North America, First and Second.

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Haskap berry smoothie.....yes please.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Home again.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

The new visor for Sarah’s helmet arrived, a couple of days late but it arrived. An email to the supplier asking where it had got to saw us benefit from a refund for the extra special UPS delivery....that was actually slower than the standard delivery would/could have been.
I could go in to more detail about the delivery but the new visor is now fitted, the old scratched one is in the bin and after 13 nights in the garage we are back on the road.

The main reason for stopping was getting a rest. Rested we are but I can’t help but think that we’ve used up a fair bit of George and Shirley’s goodwill and hospitality. Thank you. Hopefully we followed George’s lock up instructions properly?

Today we got back on the road. It felt nice to be back on the bikes. Sarah feels that with the rest she can now appreciate how much better her bike feels after Island BMW worked on it, and just how tired she had got.

North to Alaska. The first 200 miles of that journey are now complete. We are in 100 Mile House. Another night, another Motel.
The ride today saw a mixture of roads from sweepy lakeside loveliness to Kamloops bound dual carriageway. There was also a bit of a pass to go over. It was great at a steady 60mph....apart from a couple of diesel soaked bends and that the temperature dropped down to 9 degrees C.

We stopped for a hot drink and a cake on the downward side. A nice log building next to a lake promising Italian food and cappuccino......we didn’t realise that they would be charging Milan prices for the stuff!! For the the first time in a long time we felt like we’d had the urine extracted from us.
We hadn’t seen a drinks list or menu so maybe it’s our fault. Still, we won’t be going back so that’ll show ‘em!!!!!!

Something else that could have been worse was me wondering why my Satnav told us it was much further to our destination than when I’d looked in Google Maps to plan where to ride to.
Despite being told that my Satnav unit is no longer doing its job, I will defend it by admitting that I incorrectly entered the destination....somehow. It looked about right but a re-entry after an Arby’s sandwich in Kamloops saw 55 miles knocked off of the total. The added bonus is that we ended up at the motel I’d booked and not somewhere about 55 miles from here.

Arby’s? A first for us and not to bad for a fast food chain. Not brilliant of course but not the worst we’ve experienced.

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
fatowl
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by fatowl »

OnHellas wrote: Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:00 pm Haskap berry smoothie.....yes please.249AB2C4-67CB-4BDC-B683-E73D99E76E5F.jpeg
It must be real thick'n'gloopy not to run out of the pot on it's side !!! :D
Oh, BTW, thanks for taking the time and effort to post this report - I find it very interesting and enjoyable.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Time for a catch up. Since Kamloops we’ve done a few miles, seen a few things and had some challenges.

North was the general idea from 100 Mile House and we passed through somewhere called 150 mile something or other, I can’t quite remember but it was 50 miles from our start point. I can cope with things like that. Our ride was all on one road more or less and it was fairly busy. Highway 97 would be our companion for more than a couple of days.
Prince George was arrived at, stayed at, eaten at and re-fuelled at.
The next morning people and machines replenished we got back on the 97 and headed to Dawson Creek. The day went by without any Drama and some of the scenery was pretty spectacular. Calm, dark watered lakes and the ever present fir trees. Yes I’ll admit to singing Monty Python’s lumberjack song more than once, and North To Alaska by....? I don’t know who did the original but I’m a fan of Dwight Yoakam’s version.
Dawson Creek is fairly unremarkable like many big towns. We arrived and fuelled up ready for the next day as some of the distances between places were getting bigger and we’d decided on a slightly earlier start than our customary checkout at the last minute.
The Supermarket. Now there is a Challenge. We see eye to eye on most things. I’ve probably mentioned it before but the supermarket is the main thing where we struggle. Both having a different approach in how to shop. Obviously mine is the wrong one (it really isn’t but....). Add in two shrieking kids running flat out up and down the isles and a nice day ended up a bit disappointing.
Breakfast the next morning was nice though.

The Alaska Highway starts in Dawson Creek and that is why we were there. Photo opportunity at Mile Post 0. Off course.
Now the next challenge. For whatever reason Sarah just wasn’t ‘getting it’. The point of it. The Alaska Highway, why anyone would want to do it twice, that’s me, and the whole trip. She felt toured out. Not homesick, not the need to go home. Just what’s the point.
The run to Fort St John was busy with trucks. We were stopping for a rest every 50 Miles or so but even that combined with some stunning scenery didn’t do it.
By the time we’d got to Fort Nelson, refuelled and arrived at, how shall I say, a very sub par looking motel stopping had become a real possibility.
To be fair to the motel it was old, a bit tired and very cheap. But it was clean and the beds were comfortable.
Talk time. Options time. NOT supermarket time. We headed out to try and find some half decent food for dinner, succeeded and even added a beer and a glass of wine.

More chatting, talking and discussing and it was decided that we’d carry on north. The ride south didn’t appeal to Sarah and there is another way out just beyond Watson Lake that is south back down towards Vancouver. Vancouver to the UK is simple.

This morning we set off earlier again. With 315 miles to Watson Lake I wasn’t sure how long Sarah’s slightly higher spirits would last.
For the first 50 miles we were joined by a third bike that we later found out was George from Germany on his KTM990. He is seven weeks in and hopes not to return to Germany until 2021. He told us that he slept in his tent in a Tim Horton’s carpark last night.....nice.
All of a sudden our trip looked a fraction better to Sarah than it had done earlier.

What a difference a day makes! Today we saw 5 bears, a couple of Reindeer, about 30 Buffalo, thousands of crows eating the dead bugs left by the passing vehicle and roughly a trillion trees, give or take.
The bikes ran beautifully, we had a laugh and even survived a quick supermarket visit for supplies. Honest.
We are going to stay in Watson Lake for two nights. A rest, some bike checks and a visit to the signpost forest about all there is to look forward to.

Booking.com has been searched and the next accommodation has been booked. I’m happy to say that it’s near Whitehorse. 240 or so miles closer to Alaska. Further away from Vancouver, although Anchorage is a jump off point too.

But for now, I’m very pleased to say that it’s once again.

Two happy people, two happy bikes.
OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

It’s important to smile for the photo even if the day isn’t destined to be a 10 out of 10.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

North.
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South.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

George the German.
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OnHellas
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Re: North America, First and Second.

Post by OnHellas »

Making a photo opportunity out of a road construction delay. Just two today, 5 minutes at the first and probably 25 at the second. The stop flag lady was a character and kept us entertained.
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