Home!

We are finally home. I was just too tired and too busy in the last few days to post. Sorry. Most of the places we stayed at on the way home had crap for internet, so I just didn't try.


From where I left off in Banff, we spent the morning up at Johnston creek trail. It is a mountain stream that has cut  multiple waterfalls along the way.
This tells a bit about it, but fails to describe the beauty. 
http://www.banff.ca/activities-events/summer/banff-hiking/johnston-canyon.htm

We left there and headed south towards Glacier National Park
there were a lot of animals in Banff Area that were just strolling and licking at the road. I think that maybe they salt the roads in winter and that is what attracts them.

After a nice casual day of riding we stopped just before going back into the states to spend the night and relax.

Wednesday we headed across the border and through Glacier National Park. The road construction what a royal pain. Doing 3 mph in a line of 100 cars following a flag car through the park was not a lot of fun.

After exiting the park and stopping for lunch we decided to head to a little town called Hot Springs Mt. where they had a mineral springs resort that was from the early 30's. The building looked like it. LOL
The rooms were comfortable and the food and service were excellent, but it had 1 little quirk. They believed in the mineral water so much, they used it for heating the building and for all the hot water in the building. The pools were great, but if you have ever been in a mineral pool, you know you fell slimy from all the minerals and sulpher in the water. In order to take a shower you have to use the mineral water and mix it with cold water. (the cold is fresh water) and when you are done cleaning up, you have to turn off the hot water entirely to get fresh water to clean the minerals off. Like I said; Quirky :-) 
http://www.symeshotsprings.com/

Thursday morning we wandered up Hwy 200 to Lake Pend Oreille and into Sandpoint Id, where Lori and Gina HAD to stop to do some shopping again. I thought we were getting off too easy... LOL
That town has more boutique shops and art gallerys than just about anyplace I have ever been. A lot of fruits and nuts there, I tell ya.
I was sitting outside one of the galley's waiting for Gina and Lori to come out and a lady about 40 or so was walking by. She stopped for second right in front of me and told me I had better go get a lottery ticket. I looked at her and asked why? She replied, because it was my lucky day. I met her... And then she walked off.  See, I told ya. Fruits and nuts...

We got out of town before the rush hour got too bad and stopped in Newport, Wa for the night. There is a little bed and breakfast there that was unique. 
http://www.thewaldenhouse.com/
The four of us rented the whole downstaris of the house with a full living room and two bedrooms for the night. It also includes a self serve breakfast in the upstairs guest kitchen. It is just like being at home. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, it is all for guests. pots and pans are beside the stove if you wish to cook something and the hot tub is out on the rear deck. You can use it anytime...  Real casual and friendly.

If we go back into the area, I will stay there again.

Friday we headed north along Hwy 20 and then south, staying in Wenatchee for the night. We have a favorite hotel there. It is the Super 8 and has a great pool and hot tub. Both are just the right temperature and after riding in the heat all day it feels soo good to cool down and relax.

Saturday we went into Leavenworth and a little more shopping (go figure.) and over Stevens pass and home. We went down to see mark and Lori and pick up the dogs and today we are just relaxing and unwinding. A great trip and John and Gina are a fun couple to travel with. 4400 miles total in two weeks and too many sights to mention.

Until the next trip...

Into Banff

We are in Banff and relaxing for a couple of days before we head south towards Glacier National Park and head in the general direction of home.

Overall for the trip it has been a great one with sooooo much to see that I cannot accurately describe it all.

The trip into Valemount was Interesting. The construction up here is not motorcycle friendly. In fact, they make the motorcycles follow right behind the flag car so they can keep an eye on them. The sections that are being worked on are pretty bad off camber and a lot of loose gravel so it wears on your nerves trying to keep the bikes from sliding sideways.

I did learn that running a darkside tire on loose gravel is one the few drawbacks to it. It is like trying to walk on a board over a sea of marbles. It moves under you without warning and you don’t know which way it is going to go next. There were a couple of times I was sideways. Not a fun time.

I was real proud of Lori as she made it through about 30 miles of gravel, which she hates, and didn’t stop, or complain, and kept the bike under control.

