Friday July 23, 2010
It was a beautiful morning with bright sunshine and I was able to catch up on a lot of admin duties and I’m looking forward to getting my mail in a couple of days in Sioux Fall SD from UPS
Before I left the Hardin MT area I visited Custard National Park after which I made the 390 mile journey toward the KOA near the Badlands of SD. This Park recognized Gen Custard and his battle at the Little Big Horn. The area is also a National Burial Ground for Military wounded or killed in battle spanning the wars of the west right up the current war in the middle east. http://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm
I spoke with several guys riding as a group one of which was on the BMW 1200 gs adventure. This is possibly my next motorcycle to full fill my need to tour the world. http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html
When I stopped for lunch at a Subway in Buffalo WY I met a couple who were touring the US on BMW's from Ontario CA. We sat and talk motorcycles for about an hour. They were actually taking a day off one in which I looking forward to once I get the St. Louis.
As I approached the Badlands darkness began to settle in ahead of me while in my left and right side mirrors revealed a horizon filled with a beautiful setting sun.
I arrived at the KOA campground after 9:00pm and the business was closed, however they left my key to the cabin on the shelf next to the front door. It was a great day of riding with great weather.
Tomorrow I travel into the Badlands National Park driving loop with some photos and then on to Mitchell SD for a cheap hotel.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Montana
I began the day with a great breakfast at the KOA camping kitchen. The young lady made a plate size wheat pancake that filled me up. I was able to get some laundry done and get the Wanderer into the wind by 11:00AM.
I had to travel only a little over 200 miles to the KOA in Harding so I took my time. As I began along state road 87 towards Billings Mt. I recognized the road as the same one I took in 2006. I stopped at Eddies Corner where I met a member of the Patriot Guard who bike broke down with a bad battery.
The Honda dealer in Lewiston Mt assisted him and as we were talking I asked if there were a location at his shop where I could hand wash my bike. (She was looking filthy) John the employee for the business suggested I go into town an ask the manager Phyllis at the Honda Dealership
I met Phyllis who allowed me to wash the Wanderer in the bay they used to wash customers dirt bikes and all terrain vehicles. After about an hour of scrubbing and using their power washer, I removed at least two pounds of mud and debris from the rear axle and clean the bike to a glorious shine, including the trailer. The trailer hitch stand was filed with at least another half pound of debris.
After a good washing and checking out the systems, I continued on toward Harding MT. I took some photos of the landscape and scenic views and sent a photo to a friend of mine who is from Montana.
I arrived at the KOA campgrounds just before 7:00PM and I relaxed after turing on the air conditioner in the cabin.
I have the next couple of day filled with visiting some National Parks with mileages less than 350 miles.
I had to travel only a little over 200 miles to the KOA in Harding so I took my time. As I began along state road 87 towards Billings Mt. I recognized the road as the same one I took in 2006. I stopped at Eddies Corner where I met a member of the Patriot Guard who bike broke down with a bad battery.
The Honda dealer in Lewiston Mt assisted him and as we were talking I asked if there were a location at his shop where I could hand wash my bike. (She was looking filthy) John the employee for the business suggested I go into town an ask the manager Phyllis at the Honda Dealership
I met Phyllis who allowed me to wash the Wanderer in the bay they used to wash customers dirt bikes and all terrain vehicles. After about an hour of scrubbing and using their power washer, I removed at least two pounds of mud and debris from the rear axle and clean the bike to a glorious shine, including the trailer. The trailer hitch stand was filed with at least another half pound of debris.
After a good washing and checking out the systems, I continued on toward Harding MT. I took some photos of the landscape and scenic views and sent a photo to a friend of mine who is from Montana.
I arrived at the KOA campgrounds just before 7:00PM and I relaxed after turing on the air conditioner in the cabin.
I have the next couple of day filled with visiting some National Parks with mileages less than 350 miles.
Back in the USA
Wed July 21, 2010
I got started on the bike around 10:00 am and started off towards Great Falls Montana. Most of the riding today was all straight line distance. At times I could see distances upwards of five mile plus. The Wanderer puling the trailer at 75mph had no problem. Most of the motorcycles seen were heading in the opposite direction along Canada’s highway #2.
