Hotel California.

This is the view from our first stop in California.... I would have taken a picture of the "Welcome to California" sign but it was quite the disappointment :-( Another easy day of riding, getting in to California in two days was pretty much our only goal, so that much we achieved.

Another day of picking a fabulous spot for lunch... "The Sourdough Bakery" a gourmet store in the middle of a blinker town( a town so small if you blink while driving through it you will miss it) I couldn't even find the name of. We had the Pesto Asiago Sourdough bread for dinner, and a monster cinnamon bun for lunch.

It also turns out staying in the little town early last night was a brilliant choice. Florence is where we were aiming for, conjuring up images of European cities, the reality was a working town far from the coast.

Once in California we really wanted to stay by the water. So we ended up on a river, since the coast is moving away as we head south for the next while. Watching a gorgeous sunset over the water in your first night in California is not a bad way to end the day.

Finally at the ocean...

Well I had come close when visiting my parents in Coquitlam, but it wasn't until this morning that I finally got to see the Pacific. I actually smelled it first, and having spent the last 17 years around a fresh water lake, had forgotten that it would smell different. It brought back lots of memories from growing up in Vancouver.

Hit a bit of rush hour traffic going through one small town, not really sure what the slow down was. Highway 101 with a speed limit of 55 mph is quite a bit slower than the 70mph limit on the I-5, but there is no comparison as far as scenery goes.

We had a terrific lunch at The Grateful Bread in Pacific City. Well worth the detour off the highway. The best Dory caught cod sandwich EVER!!! Can't leave there without buying some sort of fresh baked goods, so have scones for breakfast tomorrow!! mmmmm.....

We stopped a bit early today, but having learned early on when you get to a gorgeous town within 50kms of where you were planning on stopping, don't go any further. So we stopped in Waldport, a scenic little town on the ocean.

Burrowing Owl

Ok I have to admit to being a bit of a wine snob, I know big surprise to those that know me.... But I do keep an open mind when it comes to trying new things, and ending up in wine country in Osoyoos I really wanted to eat dinner at a vineyard and try their wines.

After settling in to the lake side hotel we found only two of the local vineyards had a restaurant, so chose Burrowing Owl. After a brief rainy, darkening ride there we came upon a huge, gorgeous building housing the restaurant, shop, and hotel complete with pool. The food was amazing, the wine surprisingly good, and unfortunately not available at your local LCBO store in Ontario. I will have to talk to a wine buyer, or direct to the vineyard to get some.

The ride to Vancouver the next day was the coldest, wettest weather I have been through on the trip so far. If it wasn't cold enough in the valley, we rode up to the sub-alpine meadow at Manning Provincial Park. It was snowing on the peaks across from us!!! Great windy road with a huge drop off on one side, not for the faint at heart!!

A tour down memory lane on the ride from Hope to Coquitlam. Passing previous homesteads, places I haven't seen in nearly 30 years. It is quite something to see a building you remember as a local convenience store from your childhood looking like something in a ghost town......

Tiger on the water

A lovely day of riding including my first ferry ride with a motorcycle. It always worried me about the stability of the boat that the bike might fall over, but it was so calm and flat it wasn't even an after thought.

We pulled into a campground as it looked like we were heading into some rain, that never materialized. Oh well better a dry camp site that you are near than a possibility of a better one that might be soaked. Had fire roasted marshmallows for the first time in probably a decade!!! mmmmmm.....

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Ok no actual lions, but my bike is a Tiger, and I did see a bear. Just off the side of the highway watching the cars go by, a big black one!! Also saw my first moose!!
We stopped at the Ancient forest and saw trees that were hundreds of years old, and absolutely massive. Unfortunately we made quick work of the tour, since the mosquitoes decided that we were far too tasty!!

Had quite the disparate weather, everything from hot and humid in the forest, to cold and POURING with rain. Fortunately the worst of the rain came half an hour after we decided that the incoming clouds looked ominous, so high tailed it to the nearest hotel.

I felt a bit bad for ignoring some aspects of my bike. I had been so fixated on monitoring my tires I had overlooked my oil level and chain. Fortunately the new Triumphs have overcome the historical British stereotype for leaking oil. Not a drop burnt off, and after 5000kms the color was not looking too bad either!! Having never oiled my chain on this bike, I felt pretty bad about it, so after driving in rain today it was one of the first things I did when we got settled.

I think we are going to do a nice leisurely loop tomorrow, then hopefully a day doing wine tours in the Okanagan!!

Unexpected detour.

After returning to Jasper from the Icefields, I found a fantastic laundry to clean all my dirty clothes. It also had pay internet, pay showers, a lounge, and a great coffee bar with homemade goodies!! With freshly cleaned clothes spent the next couple of hours wandering the 2 streets...lol...

Got a phone call from Matthew and after a bit of discussion decided to meet them in Prince George, since they weren't going to make it to Jasper, and I had already seen all the sights. So a quick 400km side trip. It is amazing when you start doing 1000's of kms at a time, that a 100kms to go find a camp ground, or 400kms to meet your brother becomes inconsequential.