We made it into Valemount with only one little mishap. We were headed down a steep grade when  a car coming at us hit a deer. It just so happened that at the exact same spot there was chunks of rubber from a semi tire that had come apart all over the road. So we were dodging rubber pieces, deer parts and bumper parts from the car that hit the dear. It was an exiting few seconds, but we all made it through.

Gina was at this point about ready to just head for home. She said that if another thing would have happened that would be it.

We checked into the Ramada in Valemount and relaxed in the pool and got caught up on some laundry chores.  

The next morning we slept in a little and then headed south towards Jasper. We would be spending most of the day running through National Parks on the way into Banff. All I can say is, It is beautiful. 

I am going to try and put together a slide show of some of the pictures of Canada. With the scenery and the mile after mile of sweeping curves and all the people are so friendly, it is no wonder that the people here are so proud of it.

We just got back from shopping. After dragging the girls on a full circle tour of British Columbia, I guess they deserve a little shopping time. The great part for John and I, is we are on motorcycles, not a whole lot more can fit. (I am glad they didn’t think of the shipping it home option… LOL)

I will try and write some more when we get back into the states.

Day 6 and 7 - From Dease Lake to Dawson Creek

Well the day started with a steady downpour. As we suited up and got ready, everyone at the hotel looked at us as if we were crazy. Maybe we are, just a little.

We left Dease lake and headed North. This was to be our most northern day of the trip as we would cross into the Yukon territory before hitting the Alaska Hwy and heading SE.

We made it all of about 20 miles before we had to stop and add more clothes. It was cold! 

We made it about an hour out before our second stop at a Jade store of all places, Out in the middle of no where is a place called Cassiar Mountain Jade store. The only real reason we stopped was we were all cold and they had a sign out for free coffee. We relaxed and BS’d with the locals for a bit before we started out again.

A little further up the road we ran into a motorhome stopped in the middle of the road. John pulled up to the drivers window and asked if everything was ok. The driver just pointed over John’s shoulder where there was a momma bear and two cubs about 25 feet behind him. Gina, and Lori and I had stopped by this time and I hurried to get the camera out. Just as I got it out John revved his bike to scare the bears away. I missed the picture of the mom but I did manage to get a fuzzy picture of one of the cubs panicking and climbing a tree.

This was not to be our last sighting of the day as we say quite a few more spaced out during the day.

We made it into Watson Lake and stopped at the visitors center where they have a forest of road signs and home made signs. Over 74,000 of them to date. It was quite a sight.

By this time we were hungry wet and cold. We stopped for lunch and then hit a local department store that was about the size of a 7-11. The biggest store in town… We had to get better gloves and warmer socks. It was just too much to be that wet and cold.

With full belly’s and warm hands and toes we headed East towards tonight destination,                Liard Hotsprings! 

We arrived about 4:30 and immediately changed and hit the hot springs and relaxed and warmed up. For about 4 hours.

We got back to the resort to find the store and the restaurant both had closed at 8pm. Good thing we had the ice chest with us. We snacked on Boiled eggs, cheese and a package of little weenies that we warmed up in the community microwave. Add in a few bottles of water and we are good. Time for bed. It was an exhausting day.

After a relaxing breakfast in the morning we took off SE along the Alcan Hwy. After finding that the Cassiar Hwy was better than we expected, we found the Alcan was MUCH worse than we expected. There were ruts and bumps and gravel and contruction. After seeing and going by over 100 traffic cones with a "slow" sign stuck in it and having just a little bump we got a little complacent about them. What a mistake.

We came up on another that looked like all the others and suddenly we were airborn. With a resounding thump we touched down about 10 feet further up the road. I think that instead of a small traffic cone with a "slow sign stuck in it, this bump should have a big reader board that says;

1. Launching pad ahead, please slow down and then accelerate hard for smoothest landing.

2. Do not use brakes when in mid air.

3. Make sure brakes are released before touching down

4. long wheelbase rigs might have clearance issues.

5. motorcyclists should sit back in seat as far as possible away from the gas tank if you wish to have any more kids.

Yah, it was that bad. LOL

We did see a lot of animals today. Lots of elk, a cariboo, mountain sheep, a bison, and most of these were in the road, or right on the edge.

We did go by Muncho Lake and get a couple of pictures.

