2007 Tour - Hinton, Albera to Muncho Lake

We left Hinton the next morning and rode into a late winter/early spring storm. Not long after we left Hinton we started gaining elevation. Soon we were in heavy fog, then very cold rain, then sleet, then snow... Before long we were reduced to following in the tracks of an 18 wheeler. It made for slow going, but when the road is building up with snow, what are your choices? We finally made it down to Fort Saint John where we stopped for gas. A guy came over to us and said there was worse weather to come, and said if we could make it, we should try to hole up in Grand Prairie for a few days until the weather improved. We buckled down and kept on going through more of the same, pouring rain at lower elevations and accumulating snow higher up.

By the time we got to Grand Prairie about lunch time, I was soaked through and frozen to the core. I had blown a hole in my raingear, and my waterproof boots weren't. My feet were totally wet and I had a moderate case of hypthermia going. We found a Best Western and asked if they had any rooms. They did, but we really wanted to get home on the 21st, and stopping that early in the day, there would be no way to do it. In fact, at that point we didn't think we could get home before the 23rd. So, we agreed to have lunch, ( this was a FANCY Best Western with a scrumptous lunch buffet) and watch the weather channel. Though I'm sure with our weather worn appearance they would rather have sent us packing, the hotel let us use the lounge tv to check the weather and bring our food in there. Maybe they were just trying to keep us away from their other guests...:lol Anyway, we decided holing up wouldn't really do us any good, since another front was on the heels of the current one. Our goal was to suffer through the storm and get North of it if possible.

After making our decision to continue on, we asked for directions to a sporting goods store (for water proof socks since my feet were still wet) and a motorcycle shop for new raingear. Turns out there was a motorcycle shop on the same street as the motel, and a kayak shop nearby. We went to the motorcycle shop first. Yamaha dealership if I remember right. Anyway, the people in that shop acted like we were INSANE to be out riding. They were the least encouraging people we met on the entire trip, but at least I got a new rainsuit. And I'm sure I look real cute wearing a Victory Motorcycle rainsuit riding down the road on my BMW...:lol :lol :lol

When we pulled into the kayak shop, surprise, there was a BMW 1200 parked out front. Turns out the guy works at the shop, but also teaches motorcycle safety! The folks here were unbelievably helpful and soon had me rigged up in neoprene kayak socks. So long cold feet!

We got back on the road and not far out of town the weather began to break. At least the snow and sleet stopped, and at that point even icy cold rain was an improvement! We made it to Muncho Lake about 5:00. Bobby kind of wanted to go further, but my endurance was at an end. All I wanted was a hot shower and bed. Unfortunately the new part of the lodge was full, so we had to stay in the old part that only had a bathtub, a not so great bed, and BARKING DOGS in the next room. After a hot bath and a good dinner I really wanted to sleep, but the folks next to us let their dogs bark until sometime around midnight.:mad

The only photos today were taken around Muncho Lake Lodge.

2007 Tour - Cowboy Trail and Banff

The following morning we backtracked a little to find a secondary route that was closer to the mountains and hopefully less windy! We rode out of town on asphalt that quickly turned to gravel. Had I been faster with the camera, or more comfortable riding in loose gravel I would have gotten some great photos along that road. There were old time farms, stunning river valleys, and a herd of deer in the middle of the road!

After a while we hit asphalt again, and realized we were on the Alberta Cowboy Trail and had the pleasure of watching a real cowboy cattle round-up. Unfortunately they were too far off the road to get a good shot. We also drove by a truck flinging $hit all over a field, fertilizer I guess, but the smell was nasty! Also passed by a fence where every post for half a mile or more had a baseball cap on it. Strange, but cool!

Today we also rode the Icefields Parkway through Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper! This is mountain scenery not to be missed. Some of the photos would have been nicer with less snow, but oh well. It reminded us that we are still travelling pretty early in the season. After a long spectacular ride, we called it a day in a KOA in Hinton, Alberta. It was cold and rainy when we pulled in, so the cabin looked to good to pass up. We ate dinner and showered then reloaded the bikes for an early departure.