Winter camping in June!

Well what a fabulous day!!! It was probably my most inexpensive day so far, and quite by accident I must say. I left my hotel about 9am this morning and other than stopping for breakfast pretty much drove straight through to Jasper. One of my best discoveries of this trip: A&W breakfasts!! I know having bacon and eggs is not very good for you, but boy does it taste good!!

Within 5 minutes of paying my way into Jasper Provincial Park I hit a rain storm. Considering the temperature had been dropping steadily for the last couple of hours it wasn't that much fun. By the time I hit Jasper it was about 10 degrees C and raining steadily. I pulled over and mulled my options: pay $150 for a hotel room, or drive 100kms to option B.

Option B was something I had heard about. Camping at the Columbia Ice Fields!! I have always wanted to do Winter camping and have never done it. Now I am not quite camping in the snow but it is pretty close. I arrived at the Ice Fields Chalet knowing the camping was on a first come first serve basis, it is also about 5:15 by now. So I find out the campsite is 1km away and zip over there to reserve my spot. I then headed back to the Chalet to get something to eat.

I then noticed tours of the Ice Fields on huge glacier buses, and had to go for it. An hour and a half tour going 2.2kms into the glacier, spending 20 minutes wandering around taking pictures, very cool!! Unfortunately when I got back the cafeteria was closed, and I haven't eaten since 9am!! I could have eaten in the restaurant, but with rain threatening I grabbed some stuff from the vending machine and heading to quickly set up my tent. Well the rain still hasn't come a few hours later, but I am now snug as a bug in a rug, actually a tent, with a gorgeous view of the Ice Fields from my door!!! Can't beat that.

Out of sync.

I didn't realize when I left how sporadic the cell phone coverage would be. I assumed with the latest high tech digital Blackberry with GPS that there was a satellite watching me wherever I went.... not so, quite the areas of blackout. Not good if you were planing on using your phone in an emergency!!! So my updates will arrive when ever I reach a civilized town that has either internet access or a cell phone tower.

Well I pushed on once again today, and am now about 550kms from Jasper. A very easy ride tomorrow, and I am hoping to be up in the mountains before the heat of the day hits. OMG what a hot day today. Pretty cold when I left, pretty cold when I arrived, but in between..... not a lot of fun, let's just put it that way.

Saskatchewan, I blinked and missed it...lol... not quite but aside from getting gas, and a quick meal I drove right through it. Woke up in Manitoba, and going to bed in Alberta!! Still can't see the Rockies from here, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I still haven't listened to my I-Pod. Just hour after hour of the wind whistling through my helmet. It sounds boring, but I think blocking out the environment would have taken away from the ride. Maybe after 5 weeks when I am finally heading home I will feel different...lol... I had an image in my head of what riding through the Prairies was going to be like: miles of wheat and corn blowing in the breeze. Having only driven through the Prairies in August you can understand my delusion. The reality in June is fields of dirt and grass height green sprouts!! Very disappointing....

Still no problems with the bike. I lost 1mm of tread off my tires yesterday in my nearly 1000km stint! I am hoping that was mostly due to the bad roads and the gravel, I will see how today fared when I check tomorrow morning.

Having spent the last two night "on the cheap" I splurged for a hotel room tonight. Nice to have a pool and a hot tub to relax in before dinner, let me tell you!

Yeah finally camping!!!

Well after a very late start on Friday, I am now ahead of where I should be thanks to an iron butt day today. I made it from White River to Atikoken yesterday, and stayed at the Branch Seine Lodge. One of the guys that I work with, his sister and her husband own the fishing and hunting lodge, and were kind enough to put me up for the night and feed me!! It was just off the road I was taking so it worked out extremely well. So I made up some mileage by doing another 650kms yesterday.

Quite the eventful day today! I left the lodge about 9am and could already tell it was going to be a scorchingly hot day. An hour or so into my ride I came upon a 5 to 10 km stretch of highway where they had removed the asphalt to replace it. Most of the ride was ok until I came flying up on a stretch where they had just laid about 8 inches of fresh gravel, with some lovely semi truck tracks in it. Had a frantic few seconds with the bike whipping back and forth and me doing a tank slapper, until I finally got the bike stopped. I have NO idea how I did not wipe the bike out!!! I have never been so grateful to see paved road than at the end of that!!

I made my goal of reaching Winnipeg, and then called Matthew. After our chat I decided that I would really like to make it to Jasper in two days rather than three if I could, that way I could have a day of rest before heading out on the bike again. With 1700kms still to go it would be two pretty long days, unless I could continue on and rack up a few more miles today. So having already done ~550kms I heading out into the blazing sun once again....lol.... I figured if I could do another 200kms it would leave two 750kms days.

