Transportation Change

It turns out that you cannot rent a car in the United States and do a one-way drop off in Canada.  I became painfully aware of this Saturday afternoon as I was trying to arrange our transportation from Milwaukee to Banff.  This is ridiculous.  Nate and I spent a few hours trying to figure out alternatives to getting to Banff (we looked into riding the train, and I even went so far as to look at craigslist to buy a beater SUV and then we'd ditch it or try to sell it in Canada), and the best we could come up with was a one way rental of some crappy mid-sized sedan with Hertz to Calgary for over $1,000.  LAME.

We let the problem sit and went out last night to forget about the snafu.  We went out with some friends and one of them started asking Nate and I about the bike trip.
Peter: "So I hear your headed on a big bike trip really soon?  When are you leaving?"
Me: "Well...um...we're hoping to leave Saturday morning, but as of right now, we can't secure a rental car."  I explained the problem concerning international car rental rules and regulations.  On a whim, I said, "Wanna take a road trip out there with us?"
Peter: "Serious??!?  Like Banff, Canada??  I wrote a paper about that place my sophomore year in high school, and I've always wanted to go!  I even have a Prius!"
I can't believe this conversation is really happening, and it turns out that he's a teacher as well and has the summer off, so he's able to give us a ride out there and see Banff at the same time.

As of right now, we're still on schedule to leave MKE Saturday morning, but now we have 3 drivers, some company, and a great this-world-is-way-bigger-than-me story to tell.