And got to see Folded mountain

We found that fuel was nut a real issue as long as you traveled during business hours. We were never more than 130 miles away from fuel. We found however that we came at the last of the season. Lots of the smaller places were clearing everything out and getting ready to close for the season and head south. Labor day weekend is it.

Most of the rest of the day was dodging gravel patches and marauding semi's on a mission and generally getting covered with dirt. By the time we got to Dawson Creek we were all filthy with dirt and mud.

Well, time for bed. Tomorrow we go to Valemount and then into Banff on Sunday to relax for a couple of days.

Dease Lake

Well we are now in Dease Lake for the night. Not a lot to report for today. No major incidents, just nice riding.

The place we stayed at in Stewart was real nice. It is called the Ripley creek inn and it is an old rustic place that has been renovated very well.

We left Stewart this morning and cruised into Alaska (Yes Dawn it really is Alaska. The border patrol guy said so. Ha, Ha.) As we arrived at the Border we were greated by one of the local residents.

We did get a couple of shots of a local galcier on the way out of town also.

That is it for the day.

It is, however, very cold here. It feels like late October at home. I think I am starting to get numb to the incredible scenery though. I am not spending as much time looking around.

I will leave you with a couple of pictures from yesterdays  carnage. If you have not yet read yesterdays blog, you really need to.

The BUTTERYFLY EFFECT and the POWER OF THREE.

The BUTTERFLY EFFECT AND The POWER OF THREE.

In Hindsight I should have just the sunglasses go. They weren’t that expensive.

But, I can’t go back now.

Just before we left Prince Rupert I took a drive around, and In my opinion, the leaders of that town have no vision at all. It is a major hub for all transportation for the area and the whole downtown area is nothing but industrial. No place to really get down to the water and enjoy the sights. Everybody seems too busy working to relax and enjoy what nature has worked so hard to supply them with. They could do so much with the town, but at this point it would be a major undertaking.

I had told John  about a couple of spots that I wanted to stop at on the way out and take pictures. He said, that was fine, he would hang back with the Go-Pro camera and video us riding.

We get a couple of pictures of the cannery and the local waters and we headed out to go see a couple of waterfalls.  About 45 miles out there is a rock wall with multiple waterfalls on it that I saw on the way in.

As we approached I turned on my signal and started to slow down and the disaster struck. The beautiful scenery has captured Johns attention and he was trying to get it on the video. When he looked back down the three of us in front had slowed and he was still going 60. In the video you could see that he was drifting right and with the rain soaked roads he was committed to the right lane. He tried stopping but only managed to get to about 30 as he tried to squeeze between Gina and the road barrier, be glanced off of the barrier and into Gina. Lori and I had by this time stopped and we heard that awful sound that once heard can never be unheard. The crunch and scraping of steel on asphault.

I looked into the mirror and saw Gina’s bike crossways in the middle of the road and John’s bike on it’s side on the shoulder. No John or Gina to be seen.

Lori and I got off our bikes and we could Gina getting up from the shoulder, but it took a few seconds to find John. He was about 8’ off the road in the brush and he was trying to get up, but having a hard time of it. As it turns out, he was just disoriented, with no major damage to his person. Gina had a sore hand from where the bikes had hit, but otherwise she was Ok.

The bikes on the other hand were not so good. Johns had the right footboard gone and the brake lever bent and the fairing destroyed. The gps had come off and his Go-pro camera that was attached to his helmet was gone. It too 20 minutes of searching to find that.

Gina’s bike was a little better. The Lindby bar has bent severely and came off the frame at the top. The exhaust was scraped up where the bike had slid on it. The right side footboard was also off and it had sheared the bolts that held it on. Both the saddlebags had matching scrapes now. I was surprised how well the saddlebags hold up when a bike slides on them.

We took a few minutes to catch our breath and assess the damage and see what parts we had to put it all back together.

It took about 2 hours, but we removed all the damages pieces and straighten what we could. We found some bolts in my toolbox and managed to reattach the hwy  bars and both of the running boards. The only thing we couldn’t save was the Fairing on John’s bike.

We did a quick test drive and found the bikes to be mechanically sound, so we talked it over and decided to continue and just be careful and see what happens.

Again, we played hide and seek with the clouds and the rain, but we made it into Stewart by 6PM with everybody and little sore and tired.