I had a short stop at the border and began making a bee line towards the Great Falls KOA campgounds. I arrived around 8:00 pm and was happy to get my feet up in the swinging bench on the front porch of the camping cabin.
Canada’s Provinces of Northern Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon territories hold some beautiful sights with vast acreages of wooded forest, streams, rivers and lakes. It would literally take a life time to visit and view all of them.
I definitely will return again to take on the Alaskan Highway, however after six days of riding through Canada, I'm glad to be back in the USA. American Baby!
(500 miles today) (Six day total of 2326 miles)
I got started on the bike around 10:00 am and started off towards Great Falls Montana. Most of the riding today was all straight line distance. At times I could see distances upwards of five mile plus. The Wanderer puling the trailer at 75mph had no problem. Most of the motorcycles seen were heading in the opposite direction along Canada’s highway #2.
I had a short stop at the border and began making a bee line towards the Great Falls KOA campgounds. I arrived around 8:00 pm and was happy to get my feet up in the swinging bench on the front porch of the camping cabin.
Canada’s Provinces of Northern Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon territories hold some beautiful sights with vast acreages of wooded forest, streams, rivers and lakes. It would literally take a life time to visit and view all of them.
I definitely will return again to take on the Alaskan Highway, however after six days of riding through Canada, I'm glad to be back in the USA. American Baby!
(500 miles today) (Six day total of 2326 miles)
Tires & Edmonton
Tuesday July 20, 2010
At around 9:00 am, I left the Town of Dawson Creek en-route towards Calgary Canada in the Province of Alberta a good 600 mile day. As I stopped in the town of Beaver lodge to mail some post cards, I noticed the tires of the trailer had bald spots and so began the search for tires. I was able to get new high speed trailer tires in Grand Prairie which took the better part of two hours that included lunch and altered my plans to Calgary.
At 2:30 pm since it was so late in the day I started toward the city of Edmonton in Alberta Canada. It is rally a small city and like most small cities everything closed early. The Holiday Inn Express has a restaurant that closed at 9:00 pm! I walked around and found a bar to get some calamari and returned to the hotel. Five hundred mile day in the morning to the US border.(366 miles completed today)
At around 9:00 am, I left the Town of Dawson Creek en-route towards Calgary Canada in the Province of Alberta a good 600 mile day. As I stopped in the town of Beaver lodge to mail some post cards, I noticed the tires of the trailer had bald spots and so began the search for tires. I was able to get new high speed trailer tires in Grand Prairie which took the better part of two hours that included lunch and altered my plans to Calgary.
At 2:30 pm since it was so late in the day I started toward the city of Edmonton in Alberta Canada. It is rally a small city and like most small cities everything closed early. The Holiday Inn Express has a restaurant that closed at 9:00 pm! I walked around and found a bar to get some calamari and returned to the hotel. Five hundred mile day in the morning to the US border.(366 miles completed today)
Gas & Oil workers & the traveler
Monday July 19, 2010
I cruised out of the town of Fort Nelson towards the starting point of the Alaskan Highway with a spring in my step. I have been traveling for three days and I still have at least six hundred miles plus to go before I get to the US border.
I’m really looking forward to the getting back to the US. The gas in Canada is really expensive along with the food and lodging.
After arriving in Dawson Creek at the Super 8 Motel I met several gas & oil field workers along with a Frenchman names Nicolas. Nicolas arrived in Canada in early June on a workers visa and was trekking his way across the Canadian Provinces working in Quebec at a poultry farm, then a horse farm. He was waiting on the Greyhound bus to get him to the Yukon Territories where he was to work at a horse ranch learning how to break horses.
He and several of the workers played their guitars and I enjoyed their company. Thier playing was not very well and niether was thier singing.
(480 miles)
I cruised out of the town of Fort Nelson towards the starting point of the Alaskan Highway with a spring in my step. I have been traveling for three days and I still have at least six hundred miles plus to go before I get to the US border.
I’m really looking forward to the getting back to the US. The gas in Canada is really expensive along with the food and lodging.
After arriving in Dawson Creek at the Super 8 Motel I met several gas & oil field workers along with a Frenchman names Nicolas. Nicolas arrived in Canada in early June on a workers visa and was trekking his way across the Canadian Provinces working in Quebec at a poultry farm, then a horse farm. He was waiting on the Greyhound bus to get him to the Yukon Territories where he was to work at a horse ranch learning how to break horses.
