading.  Peace!