Bobby and I Rode to Seward Today! Brrrr!

Bobby and I rode to Seward today to see if the pass was open. I would have loved to have taken a shot of the median in Turnagain Pass where the snow was still piled at least 6 or 7 foot deep, but there was no place safe to pull over, so photos were pretty limited.

We left our house this morning about 10:30 after it warmed up to 33 degrees from 28 when we got up. We stopped for gas then rode out along Turnagain Arm. Near Anchorage it was pretty, but hazy so pictures wouldn't have turned out, and since I've posted a lot from that area we just kept riding. At the Hope junction Bobby pulled over to ask if I wanted to take pics of the gorge. I told him I didn't think pics would turn out, and that I'd just as soon keep riding.

Today was the first time I ran my auxiliary lights and my heated jacket and grips, all on the max setting. When I tried to start the bike at the Junction it just buzzed. My battery was completely dead. I would have known had I been having the charge guard cycle through all its settings, but I had set it only on temp so I would have an idea of whether water on the road would be freezing. (The temps along the Arm were in the 29 to 30 degree range, so ice was a potential issue.) After trying a few times to get the bike started Bobby rode the 15 miles or so into Hope to see if he could borrow a set of jumper cables. After he left, I realized that although it was a pretty place to be stranded, it might not be the most appreciated by the State.









Oh well... At least I was on the right side of the fence!

Bobby made it back before anyone else came by, and a few minutes later we had my bike running. We took the jumper cables back into Hope then resumed our ride toward Seward. We got there around 3:00 got gas, and turned around to head back toward home. We stopped at the Pit Bar for a coffee and pizza and were entertained by a toothless fellow riding a Harley who pulled in behind us. He was quite a character, stayed long enough to drink his own coffee and headed back out. The Pit Bar is one of those dive kind of places where everyone knows everyone else. One guy sitting at the bar got a phone call on the bar's phone. I suspect he may have spent just a little too much time there. Just before we left a middle aged guy and his mom came in. The bartender had their beers open before they even sat down. Again it was obvious these two come in often. As soon as they sat down they both started pulling out cash and buying pull tabs. They must have gotten 50 or more each, didn't win anything, but I guess they had fun trying.

We had a fast ride home. It always surprises me how much longer it seems to take to go somewhere than it does to come back home. We rode around 300 miles with our little unplanned side trip into Hope. It was a great day, and I was really happy to have Bobby home so we could take our first ride of the year together.

Spring Tour 2007 - Border Crossing!

We got up early the next morning and rode to Wheat, Montana. Don't know how accurate the story is, but we were told by a fellow motorcycle rider in the area that a family was struggling with money because of falling wheat prices, and rising costs of farming. So, they decided to start their own restaurant/bakery using the wheat from their own land. We were told the motto is "sow it, grow it, dough it." Whether or not the story is true, they have a fabulous breakfast. We really enjoyed hanging out there and watching the sun come up.

The morning ride around Flathead Lake was beautiful, and the road was suitably twisty, although less traffic and higher speed limits would have been nice... It was also really cool seeing the memorial to Theodore Roosevelt at the continental divide.

This was a day of spectacular riding. We went through Glacier National Park, but unfortunately couldn't do Going to the Sun Highway because of some sort of traffic incident on the road. Even so, just taking the highway through was gorgeous and a lot of fun! I found my limit on my new found confidence of downhill and to the right turns. We were riding pretty fast, and I was in part judging speed going into turns by posted speed suggestions. On this turn, the one with the dropoff on the left hand side of the road, I didn't see any sign. I entered the turn at about 75 mph, and had to lean WAY over to stay in my lane. I did it, but the adrenaline was a pumpin'. Bobby told me later the sign said it was a 40 mph hour bend, but confirmed that my tired never crossed the yellow! Whew. I slowed it down a bit after that one!