He and several of the workers played their guitars and I enjoyed their company. Thier playing was not very well and niether was thier singing.
(480 miles)
Companionship & Adventure
Sunday July 18, 2010
I left the hotel and the town of Teslin on my way to the town of Fort Nelson beginning my ride around 9am, across the first of several grated bridges into the bright morning sun, extremely beautiful scenery for this portion of the trip. The sights were incredibly spectacular.
I came upon a herd of buffalo standing in the road and one sitting in the dirt off the road in the afternoon sun. I took incredible photos of the roadway showing a ribbon of asphalt winding into the mountains.
I pass over and road by hundreds of lakes, rivers and creeks that dot the roadway throughout the day. The Yukon is filled with hundreds of recreational vehicles owners who stop at designated areas along the roadway and camp.
Many bicyclists peddle along the Alaskan highway and actually camp on the side of the road. I passed one such bicyclist on my way towards the town of Burwash the day before and they had a tent for themselves and one for his bicycle.
As I passed his location a tractor hauling two gas tankers drove past me in the opposite direction and I immediately thought of the bicyclist in the tent and the noise that truck generates as he passes, man talk about waking up to a nightmare sound.
All along the way from beginning to end I encountered and interacted with many of travelers either on bicycle, motorcycles and recreational vehicle owners and we all had one agenda in common, traveling the Alaskan Highway and viewing the incredible sights.
There was a shared sense of companionship and adventure. Although everyone complained of the condition of the road, it was still an adventure that will be savored for a life time to tell their families and friends for a lift time.
Fort Nelson was a welcome sight and a familiar one. I stayed at this hotel on the way up, and even the young hotel clerk Emma recognized me and asked about the trip.
(282 miles)
I left the hotel and the town of Teslin on my way to the town of Fort Nelson beginning my ride around 9am, across the first of several grated bridges into the bright morning sun, extremely beautiful scenery for this portion of the trip. The sights were incredibly spectacular.
I came upon a herd of buffalo standing in the road and one sitting in the dirt off the road in the afternoon sun. I took incredible photos of the roadway showing a ribbon of asphalt winding into the mountains.
I pass over and road by hundreds of lakes, rivers and creeks that dot the roadway throughout the day. The Yukon is filled with hundreds of recreational vehicles owners who stop at designated areas along the roadway and camp.
Many bicyclists peddle along the Alaskan highway and actually camp on the side of the road. I passed one such bicyclist on my way towards the town of Burwash the day before and they had a tent for themselves and one for his bicycle.
As I passed his location a tractor hauling two gas tankers drove past me in the opposite direction and I immediately thought of the bicyclist in the tent and the noise that truck generates as he passes, man talk about waking up to a nightmare sound.
All along the way from beginning to end I encountered and interacted with many of travelers either on bicycle, motorcycles and recreational vehicle owners and we all had one agenda in common, traveling the Alaskan Highway and viewing the incredible sights.
There was a shared sense of companionship and adventure. Although everyone complained of the condition of the road, it was still an adventure that will be savored for a life time to tell their families and friends for a lift time.
Fort Nelson was a welcome sight and a familiar one. I stayed at this hotel on the way up, and even the young hotel clerk Emma recognized me and asked about the trip.
(282 miles)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Returning on a BMW
Saturday July 17, 2010
I woke to the sound of people moving about along the wooden floor sounding really eerie. I ate breakfast in the restaurant downstairs gathered my belongings and continued south along the Alaskan highway into the bright sunshine.
I changed my mind of taking on taking the Cassiar highway because of the construction on the roadway and the limited resources of fuel and lodging.
Some sections of the road were ATV trail like and the rest was under construction with gravel and just plain dirt. If I return I definitely will look into the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure as a form of travel. Mostly everyone who rode on to Prudhoe Bay past the Arctic Circle was on a BMW or similar type bike with no problem other than just becoming really muddy.
I took some photos and stopped for the day in the town of Teslin in the Yukon Territory, at the Yukon lodge next to Lake Teslin. (480 Miles)
I woke to the sound of people moving about along the wooden floor sounding really eerie. I ate breakfast in the restaurant downstairs gathered my belongings and continued south along the Alaskan highway into the bright sunshine.