We did get to see a few bears alongside the Hwy going into Stewart and stopped and got some pictures of the Bear Glacier just outside of town.

We all know that things happen in three and that it will not be denied. If you screw up it’s pattern, it will come back at you. If I had only just let those sunglasses go…

(for those of you that are confused, you need to go back a couple of days on my blog to see what happened and it will all be clear.

Into Prince Rupert

We left Prince George under cloudy sky's and threat of rain. We played hide and seek with the clouds all day. Sometimes we won and sometimes the clouds won. Overall it wasn't too bad. We only got drenched on for about 1/4 of the day. LOL

The scenery up here is amazing. It has the green and lushness of Western Wa and the temperature variance's of Eastern Wa. As John put it, British Columbia is, was Washington used to be. An unspoiled, beautiful wilderness.

The day of travel in itself was pretty uneventful. We had quite a few miles to cover and we wanted to get to Prince Rupert when it was still light.

We did drive along the Copper River for a while. This where you get those Copper River Salmon everyone talks about.  Some of the best on earth.

We also ran in Santa Clause II. He was about 450 lbs, riding a Harley with a big flowing white beard. (Him, not the Harley) He mentioned that he was on a trip from Key West and headed to Alaska and then would head home. He also mentioned that it was "a might colder" than what he was used to...  He was wearing Jeans, a t-shirt, a Harley Davidson windbreaker and sandles with no socks. The snow level was only about 800 feet above us and we were all dressed in 3 layers including full leathers, and he was wearing a windbreaker... LOL

We headed out and a few minutes later he passed us with a big smile and a wave, and about 10 miles further the rain let loose on us again. We had rivers flowing across the road and Lori's bike looked like a Hydroplane with a roostertail. We never saw him, so he must have rode through it. I tip my hat to him, he is better than me. Or more crazy...

We also saw the Canadian version of fishing. The have a river here with a big waterfall/rapids in it and they have built a pair of fish ladders on it to help the Salmon get upstream. The fish go up the first section and then can pause in a slightly calmer area before going up the second section and back into the river.

The fisherman had a big net on a long pole and were just blocking the entrance to the upper section with the net. Every 60 seconds or so, he would pull it up and check it. 9 times out of 10 he had at least 1 fish, sometimes 2. If the fish were too small he would just flip them back out and put the net back.

Boy I wish we could do that. We have to have barb-less hooks and catch and release only unless it is a certain size (not too big, or too little) and has to be a farmed Salmon.

Anyway, time for bed. We are having a short day tomorrow. We are heading for Hyder Alaska and going to play keep away with the wild bears... LOL

The bikes are doing great, the riding is awesome and I finally got rid of that belt squeek. ( A little spf50 chapstick on the belt quieted it right up. LOL

Until tomorrow!

A much better day

Today we went from Kamloops to Prince George. It was a much better day with no major incidents.

The scenery was great, the weather was cooler (at least back down to the mid 90's) and that means I don't have near as much to talk about.

We left Kamloops and headed north in the #5 hwy and then took the #24 hwy back to hwy 97. We had been told is was a great road and, yes, it was. The climb out of the valley was a long steep one and some poor person left his vehicle alongside the road on the way up. Of course he didn't have a lot of choice. It had burned all the way to the steel chassis.

When we reached the top and it turned into a beautiful road with Kilometer, after Kilometer of high speed sweeping curves between lakes. It was a great ride.

This is a picture of Lak De Roches.

Just one of the lakes in the Cariboo region.

Here, John and the girls are discussing directions. I think. They could have talking about me.

From here we headed North on 97 and stopped at 100  mile house for lunch and fuel.

Here is John pointing it out. (just in case you wanted to know. LOL

 The rest of the day was just riding, enjoying the scenery and just having fun. 1 more picture just to show what the main hwy was like.

We are stopped for the night and just got back from dinner at Jakes Steakhouse. They have great steaks and more importantly, they know how to cook them properly.

Until tomrrow

Hoping for a new (better) beginning tomorrow.

First off, she’s OK… I know, I know, Déjà vu

But, I am not going to get into that yet. You have to read the story. Now don’t skip ahead, just follow along.