We crossed into Alberta, Canada near Shelby, Montana. Within a couple mile of the border there was a visitor's center that I wanted to stop at for maps and camping info in Southern Canada. It was closed, but when I saw the dinosaur out front I did a U-turn and went back. I'll admit I was a little wild in my younger years, but these days I'm pretty laid back, and law abiding. In the car, I never even go above speed limit. But, for some reason my youth came pouring back in and I drove around the gate blocking the parking lot. And I figured since I'm this close, and the place is closed anyway, I may as well ride the sidewalk over to the dinosaur...I don't know why I like it so much, but I just love that thing.:tongue

We spent the night at Claresholm, Alberta at the Blue Bird Motel. We pulled into the place thinking it would be pretty rundown. The guy at the front desk asked if we wanted a theme room. We rolled our eyes, but asked what the theme rooms were. He gave us a couple choices and we settled on the Gene Autry room. We walked out thinking we would be in a little dank, dirty, cheesy room with a worn out bed. WRONG! Instead we were in a little cottage with a "room" that was actually like a small apartment. It had really cool Gene Autry and other old time western memorabilia, and a photo and note saying that Randy Travis stayed in that room for a month while filming a movie, and how much he enjoyed it! Wasn't expecting that one, or the "movie star" horses in the area right behind the motel!

We walked next door for dinner, and had what Bobby said were the best chicken strips he's ever eaten. Coming from Bobby, that's saying something!








We got up early the next morning and rode to Wheat, Montana. Don't know how accurate the story is, but we were told by a fellow motorcycle rider in the area that a family was struggling with money because of falling wheat prices, and rising costs of farming. So, they decided to start their own restaurant/bakery using the wheat from their own land. We were told the motto is "sow it, grow it, dough it." Whether or not the story is true, they have a fabulous breakfast. We really enjoyed hanging out there and watching the sun come up.

The morning ride around Flathead Lake was beautiful, and the road was suitably twisty, although less traffic and higher speed limits would have been nice... It was also really cool seeing the memorial to Theodore Roosevelt at the continental divide.

This was a day of spectacular riding. We went through Glacier National Park, but unfortunately couldn't do Going to the Sun Highway because of some sort of traffic incident on the road. Even so, just taking the highway through was gorgeous and a lot of fun! I found my limit on my new found confidence of downhill and to the right turns. We were riding pretty fast, and I was in part judging speed going into turns by posted speed suggestions. On this turn, the one with the dropoff on the left hand side of the road, I didn't see any sign. I entered the turn at about 75 mph, and had to lean WAY over to stay in my lane. I did it, but the adrenaline was a pumpin'. Bobby told me later the sign said it was a 40 mph hour bend, but confirmed that my tired never crossed the yellow! Whew. I slowed it down a bit after that one!

We crossed into Alberta, Canada near Shelby, Montana. Within a couple mile of the border there was a visitor's center that I wanted to stop at for maps and camping info in Southern Canada. It was closed, but when I saw the dinosaur out front I did a U-turn and went back. I'll admit I was a little wild in my younger years, but these days I'm pretty laid back, and law abiding. In the car, I never even go above speed limit. But, for some reason my youth came pouring back in and I drove around the gate blocking the parking lot. And I figured since I'm this close, and the place is closed anyway, I may as well ride the sidewalk over to the dinosaur...I don't know why I like it so much, but I just love that thing.:tongue

We spent the night at Claresholm, Alberta at the Blue Bird Motel. We pulled into the place thinking it would be pretty rundown. The guy at the front desk asked if we wanted a theme room. We rolled our eyes, but asked what the theme rooms were. He gave us a couple choices and we settled on the Gene Autry room. We walked out thinking we would be in a little dank, dirty, cheesy room with a worn out bed. WRONG! Instead we were in a little cottage with a "room" that was actually like a small apartment. It had really cool Gene Autry and other old time western memorabilia, and a photo and note saying that Randy Travis stayed in that room for a month while filming a movie, and how much he enjoyed it! Wasn't expecting that one, or the "movie star" horses in the area right behind the motel!

We walked next door for dinner, and had what Bobby said were the best chicken strips he's ever eaten. Coming from Bobby, that's saying something!

