My North American Travel Pass

In 2005, pressing family business supplied both the motive and the funds for me to realize a long-held desire--to cross Canada and return to California through the United States by train. I began my preparations for the trip by perusing travel guides to British Columbia. In one of these I discovered information on the availability of a North American Travel Pass. For an affordable flat rate, one obtained a pass that enabled a traveler to have unlimited rides in Canada and the U.S.A. for one month. You were required to travel in both countries, and it could not be in a back and forth manner such as for trips from New York to Montreal and back on business. It was intended to promote tourism on both sides of the border.
This bit of information held the key to my plans.

Leaving Oakland for Vancouver in mid-November 2005, I began a monumental rail trip that would go on from Bristish Columbia with stops in Jasper, Winnepeg, Toronto, Montreal, New York City, and Boston. After a week spent in Massachusetts, I left Providence in a snow storm bound for New York, Chicago, Denver, Reno and all points in between.
I crossed North America twice in twenty-eight days. That included Canada the wide part of the continent. As a legal medical marijuana in my home state of California, I was able to resupply in Vancouver. I spent every one of those days graced by smokable and edible cannabis. It helped me to feel better, it made life more interesting, and it kept the haiku poems coming.
This publication consists of the poems, journals, reflections, photos, artworks, as well as found images and documents, all resulting from the trip and my subsequent fireside contemplation.

Admiting the cliche, still one is tempted to say, "All aboard!"



Store window, Greenwich Village, New York