Second rule of travelling: don’t pass by a really nice accommodation because you want to achieve another 50kms!! 50kms later I was in the middle of no where... Over an hour later, I finally came upon a really nice, and remarkably inexpensive, camping site right next to the highway as the sun was just about to go down. $15 for a spot on the grass!! The end result was about 950kms today!! Now I have under 1400kms to get to Jasper, and two totally reasonable days.

Day two.

Well due to a couple of unforeseen complications I didn't leave town until 2pm on Friday. So of course I ended up in rush hour traffic for quite a while. The end result was a total of 399kms ending up in Sudbury. I had packed my luggage up and got everything in, but it was jam packed. A quick detour to my storage facility and I unloaded a few items... I hope I don't need my thick gloves, or long underwear!!

As you can hopefully see next to this, after a brief rain storm I had a spectacular rainbow. It was starting to fade a bit by the time I pulled over and got the camera out. I figured it was a good omen on your first day out!!

One lesson learned on day one, don't wait until 8pm to figure out what you are going to eat for dinner, and where you are going to stay over night. The consequence of this is a $125 handicapped smoking room for the night!! I did however get to see game 7 of the Stanley Cup...

Up bright and early for day two, and much better progress. I was hoping to average about 500kms a day, and I am now at over 1000, so nearly 700kms for day two!! Not a sore butt in sight!! I have to say thanks to the advice from my brother, the best farkle purchased so far is a "Cramp Buster" that attaches to your throttle so you use your wrist instead of having to grip the throttle. Day one I didn't use it, and was in quite a bit of pain by the end. I did twice as far today with no pain at all....

I am now in White River, which apparently is the home to Winnie the Pooh. No problems with the bike so far, and no problems finding gas. I have passed through some fantastic scenery along the lake front, which is why I chose this route. I find in a car you can day dream and not really pay attention to your surroundings, and your actions. On a motorcycle you can't (thank goodness) really do that.

The terrain has been fantastic up to this point. Unfortunately what makes it fabulous for riding makes it pretty unphotogenic!! With only a couple hundred yards of road visible before the next corner or drop off, the photo would be quite boring, but the twists and turns, especially on a motorcycle have been awesome. You end up much more in touch with the terrain and the environment on a bike: having to lean into corners gives you a much better grasp of physics and speed, and having the elements much more interactive with you.

So far no sign of moose or bears.....

One week to go...

It is finally starting to feel like I am going to be on vacation soon. With the house contents in boxes for the move, and all the art work and mirrors off the wall, it is now looking like I am moving at least. I have gone from planning, but not being particularly excited about my trip, to I want this week to be over, so I can just be on my way...lol...

I picked my bike up from its second service today, 1200kms, and have booked its third for 6 weeks from now where it will have around 15,000kms. That is more than I normally drive in two years!!! All done in 3 months.... I hadn't realized that I will have to stop and get the oil changed twice during the trip.... The new Pirelli tires look fantastic, still won't be going through sand or mud, but they are much more all terrain than the stock street tires. I told the service tech I might be calling from South Dakota looking to get my OEM tires Fedexed out...lol... Hopefully the Pirellis last the whole distance.

Still not sure of the route I am taking. I will have to decide by about Winnipeg whether I am going to take the northern or southern route across the Prairies to get to Jasper to meet Matthew and Dawn. Matthew tells me that the road through Glacier National Park is still closed, so it doesn't sound like we will be doing that route.

I am a bit worried about luggage space for the trip. Having to pack motorcycle gear for hot, cold, and rain as well as camping for 6 weeks means not much room left for clothing. :-)

11 days to go...

Well having picked up the new Tiger a month ago I now have over 1000kms on it. This Friday is the first service at Rev Cycles in Toronto. So far the new farkles include: SW Motech center stand, mirror wideners, crash bars with highway pegs, and rear rack. A 46L Givi top box and windshield, Helmet Guardian license plate locks, and a Tomtom Rider 2 GPS. Rev is also putting Pirelli Scorpion Sync tires on for the trip. Hopefully they last the whole distance, fingers crossed.... With the chance that I might end up off the paved road, I thought the tires would be a good choice. I figure whatever tires I start with are going to be toast after nearly 15,000kms any way.

Still not sure the route of the trip, but it is looking like I am going to meet my brother Matthew and his wife Dawn in Jasper, so I am doing Canada first. I could go diagonally across cutting through the USA, but I really want to do the route around the Great Lakes, so across the Prairies via Winnnipeg.

The plan is for the three of us to meet, probably in Jasper, then do a few days in the Rockies, through Glacier National Park heading to Vancouver to hang out with my parents for a few days. After that the Coastal Highway calls, down through Washington, Oregon, and into California.

My top three destinations are: the Grand Canyon, Moab Utah, and the Badlands(Black Hills) of South Dakota. What route to get there, and what to see on the way..... who knows..... Having just seen the satellite image of the Bonneville Salt Flats, I am thinking that might have to be a "must see" spot as well.