2007 Tour - Yellowstone to Flathead Lake, Montana

We stayed in West Yellowstone that night. Marcello stayed at the same place, and the next morning asked if we'd like to walk around town with him for a little while before we parted company. We agreed and together wandered through a number of the little shops. As we were on our way back to the hotel to check out and get our day started, Marcello said that he'd once been asked why he didn't have more friends. He said he'd told the guy that he didn't collect friends, he selected them. With that, he gave both Bobby and I rider's bells for our bikes. We weren't familiar with the tradition so he explained it to us. In short, evil road gremlins cause the problems that bikers face when riding motorcycles. A ringing bell near the front of the motorcycle keeps the gremlins from getting on the bike, and makes those who do get on, fall back off keeping the rider safe. The power of a bell is doubled when given as a gift to a true friend. The story, and the significance of being given these bells by a man we'd only known for a day was one of the most touching moments of our time on the road.

After we parted ways, Bobby and I headed out due West long enough to cross into Idaho, then came back and went North into Montana. Maybe it was just the weather that day, but the state certainly earned its nickname, Big Sky Country. We stopped in Missoula for me to get new tires on my bike, then went on to Poulin where spent the night overlooking Flat Head Lake.

Spring Tour 2007 - Yellowstone

The following morning we got up and spent a few minutes cleaning the dirt off our bikes. While we were cleaning up, a guy wearing leathers walked up and asked which way we were going. We told him we were headed for Yellowstone and he asked if he could join us. Turns out his name is Marcello. He's from Wichita, driving a Yamaha. Very nice guy. He rode with us all day. We left from the motel and had about a two or three hour ride to get to the park. Almost immediately we started up yet another pass. We had pretty heavy fog in places, and at the summit the temperature dropped to the high 30's. Both going up and down the road was in beautiful shape with great twisties. I was riding by far the best I have ever ridden. Marcello commented later that he'd never ridden twisties before, and was having a really hard time keeping up. Ooops...

Yellowstone was amazing. Lots of wildlife, and of course Old Faithful put on a great show for us. We also had our infamous raven attack! Unfortunately I didn't get photos since the mess was cleaned up before I got there.

When we were at the main lodge a man working at the desk told us they'd been having a raven problem, and that we should cover our bikes. He didn't go into detail. When we walked out toward our bikes there were at least 15 ravens sitting on the three bikes. WTF?

We ran toward the bikes and were able to scare off the birds. My bike was totally undamaged. Bobby's tank bag had holes pecked in the clear plastic map holder on top, and the ravens had opened his bag far enough to tear up our map of Montana. The real damage, though, was to Marcello's bike and belongings. The ravens pecked a hole in his leather seat. They also both opened a zipper on his luggage bag, and ripped a hole in the side. A guy had left him a note saying he'd found all his clothing spread over the ground. On further investigation he had one missing sock, and one pair of jeans was shredded up pretty badly.

Seeing Mt Rushmore and Riding Custer State Park

The thunderstorms that night were all around us, but we only got a light rain for less than 20 minutes all night. It made watching the show even more fun. The KOA offered a $1 pancake breakfast every morning. We went down to get our food on and while we were eating got into conversation with a nice retired couple. We'd been talking for awhile when the usual, "so where are you from?" question came up. It turned out this couple was from Palmer, AK about 45 miles from where we live in Anchorage!

After leaving the campground we drove to Mount Rushmore. The ride was through mountains and was cool as long as the trees hugging the road kept us in shade. When we hit sunny spots, eek! It was HOT!

I hate to admit being disappointed by a National Monument, but for me Mt. Rushmore was a let down. I don't know what I expected, or why the enormity of these carvings didn't excite me, but for whatever reason I walked away unimpressed.

Leaving Rushmore we drove through Custer State Park. If you are ever in the area, this park was more of an attraction for us than Mount Rushmore itself. I should start by saying we had discussed our procedure if we should come across wildlife. (We would slow and look, but not stop the bikes since we had no real protection) Good thing, because we saw more bison next to the road than we could count. The road through the park is SUPER twisty with all kinds of elevation changes, one lane bridges, one lane tunnels, and 270 degree switchbacks. What absolute fun!

