Ever since the 1982 Transcontinental Tour, many of us had been looking forward to the 1985 tour across Canada. It had been in the planning stage for some time, but early literature from perennial Tour Director Millard Newman indicated it would go from Portland, Maine to Portland Oregon, and nearly the entire route would be through Canada. We would visit the stately cities of Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver. We would also stay in communities with provocative names like Callander (the home of Dionne quintuplets), Wawa, Thunder Bay, Moosemin, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Kamloops and Hope.

There were more applicants for the 1985 tour than any of the five proceeding trips. The printed triptik listed 62 entries, of which five were no shows. Former tourists Philip and Emmy Peterson removed their names because of illness, and Phil died just before the trip ended. Millard announced the sad news, hoping expressions of sympathy could be passed on to Emmy.