As some of you know we are in the first day of our trip. It is Me, Lori , John and Gina on our motorcycles and heading towards the Yukon territory.

The day started off as a typical Seattle summer day, sunshine, mid 70’s, overall a great day.

We head out to John and Gina’s house and the four of us head for eastern Wa over Hwy 20. We do the typical stop along side the road at Ross Lake, and that’s when the day started off for real.

I had to use the Restroom (pit toilet) and as I walked in, it was dark so I moved my sunglasses to my head and went about my business. I glanced down ( yah, yah, I know you look too) and my glasses fell off and were falling straight towards the opening in the toilet. I tried to catch then and couldn’t the only thing I could do was to swat at them and send them flying across the toilet. At least they didn’t go in…

Little did I know that was the way the whole day was going to go.

By the time we got to Winthrop, the heat had begun. We stopped at Twisp to take off the coats and it was already into the 90’s. So we decided to go ahead and get some lunch before heading north into the Okanogan. We stopped at a pub along the hwy and have a good lunch, but right before we got ready to leave, Lori went in to use the restroom and when she came bad, she was real quiet. I asked, “what’s wrong” and she replied “ I just lost my bike keys down the toilet”. 

In my mind I am going …What???!...

She said, yes, just as I reached over to flush the toilet the keys fell and went right into the toilet. Yep, they were gone. The poor guy at the pub tried to get them back, but they were gone.

Good thing I carry a spare key for her bike. We tried to find a place to make another key in town, (just in case) but no one could.

As we were leaving town, John lost his Leather doo rag in the middle of the road and had to go back and get it.

So we headed north towards Canada. We did find a place in Omak to make another key, so we are good, but John lost his leather doo rag in the middle of the road again. I told him if he dropped it again, I wasn’t giving it back to him.

We cross into Canada and John and Gina cross though pretty quickly. Lori gets up to the guy in the booth and he checks her ID, ask’s the typical questions and then proceeds to lecture her on the fact that she was not wearing proper riding gear. Now it is bouncing between 103 and 108 degree’s and he wants her to be wearing full gear and gloves. He finally lets her go and I pull up.

Got any guns?... No

Got any alcohol? … No

Going to leave any thing in Canada? … No

Fine have a nice day… Now I was wearing the same as Lori (jeans, chaps and a shirt) and not a peep…

We are now hot and cranky (at least I was) and we headed North. We get through Penticton and was just following along the Lake and dealing with traffic, when……..

Now picture this in your head. Try and visualize it as I go along.

We are heading into sweeping downhill turn to the right with a traffic light placed just as the road starts to straighten out. The light changes and the car at the front does a fairly quick stop. John is right behind him and also makes a fairly quick stop.

Gina on the other hand is right in the middle of this sweeping turn and sees John making a stop and she hits the brakes.      A little hard.          In the middle of the corner…

Yep the rear wheel locked up and she started to slide sideways. The rear tire swung out to the left and it looked just like she was flat tracking it. The bike was sliding sideways, smoke was coming off the rear tire and she was riding it out like pro. I was impressed. She had it balanced, it was sliding and it looked like she would be OK.

BUT… as those of you that know tires and motorcycles, you will realize that as you slow down the tires get more traction. Yep, the rear tire grabbed when she was doing about 25 mph and the bike straightened up and then the rear tire crossed over and the bike went the other way. This time it went down. She was on her side and sliding. The bike did a complete 180 in the middle of the road. Thankfully Gina has the instinct to stay on and ride it out. The bike slid to a stop on the Hwy bar and the left saddlebag. She finally was able to let loose and do a graceful little drop of about 6” onto the asphalt.

She was OK, not a scratch. She had tucked her leg in and just hung on until it was over.

Lori and I were following and saw the whole thing. We managed to stop all the traffic and block the lane until John came roaring back, made sure she was OK and could get the bikes off to the side of the road.

It took a few minutes to make sure she really was Ok, to check out the bike and calm some nerves, but it was all good. The hwy bar has some rash and the leather on the saddlebag is torn, but there is no serious damage. We are so thankful for that…

The rest of the trip into Kamloops was pretty uneventful with the exception of a bee sting, but we were taking it easy. We wanted to get into our room and relax in the hopes that tomorrow will be a better day..

Until tomorrow……