We had totally forgotten what day of the week it was, much less that it was mother's day, so it was a pleasant surprise when we pulled into a little town near Custer for breakfast and found the little Songbird Cafe serving a mother's day brunch with live music. The food was good, and the music better.

We stopped for the night in Buffalo, Wyoming. We debated camping since the weather looked pretty nice, but decided that since the following day we'd be riding through Yellowstone, we wanted to get a good rest. Karma must have been with us. An hour or so after checking in, Bobby and I were sitting in the bar eating dinner when Bobby grabbed my arm and pointed out the window. I have never seen such blowing dirt. We later found out sustained winds were around 43 mph, with gusts up to 69mph!

Back to Spring 2007 Tour

Let's see, where were we? Oh yes. I left off with us in Nebraska.

We left North Platte, Nebraska heading for the badlands of South Dakota. It was a long hot and boring ride, and I was pretty much convinced the badlands were a bad joke someone had been playing on the rest of the country. We were within a mile or two, and the only signs of interesting geography were the road signs claiming to be the "Number 1 Badlands Attraction."

Then there we were. The desolation of this area is amazing. I would have loved to do some exploring on side roads, and some hiking but the temps were just too high. We still got some great views though. Very pretty, and worth the wait. We camped in a KOA campground between the badlands and Mount Rushmore. As we got our camp ready, we watched thunderheads rolling in. We used the tarp to make a waterproof work area where we could use the claimed wi fi.

It longer than it should have to load pictures, so we finally gave up and watched the storm come on.

Kansas City to Nebraska and a Problem Credit Card

We left Kansas City, MO and almost immediately crossed into the state of Kansas. We spent most of the day on route 36 that runs East to West across the Northern part of the state. We rode the Pony Express Hwy, and stopped at the geographic center of the lower 48 states. That was all fun. Having Bobby lose his credit card shortly there after was not fun. It was even less fun when my credit card refused to go through and after 30 minutes on the phone with my credit card company I found out my bank had changed its electronic routing code, so none of my payments had gone through since February! Think maybe someone should have notified me???? Anyway, we got that mess figured out, so now all is well. We stopped for the night in North Platt, Nebraska. Seeing all the history references along the way, I couldn't help but flashing back to younger days reading Little House on the Prairie and such books. Strange how those names come back when you're seeing them in person.










Day 26

Eagle River Ride

This afternoon I rode about 30 miles out of Anchorage to the Eagle River Nature Center. It was cool and windy until I got back into the Valley. Eagle River Valley itself was warm, I saw my thermometer go up to 50!

Engel's BMW in Kansas City Rocks!

At this point on our tour we figured we have ridden about 5700 miles, and figure we have around 3500 left.

We ended up staying an extra day in Kansas City to deal with some problems with Bobby's bike, he needed a valve adjustment and new rear brake pads in addition to new wheels. Dakar spent the day showing us around town. We visited a museum where a couple families raised a paddlewheeler that sank on the Missouri River before the Civil War. They have preserved everything they found on board and have it on display, including bolts of fabric, shoes, jars of pickles, you name it! We also went back and hung out for a while at Latte Land. Lots of fun there. Interesting crowd. I even got a picture of Dakar giving Bobby a ride back to the motorcycle shop on the back of her bike. That was funny!

Engles BMW in Kansas City has treated us incredibly well. They got Bobby's bike in early on Thursday morning and took care of his problems. When everything was done, they took the bike for a test ride and weren't satisfied with the results because they felt the brake pads were a little too thick. Rather than calling it good enough, the owner of the shop stayed after normal closing time to replace the pads again. We can't thank them enough for going so far beyond normal good service. If/when we are in the market for bikes in the future, we will remember how well we were treated here.

We spent the evening in a little bar/restaurant with a great patio out back, then walked around a bit before saying good bye to Dakar. If I ever learn to ride with her level of style and skill I will know I have really accomplished something. Bobby and I both feel like we made a great friend who is an inspiration to both of us.