I loaded down the Crow in the parking garage, a last farewell to the family, and rolled out into the sunshine.

A better than average ferry ride over to Vancouver with a crowd of colorful Harley folk, loafing around the deck in the sunshine. Every now and then the ferry doesn't suck.

Finding the Air Canada Cargo building was no problem, great signage all the way along Highway 99. The fuel light came on just as I entered the yard. Perfect proof of empty tank.

I was pleasantly surprised by the great service and attitude of all the guys at Cargo. They must get tired of shipping boring boxes, because a number of them seemed genuinely enthusiastic about my motorcycle adventure. They were also very knowledgeable and helpful, directing me and my bike to a quiet corner of the massive warehouse where I could get to work. I had to push my bike, happy my Triumph didn't weigh 800 lb. Offered to show them the low fuel light but nobody seemed to need to confirm. Maybe they see the fuel level if they scan the bike or something. It took me 15 minutes to take off my luggage, access the battery and disconnect the cables. Taped them up real good and put the seat back on. I pushed the bike over to the scale and it read a bit over to 230kg, and I was happy to note they rounded down to an even 230 😊. Good fellas there at AC Cargo. I threw a few sundries into my Maxpedition string backpack (great extra trip bag - rolls up real tiny) for the flight tomorrow.

Then an escorted walk (sekurity poiposes) through the warehouse and to the front desk.

I handed over my dangerous goods certificate and my confirmation number, and after a bit of talk about how they were trying to get me the best rate, I coughed up $854. While it was $650 for the bike, the gubbermint tax was $200 (2x the standard $100 palm grease). I sat down and called my Airbnb host (first time trying that service) for a pickup. As I waited, the DG Inspector (i'm down with Cargo jargon now) appeared, holding my little spray can of chain lube. Apparently pressurized cans are a no-no. It took them like 4 minutes to find that. Either someone xrayed the bike, or that DGI knows luggage jiu-jitsu. Let's see if the screeners tomorrow care it's in my bag.
10 minutes later my AirBnB host, a genteel asian gent, drove up to the door. We drove to his home where he kindly showed me to a small, spartan bedroom.

$33 a night. Awww yeah. Just realized I'm stuck in suburbia with two protein bars and tap water for the next 14 hours.
Time to hunker down prison style, watch tiny TV and do pushups.