I changed my mind of taking on taking the Cassiar highway because of the construction on the roadway and the limited resources of fuel and lodging.
Some sections of the road were ATV trail like and the rest was under construction with gravel and just plain dirt. If I return I definitely will look into the BMW R 1200 GS Adventure as a form of travel. Mostly everyone who rode on to Prudhoe Bay past the Arctic Circle was on a BMW or similar type bike with no problem other than just becoming really muddy.
I took some photos and stopped for the day in the town of Teslin in the Yukon Territory, at the Yukon lodge next to Lake Teslin. (480 Miles)
Long riding day & spooky Night
Friday July 16, 2010
Leaving Fairbanks Alaska, southbound and down and a long way to get there. I’m heading south along the Alaskan highway retracing the route that allowed me to pursue my dream of riding to Alaska.
Memories of the trip flutter through my mind about the people I met along the way and the adventurous route over sections of the roadway designed literally for all terrain vehicles. I’m a little anxious about returning to the sections of the road 15 miles north of the Canadian border to just south of Beaver Creek a total about 70 miles.
Traveling during the day with the sun in my face is a little better than the trip up in the cold rain. The roadway wasn’t wet so it was just bumpy and slow for me pulling the trailer that at times picked its own track in the road, which is unnerving as I maneuvered through one or two inches of gravel and the ruts left behind by other vehicles.
Construction repair of the Alaskan Highway takes place seven days of week rain or shine and in some cases it can last into the night. Speaking with the flag people they tell of bears coming out of the wood curiously checking them out.
I attempted to travel to Haines Junction however the spotty rain and the setting sun suggested I stop 77 miles shy for the night at a town called Burwash in the Yukon Province. The hotel / campground and fishing resort sits next to the beautiful Kluane Lake.
The owner who was really polite but looked like he was in his eighties had trophy heads of animals he killed including a moose, deer, and several large lake trout 20-30 inches in length.
The building is made of wood and once inside I got the distinct feeling I was at the Norman Bates Hotel. The steps leading to my room creaked and moan, the key issued to me turns the lock and a distinctive loud clack indicates you are entering the room. My room door closed shut against the wooden frame with a loud thud. As I listen to people moving about I felt like Normans mothers would eventually call out “Norman” Norman”.
At 10:30 pm after settling in, the sun appeared from behind the clouds and didn’t set for another hour and a half. There I lay wide awake listening to other travelers arriving and walking up the steps. Spooky night before falling off to sleep. (698 miles)
Leaving Fairbanks Alaska, southbound and down and a long way to get there. I’m heading south along the Alaskan highway retracing the route that allowed me to pursue my dream of riding to Alaska.
Memories of the trip flutter through my mind about the people I met along the way and the adventurous route over sections of the roadway designed literally for all terrain vehicles. I’m a little anxious about returning to the sections of the road 15 miles north of the Canadian border to just south of Beaver Creek a total about 70 miles.
Traveling during the day with the sun in my face is a little better than the trip up in the cold rain. The roadway wasn’t wet so it was just bumpy and slow for me pulling the trailer that at times picked its own track in the road, which is unnerving as I maneuvered through one or two inches of gravel and the ruts left behind by other vehicles.
Construction repair of the Alaskan Highway takes place seven days of week rain or shine and in some cases it can last into the night. Speaking with the flag people they tell of bears coming out of the wood curiously checking them out.
I attempted to travel to Haines Junction however the spotty rain and the setting sun suggested I stop 77 miles shy for the night at a town called Burwash in the Yukon Province. The hotel / campground and fishing resort sits next to the beautiful Kluane Lake.
The owner who was really polite but looked like he was in his eighties had trophy heads of animals he killed including a moose, deer, and several large lake trout 20-30 inches in length.
The building is made of wood and once inside I got the distinct feeling I was at the Norman Bates Hotel. The steps leading to my room creaked and moan, the key issued to me turns the lock and a distinctive loud clack indicates you are entering the room. My room door closed shut against the wooden frame with a loud thud. As I listen to people moving about I felt like Normans mothers would eventually call out “Norman” Norman”.
At 10:30 pm after settling in, the sun appeared from behind the clouds and didn’t set for another hour and a half. There I lay wide awake listening to other travelers arriving and walking up the steps. Spooky night before falling off to sleep. (698 miles)
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