Alaska Day 14

As usual we we off with day break to get on down the road.  We traveled about 80 miles and the boys stopped for breakfast in Burns Lake.  I restocked ice and provisions while they had breakfast.  When they we done we headed on west toward Kitwaga.  On the way we stopped in Smithers to get some parts for my aux fuel tank, exchange some American cash for Canadian and I also stopped at the Harley dealer and bought some mid-weight gloves.  We also met the wife of the local Honda dealer and she thought our bikes were very cool. We stopped in Kitwaga and viewed the line of totem poles that John and Don visited on their last trip through and then it was on the road north toward Hyder.  We were on route 37 and then you take 37A west to take you down to Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska.  This is a beautiful ride down through a canyon and to the coast.  Hyder is really a trip back in time.  No paved roads, a couple of bars and a gift shop.  This is also the place for Iron Butters to complete the 49 state in 10 days or less tour.  They have a wall with pictures from each year of those who have completed this run.  A lot more people than you would think have done this.  Tomorrow is a day off to rest do laundry a little bike maintenance.  Then were back on the road into Canada and on toward the main body of Alaska.  We traveled 389 miles today.

Alaska Day 13

The group was off with daylight again and went a little over a hundred mile before stopping for breakfast.  We were on route 97 with a lot of construction work.  We gassed the bikes and asked where a good place to eat was.  They gave us the name of a local restaurant called "Yummers".  The guys ordered as I fixed the days protein shake.  They were attended to by Mother Teresa.  This lady was a hoot and could dish it out as well as the guys could give it to her.  We discovered as we were eating that if you were good and ate all of your meal you would be rewarded with a lollipop.  John and Bruce finished their meals but Don did not.  Mother Teresa brought out a huge spoon to spank Don but we told her not too because he would probably enjoy it too much.  She just happened to be the former owner of the Establishment and you could see she really took an interest in her business.  The ride was good but the weather was very fickle today.  A little rain, clear up then a little rain it just couldn't make up its mind.  We traveled 378 miles today.  Tomorrow off to Hyder Alaska.

Alaska Day 12

This morning we were once again greeted with a great day with temperatures in the upper 40's. We headed out of Idaho and into Washington. Along the way John pulled over to add more clothes to beat the chill, he didn't appreciate it when I said that I was fine when I turned on my electric vest.

We made the border crossing at Midway, BC and it went smoothly they only grilled John and Don a little bit. They did get a bit peaved when they saw me taking pictures but fortunantly they didn't make me delete them. Once through the border station we worked our way to Osoyoos, BC were we stopped by the lake for lunch. From there we continued to our destination for the night, Kamloops, BC. When leaving the lunch break we all changed to our warm weather gear because John said we would be staying at low altitudes the rest of the way. Well, we may have but somewhere along the way we got off Rt 97 and got on Rt 97c. This route had 2 mountain passes and they were plenty cold. But we kept thinking that we would go down in elevation so we just pressed on. We arrived safely, but chilled in Kamloops around 4:30pm. 403 miles today

Alaska Day 10 and 11 part 2

Network access problems prevented Don and I from posting yesterday so here an update for both days.

Monday morning we got on the road early in Ranchester, WY to head to Missoula, MT. There were storms in the forecast and we hoped to beat them. Well that didn't quite work out soon after crossing the continental divide we entered Helena, MT and were greeted with a rain storm. After about 5 miles I noticed little white balls bouncing off my jacket then I realized its hailing again! Then storm lasted about 10 more miles then we were out of it. But we could see more down the road. About 30 minutes later we ran into another and again more hail. About 10 miles later we were out and the sky was clearing. This rest on the ride to Missoula was uneventful and we checked into a motel around 3:30. today's miles = 464.

Tuesday morning we left Missoula for Priest River, ID to meet Dave and John. This time we had plenty of time to make the short ride so we took back roads to get there. We took route 200 which took us along a huge and beautiful mountain lake. We got to Priest lake before (much before) Dave and John, so much before a number of locals stopped to ask if we were OK because they pasted by about an hour ago and saw us. We assured them we were fine and they wished us a good day. today's miles = 272.

Alaska Day 11

John and I slept in a little so that Ellen and John could go out for breakfast before we departed Yakima.  This was the long awaited meeting day for the early departing group and the mid week departing group.  The plan was to meet in Priest River Idaho around noon at a gas station on route 57 toward Priest Lake.  John and I was a little behind schedule and when we arrived no Don and Bruce were there.  I checked phone messages and there was a message from Don that said they were at a different location waiting for us.  They had arrived a little early plus they did not account for moving into the Pacific time zone and picking up an hour so they had been in town for about 3 hours.  After making our meet we decided to have some lunch at the Mangy Moose just outside of town.  We then secured 2 rooms at the local hotel and decided to ride out to Priest Lake.  Nice ride but they were doing road work for 19 of 26 miles.  We took some group pictures at the lake to show that the Committee was once again assembled and ready to head out for Canada, Alaska and other parts unknown at the present time but we might need to visit.  Tomorrow we will attempt our first border crossing.  Lets hope it goes well.  Today John and I traveled 323 miles.

Alaska Day 10

John and I just love early morning get-a-ways so were were on the road at 6:00 AM again.  Shortly after leaving Clarkston Washington we ran into a little rain and hail but only for about five minutes.  After running through that the temperature dropped off and we stopped to add some layers.  When we broke out into sunshine the wind associated with the front was blowing at least 30 miles per hour which made for some tough driving conditions.  We got onto the interstate at Pasco Washington and headed for John's daughters home in Yakima.  We spent a wonderful afternoon with Ellen and her friend Shellie who had just been promoted to the rank of Sargent on the Yakima police force, salute!!!!!  We enjoyed a dinner together and retired for the evening to get rest for the next days adventure.  We traveled 230 mile this day.

Alaska Day 9 part 2

Don and I didn't get many miles in today because our planned date to meet John and Dave was changed to Tuesday. So we took advantage of the extra time by playing tourist. First we visited Mt. Rushmore, then Crazy Horse Mountain. While Mt. Rushmore is impressive, Crazy Horse is much more impressive and interesting. It is still a work in progress being built by a non-profit group that receives no government funding. And the scale of this project is amazing the entire Mt. Rushmore sculpture fit in the space of Crazy Horse's head. You can see in the picture what the completed project is going to look like.

Having watch Close Encounters as a kid I could resist paying the Devil's Tower a visit, an impressive sight. As we reached Gillette, WY we had to duck for cover in a McDonald's due to an approaching thunderstorm. Soon after we go there the bottom dropped out and it poured rain, then it started hailing. After about 30 minutes it was over and we moved on. We stopped for the night in Rachester, WY which is just south of the Montana border. 387 miles today

Alaska Day 9

                                                                      I sound like a broken record but John and I were off early again on day 9.  We took the interstate from Burley Idaho to Boise Idaho and made good time.  From Boise we took smaller roads all the way to Clarkston Washington.  We took routes 55, 95, 13 and 12 all of which had mountain passes, canyon runs, high meadows and just a great motorcycle ride.  We didn't have a chance to take many pictures as places to pull off were few and far between.  We were once again lucky and dodged all of those pesky summertime thunderstorms with only a few raindrops on the windshield.  Another wonderful day of riding through our great country.  Tomorrow off to Yakima Washington.  Todays ride covered 461 miles.