Is this Christmas Eve?

We're baaaaaack!  It's another LOOK & Stepper Revving up for Kids motorcycle ride, the 7th to be exact.  Since the first voyage in 2007 to the 2011 ride this group has raised over 1 million dollars.   I know that this years pledges are going to blow our minds.  But our journey isn't over yet, in fact it's just begun.   

The Edmonton group of riders met this morning at 6:30(ish) at the office of LOOK Homes.  After a great breakfast served up by Elizabethan Caterers and some hugs and hellos we heard a very heartwarming speech from  Bob Walker  at Ledcor.  Next up to mike was Dan McOuat with our usual safety talk and quick version of our itinerary.  We were  introduced to Ruby Hannigan and her Mom who are our host family.  Ruby was diagnosed with cancer in May 2011, she was 7 at the time.  At the time of writing this I haven't had the opportunity to sit and talk with Ruby yet, but at our stops today you can see that she is a vibrant young lady.  

Today's journey took us from Edmonton with a stop in Red Deer where we picked up the Calgary group then off  to Rocky Mountain House.  We had lunch in the campground at the David Thompson Resort and there was much reminiscing of our ride several years ago when we stayed there.  From there our leader pulled a Dan McOuat and missed the turn so we had to back track a little, just a little onto the Bow Valley Parkway on our way to Canmore (but funny enough Dan was there when we missed this turn...coincidence?).   Bow Valley Parkway - What a beautiful road.  I had never travelled that road before but will certainly do it again.  We didn't see a lot of wildlife today, but we did encounter a black bear!  It looked pretty huge from far away but as we got closer, it wasn't too big, but still it's a black bear and we didn't stick around. 

Now, onto my "Christmas" reference.  I think I speak for pretty much everyone on this ride when I say how much we look forward to it.  So there we are last night, the bike is ready for the road, the bags are packed and the animals seen to and now it's time for bed.  But who can sleep?  As we lay there eyes wide open Dave says to me "it's like Christmas Eve"  and he's right.  It's the anticipation of seeing old friends and knowing that we are going to meet new ones and it's knowing why we are on this ride, for the kids.  So who can sleep?  

Now, just like last year let me tell you about the smells!  Sorry, I'm big on that and it really is a part of the experience of riding on the back of the bike (that and taking pictures on there).  Today's smells were exceptional, minus the farm we passed on the QE 2.  We went from farm land "smells" to the wonderful smells of the forest as we travelled through the mountains and then when we got to the icefield you could actually smell the cool crisp air.  There's nothing like it.  

So now we are all gathering and we will finally have a chance to have a good visit and talk about rides past and to get to know our host family.  Tonight will be catching up with friends, meeting new ones and talking about today's ride.  This is an exceptional group of people and I am so happy to call them my friends.  But we never lose sight of why we are here and why we do this ride.  It's for the kids.